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*Official* English Football Season 2011-12
- Thread starter Johnners
- Start date
sledger
Spanish_Vicente
Sounds like Villa have been absolute garbage again today, 4 shots all match, against a team which has been down to 10 men for half of it.
Edit: Lucky for them that Bolton totally blew it. Reckon if Bolton had won today Villa would have been gone. Will probably now stay up on goal difference.
Edit: Lucky for them that Bolton totally blew it. Reckon if Bolton had won today Villa would have been gone. Will probably now stay up on goal difference.
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Scaly piscine
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Losing by 10 would be fun.
No it would be unspeakably awful.
marc71178
Eyes not spreadsheets
Different roles though surely?
GIMH
Norwood's on Fire
Ikki
Hall of Fame Member
I think the opposite actually and I think most 'Pool fans would agree that he has played much better behind the forward. When he is in the middle he tries to do too much - understandable considering who he plays in midfield with these days - but he doesn't have the legs to be Superman anymore. Consistently anyway.
Disagree, with how you've made that assessment but I'd agree with it ultimately. Lucas in the middle is a beast and has the work-rate Gerrard used to have and a far better ability to keep things ticking over. Unfortunately, they played little together because of injuries but them in the middle is probably the only pairing I'd trust and Lucas is probably the only CM Gerrard trusts. Even though he was probably officially behind Suarez in the final, he came back to midfield to pick up the ball far too often.
We need a quality CM come summer transfer window. Cabaye would be fantastic.
Anyway, come on CITY!
(Spearing)
Uppercut
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Yeah but they miss Lucas much more than they miss Gerrard when he doesn't play.
I'm really coming round to the view that Gerrard's way overrated. I'm not sure if he's got worse, the game's moved on to the point where his skillset isn't worth quite so much or I'm only noticing now how ineffective he is.
sledger
Spanish_Vicente
Would say he's just not got the fitness/conditioning to perform to the same levels as he used to really. His game was always based around powerful, dynamic running and intense physicality. I think as injuries and age have taken their toll on him his body is just not capable of this sort of thing on a regular basis anymore. I don't think his technical ability has dwindled particularly, and I don't think the game has moved to position remotely resembling a situation where a player with his skill-set would be valued less than Gerrard would have been at his peak. But, as with all players whose physical attributes make up one of the most important parts of their ability to effect matches, the wear and tear is catching up with him.
Edit: He's also not helped by the fact that the players he has around him these days are just utter trash.
Edit: He's also not helped by the fact that the players he has around him these days are just utter trash.
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sledger
Spanish_Vicente
I'd agree, but I think it comes down to effectiveness vs longevity. No doubt, he's had a lot of success playing behind the forward, but there's no denying that this is a lot more physically demanding and involves a lot running.
I think if he could rein himself in, and adapt his style of play to make himself a less swashbuckling/drive forward from the midfield/marauding type player, and instead take on a more disciplined deep lying role he'd have a lot of success, and probably prolong his career. He's definitely got the range of passing, long range shooting and tackling ability to make a success of himself in this regard imo.
sledger
Spanish_Vicente
BBC Sport - John Barnes wants Kenny Dalglish to get more time at Liverpool 
Worried about a knee-jerk reaction being responsible for getting Kenny the chop. Obviously not watched enough matches on television this year to know what he's talking about.
Worried about a knee-jerk reaction being responsible for getting Kenny the chop. Obviously not watched enough matches on television this year to know what he's talking about.
Ikki
Hall of Fame Member
I think the problem with Gerrard is not that he can't do what you're suggesting, but that he has such a big role in the team in terms of attacking that both players and fans expect him to create a goal out of nothing. You can see he tries to do too much and the other players defer to him almost all the time. We need players like Suarez up the field who don't have that inferiority complex and who will let Gerrard do one role.
When we had Masch and Alonso you could see it; how effective he was at just doing one role - in that case as an AM. He could trust those guys to bring the ball forward. It's no coincidence we almost ended up winning the league despite Torres missing half of the season.
It's injury, a bit of form, his own high standards and his teammates that contribute to that perception. Honestly, he's probably 3rd-4th most important player in the team these days. I'd rate them like this: Lucas, Agger+Skrtel, Suarez and then Gerrard. Very rarely does Gerrard actually play bad but unless he is doing something out of the ordinary there is always the perception that he isn't doing enough. He's built that perception over a decade but he is still a very good player.
I think if Kenny gets a good system together and gets the rest of the players pulling their weight we'll see the old Gerrard back. He's shown more than a few glimpses of it this year. Not as consistently as before but that's the nature of what made Gerrard the player he was; you could only get that kind of Superman level of performances for a handful of years. I am not sure he is finished physically, but you watch some of his older games circa 05 and you can see the difference.
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