WH Post Match

[danperkins]

I can go with that, he never ever really looked comfortable in the league for me - always wanted too much time to faff around with the ball and he just never got it.

Gerrard is approaching (or arguably has reached) the Giggs part of his career when he needs to change position and accept that he's no longer #1 name on the teamsheet.

You'd think that he's better serving us in the attacking third than at the back so we should be deploying him as the ACM - behind Suarez - and removing all defensive duties from him so he can maximise his forward runs without using his energy tracking back when he already has three centre mids behind him to cover.

If he wasn't Captain then the decision to drop him would be a lot easier but if a fully-fit (allbeit massively underperforming) Steven Gerrard was dropped - people would wrongly have the daggers out for Rodgers even more than usual. Life will go on without Gerrard so the sooner we start adapting to it and experimenting without him the better.

agree with all of that

[Lecter]

Gerrard is approaching (or arguably has reached) the Giggs part of his career when he needs to change position and accept that he's no longer #1 name on the teamsheet.

You'd think that he's better serving us in the attacking third than at the back so we should be deploying him as the ACM - behind Suarez - and removing all defensive duties from him so he can maximise his forward runs without using his energy tracking back when he already has three centre mids behind him to cover.

This is a major mistake for me by Rodgers just as it was a mistake when Kenny & Roy deployed him in a deeper role

[Captain Stu]

agree with all of that

This is a major mistake for me by Rodgers just as it was a mistake when Kenny & Roy deployed him in a deeper role

Hopefully now that Lucas is back, we can stop relying Gerrard to be such a marauding ******* and keep him where he can do the most damage.

As Shaggy said in the Sahin thread - Sahin and Lucas deep gives us a more than stable midfield to build some serious attacking threat on, even more so when we (hopefully) get some bloody reinforcements up front.

[Fredo]

Rafa and Rodgers are different managers, why would anyone want to compare them? Rodgers is trying to achieve the same level of success in a different way and it's far too early to judge. Saying that it's the worst midfield in years is a ludicrous statement.

[Lecter]

Its almost as ludicrous as suggesting Allen is as good as Xavi & Busquets

[Fredo]

Its almost as ludicrous as suggesting Allen is as good as Xavi & Busquets

I've never said that. They play a similar role. FFS, revisionism all round here.

[danperkins]

Its almost as ludicrous as suggesting Allen is as good as Xavi & Busquets

Mentioning Allen's name in the same sentence as either of them makes me cringe

[Lecter]

I've never said that. They play a similar role. FFS, revisionism all round here.

Not quite


Originally Posted by Nigey
Can't believe the criticism Allen gets in here. He's an excellent player, playing a similar role to a Busquets or Xavi. I think if he was wearing a mask of one of these players, people would have said phwwoooaaar.

[Fredo]

Not quite


Originally Posted by Nigey
Can't believe the criticism Allen gets in here. He's an excellent player, playing a similar role to a Busquets or Xavi. I think if he was wearing a mask of one of these players, people would have said phwwoooaaar.

Well you're twisting them to suit your agenda. I'd have expected better from you. Seems that now our midfield has got worse compare to what it was under Hodgson.

[Tee]

Nigey, just admit it mate you ****ed up with that comparison.

It was an awful one to make, actually the worst I have ever read on any internet forum.

[Fredo]

Nigey, just admit it mate you ****ed up with that comparison.

It was an awful one to make, actually the worst I have ever read on any internet forum.

Well I was trying to highlight how fickle people are. If Allen had 'Xavi' or 'Busquets' on the back of his shirt, he would have been immune to any criticism. I think Allen is excellent is a major reason why our passing game and control of games is so good.

What we lack is another defensive midfielder to play alongside Lucas and someone who can allow Allen (and others) to take a breather when needed.

[Lecter]

They are your words Nigey no need to twist them at all

Just like I dont need to twist these

He doesn't play for Barcelona, that's his problem. He makes some errors, but who doesn't?

Ok I'll admit maybe the midfield isnt as bad as Roys but the performance of the players has not been great imo and neither has the managers tactics in this department

You think differently - thats your right.

[Fredo]

They are your words Nigey no need to twist them at all

Just like I dont need to twist these

He doesn't play for Barcelona, that's his problem. He makes some errors, but who doesn't?

Ok I'll admit maybe the midfield isnt as bad as Roys but the performance of the players has not been great imo and neither has the managers tactics in this department

You think differently - thats your right.

Much like it's your right to be too judgemental at this point in time but hey, you probably haven't swallowed Kenny's sacking.

[BigChief]

We were much better organised under Rafa

Complete ends of the spectrum in that

Oh and for the record you were also guilty of picking and choosing the criteria by stating that Rafa inherited a great squad
The fact of the matter is good managers get the best out of what they have available supplemented by the odd signing here and there

Thats what Rafa did and thats what Brendan has to do

I'm not reading back my posts but I don't believe I said that. I only said Rafa got our best player ever in Gerrard on top form. The rest of the squad was Houllier's (Diao/Diouf/goodness) and in no way would I ever say that was good.

However, I will check league positions on Google for the first 3 months of Rafa's reign with that of Brendan's. That's the only criteria that matters.

[Camble]

A few times I saw Gerrard lose the ball or be on a run when we lost possession and he just gave up and didn't track back.

Admittedly there were a couple of occasions where he had to run back, but that lead to his yellow card.

I think that if he's playing, he should be the CAM role behind Suarez/another player brought in in Jan, as he could spray the ball to either wide player/CF or drift around with the front four playing a free form game.

Lucas is a dead cert for CDM but I think we need another strong defensive mid player who can allow the front four to concentrate on attacking and tiring out the opposition. I don't think Gerrard suits playing CDM role, so BR has to be prepared to rotate the squad if he isn't playing well.