15 Mar 2012

Souness: Neal is wrong - Gerrard would *not* have made Paisley's team...

Bob Paisley's all-conquering team of the late-seventies/early eighties is widely regarded to be one of the greatest Liverpool sides of all time, and after his hat-trick heroics against Everton, Anfield legend Phil Neal insisted that Steven Gerrard would've made the starting line up under Paisley. However, according to Liverpool's legendary captain Graeme Souness, Gerrard would'e struggled to get into the team.

Neal - who won an incredible four European Cups as a Liverpool player - told Goal.com:

"If Stevie G was around when I was playing he would have won a place in our team. Bob Paisley put some great sides together but I think Stevie would have got into all of them. I don’t know who you would have dropped but there would have been a place in the side for him"

Souness, who played alongside the likes of Alan Hansen, Kenny Dalglish, Ray Kennedy, Phil Thompson and Neal himself during that glorious period, disagrees with his old team-mate, and argues that Gerrard would've been warming the bench under Paisley:

"I think he would struggle to get into that [Paisley's] team. I don't think Gerrard would want to play in a wider area. Unless he was prepared to do that, I don't think he would dislodge Terry Mac...or latterly, Ronnie Whelan, who was a fabulous player; and he would not replace Ray Kennedy.

"Make no mistake: Steven gerrard is a genuine star. He's carried Liverpool in their recent history, and he's been absolutely magnificent, but if you're looking to get the best out of him there are only certain positions to play him".


Souness makes some good points, and as the focal-point of that great side, he knows what he's talking about. However, he does get one thing slightly incorrect: McDermott did not score 25 goals ever season; he scored 22 and 20 respectively between 1980 and 1982, and his overall average outside that was about 8 goals a season.

So far, Gerrard has averaged 14 goals a season over his Liverpool career, and if you add on assists, then it his overall creative output looks even more impressive.

So - who is right: Souey or Neal?



Jaimie Kanwar


102 comments:

  1. He would have got in alongside Souness, just in front Of Terry Mac I reckon. However, it would be a close run thing wheras today he's our best central midfielder (attacking or defensive) our best right sided midfielder and our best right back. He's also pretty useful as a 2nd striker and he'd do ok at centre back too.

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  2. you're wrong souness, he would have taken your place! funny how souness assumes he would start ahead of stevie and co.

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  3. Souness is just jealous and envious. He does not know what he is talking about. Stevie is a player of a life-time. He would have had a place in any team, in history

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  4. I loved Kenny and Soey but Gerard would walk into any Liverpool team

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  5. You're having a laugh. Souness was a superior player to Gerrard, and a better captain (IMO)

    Sent from Samsung Galaxy Note

    -------- Original message --------
    Subject: [liverpoolkop] Re: Souness vs. Neal: LFC legends disagree over Steven Gerrard. Who is right? | Liverpool-Kop.com

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  6. i rate terry mac immensely but if he had to cover Charlie adam's arse every game he wouldnt be half as revered as he is. if gerrard played in a team where he didn't have to compensate for poor teammates and do their jobs for them, then just how much more could our skipper have achieved?

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  7. A lot of Gerrard's goals were from penalties

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  8. You put Alan Kennedy in your all time Liverpool team , so don't think your opinion counts , Souness was brilliant as was Ray Kennedy Terry Mac Jimmy Case Ronnie Whelan , but STEVEN GERRARD is the best player I have ever seen in nearly 50 years of watching Liverpool , never thought I'd ever see a better player than Kenny in a red shirt , but I'll say it again STEVEN GERRARD is LIVERPOOL F C's greatest ever player , don't reply to this cos if you don't agree your wrong . Alan Kennedy disqualifies you from the discussion , actually there is no discussion , STEVEN GERRARD is our greatest ever player

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  9. Souness is forgetting one thing - he was great and he had other great players around him in a great team. Just look at how good Stevie is, in a (mostly) average side. If Gerrard had the players around him that Souness had - he would've proved to be even better.

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  10. you're opinion is fine for you mate. swap souness for gerrard. stevie would have had multiple European cups. put souness in a side with mellor, le tellac, pongolle, nunez, biscan, traore, et all and what would souness have won? i am not down playing souness the player, he was amazing, but dragging a team to trophies like zidane, maradona, stevie etc have done tells you more about their qualities then any stat or Arm band will ever do!

