Are the current Liverpool team carrying Gerrard...?

[brightred]

The problem with moving him further up the pitch are the same problems that caused him to move back. So I don't see the logic in that solution at all.

Our style of play doesn't accommodate a Gerrard type player in the DM role. All the long passes and set pieces (when he's on form) don't make up for him not doing the defensive part of the game very well. It's key too because Rodgers is so attack minded that we desperately need a top quality DM with bags of energy who can snuff out danger in front of the back 4 because at the moment they are being horribly exposed.

I think the second half of last season his passing range, set pieces, and leadership were right up there with the best they have ever been (and those assets were very important for our impressive run), but he still wasn't a great defensive midfielder and we were having the same problems that we are experiencing now. Last season our attacking verve was able to compensate, but when that is missing we really look vulnerable. Without Suarez I think starting Gerrard every game is a luxury we can't afford. When the likes of Can and Allen are fit I'd like see Gerrard spend more time on the bench.

I wish we had Mascherano tearing about in midfield for us. He'd be perfect. Or at least someone of his ilk, it would instantly make us better IMO. I think Can could be the long term solution and it's such a shame he's injured.

Have to agree with every word of that.

[Paddy]

He was awful.

[DannyMan2006]

Like I said,he's not getting dropped, he'll play most of our games so if he must play then he must play as far away from our goal as possible. Agree with Dannyman,two behind and him in front

Indeed, it's about finding a position where his plus points out number the negatives. His crossing and link up play is exceptional still, whilst he's intelligent enough to know when to attack the box. He can no longer make a burst forward past a defender or smash in a thirty yarder, but he'd still be a fantastic attacking player.

I know he's not a major attacking threat on the break, but neither is Joe Allen when he ventures forward in the present system. Just free him of too much defensive responsibility, and put the responsibility on those capable of carrying the weight.

[captainfog]

Like I said,he's not getting dropped, he'll play most of our games so if he must play then he must play as far away from our goal as possible. Agree with Dannyman,two behind and him in front

If you moved him forward he would slow our attacking play down far too much. When he moved back it freed up the team to play it's best football

[baitman]

this might help solve the problem of where to play gerrard once everyone is fit

mig

skrtel - lovren - sakho

<manq - can - moreno>

hendo - sterling - lallana

sturridge

[Roboklopp]

**** you doing with 3 CBs? They'll be headbutting each other even more frequently.

[DannyMan2006]

If you moved him forward he would slow our attacking play down far too much. When he moved back it freed up the team to play it's best football

Slowed down our play? He hasn't played up the pitch since Rafa. He hasn't been tried there in a long while. Him in a 2 man midfield was having issues, but there he's still responsible for covering at the back. If we had a three of Suarez / Sturridge / Sterling I bet we'd still look fast going forwards.

[danperkins]

I love Stevie but he's not good enough anymore for him to be the man we build our team around.

It's a problem and Rodgers has some big decisions to make, personally i can't see Gerrard being dropped so I would agree that we probably would need to DM behind him. Him him further away from our goal & closer to the oppositions goal would be a good thing IMO.

[Boogs]

He's the captain. It's not easy for BR to drop the club captain

[cannotmakeit]

I love Stevie but he's not good enough anymore for him to be the man we build our team around.

It's a problem and Rodgers has some big decisions to make, personally i can't see Gerrard being dropped so I would agree that we probably would need to DM behind him. Him him further away from our goal & closer to the oppositions goal would be a good thing IMO.

but he hasn't got the legs to get up there either

[G]

Slowed down our play? He hasn't played up the pitch since Rafa. He hasn't been tried there in a long while. Him in a 2 man midfield was having issues, but there he's still responsible for covering at the back. If we had a three of Suarez / Sturridge / Sterling I bet we'd still look fast going forwards.

Exactly. He's never played high up under Rodgers despite Rodgers saying in his first season here that's where he would be playing. He never tried it much to my consternation at the time. Riskier now that he's older but he needs to have the defensive responsibility lifted and that's the only way. Not that it'll happen like, Rodgers doesn't seem like he's going to address the issue or even rotate him to try keep him in good shape.

[captainfog]

Gerrard's Decay Becoming Sadly Apparent

No-one likes to see a once great player suffering through the decline of his own body. John Nicholson believes some difficult decisions lie ahead for Steven Gerrard...

If the work of John Cougar Mellencamp teaches us anything, and it seems unlikely that it does, it is surely that 'life goes on, long after the thrill of living is gone'. Much like John Cougar Mellencamp's career, as it happens.

This lyric has echoed in my brain a few times while watching Stephen Gerrard since the World Cup. It's easy to write players off too early and too quickly but frankly, Gerrard looks like he's lost his mojo.

