I am not disputing Gerrard’s quality or his importance to Liverpool over the years, he has produced moments of sheer brilliance that have salvaged the club and propelled them to achieve great things on so many occasions-FA Cup, and Champions League titles-and nobody has done more in the past to save distinctly average Liverpool teams from the brink of defeat. On his day Gerrard is unrivalled, a man single handedly capable of winning a game, the heart and soul of the club, but he isn’t getting any younger and performances of that outstanding quality will now become rarer. It seems as if his role needs to evolve somewhat as a part of Dalglish’s new side. Suffering with fitness and lacking the dynamism of old, perhaps his role needs to change to become more of a team player rather than a one-man-battering-ram. There are now better players around him-which is maybe what Gerrard was lacking all along-, players that he should trust and with less pressure on him to do everything, he can concentrate on his own strengths, and we could see the best of Gerrard again.
Liverpool showed last season that they are arguably a better team without Gerrard in the side, but they can also be a better team with him in it as well, they just need to adapt his role slightly, so that the other players and Gerrard himself can shine together. A fit Steven Gerrard should always be the first name on the team-sheet, but Liverpool certainly shouldn’t fear his absence any more, as once may have been the case.
The top ten article was written by Lauren Rutter for FootballFancast.com. Make sure to check out the latest news, blogs and podcasts at FFC – ed.
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Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…
well if you had watch pre-season matchs you’d know are two new midfields henderson and adams have been nothing short of shocking.im not a lucas fan but i carnt wait for him and suarez to return. the reason we play better as a team without stevie is because the other players leave it up to stevie. we should have used coady and shelvey instead of wasting 20 odd mil on 2 average players in adams and henderson. wot i dont understand is we have a player like meireles who is a great footballer but looks like he will be pushed out the door . it looks to me like we are building a new wimbledon team not a class side like the liverpools of old
Lee,
“instead of wasting 20 odd mil on 2 average players in adams and henderson.”
Henderson is going to become a very good to probably great player for Liverpool in the years to come. The 20 million is not a waste.
on what evidence have you drawn this conclusion from carnt be the under 21 england performances or the 2 shocking games for us. what im most mystified by is in the years to come we have coady and shelvey so this is why i think he is a waste of money . we need world class midfielders now not in a few years. we havent had world class midfielders since mascherano and alonso
It proves that no one player is bigger than a team; but, I hope he mends soon and comes back to play again. His presence might be the added impetus that would drive the team forward to winning again.
Gerrard does not need to get worried now because there are enough midfielders to cope. When Gerrard returns he should have another role, that is, motivating his teammates on and off the field. May be Dalglish is nurturing another Gary Macallister.
I’ll never understand how people can state for certain that any new English player will be a ‘very good’, let alone ‘great’, player for Liverpool. It really isn’t an argument at all. It’s basing so much on chance and circumstance that it’s very difficult to take it seriously.
From what we’ve seen so far in terms of comments on forums, a majority of LFC supporters have suggested that the list of under-performing players in pre-season contains the names Carroll, Downing, Henderson and Adam. Granted, there are far more that have been poor – (and I personally think Downing has been OK) – but how anyone can suggest with a reasoned argument, stating actual fact, that any of these players will be ‘great’ for Liverpool kind of belittle the debate somewhat.
I’m not saying it won’t happen, I’m just saying it’s far from certain. In fact, Suarez has been the only signing of recent years where I personally have been 100% certain that his attitude matched his talent before we got him.
And he’s also the only other player that we can realistically say for sure will be on the roster next season who possesses imagination and moments of genius.
well said.
you are not playing the stupid english loyalty stuff.
when stevie wanted to go to chelsea how did rafa convince him to stay????? in same way, kk has no excuse on this aquaman isssue.
i carnt believe anyone thinks any midfield at the club comes anywhere near replacing gerrard ,i go as far as if you put all there talents together they’d fall short , i’m not including aquillani or meireles as it looks like the club is pushing 2 of the only players with a footballing brain out of the door. once again we will be relying on 1 player to create chances(suarez) and most of the rest are headless chickens with good engines