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  11. Trev22maccormack8:21 pm, March 15, 2012

    nobody can say that two different eras  i think as players they were probably matched souness played with a much beter team so youd have to give gerrard alittle more credit

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  12. Ah, the delightful ravings of a RAWKian Superfan; I'd recognise it anywhere.

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  13. Jeez, don't exaggerate or anything.  Putting Gerrard alongside Zidane and Maradona?!  What has Gerrard ever done for England? Nothing.  

    And he didn't 'drag' Liverpool to victory in the 2005 CL - it was a team effort, even in the final.  If it wasn't for Gerrard's tactical indiscipline, Liverpool would not have been 3-0 down at half time against Milan.  That's one thing you wouldn't get with Souness - he controlled the pitch, and dominated midfield, and tactical indiscipline was a foreign concept to him.Additionally, the likes of Nunez, Le tallec, Pongolle and Biscan didn't play regularly with Gerrard, and you conveniently neglect to mention all the other top players who *did* play regularly alongside Gerrard.
    Souness was 10 times the player Gerrard is, and he was also a far better captain.  

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  14. Jeez, don't exaggerate or anything (!) Putting Gerrard alongside Zidane and Maradona?!  What has Gerrard ever done for England? Nothing.  

    And he didn't 'drag' Liverpool to victory in the 2005 CL - it was a team effort, even in the final.  If it wasn't for Gerrard's tactical indiscipline, Liverpool would not have been 3-0 down at half time anyway.  That's one thing you wouldn't get with Souness - he controlled the pitch, and dominated midfield, and tactical indiscipline was a foreign concept to him.

    Additionally, the likes of Nunez, Le tallec, Pongolle and Biscan didn't play regularly with Gerrard, and you conveniently neglect to mention all the other top players who *did* play regularly alongside him.
    Souness was a better player and leader than Gerrard. 

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  15. Jeez, don't exaggerate or anything (!) Putting Gerrard alongside Zidane and Maradona?!  What has Gerrard ever done for England? Nothing.  

    And he didn't 'drag' Liverpool to victory in the 2005 CL - it was a team effort, even in the final.  If it wasn't for Gerrard's tactical indiscipline, Liverpool would not have been 3-0 down at half time anyway.  That's one thing you wouldn't get with Souness - he controlled the pitch, and dominated midfield, and tactical indiscipline was a foreign concept to him.

    Additionally, the likes of Nunez, Le tallec, Pongolle and Biscan didn't play regularly with Gerrard, and you conveniently neglect to mention all the other top players who *did* play regularly alongside him.
    Souness was a better player and leader than Gerrard. 

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  16. So what are the likes of Alonso, Garcia, Owen, Hamann, Hyppia, Torres, McAllister, Anelka, Mascherano el al - chopped liver?

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  17. I remember Mcdermott, great player, but Souness AND Gerrard, at his best, would have to be the best midfield pairing for me. But they are totally different eras, and Souness is correct in a way, with teams very rarely playing with two out and out strikers nowadays, Gerrard might have found it harder to fit into the team formation 30 years ago.

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  18. As normal Kanwar, you get your facts wrong again.
    During Sky's coverage of the derby match Souness stated Stevie G would get into any Liverpool side.

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  19. Jamie K do you ever get time away from your keyboard to watch LFC play?  Stevie in a better team than today's team would be even better . When was the last hat trick scored at Anfield against Everton by a non forward?  Three goal actions speak louder than your words and dodgy opinions.

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  20. i never said he was as good as zizou or maradona. i spoke of players dragging teams to trophies when odds where against them. did any of the world class playerswe were supposedly flooded with lead by their performance at 3-0 down against Milan. how about the f.a cup final? tactical discipline he's never had but i won't hold that against him. my point was that he's had weaker players alongside him qs opposed to souness. if he played behind rush. or with kenny he would have achieved even more.

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  21. Gerrard did have alonso,macherano and torres around him and still didn't win the league stevei G has many poor games as he has great games.