There comes a time in all footballer's career's when age catches up with them. Sometimes it happens slowly, almost imperceptibly, sometimes it's just a lull before a rejuvenation, and sometimes it really is The End. This a problem the manager faces with all players, but when it is a player of Gerrard's legend and status, it's extra difficult to handle. The temptation to play them on reputation is evident, with the understandable worry that dropping them when you're losing will leave the manager a target for easy criticism.

In Brazil, Gerrard wasn't alone in playing poorly, nor is he alone in playing poorly in the new season's Liverpool side and perhaps, to some degree, that has masked the degree of his decay. If he was the only one misfiring, his poor form would stand out all the more.

Playing in front of the back four against West Ham, he appeared to be getting bullied off the ball by Stewart Downing, and there can be few greater humiliations in professional football than that. Worse still, Sam Allardyce seemed to have told Downing to merely replicate what Aston Villa's Gabby Agbonlahor had done at Anfield. These days, when given little time on the ball, Gerrard makes mistakes and is easily neutralised. When players of the quality of Downing and Agbonlahor are giving you a hard time merely by pressing you, it's surely time to look at where you are playing him?

The lung-burning runs of yore are not going to happen now. The Boys Own Hero stuff that made Gerrard's legend are a thing of the past. Indeed he seems to be well off the pace a lot of the time. He looks weary, not just physically but also psychologically, his face set in a deeply-etched frown. He doesn't even appear to enjoy football the way he once did, and why would you when you must acutely feel your own decline.

Gerrard is an Everyman and will always give what he's got in the tank, but the feeling that the tank is emptying at a far quicker rate than it used to be is inescapable. Is giving him this deep lying role helping him? It seems not.

In hindsight, the mistake that gifted Chelsea their goal last season seems emblematic. It all too perfectly summed up the problem with Steven these days. Gerrard will not lose his passing ability, nor his knack for a well struck, well-placed penalty, but all too often he has been getting caught on the ball, or once turned is left trailing in the wake of the opposition player, unable to recover.

It feels like just the other day that Gerrard was out injured frequently because we were told the coltish 20 year old was still growing. He has given fans and neutrals alike so much joy since then. The archetypal comic book football hero, striking long range winning goals in crucial games with thunderous volleys, spraying 60-yard Hollywood balls to dissect a defence.

Such a player is hard to cast aside for emotional and symbolic reasons. The hope that one day, he will be that man again, is too strong. The capital built up over a great career too great to easily dismiss. But there comes a time when it has to be, when the Hollywood balls end up in the crowd all too often, and the goals dry up.

Clearly, Gerrard needs someone to do all his running for him, and playing him deep must surely be part of an acceptance that his legs have virtually gone, but it isn't going well at the moment. Playing him further forward and requiring less physicality from him might enable Rodgers to keep his passing ability and his incisive qualities in the side. He must also consider simply dropping him more often to protect him, or if that's impossible to do for political reasons, Gerrard himself must volunteer it.

Obviously, the possibility remains that he will have a resurgence, but Gerrard wears his heart on his sleeve - he's a transparent player, and it's hard to have confidence in that currently because he actually looks distressed at his own inability to perform to the high standards he's set himself over the years.

One of the saddest things in football is to witness a once great player steadily becoming more and more of a liability and watch it being excused or ignored because of that player's reputation. That must not happen to Steven Gerrard. However it is resolved, Brendan Rodgers has some big decisions to make sooner rather than later.

[Havors]

Unfortunately yes. When he hasnt got the ball at his feet 90% of the time he may as well not be on the pitch. His positioning and defensive awareness are poor. He is not a holding midfielder, simple as that. He is only starting every game because of his reputation and the fact he is the captain. It pains me to say it but unless Rogers plays him in his old position he is a liability.

He needs to play less games and in a more advanced role. Unfortunately though we have nobody else any better to play in that position... Can is overweight and unfit but has the potential. Lucas has lost it after his bad injuries. Joe Allen is a bit lightweight.

I personally think it should be Henderson. He has the engine and legs that that position needs. I would swap his and Gerrards roles personally.

[Shaggy]

Henderson's strengths would be negated if asked to mainly sit and protect the back four. He's not a DM. We need a specialist....Rodgers hasn't bought one since he got the job. Not one!

[Havors]

Henderson's strengths would be negated if asked to mainly sit and protect the back four. He's not a DM. We need a specialist....Rodgers hasn't bought one since he got the job. Not one!

Yeah I get what your saying. But lets be honest Henderson couldnt score in a brothel most of the time. His strength and engine would led itself well to the holding position and also allow him to break forward as well.

Unfortunately Rogers didn't buy a specialist and I don't think he ever will, he hasn't the first clue about defensive tactics or qualities.

So top of my Xmas list is a defensive coach brought in and a specialist holding midfielder with proven qualities.