Originally posted by CAD
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Good post.
First of: My opinion about Gerrard is not a vendetta. It's not meant to be abusive. I'm doing all I can to be as nice about it as possible.
I think Suarez made everybody look good last season. He gave us an unprecedented amount of freekicks on the final 1/3. Unprecedented amount of penalties. Even an unprecedented amount of corners.
No player has ever scored 31 goals in the PL without adding penalties. Let alone 12 assists!
Gerrards charisma and legendary status was of great importance - that's a given. He is an icon and a model professional. He played a big part in regards to spirit etc.
I don't agree with the the bold part. I think he is an under par defender.
He supplies good crossing but the dictation of the game I don't find impressive either. I think he was badly exposed during the world cup. No impact and no dictation.
The new trend with him dropping down between the CB's during build up will hurt us imo. We are missing a vital player in the engine room to play the ball up to when he drops that deep. It will be easy to defend against. The opposition will analyse and figure out to cope with SG dropping that deep - IMHO of course. Further more the impact he makes on the ball in that position is minor. They will look for the long ball (obviously) so it will be covered 99% of the time. He will be missing a player at defensive midfield to link up with and we will be out numbered on the center. Does he drop that deep because he is uncomfortable with getting the ball with a player in the back? I don't know but I don't like the trend.
I think that there are obvious issues when we are off the ball. It will be even more exposed this season without Suarez. Little or no pressure from the defensive midfield will leave loads of space for the opposition - like the Saints goal against us or like the entire 2nd half, right? With Henderson the only one running and a dead engine room. Zero movement or pressure. Horrid and stale.
The real issues will appear when/if our defensive record doesn't improve and we have no Suarez to cover the cracks. In the curernt system its hard to see the DM Combo that can be dynamic enough. Can/Allen?! Can/Henderson perhaps? We need players who can cover a lot of ground at DM imo and track back when needed. Gerrard is awful at tracking back. Even Allen is better. Lucas is far better at tracking players. Can must be as well?
I think we will see the DM exposed badly this season -starting Monday. With the players available it will be hard to correct.
So in short - I do see a problem. We will see soon enough who is on the money - I hope you are
First of: My opinion about Gerrard is not a vendetta. It's not meant to be abusive. I'm doing all I can to be as nice about it as possible.
I think Suarez made everybody look good last season. He gave us an unprecedented amount of freekicks on the final 1/3. Unprecedented amount of penalties. Even an unprecedented amount of corners.
No player has ever scored 31 goals in the PL without adding penalties. Let alone 12 assists!
Gerrards charisma and legendary status was of great importance - that's a given. He is an icon and a model professional. He played a big part in regards to spirit etc.
I don't agree with the the bold part. I think he is an under par defender.
He supplies good crossing but the dictation of the game I don't find impressive either. I think he was badly exposed during the world cup. No impact and no dictation.
The new trend with him dropping down between the CB's during build up will hurt us imo. We are missing a vital player in the engine room to play the ball up to when he drops that deep. It will be easy to defend against. The opposition will analyse and figure out to cope with SG dropping that deep - IMHO of course. Further more the impact he makes on the ball in that position is minor. They will look for the long ball (obviously) so it will be covered 99% of the time. He will be missing a player at defensive midfield to link up with and we will be out numbered on the center. Does he drop that deep because he is uncomfortable with getting the ball with a player in the back? I don't know but I don't like the trend.
I think that there are obvious issues when we are off the ball. It will be even more exposed this season without Suarez. Little or no pressure from the defensive midfield will leave loads of space for the opposition - like the Saints goal against us or like the entire 2nd half, right? With Henderson the only one running and a dead engine room. Zero movement or pressure. Horrid and stale.
The real issues will appear when/if our defensive record doesn't improve and we have no Suarez to cover the cracks. In the curernt system its hard to see the DM Combo that can be dynamic enough. Can/Allen?! Can/Henderson perhaps? We need players who can cover a lot of ground at DM imo and track back when needed. Gerrard is awful at tracking back. Even Allen is better. Lucas is far better at tracking players. Can must be as well?
I think we will see the DM exposed badly this season -starting Monday. With the players available it will be hard to correct.
So in short - I do see a problem. We will see soon enough who is on the money - I hope you are
It seems obvious Rodgers wanted to shoehorn both Suarez and Sturridge into the starting 11 at the expense of balance because their goal return warranted the risk. Now that Suarez has gone, I expect we'll see a more balanced side (Southampton notwithstanding) where there's more emphasis on hardworking, creative midfielders like Coutinho and Lallana.
Also, dead-ball delivery can't be understated. The difference between a good and great dead-ball specialist is often the difference between a win and a draw.
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