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  22. you've named players who've played with stevie, over the course of 13 years! but seriously, how many of these boys would have replaced Hansen,kenny, Barnes, souness, rush, terry mac, Thompson, etc from previous generations? lets just agree to disagree.

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  23. wat has any manager managed to do for steven gerrard as in get the best out of him for england?? his prffered position for a start might of helped. thats harsh and desperate that comment.
    how was it gerrards fault we were three down at half time?
    i didnt realise he was playing at right back and was black lol.
    ok souness was great no dought about it, my type of player.
    but could he be as good today?
    our team in istanbul was thread thin with average and poor players with a handful of class ones, and injury problems.
    had didi hamann not come on we would have lost thats for sure, but we won because of gerrards drive

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  24. Its a matter of opinion. you would have had to have experienced souness playing, to compare him with gerrard!!! So a lot of people commenting on here,have biased opinions!! like the chap writing the article.

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  25. Pointless post, it's like the Maradona v Messi arguements, it was a different game 30 years ago. Gerrard is the ultimate modern day clutch player, Souness was a hero in the late 70's/80's, but would he be so effective in the modern game? Just as pointless a thought at putting Gerrard in that team really...

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  26. Didn't even read your article cos I don't rate anything that man says. Great player yes. As a pundit I can't stAnd him. I turn the tv over when he starts to talk. Ynwa

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  27. Souness' analysis shows why he was an inept manager

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  28. GERRARD BEST PLAYER EVER TO WEAR A LIVERPOOL SHIRT FUCK SOUNES 

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  29. Jaime K....why was Gerrard voted the second best player who shook the kop. SECOND BEST behind Kenny. Hmm...I think he definitely would've made that team. He singlehandedly got liverpool into the champions league in 04 season. He scored the crucial goal against Olympiakos. He won them the Fa cup with two clinkers. Why was Graeme Souness not voted ahead of Gerrard in 100 players who shook the Kop? Because there was only one player better than Gerrard.

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  30. Sometimes you talk sense and other times you really speak out your backside. I can't believe you're trying to play down Gerrard's part in winning the 2005 champions league. You've lost all credibility with me. He most certainly did drag Liverpool to victory, name one final that Souness had a greater impact than Gerrard in 2005 or 2006 even at the end of the 2005 match he played right back and STILL looked the best player on the pitch. Next you'll probably be saying he'd nothing to do with winning the fa cup the following year..

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  31. Whether I've 'lost credibility' with you or anyone else is irrelevant to me. I have my view, you have yours. Get over it already. You disrespect the rest of the players by furthering the cliche that Gerrard 'single-handedly' won Liverpool the CL in 2005. That is complete nonsense:

    * For a start, Gerrard played only 10 of the 15 CL games that season.

    * He scored only 4 goals in those 10 games, 3 of which were in the first group stage.

    * Gerrard scored a crucial goal against Olympiakos, but without Pongolle and Mellor, Liverpool would've gone that night. They made the most important difference on the night, not Gerrard, who did nothing in the game until scoring his goal. It took two bit-part players to inspire the team that night, not Gerrard.

    * Milan were 3-0 up in the final mainly because of Gerrard's indiscipline in midfield. Hamann's introduction was the turning point in the game.

    Yes, Gerrard was influential, but he did not single-handedly win the CL for Liverpool. The five games he missed included a crucial Quarter-Final away leg against Juventus; in the final, Hamann, Smicer, Dudek and Carra all had match-winning impacts. The entire CL run that year was truly a team achievement, and I'm sure Gerrard himself would agree with that.

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  32. 4 players in a team? You dont win leagues with 4 players, let jk make the stupid comments!

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  33. Jaimie when you put an opinion across you do it saying its my opinion I'm entitled to it but then when someone else does the same you blast them and say they're wrong!!!

    You're right everyone has their own opinion especially when it comes to favourite players but there's no way you can unequivocally say that sourness was better than gerrard as you have, same as no one can say vice versa. They're both great great players, people will favour one or the other but absolutely no one can say ones better than the other

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  34. You're one-eyed view is amazing. It's okay for people to constantly tell me my opinion is wrong, but I'm not allowed to do the same?! Nonsense.

