a few inescapable conclusions

[shadow]

I'm not convinced Gerro will be the type of player to dictate a whole game, he is an inspirational action man type player, the type of player when you need something magical he will produce the goods.

I thinks that why he has previously enjoyed playing with the Kaiser and now Xabi, players who attempt to control the tempo of play, short and long passing etc thus alolowing SG to getinto the right position, area etc to provide that something special. No player on the planet can do both these roles, not even Stevie G!

[badpiggy]

where do i start,i'll start at 3,i'm sure bellers never needed a second touch for his second
9. killed us at 0-2? nope
10 would have skinned agger but he's still class? what
12, wtf, what is he then

3. think i meant first goal. sorry.
9. lots of chances for a better and luckier team on the day to come back at us - chances blazed over the bar from the 6-yard box are not the hallmark of a quallity side.
10. agger was skinned a couple of times today on the left but he still looks like a composed quality centre half when playing in his main position.
12. he's a spectacularly athletic, explosive and talented attacking footballer but he's not the combination of workhorse and general that all great central midfielders are. hate to bring this into it but any aspiring central midfielder who doesn't match up to keane at scum is falling short.

[doogle]

Ii agree with what you say but i'm going to be picky, defenders do get skinned from time to time their isnt a defender on this earth who hasnt been embarrassed thats what they are their for even jc, even the best teams no matter how brilliant they have been still conceded chances its the nature of football but i agree with bellers is a top quality player and sg can and hopefully will get better

[AFII]

whats he do to try and get you banned

A lot of people doesn't like that I want Owen back and it was some heated arguments about that. You probably know that Rocket really doesn't like him.


I won't talk about him so maybe you could tell Rocket that.

[vonk]

Just some addtions
- Bellamy was outstanding today. Him and Kuyt worked well together.
- Best finish of the day was Kuyt's. It was no tap in. The defender put in a great effort to block so he had to readjust and put it in the only place he could. Nice to have two strikers with a good finish on them!
- I'm going to get knocked again but does anyone else think Riise has been below par for some time? I watched him closely today and he is not comfortable in possession.
- Lil' Louis was poor. His replacement wasted a great opportunity to get his confidence back. JP needs a run in the reserves.
- Welcome back Xabi, we missed you.
- Great to see the lads really encouraging Palletta when he came on. The encouraged him every chance they had.
- Pepe has been solid recently. Did everything that was asked today.
- I think Agger's concentration dropped second half. He was a little sloppy at times.
- Carra was awesome today.

[Sydney Vicious]

Thing is with Gerrard is that he's brilliant from a central position, but a 4-4-2 (as we play) means that he's rarely as good when he is one of the central midfielders.

What I mean by that is... he's superb playing inside when starting on the right... when he's got Momo and Xabi as back up, with Finnan overlapping. He's not as good with only 1 CM covering as he can easily neglect his defensive duties.

As for the games mentioned (CL final) he was woeful in the 1st half until Didi came on and then had Didi & Xabi behind, (FA Final) he had Momo & Xabi in the middle, (Olympiakos) he was absolute piss in the 1st half along with everyone else in the side that night, IIRC he came alive when we equalised & I said to my dad at half time "He looked like his mind was in a different coloured shirt".

[Kopite_Colin]

I won't talk about him so maybe you could tell Rocket that.

You can talk to me about him, AF! lol

[carheex]

