I've been thinking about these things for a while now and I just wanted to share my thoughts on why we all need to be grateful for where we are right now. Although Rafa Benitez may be too classy to blame injuries, I'm not so I'll tell you that the ONLY reason we are not in the top 3 right now is injury!! Look at our strikers; Djibril Cisse=Class, Milan Baros=Class, Fernando Morientes=Class and although people have disagreed with me on this one, Neil Mellor=CLASS!!!! Xabi Alonso showed us all that he was even better than advertised, and if he wasn't injured right now, we'd have the best midfield in the prem. Despite what people say about Harry Kewell I feel that he was just starting to find his feet when he got hurt, and was beginning to show signs of brilliance! Carra and Hyypia, what they lack in speed, they make up for in strength and grit!! Although our goalkeeper situation has been shaky, so has manure's and arse's, and we went and got hopefully the best prospect in Carson, only time will tell on that one. and this brings me to our captain Stevie G, we can all agree that he's THE absolute best midfielder in England, oh wtf EUROPE!!!! There's no telling where we can go with Stevie if the squad stays healthy, I'd say that with everything that has gone wrong for us this season thus far, the fact that we're still in the top 5 clubs of the prem should scare the rest of England!!!! Now I know that there's a group of people that are dying to say "But Stevie is leaving in the summer! wahh wwaaahhhw waaaahhh!" To them I say; If that's the case, can you tell me exactly how a bidding war between Real Madrid and Chelsea for the most coveted midfielder in Europe is a BAD thing for us?? Gerrard is one of those rare players that can help us if he stays or he goes!!!!! If Gerrard does leave can you IMAGINE what we'd get for him?? I'm thinking a couple class defensemen, another solid midfielder and we can start dusting the trophy case to make some room!!!! Just my thoughts ! YNWA
It's great to have such an optimistic outlook! I'm not so sure I agree with you about Neil Mellor, but he did score the winning goal against Arsenal in extra time, so that makes him ok in my book. Now as for this midfield you speak of, who plays on the right? Kewell (LM) - Alonso (CM) - Gerrard (CM) - ????? (RM)
Nunez has shown glimpses of brilliance: Kewell (LM) - Alonso (CM) - Gerrard (CM) - Nunez (RM) Or a make-shift midfield: 1) Kewell (LM) - Hamann (CM) - Alonso (CM) - Gerrard (RM) 2) Riise (LM) - Alonso (CM) - Gerrard (CM) - Smicer (RM) 3) Riise (LM) - Alonso (CM) - Gerrard (CM) - ALT/FSP (RM) Enough to terrorise EPL, made Chelski so jealous Lampard gotta take down our lynchpin Alonso.
I may be wrong about this -- I usually am about most things -- but I think it would be a fundamental tactical error to set Gerrard on a wing. This restricts too much the portion of the field he patrols. If you have him in the middle, on either side of central midfield, he basically has about 50% of the pitch to forage for balls. If you play him on the wing, that share is reduced, IMO. Of course, there are ways to organize tactical play to have him out wide where he is encouraged to penetrate diagonally or play up the flank, as coverage dictates, and have another player fill or overlap, but I still think that Gerrard will be more effective in a more central role.
I think I just made a little mess in my pants. We need some pesos first. We're about, oh, seven points away from being able to make a move for him.
I think 10-12 is about right. But I also think he won't end up with us. Rafa is a smart enough cookie that a class right winger can't be lower than #2 on his priority chart for this summer, but dollars to donuts says he ends up with someone other than SWP. However, we've now drifted this thread drastically off the original sunny topic. If Gerrard, Cisse, and Alonso stayed healthy this season, we sit third in the table right now with 52 points. Discuss.
13-17 M. He is a bright young ENGLISH prospect. Therefore he will be overvalued. That's not to say that he isn't a good player.
Here's something we can be happy about: http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N147828050214-2222.htm Just in time! Welcome back Harry!!!! YNWA!
Sure, good for Harry, but did you read the article? Yikes, I don't want Pellegrino near our first team! Seriously, I'm not sure I want him carrying water bottles for them.
Stig's just trying not to think about the notion that her tat will resemble a condor in a few years. Stig