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  35. Jaimie K you seem to know everything, everytime...Why dont you quit journalism and take a managerial job at some club!!?? Souness was a great player during his time...S Gerrard IS a great player right now...and saying that Gerrard isnt a great player as England has never won something...Ever heard of George Weah Jaimie??...I dont remember him winning anything for his country, but still....

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  36. I have been watching Liverpool since 1972 and Souness is the best midfielder ive seen for liverpool or any other British team for that matter. He was a born winner, controlled the game and was hard as nails

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  37. It's quite difficult to compare players from different eras.. for obvious reasons.  And sometimes there's a difference between the 'best player' and your 'favourite player', which aren't necessarily the same thing.

    You seem to be very sure Souey is better than Stevie G Jamie.. Bold statement.. entitled opinion.

    We often have a romantic notion of past greats.. Time has erased all the mistakes and poor games they may have had. Stevie is still playing.. we can all see some of his short commings because he's under the microscope week in week out.

    A microscope that Souness and his predecessors didnt have to play under. A one camera angled MoTD with its single replays and a chat down the pub was as far as analysis went back in the day. I don't have to tell you how overanlyzed players are these days, from sky pundits and they're fancy screens and gadgets to OPTA stats that discect every minute and kick of the ball for heaven sake. 'The press' has become a mass multi-media machine that just pumps out information 24/7.. and everyone is an experet .

    There is a train of thought that to be considered a truely great player he should have, in theroy, the ability to play in any era and still be considered great. I think Stevie could definitely go back and be great but I'm not so sure Souness could come forward and be great in the modern game. Souness was a very talented footballer but his legendary status was built on his hard man, midfield enforcer ability. The modern game( i.e.referees) wouldn't allow souness to control the midfield these days by smashing the opposition players like he did in yesteryear. But I'm sure other greats in that team could play today, prime example being the great Ronnie Whelan.. who is simply one of the most gifted footballers to ever play for LFC.

    In 20 years time, when the dust settles on Stevie's carrer I think he will quite rightly be considered Anfields greatest along with Kenny. I think Souness perhaps is your favourite player (and not a bad one to have at all !!) but it doesn't make him better than Gerrad. The same way Fowler is my favourite player but I'm sure I'd meet plenty of opposition if I said he was better than Rushie .... Which he was !!! LOL

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  38. Liverpool fan here. Loved Souness to bits as a player but he was always dominated by bryan robson when he came up against him. I think Gerrard is a better footballer than Souness.

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  39. Jaimie

    You should stop one day and look at that 900 pound gorilla in the room 
    The one everyone seems to notice but you : For years now, for whatever reason, you have been biased against Stevie for nothing

    What is that constant venom about?


    You stopped for a while and even came up with some well-thought articles on LFC 
    and even seemed to be gathering  a fan base

    But then gain...you're back at it again with your the Stevie G bashing

    This is not opinion but fact:
    1. There is nothing further from the truth than saying we were 3-0 down in Istanbul because of Gerrard'd indiscipline

    If you remember: Benitez chose to play Kewell who underperformed on that day and chose an attacking formation even though we were no match for A C Milan in that dept, and should have packed the midfield.

    It is true that Gerrard is a big enigma because he is a bit of everything and a Jack of all trades and a master of none
    He is not a genuine creative midfielder nor is he a genuine holding midlfielder or a striker. He is truly very difficult to categorise

    Yet, fact again: 

    Gerrard never played in a team of the quality Souness played in,  for more than a year in a row.
    True he never had Traore and Biscan all the time but in truth...did he have a Dalglish and a Rush playing next to him for 6-7 years?

    Had he been in that team, he would DEFINITELY have achieved more...and YOU MUST BE A DUMMY OR YOU MUST BE BLIND:
    Haven't you seen enough of his skill to understand that he is truly a very special player?

    THE GUY HAS BEEN AROUND FOR 10 + YEARS NOW...HASN'T HE PROVED HIMSELF ENOUGH TO YOU?

    WHAT DO YOU REALLY HAVE AGAINST HIM? BE HONEST!  

    Just like the others, I have lost the little respect I had for you

    You are nothing but a petty little nuisance that has no place writing on football on the internet!

    Shame on you !!!!!