1. 4 ****in nil away from home - i will be drinking to that.
2. for thoses who want cisse back - he wouldn't have finished either of bellamy's goals today. neither would he have made the goal for kuyt.
3. bellamy's second touch to set up his second goal was perfect - he's a very talented footballer.
4. that doesn't mean he'll go on to fulfill his potential.
5. hyypia had a very poor game - he looked tired, old and frustrated when he came off. his day is nearly done. he is a legend.
6. carra had a mighty game. his confidence is returning.
7. reina is a great reflex shot-stopper and a commanding keeper when his destiny is in his own hands. but he's a flapper for crosses and nervous, confused and indecisive defending make him nervous, confused and indecisive. probably age related.
8. this is the first time in ages i've had a chance to get a good look at pennant and i've been suspicious about all the negative posts but i was close to being disgusted with what i saw of him today. this was a game when someone of his supposed abilities could come in and really kick the opposition when they're down. what bothered me wasn't so much his lack of effect but a very obvious wrong attitude. it's either "liverpool paid £7 million for me and i'm playing most games so i've arrived" or "liverpool have paid £7 million for me and i keep ****ing it up but i'll wait for something to change rather than ACTUALLY WORKING". he really looked like he didn't give a **** today. maybe he just has an easily misread blank expression...
9. wigan were absolutely awful and a better team would have killed us at 0-1 and 0-2 with the opportunities they were gifted. see point 1.
10. a good right winger would have skinned agger loads. he still looks class though.
11. xabi worked his nads off but something from his sublime passing game has been lost due to his defensive workload even when momo's playing.
12. just because SG had a good game today doesn't mean he's a great central midfielder
13. sometimes it takes a game like this to turn things around - we really don't deserve to beat anyone by 4 to nothing at the moment but luck is the component no one can be without. today's luck was wigan playing their worst defensive game of the season. see point 1.

Bellamy's a very talented footballer, and gerrard isn't a great central midfielder???? I can only assume you do way too much of point 1!!!

[Red_Polo]

Gerrard is a totally different kind of player to Roy Keane, he regularly does things Keane couldn't dream of doing. Stevie G is a ****ing great central midfielder, I can't believe anyone thinks different, let alone a Liverpool fan.

[dww]

SG is clearly an exceptionally good CM. The problem in the past has been that he was very badly suited to the deep-lying midfield role that Rafa requires. This season he has come on immensely at this and his decision making has been mostly impecable of late.

It is a shame that this seems to have coincided with a new inability (unwillingness) to play on the right. I guess he has worked hard to change to do what Rafa wanted of him in his prefered position and it is hard to switch attitudes repeatedly.

[Howard_lfc]

i take the point but his greatness will only become obvious when he consistently dictates games against utd, chelsea and arsenal.

Good point - well made. 100% agreement from me there.

[Red Chilli]

i take the point but his greatness will only become obvious when he consistently dictates games against utd, chelsea and arsenal.

On his own? Well that would make him great but I think he is great already.

[badpiggy]

Gerrard is a totally different kind of player to Roy Keane, he regularly does things Keane couldn't dream of doing. Stevie G is a ****ing great central midfielder, I can't believe anyone thinks different, let alone a Liverpool fan.

sorry brother red polo but criticising, being unimpressed with or disliking a liverpool player does not make me any less of a fan than you or anyone else. would you think the same of someone who didn't like a particular book by their favourite author or an album by their favourite band? and being a fan of a football team is far less rational than either of those. it's a lot of fun though.

[Red_Polo]

sorry brother red polo but criticising, being unimpressed with or disliking a liverpool player does not make me any less of a fan than you or anyone else.

Did I say it did? Who's most likely to sing his praises? Liverpool fans. Therefore it surprises me not only that someone would think he's not really a great CM, but that the person should be a Liverpool fan. Hardly rocket science.

[badpiggy]

Gerrard is a totally different kind of player to Roy Keane, he regularly does things Keane couldn't dream of doing. Stevie G is a ****ing great central midfielder, I can't believe anyone thinks different, let alone a Liverpool fan.

this may prove to be a long-term problem...
if you think that SG has proven himself to be a great central midfielder - up there with keane, molby, maradona, giles - i honestly think you've dropped your greatness-standards to accomodate a favoured player. i think that SG is a great attacking player from midfield but he doesn't constantly dig the ball out, dictate the tempo (realistically he only has one mode - spectacular) and destroy teams by utterly controlling the game against the best possible opposition. SG is class but he's not great at the particular role we're talking about. imagine if we had prime keane (for example) in central midfield, imagine the opportunities he could creat for a free running SG. do you see what i mean? SG can do loads of stuff that keane couldn't do because he's more technically gifted. but it's also vice versa - as of yet SG doesn't do consistently what all great central midfielders do.