OUR dominant derby display last night saw our skipper back to his best as he scored a fantastic hat trick to help end a run of dismal results and put Everton back in their box for another few weeks at the very least.
But what I want to talk about is the central midfield pairing of Gerrard and Spearing in an orthodox 4-4-2. Central midfield has very much been our downfall this season. Let’s not lie, we all know there is a massive Lucas shaped hole in our team and that fact has come back to haunt us on more than one occasion since his massively unfortunate injury during the Carling Cup quarter final with Chelsea.
But was last night the day we eventually got the balance right after the best part of 5 months?
The missing piece of the puzzle in the Merseyside derby was Charlie Adam. I feel a bit sorry for the Scot to be honest. Clearly not the fittest, I think Kenny signed Adam as a squad player. Someone to play in probably half the games in a year, a good option off the bench. But the persistence with Henderson on the right (where he is nowhere near as bad as made out to be, and I think he’s an easy scapegoat) and the injury to Lucas has found him playing week in, week out.
The truth is that I think Adam has been running on empty since the middle of January, we’ve just had very little flexibility in being able to rest him. His performances have been poor and his pass completion rates have been absolutely appalling in recent games. He needed a rest and last night he was given one. Given the way Gerrard and Spearing dominated the midfield battle last night, it could be an extended rest until the end of the season.
It isn’t of course the first time that Stevie (3)G and Spearing have played together in a midfield, not at all. It’s just that usually Adam plays as part of a three man central midfield. Adam and Spearing sit deep and Gerrard is given license to get forward. That just hasn’t worked. Why, I don’t know. My theory is that Spearing is a much better passer of the ball when he gets it that crucial ten-fifteen yards up the pitch. Adam is definitely more incisive in the final third of the pitch but he doesn’t have the legs to get back and consequentially leaves wide open gaps in the centre of the pitch.
It might not have been the strongest Everton midfield last night, but in Screech and Rodwell (who I will now refer to as therookiesensationJackRodwell) it wasn’t a weak midfield either. Spearing was the destroyer last night, racing across the pitch to make blocks, put in tackles and harass the Blues when they were in possession. It worked a treat – whilst Spearing was doing that, Gerrard was doing the same and breaking forward with great purpose.
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He has lost pace and he has lost movement, that’s inevitable as injuries catch up and age begins to kick in, but Gerrard last night demonstrated why he is still going to be a massive part of our future. The way he broke forward for his second two goals last night was the perfect example of the first five yards being in the head, an old saying that either irritates or leaves you smugly nodding. Gerrard timed his runs to perfection to be a willing recipient of two fantastic bits of work from Suarez. The Uruguayan was immense last night, running rings around the Everton back four. Ollie Holt was too busy rocking himself to sleep in a corner to comment. But look at the way Gerrard bursts onto the scene – he times it perfectly. Particularly the second. The next thing you know he’s slammed the ball in.
Of course, things will be much simpler when Lucas is back. The Brazilian has been a big miss and our central midfield, whatever line up we’ve gone with, has looked so leaky without him. The long term plan is likely Gerrard and Lucas. For big games, or “big gamesh” as Steve McClaren would say, it will probably be Gerrard, Lucas and Spearing. Either way, that’s next season’s quandary. For today, ladies and gentlemen, a toast to the pride of Merseyside, Steven Gerrard and Jay Spearing
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In respect of Adam, I would leave him out of the team.. His passing is atrocious, pace pathetic & shooting scandalous.. He is just not good enough for Liverpool. We played much better football without him & I think we should keep it that way!! Offload him in the summer.
i rate Charlie a squad player but i like to have him at Liverpool.he is defo not a starter but a good option to have in the bench.Same goes to Henderson,who’s young too.Dalglish’s buys(Carroll,Henderson,Adam,Downing)arent bad players,it’s just when you pay so much money,you have to buy players for the starting lineup,not the bench.i wouldnt sell anyone from the current squad but that doesnt mean that i rate our starting eleven very high.our attack is bad and we all know it.also Spearing is a good player to have as back up to Lucas but he is miles worse than Lucas.next season would probably see us play something like this:
Reina
Johnson Skrtel Agger Enrique
A.Johnson Gerrard Lucas Downing
Suarez
Falcao
Bench:Doni Coates Kelly Spearing Adam Bellamy Carroll
Now i agree that Falcao would be very expensive,40+ million,but if we want to get back to the Champions League and be considered title-contenders again,we need reinforcements at summer.Carroll has talent and i can see him making a name in the future,but a club like LIVERPOOL FOOTBALL CLUB needs top class material in the starting eleven.just my opinion fellas.
You’ll never walk alone
Steve, As you say in your last line Liverpool needs top class.. Charlie Adam is far from that. would have Shelvey in his place for now. But we are going to need a few more key players of quality if we are to progress. I can also see a few on their way out in the summer.. Wait & see that one! (IMO).
We need to sell to free up funds. Johnson could be sold to Madrid we have enough players in that position in Kelly and Flano. If we do not promote our star juniors to improve speed in the team we will become a very slow and old team and our young players will always go in search of first team footie. IMO Sterling should be given game time in the first team. We need to buy just two or three players only but also sell.