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  40. I have the feeling you were waiting for such an occasion as that hat-trick to ignite a controversy...just to have hits on your blog. You knew what our reaction -true Liverpool fans - would be. You ARE NOT a true fan ...just an opportunist...and a very petty one. Shame on you..Really !!!

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  41. Ha ha Jamie, you love causing a storm.

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  42. I think Carra is in a better position than most to decide this little argument and he says Stevie is the best ever........enough said! In my opinion, in Gerrards prime (2005-2009) he would've got into any side in the world including the great Barca side. Players such as Kaka, Henry and Zidane all sang his praises and Alonso still maintains that Stevie is the best he has ever played with. You only have to watch the twitter timeline whenever Stevie plays to see how all the current crop of young proffessional footballers look upto Gerrard. He is a legend......full stop!! He would, without doubt, have been in any Liverpool team in any era. What Souness fails to recognise is that Stevie would still have been nurtured through the clubs ranks being a local lad and because of this, he probably would have been in the side instead of players such as himself being bought in to fill that position.

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  43. He does indeed...he loves causing storms!!That hat-trick is what he was waiting for, for long, to stir some more controversy...So that he could get more hits on his blogHe knew what the reactions of the fans would be ..he was counting on thatJaimie Kanwar is not a true LFC fan...he only uses our club as a pretext to make waves on the internetIs he an opportunist? YesIs he a sociopath? ...probably...Only sociopaths can show that amount of  machiavellian design At the end of the way...he finally showed his true colours...those of a petty conceited twit!!!

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  44. He does indeed...he loves causing storms!!
    That hat-trick is what he was waiting for, for long, to stir some more controversy...
    So that he could get more hits on his blog

    He knew what the reactions of the fans would be ..he was counting on that

    Jaimie Kanwar is not a true LFC fan...he only uses our club as a pretext to make waves on the internet

    Is he an opportunist? Yes
    Is he a sociopath? ...probably...Only sociopaths can show that amount of  machiavellian design 

    At the end of the way...he finally showed his true colours...

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  45. sstevie gerrard is the best player ever to have played football

    i would put him way above maradona. zidane or ronaldo or messi

    he is probably shading it against spearing and Adam

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  46. Chi Bai lu, my Chi Bai says just a waste of time, only academic exercise. Get focus on the next game.

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  47. There you go again Garcia should not be in that list of players , he was ok but come on , you really aren't that good a judge of a player are you ? He did have a great song about him tho , did that sway you ? Don't leave your day job ( no Clemence in all time eleven too , Barney in Clem not , oh dear) as I just said , not a good judge of a player

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  48. Did you ever actually see Souness play? He was the best central midfielder I've seen in a Liverpool shirt. Football is all about opinions and Souness is entitled to his as much as anyone else

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  49.  Different era, different rules etc. Cant compare them so lets just be happy that both have played for the great club that is LFC!

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  50. Read my comment again... How exactly is anything ive written 'one-eyed'?! Ridiculous

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  51. Jaimie's an idiot9:51 am, March 16, 2012

    Jaimie's a dickhead

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  52. Champions leauage and F.A Cup winners! :)

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  53. Its a joke to suggest the other two had more of an impact as we wouldnt have gone through without that WONDER GOAL!!

    What did Pongolle and Mellor do other than score???

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  54. You dont know your footie, Souness was a class above Gerro, coz he has three assists from Suarez, you go on and make him the best Red player ever? you are a liar and a football layman....He would not make it, Gerro was humble enough to admit that he no better than Rush...so what the hell are you talking about?  Once again Jamie brilliant piece mate keep it up

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  55. Souness was a great player and when u talk international football well Messi has generally been ordinary for Argentina nobody doubts his class.
    So why cast doubts on how good Stevie really is, he is a legend any knowledgable supporter of any club will tell you that.
    In addition to that many of the players around Souness all his pool career made his job that much more easier when a lot of people believed u beat Stevie u beat Liverpool.

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  56. Where's my reply ?

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  57. I think playing in such a average team for most of his career, has made Stevie G look better than he actually is or at least inflated his impact. But still, very lucky to have had him here. I shudder to think where we would be without him.

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  58. He wouldn't suit the Barca side, with his style of play, so no, he wouldn't get in. Technically, in relation to the short passing and movement style, he is lacking. He is more the box to box, gung-ho, hollywood balls and direct style. Because Carra is his team mate, that means he is in a better position? ok(!)

