alias75

Im sorry but Stevie isnt the best central midfielder in the world, Fabregas on the last 2 seasons form is a much more complete player, and this season hes added goals to his game. For England i can't think of many games hes dominated through the middle. Maybe the position of central midfield has changed, most teams pack the midfield more teams play 4-5-1 there isnt as much room there, but im sorry how ever much i rate Stevie he isnt the best central midfielder in the PL and wont be until he learns how to control a game, and learns when to keep the ball moving and when to try that killer pass. He is our best and most important player but he needs to prove it on the pitch more often.

All i can say is thank god we didnt lose or draw on Saturday!

Rafa is someone that gets plenty of stick when he rotates and we dont win, so when he makes a very big call and we win you have to support him otherwise we're in a position where your damned if you do and damned if you dont. I think a lot of fans are disappointed in how Stevie's playing at the moment, hes our best player if you look at the best players of our main threats they seem to deliver far more than Stevie is at the moment. Personally i think playing him central midfield is restricting his impact because in modern football that part of the pitch is usually over crowded, but thats another argument. But he's our captain and best player but at the moment hes not really delivering, Saturday was certainly a more positive game and the run for the pen was what we expect to see more often. But i watch him as a player and wonder if hes developed into the all round player he should be by now? He still tries too many killer passes for my liking. Every team has key players but they are simply 1 player in a team of 11 they have to realise this is a team game and the performance of the team is what counts, you still have to perform your function in that team else the whole system is pointless. I watch the impact players like Ronaldo or Fabregas have week after week and thats what Stevie should be doing for us, but at the moment hes simply not playing very well often enough.

Cant let that go, he may not have had a great game on Saturday but hes been MOM in about 75% of the games hes played for us. As for the reasoning i didnt agree with it at the time but we won the game, if your going to criticise the manager for desisions he makes when we lose then you have to give him credit when he makes big decisions and we win. As has been said on here, hes a local lad he wanted to win so bad but maybe that will to win was detracting from him doing his job in a TEAM. I think a similar thing happned to Carragher he wanted to win so badly it was affecting his performance but we didnt have anyone that could come on for Carra. Football is about passion but its also about being controlled and keeping your head in tough circumstances. We had a man advantage and we needed to use it better, bringing on Lucas meant we had a calmer head on the pitch and someone that would keep it simple and get the ball moving. I thought Stevie was coming into a decent game but he was trying to do it all himself that maybe wasnt what we needed. Stevie has to realise hes not above being substitued its not a slight on him as a player, better players than him have been substituted before, the key is to take it like a man not sulk and make sure hes playing so well it doesnt happen again. The truth is his form hasnt been great and we have some very good players waiting for a chance too, if being substituted is going to cause a rift between him and Rafa then Stevie isnt the man i thought he was, he needs to grow up and start playing better and smarter.

Fair enough but there were plenty of gaps in the 1st half, less so when Everton had 10 men naturally. My point is its all very well running round like a lunatic but against 10 men its more important to shift the ball quickly from side to side and use your man advantage we werent doing much of that until Lucas came on, when Rafa says he was playing with too mch heart what i think he means is he wasnt holding his position and tactically that was working against us.

Think the problem for someone like Sissoko is in the vast majority of games we play we're dominating possession and so we need midfielders that first and foremost dont give it away and can be progressive and creative with their passing. In those games like Barcelona away or Chelsea away hes very valuable because he covers so much ground and is a nuisance but we play maybe 5 games like that a season, the rest of the time hes a liability. Plus now we have Mascherano that can do that dirty work plus keeps the ball much better. Still think in a 2nd tier PL team which doesnt have as much of the ball he'd become a very valuable player but for a team like us that should be forcing the play and keeping possession well he doesn't fit in.

Maybe his comments got confused because English isnt his first language, i interpreted what he said as Gerrard was running lots but he did leave big gaps down our right side which Lescott was exploiting, what we needed was someone that was going to play his position stick to it and get us passing better and moving the ball quicker and thats what Lucas did. Sissoko could have been subbed at that time but tactically he was doing his job even though his passing wasnt great etc.. so its probably a message to play the position hes picked in, reminded me of Beckham v Greece to the fans it looks great cos hes running like a lunatic and is popping up everywhere but it means others are having to plug those gaps he leaves. It wasnt a coincidence that Lescott caused us plenty of problems yesterday where was our right midfielder?

Probably the strangest bit about it was that Stevie was starting to dominate the game ok, if we need someone to pass it better get Lucas on and take Momo off who didnt offer much positive. Maybe it was Rafa letting Stevie know if he isnt playing well he isnt indispensable, thank God we won though cos the media would have had a field day if he got subbed and we lost or drew.

Should have signed Bale when we had the chance

Liverpool seem to have more ex pros than any other club more than willing to gob off to the media when things arent going great. The fact is none of them have managed successfully and the ones that have like Kenny never slag the club off. truth is Rafa is a proven winner in Spain and England yet these ex players think they have all the answers, its embarrassing.

Agree with that you cant buy his type of attitude and commitment to Liverpool FC, but there will come a time when we'll have to think about replacing him his performances in the last few weeks havent been great lets hope its because hes injured or maybe just because Agger hasnt been there hes been a little more exposed.

Sick of ex players criticising proven winners be it Rafa or Mourinho or whoever, you have it all the time in the media, usually ex players that have never managed and were never really that successful as players anyway. Who cares what Ian St John, or Andy Gray or Jamie Redknapp has to say about managing, they've never tried it so who are they to judge managers that have a proven track record at the very highest level. Im all for constructive intelligent criticism but most of what we get in the media is the same old myths peddled as fact, every time we lose its rotation, every time we concede its zonal marking, every time Gerrard plays on the right or gets subbed he wants to leave.

