3 Dec 2014

Carra raves: 'Brilliant' £18m star is 'Liverpool's best player' by a 'long way'. Agree?

Who is Liverpool's best player this season? Given the club's poor form, there aren't many standout candidates, but according to Reds legend Jamie Carragher, there's only one choice.

After witnessing Raheem Sterling's sublime assist for Jordan Henderson's goal against Leicester, Carra raved:

"Brilliant from Sterling. Liverpool's best player this season by a long way. What a talent"

It's a sad indictment of LFC's performance this season that a player struggling to consistently achieve his primary responsibilities can credibly be considered Liverpool's 'best player'.

As an attacking midfielder, £18m-rated Sterling's primary role is to score and create goals, yet:

* He hasn't scored a goal in FOURTEEN games, and:
* He averages one assist every four games.

The problem is that Liverpool's squad is under-performing so badly that despite his middling form, Sterling has no real challengers for the title of LFC's best player.

The likes of Coutinho, Lallana, and Henderson are also failing to score/create goals on a regular basis, so Sterling is basically the best of an under-performing bunch.

To be fair, though, of all LFC's attacking players, Sterling has created the most chances, so, overall, he probably deserves Carra's accolade, but he's arguably not the best by a 'long way' - the margins are small.

Having said all that, Sterling's inconsistent form is not a problem. He's 19 - drops in form should be expected, and the pressure should not be on his shoulders to carry the team.

Lallana, Henderson, Gerrard, Lambert, and Balotelli should be under pressure to perform, and so far, their overall creative contribution this season is (collectively) not good enough, and they need to feel the fire.

It was heartening, though, to see Hendo, Gerrard and Lallana on the scoresheet against Leicester, so hopefully that victory will be a catalyst for those three contributing on a more regular basis.

One thing's for sure, none of the club's regular defenders are in the running for player of the season (!), though much-maligned midfielder Lucas is one of the better performers this year, and Toure is also doing well.

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39 comments:

  1. The FA should protect him more. Players like him or Wilshere or Oxlade get fouled 10 times per game but the refs play on...last night another example. Sterling gets his feet off the ground so he doesn't get injured...and peoble say he dives..

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  2. Just gotta keep going hey... We were in a bad patch, hopefully we are over it. Under performance I put down alot to BR. I Dig BR, think he is definitely the man to lead Liverpool forward, however he has found it difficult to adjust and tinker with a the team to achieve a working formula.


    Thankfully the wiley Irish fox he is, is definitely showing signs of adaptation. Reshuffling the pack, getting Gerrard up top, and playing to Rickie Lambert's strengths have definitely paid dividends.


    The current line up looks adaptable and ready to kick on, and about 3 or 4 of our players can come on off the bench or start and I feel we could achieve the same level of dynamism and improvement in defensive robustness. The new formula has perhaps arrived at least until Sturra is back in the attack.


    However, Mignolet and Johnson are serious liabilities and I hope we can address this in the Jan window. we also need another shield for the back four as Lucas has lost pace, but positioning is excellent - that being said he could do with less yellow cards and silly fouls outside the box!


    Throw in a clinical experience striker, and prior to that: a win over Sunderland, Basel and United could see us start next season quite strong with a continued good run... Optimism on the up... come on lads YNWA!

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  3. I think the refs can't spot what happens when players challenge him cos he is so fast! The amounts of fouls he was not awarded last night was perplexing!?!@#

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  4. FA's busy with latest Balo's magic....

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  5. The best player of the year is based on performance not goals and assists only .
    Like I said Frank Lampard would be the best midfielder ever in pl if people just looked at that but we all know Steven Gerrard and Paul Scholes are better players.

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  6. No its just that greater Manchester ref that cost us the title!
    I never seen Rodgers angry at a ref prior or after
    Lee Mason is Howard Webb in Disguise!

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  7. I rate Lampard just as good as Stevie, if not higher.

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  8. Carraghers right apart from Coutinho( Emre Can only played once) Sterling has been the only player that has excited fans.




    Sterling can take on players has pace ,mobility ,intensity we want to see more of those attributes in our attack. Last year we had three players Suarez,Sturridge,Sterling now we only have one.


    Next year we will have Origi another player who suits that description and Jordon Ibe , Wilfried Bony is my ideal buy , Lfc will then challenge for the league again under Mr Rodgers.

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  9. No one has been really outstanding so far this season. Of course, Glen Johnson is an obvious exception.

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  10. Agreed. Lampard has scored 174 Premier League goals, which is only 1 or 2 shy of Thierry Henry's overall Prem total. Absolutely stunning achievement.

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  11. Who says Gerrard and Scholes are 'better'? Based on what? Pro-LFC//Man United bias?

    Lampard has played an integral role in winning league titles and the Champions League with Chelsea, yet because Gerrard played a big role in one CL final, he's deemed to be better. Why?

    If the tables were turned, and Lampard did an Istanbul, but Gerrard won titles etc with LFC, I doubt you'd accept that Lampard is the better player.

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  12. Yes, you nicely summed it up. That' the reason

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  13. So far in the league:
    Sterling: 3 goals / 5 assists in 14 games = 1 goal/assist every 1.75 games
    Henderson: 3 goals / 3 assists in 14 games = 1 goal/assist every 2.3 games.
    These stats look pretty good to me, especially in a struggling team.

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  14. Fine would silly be OK? So is disagreeing with the point not part of the debate then? Is giving a reason why I disagree not part of the debate? Your point which I certainly do concede and apolgise for is to assume I know the mentality and personality of someone I have never met. Saying that I could possibly know if a person was arrogant is wrong as it is silly of me to assume to know so much about a person with so little information.

