Gerrard has been found wanting defensively on a number of occasions since his transition to defensive midfielder
Stevie proved me wrong last year. Like many other fans, I was unimpressed by his rocky transition to deep-lying midfielder against Stoke and Aston Villa and not that confident he’d get any better. But then he actually did improve and we went on an incredible unbeaten run. However, after an unconvincing start to the season I do find myself wondering how much he really has improved.
Gerrard is great on the ball. He always has been, that’s why we call him Captain Fantastic. He offers a consistent threat on set pieces and is great at starting moves off, whether it’s a simple ball to his fellow midfielders or pinging it the length of the field to the forwards. What concerns me though is his defensive capabilities.
I don’t remember having much issue with this last season. But in our first two games this campaign, we’ve already conceded 4 goals. What happened? A part of me wonders if we waved off any defensive weaknesses Gerrard had last term because we had accepted that it was just down to the way the team played. We were set up to score goals, as long as we scored more than we let in then who cared? This season though, it has been stated by both the fans and Brendan Rodgers that we need to concede less.
Most believe (rightly) that the defenders need to make less individual errors. If they do that, we should do a lot better in succeeding in our objective. But with a proper defensive midfielder protecting the back four, there should be less opportunities for them to make those errors in the first place. So far, I’m not sure Gerrard has shown us that he’s capable of doing that.
Granted, it’s only been two games but so far, for all his skill on the ball Gerrard has been nearly non-existent off it. No one played particularly well against Southampton, but Gerrard did very little to stop Ward-Prowse from roaming through midfield and attacking our back line. Now, against teams further down the table like Southampton he can often get away with this, as a lot of teams further down will lack the necessary firepower to punish us for those mistakes. Do that against a top team however, and it’s a different story.
Man City proved that on Monday. Of course, blame for their first goal must be attributed to Dejan Lovren who was out of position and left a huge gap in our penalty area, and Alberto Moreno, who seemed to forget how to clear a ball under pressure. But that move could have been stopped altogether if Gerrard had stayed with David Silva as he drifted into the huge gap that Lovren left. If Gerrard stays with Silva, he never heads that ball down and Jovetic never gets anywhere near it. City realised this and they spent the rest of the game using the space that Gerrard had left to repeatedly attack us, and we conceded three goals as a result.
I have no problem with keeping Gerrard in that position for the majority of this season. But when we come up against teams who can punish us for displaying such weaknesses, there will be a time when Brendan Rodgers weighs out the risks of deploying Steven Gerrard in his new role.
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Think you’re going to get criticism for this article – doesn’t mean your not right though!
Haha, luckily I’ve been bracing myself for that ever since I wrote the article! Thanks though.
I like the captain but seriously gerrard in that role this year we will get punished .teams like madrid, city,spurs arsenal,chelsea will toy with gerrard the guy needs few game time like lampard we needed a replacement now than later
So very true. Gerrard is shockingly bad defensively, but because its Gerrard, the defence is going to take the criticism. Spot on with the second goal. If Gerrard had done a half decent job, Moreno wouldn’t be in a position to make the fatal error, and this “slip” in not tracking runners by Gerrard, happens time and time again in every game. Liverpool will not challenge with Gerrard in the deep lying position. Move him forward, rotate him with Coutinho, or put him out to grass.
Rogers take all blames! Since he assume LFC manageral position how many big game has he won?
Rogers need to go extra courses on how to defend in big games!
Completely agree about Gerrard as a DM. He has never been the best at the defensive tactics of the game, tracking players etc even when he had pace and was in his prime. His movement to this deeper position has shown that he can still tackle, but more importantly it has demonstrated that he is one of the best deep-lying playmakers in the world.
Pirlo is probably the best playmaker in the world, but he has Vidal and Marchisio as DMs alongside at Juve and De Rossi and Verratti for Italy. Alonso had Khedira at Madrid, Gerrard has Henderson, who is not a DM.
I’ve stated for a while now how the Reds need a DM and GK just to take the pressure off Gerrard. He can’t do both roles – virtually no one can.
I agree, we should invest in a new DM and have him rotate with Gerrard. Don’t think that will happen until next summer though!
A new DM will need pace to cover the back line too, so not Lucas. Song would have been adequate, but he’s gone to West Ham.
spot-on article! Our midfield is almost non-existant and not imposing enough in matches. And obviously we need emre can and gerrard should take a place on the bench, because he obviously lacks what is required to perform the task required of him
Its time for our beloved manager faced up to the reality of playing without Steven Gerrard . To be honest a lot of premier league clubs will punish us and Gerrard is the weak link in the defense . We need energy and mobility in that area . No one is bigger than Liverpool with all due respects to our captain fantastic . Time for some bold decisions and see how it will work .That Tottenham team was very quick on the ball and they will punish us on Sunday if we don’t fix the problem .
rodgers should have guts to put gerard on the bench.let hendo and allen play that central midfield.alen has good workrate ,has good ball retention.should come from the bench to add depth .my other wory glen johnson who has become useles and costing the team points.any team knw if u want to beat liverpool atack their right fulback.off load him.let flanagan and manquilo battle for right back
Thanks Josh for subtly bringing up the Gerrard mess. We need to promote Gerrard to Player-Coach, so he can sit on the bench with BR&Pascoe and assess the game and be brought in with a max of 25min(if really needed)cos he is a good reader of the game, but his feet won’t allow. BR’s splendid work and legacy will be defined by the way he deals with his incompetent captain. Let’s relieve him of captaincy, while we still LOVE him(as a person), Hendo or Lovren or even Lallana will handle the armband with ease.