In hindsight, the decision to alter the formation that has been so successful at home this season looks foolish and costly. Had Liverpool won on Saturday, the team would have put 8 points between themselves and Man Utd and would not be requiring a West Brom intervention to maintain their position in 4th.
The game itself was reminiscent of last season’s mauling when Villa bullied our defence and rammed home 3 goals. The difference this time was that the problem was of our own making.
While it is clear that Gerrard would be a greater asset in the long term if he can rule in the holding role, on Saturday’s evidence, it is not a job he is capable of.
For the first time in his career, he looked like a waif hoping for rescue from a world he did not understand. It was clear after 5 minutes that something was wrong and that problem was Gerrard. The structure in the team had collapsed as our captain took up the wrong positions and failed to take control of the game.
Aston Villa exposed that frailty with the greatest of ease. Gerrard was badgered, caught in possession and more often, totally bypassed.
Gerrard must learn from this experience if he is to prolong his career. To play deeper he must be far more disciplined and read the game better defensively.
Gerrard is a wonderful interpreter of the attacking game, he can spot runs and pass footballs to exploit space on the field from anywhere on the pitch. This is what makes him so valuable from a deeper position, his attacking talents are not diminished.
What he must change in his game is his inherent desire to get forward. With Sterling, Sturridge, Suarez and Coutinho up front, there is no need for Steven Gerrard to wander further up the pitch.
The frustrating thing about the Villa game was that our change to 3 at the back did little to halt Villa’s onslaught. It was only once Gerrard was moved from the holding role and replaced by Lucas and later Joe Allen that the team took control of the game.
Once they had it, Villa were dominated in the same manner teams have been all season at Anfield.
The saddest sight though was Coutinho departing at the mid interval. The Brazilian had a horrendous first half but that was because he was having to play his probing passes from deeper on the pitch due to the failure of our system.
Had he remained on the field in the second half, there is no doubt that more chances would have fallen for Suarez and Sturridge.
To substitute Gerrard would have been a gutsy move by the manager but it would also have been the correct one.
The great advantage that Gerrard provides is from dead-balls but Suarez and Coutinho are excellent from direct free kicks and corners respectively. To have Gerrard simply to whip free kicks in from deep is needless when he is not playing well.
Of course he can still be devastating; his ball that won the penalty was a great example of his arsenal. However, he should not be beyond rebuke simply for being the captain.
When he analyses the game Gerrard should consider what is more important to him. To play at the top end of the field or to extend his career and prove that when it comes to football he is still one of the best.
He has the capacity to master the role and to thrive in it. The question is whether he can be mentally strong and tactically disciplined enough to do it.
No. It’s a silly argument . Here’s a better idea. Why not actually play Gerrard in his proper position ?
Gerrard one of the best attacking midfielders in the world should not be wasted in a holding role . Stupidity !
He hasnt got the legs for that role anymore or havent you noticed that
Rubbish. He works harder in defensive mid chasing back , closing down etc . Lampard is a year older and still scores loads.
great idea bt i dont believe it can push liverpool further.the decision of playing gerrard deep will cost us..the Big thing to do now is spend for quality midfielders not wasting time for a new gerrard and the like example we buy ivan rakitic,marek hamsik,hernanes,marco reus or nicholas gaitan n pastore..we cant even worry much about our aging gerrard buying 1 or 2 player like them
DONT put Gerard in this new role against Everton , straight up star Allen there . As we could see in the villa game he is more than capable of doing it
BR logic = play Johnson all season and claim he’s carrying an injury while loaning out Wisdom.
BR logic = chase Salah when we urgently need a defensive Midfielder.
LOL. Johnson is the worst right back in the league, Gerrard will be the worst dm in the league very soon. Oh and Cissokho is also the worst LB in the league.
I will try to be respectful to Gerrard because he is a top professional and deserves respect. However it must be mentioned that Gerrard is neither among the top 10 Attacking midfielders or Central Midfielders in the League. That has to be agreed upon before LFC can move forward. If we continue to dwell in his past we are sure to lose our top for position and frustrate some of our best performers till they start looking outside the club. The best football LFC have played this season was during Gerrard’s absence. Henderson, Joe Allen and Lucas may look like lesser players to LFC fans but they work better as a midfield unit when Gerrard is out cold on the bench. The are mobile, fast, play simple passes and are more disciplined when in possession. Structurally he doesn’t belong in our first team any more. Gerrard lacks the tactical awareness and positioning needed to function as a defensive midfielder or the ‘deep lying midfielder’. He is at the end of his learning curve and has already formed playing habits which we already know will be impossible to unlearn. The more foolish experiments Rodgers makes, the more we drop points, the more frustrated Suarez becomes and the more unpredictable he will be on the field. God bless LFC
Br should go to hell.I always say this guy wants to make us a midtable team and lfc english supporters should raise campaign against fsg.They saved us from admistration so what?when they can’t buy Salah.That’s why I say this Br is deceiving us.
Your not wrong
So what u gimp? If it wasn’t for FSG, we may well have gone the way of Rangers. Maybe u don’t understand the simple laws of being broke? Utter muppet.
Lol . Fsg are billionaires you utter fool. Do you have any idea of what is going on ?
I think you need to go and educate yourself Sean murphy.
True talk pino
I wonder y i’m stil a liverpool fan after all these disappointment in a role, in short i’m totally disheartened.
Yep I’m wondering why most of you on here are Liverpool fans when u constantly bitch cos we didn’t get into a Salah bidding war with Chelsea. Chelsea, a club who uses it’s arrogance and vast wealth to simply buy players strategically, so that their rivals cannot buy themselves.
You talk utter sh!te pal. Try and get a grip of whats happening.
Let face it. Gerrard is our liability. LFC plays way better without Steven Gerrard !
Foooooool . Get lost man u fan