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  15. Hando's stats are reasonably good he seems to be on track to make 10 goals/10assists this season.

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  16. Gerrard is more complete as a player
    at his peak he carried us by himself and he can do anything with a football
    could Lampard have carried Liverpool under Benitez era after Owen left
    We will never know but i doubt he would
    look at how Ferdinand is struggling at QPR plaiyng with lesser players he looks abysmal

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  17. I never understood why Paul Scholes shied away from talking to the media.
    Now he's turned into one of the worst football pundits ever, it makes perfect sense.He can barely string a sentence together.
    Phil Neville is garbage too!

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  18. An anti-racism post being labelled racist.... Only Balo could pull that off !!

    I can see why he posted it, but it's maybe a bit too close to the edge humour-wise.

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  19. Well for sterling, a 19yr old, who is supposedly in bad form; a goal: assist every two games Is quite good. Henderson should be doing better

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  20. Benteke is the man we need big strong pace scores goals also would be a big help defending set pieces

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  21. You're just spouting the usual Gerrard cliches: he 'carried' Liverpool etc. I'm just surprised you haven't used the word 'talisman' (!)

    Liverpool have never been a one-man team, and Gerrard never 'carried' LFC; that's typical romanticism peddled by fans and perpetuated by the doe-eyed media.

    Saying that also disrespects the impact of many other top class players over the years, such as Alonso, Hyypia, Torres, Hamann, Owen, Suarez, Mascherano etc.

    I'm sure Lampard would've done brilliantly at LFC; at the end of the day, personal impact is what matters, and he's definitely had that at Chelsea.

    And as for the Ferdinand comparison - the guy is 35, so the comparison is without merit.

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  22. He has probably upset BR over something.

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  23. Disagree with opinions to your heart's content, I'm just tired of fans trying to shut other fans down with irrelevant comments. It's a form of indirect censorship, and I don't want that

    It's like when fans say things like 'stop criticising - you should be supporting the manager', or: 'Call yourself an LFC fan' etc.

    That kind of thing is outlawed here. Attack the argument, not the person, and calling fans 'arrogant' for having the temerity to question the manager is attacking the person, and doesn't further debate.

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  24. Fair enough but I am not criticising any fan for having "the temerity to question the manager". That would be an act of futility in the current climate and I have been critical myself. What I was critical of is any presumption to know how the manager and his methods are received by players when there is nothing but speculation. So using your own reasoning please stop trying to shut me down by suggesting I am servile or referential or criticising those questioning the manager. It should be very clear from what I have written in these posts that that is not what I am being or doing. I am just suggesting that we do not have anywhere close to the information to make such assumptions which is a fair enough argument in an argument about such assertions. But arrogant I detract. Officially anyway.

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  25. Signing Bony IMO is best option, but my concerns are his wage demands and the fact that he doesn't fit into our play style. Quick strikers almost always perform at modern day Liverpool (Sturridge, Suarez) so Campbell could just be a surprise, but then again, seems like a 1 season wonder (Haven't heard anything great of him before world cup)

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  26. This device of attaching assumed and unprovable market values to current Liverpool players is lazy and unworthy of anyone except the lowest, tackiest tabloid sub-editor.

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  27. Agree about Lucas. He was surprisingly dominant. Unfortunately for him, Gerrard got all the positive attention after the game.

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  28. Nothing new.


    Who remembers Lucas' first Merseyside derby?

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  29. Who rated him at 18 million??

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  30. Maybe he has a little knock or perhaps BR just wanted to give him and Moreno a half each to keep them frsh but not burned out. Why does everything have to have life and death implications??

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  31. Hmm i he can't get a game at Arsenal, does that mean we're allegedly looking at another reject? Weren't Sturridge and Coutinho rejects too? Personally, I'd much prefer a proven goalscorer, as would most of us, I'm sure. That said, we have no idea of what options are open to Brendan in January and therefore can't possibly level any criticism of not seeking a more experienced, technically gifted option. We may get Campbell, or we may not, we'll have to wait and see.

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  32. Why don't you click the link and find out?

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  33. It really did seem as if the ref just decided that Raheem goes down too easily and would only call a foul if he was absolutely 110% sure of it. Certainly the kid goes off his feet a lot but that's because of how he plays. Suarez was the same. They'll get accused of diving but when you dance around the pitch like that producing great moves and tricky footwork then any kind of contact can force you off balance. Its another one of those times when I really don't enjoy the attitude in English football that it's good to be physical. Physical display of strength are one thing but contact around the legs should be a foul, plain and simple.

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  34. I'd like to see a Sakho and Toure CB partnership. I'm almost certain they will be our best option...

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  35. Would be welcome, yes.

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  36. I recon that stirling is one of the worst players in the team,
    ok he can run but that's it, he cant dribble or cross a ball, the best thing he can do is foul every time he looses the ball which is quite a lot of the time.

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  37. thexcuriousxwanderer6:52 pm, December 04, 2014

    I think here is where I respectfully disagree with Jaimie and Siavash. True there are stats. And there are stats which you can't collect. Like the fact that Stevie affects games by his attitude on the pitch, and his leadership (improving people who play around him.) One would think that if we have better leadership at the back we should be shipping away less goals, that's the importance of leadership. I also think Stevie has better footballing intelligence than Lampard, but of course that is hard to measure using stats.

    I'm not saying Lampard is a bad player at all, he's great, but the stats alone don't show everything.

    With regards to penalties - I think in many situations Stevie has taken tough penalties where a lot of other people cracked. That does count for something, being stone cold. There is a reason why he was taking the penalties rather than Suarez. Of course there were plenty of easy penalties, but the stone cold aspect, that's a goal scoring attribute as well, where goal scoring is involved.

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  38. Where's the link?

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