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  59. Funnily enough, he is the one pundit most non-Liverpool fans like.

    I guess we can't handle some of the things he says about the club

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  60. Seeing how many we have missed this season a poor reason to question Gerrard's goal scoring ability!

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  61. Can Souness and Gerrard be compared? Souness a hard man of midfield and Gerrard who has more finesses then Souness ,only player i think Souness can be compared with is Roy Keane and Gerrard's best position in midfield is more advanced then what Souness would have played.

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  62. SG is a better all round player than Souness. Souness was a great centre midfielder, but SG can play right back, right wing, second striker, left wing, as he did for England, that makes him a complete all round footballer. 

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  63. I seriously advise you grow yourself some balls one day kid
    I can see you deleted my comments and were not man enough to post them
    Afraid of the truth?  
    You are every bit the loser I always thought you were
    Sad....

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  64. That means Alonso, Garcia etc are better that Souness and his team mates

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  65. Wasn't that Rafa's fault in getting his tactics wrong in Istanbul? When we were playing more of a 442 and Milan playing with 4 of the best midfield players in the world so it was 4 against 2 in midfield 
     ? It was only when Hamann came on and knocked their team out of shape we saw the best of our team. 

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  66. who cares coz we will never know

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  67. Jaime you never seen Souness play in the flesh and i very much doubt you have seen SG play live...

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  68. If gerrard played in their era, he would have definitely fought for a first team place and the positions would have been given to players based on their form. In any case, I do not see Gerrard losing out to souness, whelan, vice versa.

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  69. Souness scored 38 goals in 247 games (league) where as Stevie G's scored 89 in 400. which is 1 in 6 compared to 1 in 4 in a lesser team with lesser quality players. Not sure how souness was a better player. Pele himself regards gerrard to be in the fifa 100 but I cant see souness there. ZZ himself stated gerrard as the best in the world (in 2005). better captain? maybe but again, its up for debate!!

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  70. all good players but they never all played together for a consistent period unlike the team souey was a part of. Anelka was on loan for one season if that, garcia was average who had 1 good game in 4, hamman and hyppia were great servants to the club but neither would get in to the team of mid 70s/early 80s, mascherano, alonso and owen were/are great players but that it

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  71. As I said in a previous , removed post anyone who would leave Ray Clemence out of and put Alan Kennedy in an all time Liverpool eleven , shouldn't be taken too seriously .

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  72. Is this nutjob Kanwar STILL running a website?
    This is the sinister little rat that was defending Hicks and Gilette's pillaging of the club tooth and nail.

    1st what a load of crap he writes!
    2nd why is he spamming up Newsnow. Calling him a gutterjournalist would be offensive to gutter journalism
    3rd Any real Red should avoid his vile lie filled sight like the plague!

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  73. Theycallmemrburt4:04 pm, March 16, 2012

    jack of all trades but unfortunately master of none.

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  74. How can a player who is considered in the top three of Liverpool all time greats not get into the Bob Paisley side. With Rush and Dalglish being the other two. Souness was no doubt great player, but Gerard is better than Souness simple as. He's near on the complete midfielder. Just taking into account the important goals he scored he'd wipe the floor with the other midfielders. Anyone who said yes in that survey is looking through rose tinted glasses. Any team with such quality is hard to get into, but matching player for player there is no question.    

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  75.  Where they ever in the same team ???, were talking about paisley teams with top men in every position. Then we have Gerrard having to play with half the team average, Gerrard would get into any team anywhere at any time,

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  76. Dont think Barnes ever played in a team with Souness

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  77. He wouldnt replace Souness, Souness was the playmaker in the Liverpool team and the hard man. He made the Liverpool team tick AND stopped the other team playing. Souness would be in any Liverpool team. But so would Gerrard because he would be the attacking threat - not Terry McDermott. No contest there.

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  78. So the partnership with Torres wasn't based on short passes and movement and style?

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  79. Mastered the right wing,right back and second striker position which is his best position.