These games are never pretty its all about the 3 points which we badly needed. Didnt play great but the one big positive is Lucas, if he can handle this game he can handle anything in the PL and hes certainly someone that will keep the ball and keep things ticking over. The fact he was in the squad today is a big statement that Rafa trusts him and on form he has to be above Sissoko with Mascherano in the team we need someone that doesnt give it away far more than someone with nuisance factor. Hopefully this gives us a big confidence boost, still unbeaten in the league despite not playing great for a while

we have 5 central midfielders 4 of them probably want regular first team football, Lucas is probably more happy to get the odd game here and there to get used to the English game, from what ive seen so far he looks pretty handy, very neat and tidy on the ball which you'd expect from a Brazilian and a very smart football brain on him like Alonso. 2 positions and 5 players doesnt fit, and i hope we sign Mascherano permanently which means Sissoko is the odd one out and realistically hes the least accomplished of the 4. I think the times you need Sissoko's energy and nuisance factor do not outweigh the times we need midfielders that can create and keep the ball and for that reason hes the odd man out.

Hasnt looked the same player this season, making silly mistakes, today i just think he got caught up in the passion of it all. i think long term we should be looking for someone to play alongside Agger with carragher taking Hyppia's role, of course theres still plenty of life in him yet and you can't coach the type of commitment he brings even when he isnt playing well that will always be there.

If he can handle that game English football shouldnt be a problem for him. sorry Sissoko but in Mascherano we have someone that can do what he does but much better plus he doesnt give the ball away as much and doesnt look like a red card waiting to happen.

To get back to the original point of this topic i think todays England game is another example of why Stevie should maybe play wide right. Lets get one thing straight an in form Gerrard playing at the top of his game could play anywhere and be an influence, but i just think he'd influence the game more often from wide right, and even when hes off form i think he'd be a threat. The way football is going midfield is packed especially centrally its hard to think of many central midfielders that have a huge attacking influence on their team, Fabregas is probably the best in the PL but most other teams have their threats out wide where its more a 1 v 1 and theres a little more time on the ball. We have 2 very good central midfielders in Alonso and Mascherano they can provide great cover for the back 4 allowing our 2 full backs and wide midfielders a lot of license to attack knowing the cover is there i think thats the way we should go. Stevie isnt playing well but even not playing well i think he'd be more of an influence wide right where he's 1 v 1 a lot of the time and has that little more time and space. There are many examples of where a teams main threat comes from out wide, Beckham at his best was always the focus of the Man Utd team, now they have Ronaldo, Ronaldinho plays mainly wide left and Sevilla's main attacking threat is a right back!

What i like about Gerrard wide right with license to roam is that 1 v 1 he has the beating of most fullbacks just because hes very direct and powerful and pretty quick when he gets going. Hes also capable of putting in top quality delivery from out wide, its much easier to hit those killer passes from a wide right position than through the middle because that straight ball is much easier to defend. Its a trend in the modern game that midfield gets packed and for central midfielders theres less time and less space, from wide right its usually you Vs the fullback. I remember reading Gareth Barry last season saying how relieved he was he wasnt playing left back when Gerrard played wide right and how surprised Bouma was with his pace and power. Its all about getting the best out of the team, in Alonso and Mascherano we have 2 of the best holding midfielders in the world, they can both sit but they also complement each other because Xabi is able to dictate the tempo with his passing and Mascherano can cover the ground and plug those gaps and win it back. With those 2 protecting the defence it should give players like Gerrard and Babel a license to attack knowing the cover is there.

Insua looks like he'll be the first of Rafas youngsters to make it in the first team, obviously left back is a position which a young players has a chance to force his way in. Still lack a finisher for the ressie, the lad from Barcelona is only 17 i think but im sure he'll get some games with the reserves as some point.

Anderson is slight but hes very quick, think Aaron Lennon or Ashley Young, hes that type of wide player, if he progresses as he should i think he'll be a better long term bet than Pennant.

Anyone know how hes doing at Swansea? see he scored tonight and also last week, hopefully this experience in the first team will bring him on and i wouldnt be surprised if he went on to become a better option than Pennant for wide right, he certainly has more pace and is more direct. Also see Guthrie's finally getting some games for Bolton and seems to be doing pretty good.

We can get maybe 12-15 million for Crouch at the moment, Owen isnt worth that, i think we can sell Crouch and use the money better. Owen unfortunately is far too injury prone now and while im sure he'll still get his share of goals i just see him slowly getting worse and worse. Think we need a proper number 10 to play with Torres

He isnt lightening fast but he isnt slow either, the key is he's able to run with the ball under total control at a decent rate which is something we dont have a lot of in the team currently. Theres a difference between a player being very fast in a foot race and being very fast with the ball, id say Quaresma is very fast with the ball.

The one thing i really like about Quaresma is hes very comfortable on the ball and very comfortable taking the ball even if hes marked by 1 or 2 players. At the moment we dont have enough players that are too comfortable in possession and the result is a team that cant keep the ball. His end product may be questionable but that could be improved, lets face it we arent exactly getting loads of assists and goals from our current wide players. He may not be as good as Ronaldo but he has similar qualities, he can dribble, take on players, occupy 2 players and still keep the ball and yes he knows how to win freekicks. On top of that im sure Rafa was impressed with the tracking back he did against us which saved them losing that game.

Id just like to point out that prior to the Pompey game Gerrard had been out for a few weeks with a fractured foot and had just played twice in a week for England, Torres had played twice in a week for Spain. So there was certainly a reason why they didnt play that game. People always use the argument that Utd never rotate Rooney or Ronaldo, well Rafa has his core players that he doesnt rotate too. Gerrard hardly gets rested, the back 5 pretty much stays the same, yes he does rotate but its usually the same 3 or 4 positions being rotated.