hypothetical question

[Mike]

one of the greatest players in the world, arguably the greatest midfielder in the world, the heartbeat of liverpool and the man responsible for turning round more lost causes for lfc than anyone i can remember. the thought of our team without him there at all isn't a pleasant thing to consider.

on the open market, you'd need to cough up around £40m for him, give or take. i don't see us ever coughing up that kind of money under the current regime, so who or how do we replace our captain when his playing days are over? for me, unless we get freakishly lucky in the next 5 years and unearth another gerrard from the youth set up, we'd need to either buy an enormously expensive global superstar or totally change the setup of the team.

i reckon gerrards got another 4 years at the top of his game, that'll take him to 32. we're never going to sell him, so we aren't going to make significant sums of money from him - so we'll have to pay and pay massively for his replacement.

[Hassony]

Lucas will be ready to take over then :-)

[Spiblish]

But we will have 4 more titles and European Cups in the bag by then so players will be queueing up to join us!!!

[Cobs]

Edited November 26, 2008 by Cobs

[jimmylibel]

one of the greatest players in the world, arguably the greatest midfielder in the world, the heartbeat of liverpool and the man responsible for turning round more lost causes for lfc than anyone i can remember. the thought of our team without him there at all isn't a pleasant thing to consider.

on the open market, you'd need to cough up around £40m for him, give or take. i don't see us ever coughing up that kind of money under the current regime, so who or how do we replace our captain when his playing days are over? for me, unless we get freakishly lucky in the next 5 years and unearth another gerrard from the youth set up, we'd need to either buy an enormously expensive global superstar or totally change the setup of the team.

i reckon gerrards got another 4 years at the top of his game, that'll take him to 32. we're never going to sell him, so we aren't going to make significant sums of money from him - so we'll have to pay and pay massively for his replacement.

 

No side really ever replaces their top players, they just tweak their teams. United haven't really replaced Keane, I don't think we really replaced King Kenny or even Barnes for that matter. Teams evolve. You just need to make sure you have other quality players to make up for any one player's loss. You can't hope to replace a world beater with another world beater. You just have to keep raising the general quality of the side through gradual improvement.

[Mike]

No side really ever replaces their top players, they just tweak their teams. United haven't really replaced Keane, I don't think we really replaced King Kenny or even Barnes for that matter. Teams evolve. You just need to make sure you have other quality players to make up for any one player's loss. You can't hope to replace a world beater with another world beater. You just have to keep raising the general quality of the side through gradual improvement.

 

there'd still be a f***ing great hole in our midfield though eh

[CarraLegend]

there'd still be a f***ing great hole in our midfield though eh

 

You can see the future? This thread is bizarre.

[stressederic]

John Welsh will have broken into he first team by then.

[Mike]

You can see the future? This thread is bizarre.

 

you understand the word hypothetical? really, why the f*** did you bother.

[CarraLegend]

you understand the word hypothetical? really, why the f*** did you bother.

 

I understand it perfectly, thanks. It's still a load of s**** though.

 

And good question, once seeing the thread was by you it should of been enough for me to ignore it.

[Andy @ Allerton]

I think Mascherano will end up being the best Central midfielder we've ever had at the club.

 

Him and A.N.Other will be tremendous.

[Mike]

I understand it perfectly, thanks. It's still a load of s**** though.

 

And good question, once seeing the thread was by you it should of been enough for me to ignore it.

 

now that's just nasty

[CarraLegend]

Him and A.N.Other will be tremendous.

 

 

Agreed, then we can bring our Wayne back to this City and partner him with Torres!

[sutty]

you understand the word hypothetical? really, why the f*** did you bother.

 

It has always been thus Mike

 

Whether it's Rush, Keegan, Souness or whoever

 

The Keane comparison ion the mancs side is interesting, because their team dropped off significantly as his influence waned and eventually he left and they had a number of ill fated attempts at replacing him.

 

Brilliant though Gerrard is (and he really really is) I think it's his influence and drive that'd be missed more than anything else...

[johngibo YPC]

I'll be ready by then

[Mike]

It has always been thus Mike

 

Whether it's Rush, Keegan, Souness or whoever

 

The Keane comparison ion the mancs side is interesting, because their team dropped off significantly as his influence waned and eventually he left and they had a number of ill fated attempts at replacing him.

 

Brilliant though Gerrard is (and he really really is) I think it's his influence and drive that'd be missed more than anything else...

can't argue with that.

the other point though is about finance...we won't make any money on gerrard, we'll need to shell out signficantly at some point.

[sutty]

I'll be ready by then

 

PLTNBT

[DanielS]

can't argue with that.

the other point though is about finance...we won't make any money on gerrard, we'll need to shell out signficantly at some point.

 

I don't agree that we will need to shell out on a direct replacement. I don't think its a good idea to chase replacements for any player who has had it argued that they may be the best in the world. I think you avoid the doomed-to-failure replacement search by shifting tactics, style and pace of play to compensate - and we're doing that already. We haven't been half as poor without Gerrard this season as we were last and I think its because we are moulding our game around an idea of how the team should play rather than a particular player.

[sutty]

can't argue with that.

the other point though is about finance...we won't make any money on gerrard, we'll need to shell out signficantly at some point.

 

 

The current climate ™ might change the finance picture...

[Hassony]

How are we going to replace Pepe, torres, agger and Skrtel in 10 years time?

[Mike]

How are we going to replace Pepe, torres, agger and Skrtel in 10 years time?

 

unless you are a&a and refuse to acknowledge gerrards uniqueness then thats not a relevant comparison.

[smithdown]

We'll take fellaini on a free. He's just as good, so I've heard.

[Sion]

We'll take fellaini on a free. He's just as good, so I've heard.

 

The backs of our opponents legs would be kicked to hell!

 

Seriously though, why worry. We'll have somebody to step up, it's inevitable, like when we lost Keegan or Dalglish or Souness or Barnes or Owen.... people said the same things.

[Hassony]

unless you are a&a and refuse to acknowledge gerrards uniqueness then thats not a relevant comparison.

 

He is the best player in the world, but it doesn't mean he can't be replaced,

 

and I think it won't be any easier to replace Pepe or Torres

 

look how many strikers and keepers we went though until we got these two

[Andy @ Allerton]

unless you are a&a and refuse to acknowledge gerrards uniqueness then thats not a relevant comparison.

 

 

 

Gerrard certainly is unique and I happily acknowledge that.

 

But IMO Mascherano, on form, is the best defensive Midfielder at the club. Alsono, on form, is the best passing midfielder at the club.

 

But Gerrard is IMO the best all-rounder at the club. He offers a lot and sometimes seems to be almost 2 players rolled into one when he's on form.

 

But as others have said - every player can be replaced - certainly not like for like - but new players always bring their own unique benefits.