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  80. Don't anyone else post a comment , the debate is over , should never have began , Souness was great , best midfield player in his era bar none . Great captain , but if was a straight choice between him and STEVEN GERRARD Stevie every day of the week , end of and if you don't agree your wrong , no argument STEVEN GERRARD best Liverpool player ever , it's not about opinions it's a fact . Stevie greatest ever , then Kenny and in my opinion Emlyn next , debate that if you want , but you shouldn't , cos I'm right FACT , cheers Rafa

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  81. stevie is a poor defensive midfielder and lacks the tactical sense to play that position. he may be the best we have right now but thats not saying a lot. Lucas does the job much better when fit. as an attacking midfielder he is excellent but he puts our defensive midfielder under some major pressure at times. Benitez was right to play him on the right where he played his best ball for us. Not to mention goals and assist stats were better then. at his age thats were he should be playing now. the problem with that is your left with spearing and adam and neither of them should ever have the pleasure of wearing a red shirt.

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  82. swap souness for stevie and I would argue they wouldnt have won those european cups. souness was one of the best in his day. He could do it all from the middle of the field. Stevie cant

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  83. souness not jealous... look at his medals and look at stevie's....no comparison. souness not jealous of anyone

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  84. Didi made the biggest impact against Milan

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  85. only on the right side of midfield. he would have made the team better imo but not in any other position than right mid.

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  86. european cup at wembley. Souness was large for us and set kenny up with a great pass for the winner. comparing stevie to one of the best central midfielders is silly. that has never been stevies best position. he is a fab player, brilliant in istanbul from the second half on but couldnt do anything in the first half because he didnt have didi to protect him. on the right or odd the front two he is your man. but not over dalglish or beardsly but i cant think of any right sided player that would have kept him out of any team. what souness says is he might not have wanted to play there and so might struggle to get into those teams. fair comment if you ask me.

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  87. Robson wasn't exactly rubbish was he, so not something that Souness be ashamed off. 

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  88. Really? A partnership up front in a counter attacking team? That somehow elevates him to technical level worthy enough to be in a short, orchestrative, interchanging, slow, slowly, slowly, slowly catchy monkey tempo that Barca use? Right......(!)

    Barca don't even use a attacking midfielder/second-striker centrally behind the front man. 

    Stevie G simply isn't clever enough tactically as illustrated by his limitations in central midfield, as seen by his improvement when playing further forward or on the right, as seen by his first half performance against Milan, more recently Bolton, Old Trafford, etc.
    Rather have Danny Murphy in a slow tempo in central midfield, than Gerrard, when it comes to short, simple and orchestrative passing in midfield. Stevie simply hasn't got the patience or the know-how to play a slow clever tempo. Stevie G would probably commit suicide when told by Guardiola to cut down on his Hollywood passing and gung-ho nature. 
    Tactically and technically, he wouldn't suit Barca at all, in my view.

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  89. Shame he didn't master the CM position in the first half against Milan in the final, instead having to be propped up in midfield by Didi in the second half. Shame he didn't master central midfield at Old Trafford league game this season, leaving Spearing to fend for himself, shame he didn't master the CM role against Bolton, where he left pantomime villain Adam, to fend for himself, etc.

    The days of the box to box role are over as it tactically, is very limited in today's game, hence, apart from a few Roy of the Rovers performances/moments in CM, he generally has been inconsistent and ordinary in that role, especially before Rafa changed him.

    I'll never rate Stevie as a top central midfielder, as a Roy of the Rover act here and there simply doesn't cut it for me. But as a attacking midfielder, that is THE role for him and he is one of the best at it, on his day.

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  90. Nor are Pirlo,Seedorf,Gattuso and Kaka who Gerrard and Alonso had to take on in the first half in Istanbul!

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  91. I have put myself Gerrard's best is in the more advanced midfield role I don't like seeing him wasted being played as a holding or a box to box midfield player that's why I wouldn't compare him with Souness but Gerrard and Torres partnership worked a dream plenty of inter passing between the two and if anything Barcelona are going to have to come more direct to catch Real and a certain Gerrard in his prime would be perfect for them.

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  92. Where was Alonso against Milan? We were out numbered in midfield that's why Rafa sent on Didi! Few Roy of the Rovers? He has played 576 games for us and you talk about 2 performances this season when he is coming back after injury when the whole team was poor in those games. 

