Liverpool legend Jan Molby believes that box-to-box midfielders like Steven Gerrard are a 'dying breed', and that Liverpool's captain may have to adapt his game if he's to be successful for the club this season.
In his column for the Liverpool Echo, Molby observed:
"He [Gerrard] hasn’t played much with the likes of Luis Suarez, Andy Carroll, Stewart Downing and Charlie Adam, so he will I’m sure be eager to make up for lost time.
"I do feel, however, that the marauding Steven Gerrard of years gone by may need to be replaced with a more relaxed, deep-lying midfielder. He may need to pick his games, and pick the runs he makes, a little more carefully as he goes on.
"That won’t be easy for him, as he has been playing in his all-action style all his life, but there are not many midfielders around who play in that manner any more.
"The box-to-box player is a dying breed. Frank Lampard is probably the closest to Gerrard in the Premier League, and even he is finding it tough at the moment.
"But I have always said that Stevie is good enough and intelligent enough to adapt his game to any situation".
Many fans would argue that Gerrard's best position for Liverpool is in the deep-lying central midfield role anyway, so reverting to that should theoretically be easy. However, there have been questions over the years about Gerrard's tactical/positional discipline in that role, so whether it is an effective long-term solution remains to be seen.
It's a shame that such a creative player may need to curb his natural instincts to prolong his career, but if someone with the prodigious skill of John Barnes could do it (and he did brilliantly as a central-mid for Liverpool in the mid-90s), then so to can Gerrard!
Check out this fun Steven Gerrard fact you may not have heard before! >>
Jaimie Kanwar
In his column for the Liverpool Echo, Molby observed:
"He [Gerrard] hasn’t played much with the likes of Luis Suarez, Andy Carroll, Stewart Downing and Charlie Adam, so he will I’m sure be eager to make up for lost time.
"I do feel, however, that the marauding Steven Gerrard of years gone by may need to be replaced with a more relaxed, deep-lying midfielder. He may need to pick his games, and pick the runs he makes, a little more carefully as he goes on.
"That won’t be easy for him, as he has been playing in his all-action style all his life, but there are not many midfielders around who play in that manner any more.
"The box-to-box player is a dying breed. Frank Lampard is probably the closest to Gerrard in the Premier League, and even he is finding it tough at the moment.
"But I have always said that Stevie is good enough and intelligent enough to adapt his game to any situation".
Many fans would argue that Gerrard's best position for Liverpool is in the deep-lying central midfield role anyway, so reverting to that should theoretically be easy. However, there have been questions over the years about Gerrard's tactical/positional discipline in that role, so whether it is an effective long-term solution remains to be seen.
It's a shame that such a creative player may need to curb his natural instincts to prolong his career, but if someone with the prodigious skill of John Barnes could do it (and he did brilliantly as a central-mid for Liverpool in the mid-90s), then so to can Gerrard!
Check out this fun Steven Gerrard fact you may not have heard before! >>
Jaimie Kanwar
Stevie G made his debut at right back and could of gone on to win many many caps for england in this position. I have felt that Stevie G should have been made to play on the right of a LFC Midfield. This would have been a great position for him and also allowed alonso and others more freedom in midfield. you can count on one hand thenumber of times alonso and gerrard both shone when playing together in the centre
ReplyDeleteStevie G has never been able to dictate the flow of a game from centre mid
ReplyDeleteHis real strength has always been his ability to score goals, ideally i would like to see him play up front, just behind Suarez, with little defensive responsibilities
Although there may soon be some pressure to accomodate Carroll, and Bellamy looks like a real option up front with Suarez
A Fan with eyes!! great post
ReplyDeleteStevie G has never been able to dictate the flow of a game from centre mid
ReplyDeleteAgreed.
Gerrard has been a player which we could not do without, our best since he broke into the team as a youngster. Pity there was not a manager good enough to allow him the one trophy which has been non existant since the last time the King won it for us.
ReplyDeleteDalglish is back, Gerrard is fit again and it might take a couple of months for him to get back to his best seeing that he has been out for quite some time. Fact is that LFC will struggle to find another player with his leadership and pure natural quality. Molby is correct that we will need to eventually find a replacement but who may that be and where will we be find such a player?
Any suggestions?