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  93. I'm sorry but it is ludicrous to compare those past players with SG. They don't have anything close to his ability. Ronnie Whelan? Really? Great in his era, no doubt, but better than SG - that is patently absurd. The Premier League now is about 12 divisions above the levels of our glory years. The question really should be whether any of those players from that time would make the EPL now. I am serious. It is like watching park football sometimes when I look at those old games. Football has moved on massively.

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  94. Actually Kewell began the comeback against the Greeks by putting the first goal on a platter but most Liverpool fans have decided that it is blasphemous to credit him with anything other than stealing wages.

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  95. While I agree with your assertion of being difficult to compare players of different era's.. I have to just say that your claim that the EPL being about 12 divisions above the glory years is ludicirios !! And to suggest that the great Ronnie Whelan couldn't hack it with our current midfield 'greats' like Adam, Henderson & co is even more ludicurious !!

    I don't think anybody here suggested that RW was a better player than SG, although I could argue a case for, but to class the mans ability as a footballer to being 12 divisions below today's footballers is just plain stupid!! There are other words I'd like to use, but I'm not sure they'd get past the new comment rules !!

    You patently have no idea about football.. You talk about Sunday League football, funny you should mention that but thats exactly what I felt I was watching with the Sunderland v Liverpool game.. muck football if ever I saw it !!

    It hasn't gone away you know, and while Sky sports and all its razamatazz dress it up to be something else, alot of the games in the EPL is like watching sunday football. You obviously are easily dazzled by promo ads and montages at the end of shit football games.

    For the record, Ronnie Whelan was a great player.. and I believe that fitness aside(which is easily worked on) if a player of his ability was playing in todays side, well lets just say he could be the missing piece of the gig saw that people go on about.

    Go back to sleep with your 12 divisions below with a nice Sky montage for yourself mate !!!

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  96. Why was my comment unapproved ???

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  97. Everyone is entitled to their opinions i guess, but Souness for me has got this one wrong, Gerrard is a much better all round footballer than Souness was, Souness did play a very disciplined role at the Club but very often players like that (Roy Keane was simlar....) do not have the ability to play various positions like Gerrard has.....and conquer them i.e. be the best player in the Club at that particular position....

    Take a look at Gerrrard on the right wing.....how many goals did he score??? How many assists??? Factor in the absolute quality at times of his crosses and general attacking awareness......

    Now take a look at him in the hole......How many goals??? How many assists??? etc, made that position his own also.....

    Even had some success on the left also......

    Souness was limited, Gerrard is head and shoulders above him IMO, IF we had found a decent CM earlier on in Gerrards career, one who could be relied upon to play the more defensive role then i think Gerrard would have been Englands best CM by a distance.

    What we are seeing from Gerrard now is more discipline in the deeper role, yet with the ability to drive the team forward and help create more attacking moves.....

    Souness was a very good player, like Roy Keane he was a hard man in the middle type player and a but a bit of a thug tbh....i agree he was more of a disciplined player but Gerrard would definitely have strolled into ANY pervious team in LFC history IMO such is the quality of the player, had he not been fcuked about with hbis position at the Club by Benitez he would settled into a World Class CM for sure.

    Souness should try to understand these things before giving his opinion, but then again maybe he doesn't want to.........

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  98. You say it was Gerrard's indiscipline but wasn't it the teams indiscipline? You single out Gerrard for criticism and it was his fault but then start saying it was a team performance that won us the Champions League? So it would have been Gerrard's fault if we lost? 

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  99. Souness was a fantastic player, leader and captain but Steven Gerrard is our greatest ever midfield player. He also runs Kenny close to our best ever player. Steven is the closest thing to the ultimate footballer I have ever seen in 35 years. He can play anywhere on the pitch and he does not have a weakness. Maybe the short sighted will only appreciate how good he is when he's gone.

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  100. why bother to argue something that never happened?
    Souness was a money grabber.Great player.Gerrard is a great player from a different era.to compare the two or to argue who would get into what team is an impossible scenario.Different eras,game,tactics,opposition etc.
    the game has evolved 100 times since souness dominated.Its a different ballgame now.Forget the debate,its nonsense.

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