ECHO Comment: "Fears of Witch-hunt Against Liverpool FC"

[The Cowboy]

I reckon Gerrard has increased the rent by 25%, and Rodgers has gone ballistic.

 

[Kurt.]

I reckon we'll be reading a story next year abou his wife having an affair with an American gangster called Crepes.

 

[toffeejack]

can i ask why there wasn't this sort of reaction when lampard did exactly the same thing? yes okay he didn't stay at the same club throughout his career, but that's mainly because west ham fans aren't scum enough to send bullets through his letterbox.

 

[mawders]

Did anyone notice Rodgers, when asked about the possibility of bringing him back on loan at the end of the season instantly discarded it. The fall out from this has obviously been quite bitter and there is a lot of bad will there.

The fact that Gerrard’s camp are leaking stories about him not playing in Real Madrid and leaving for being “frozen out” is pure throwing the toys out of the pram. For what it’s worth I think Rodgers has acted well in all of this. He has identified Gerrard is not that essential a player to Liverpool. As a side they have looked best when he has played a marginal role (either last season to Suarez) or stuck out on the right wing by Benitez to accommodate Alonso and Mascherano.

Gerrard is a fraud. He carries on like he is a great team man who’d do anything for Liverpool but he is one of the most selfish footballers of his generation. He refused to work alongside Lampard for the good of England and he threw a strop with Benitez when he was given a more marginal role to benefit the team. A team man would have got on with it (like Milner does for example). He cry arses about, undermines the manager to get Alonso sold and himself played in his preferred position. This selfish attitude carries onto the pitch. He plays without any positional discipline or care for players around him. He charges about while leaving gaps, takes all set plays, fires shots from ridiculous positions (the occasional one with which goes in).

As his legs went he decided he’d become a defensive midfield player. But he didn’t do what say a Barry or a Roy Keane did and adapt his game to suit the role. He made the team adapt to him. Lucas and Allen were shelved. Henderson played central midfield to “do his running” and Sturridge and Stirling were expected to do running for his long punts up the pitch. Suarez basically bailed him out (like Alonso did before him).

There is a reason why Alex Fergusan said he was never a great player. He was a good player who did everything, so every once in a while would do an amazing thing. Liverpool pandering to his needs meant they have never won the league. For Kopites that is some glorious irony, it adds to the thrill of the story but it’s very clear that Liverpool’s decision to build it’s team around Gerrard has cost them trophies.

You build your team around two types of player. Either a Scholes/Pirlo/Alonso type who can bring the best out of others around them. OR a Cantona/Suarez/Messi who are so good on their own they win titles. Gerrard is definitely not the first. He wanted to be the second but was never of that calibre. Rodgers has made the right decision. He can’t wait to get rid of him, as he’s a millstone around the clubs neck. Gerrards arrogance has greatly unbalanced Liverpool.

Where Rodgers walks a fine line, is the common sense discourse makes no sense to Liverpool fans. They won’t have it. They haven’t won the premier league because of a conspiracy, referees, Manchester United, Bad luck and theatre. Gerrard is the anti-hero in this opera. If Rodgers is seen to be ditching him too willingly his own pantomime that he has created will come falling down around him. Gerrard is still going to have his allies within the club. Carragher has recently attacked Rodgers. The arrogance of Gerrard is unlikely to stop when he stops playing for them. He won’t rest until Rodgers is outed and like Dalglish before him I’d wager good money he’d fancy a crack at managing them. It’s going to be a fun few months to see if Rodgers can see this out.


Dalglish knows if the results turn again, all he'll have to do is say he will "bring Gerrard back" and the romantic Neanderthals of the kop will see that as some sort of dream ticket. No amount of dossiers on football Rodgers has will ever be enough to truly overcome the nostalgia of the Reds. He will feel like Columbus preaching to the flat earthers, and his flawed dossier will cut little tract.

Take a bow son.

What a hit...what a hit

 

[Deleted member 24970]

I am going to get banned for this but here goes....

I actually like Steven Gerrard the player. He is one of the best midfielders in the leagues history. If he played for us we would adore him like Liverpool do. He had everything a modern player needed, pace, power, attacking threat, defensively solid, good range of passing and he could grab a game by the scruff of the neck. Something we havent had in the last 20 years maybe.

Sure i agree with everyone else that he is egotistical, he is a absoloute beaut, he is not the team player he makes out but more centre of attention, hence the reason he is leaving now rodgers has had the balls to tell him he is no longer 'the man'. I honestly hate the way LFC fans say he is loyal and he will never leave, yet the only reason he never sold out to Chelsea was because he had trouble off the pitch (rumours of threats etc etc), otherwise i believe he would of packed his bags in a heartbeat.

Anything or anyone that is against Everton we absoloutly hate - Gerrard being a main suspect. Whether you like him or not the premier league will be losing a modern day great, i am delighted he hasnt won a league title however as it would only give the other idiots something to say like 'he is the best of all time' (some do anyway). I think he knew deep down that in order for him to succeed today he needed someone like Sterling or Suarez to do all the hard work whilst he sat back and just passed the ball on (his main threat is ball out wide to Glen Johnson - so one dimensional). At least now we have a chance of winning a derby without Steven Gerrard doing feck all but scoring a free kick and winning it 1-0.

Still a top top player in his prime.

Cue the torrent of abuse.....

 

[Jim Lahey]

I am going to get banned for this but here goes....

I actually like Steven Gerrard the player.

I did as well - he was fantastic in his day and carried Liverpool on several ocassions. Anyone who says he wasn't a good player is just silly. Surely this much is obvious?

Can't stand the bloke though.

 

[ToffeeDoug]

Some good posts in here - spot-on.

I disagree about Gerrard playing as a DMF though. He's terrible all over the pitch now. His game was based on power and charging about the pitch. He isn't an intelligent player like Scholes or Pirlo i.e. he can't sit deep and dictate the game like they could/can.

He is finished at the top level which is why he's considering the MLS.

He says he has turned down the new one year contract because he has been told he is no longer a guaranteed starter (aged 34 and slow and poor in his current position) and has to take a pay cut, so he has spat his dummy out....selfish, deluded, vain, greedy....take your pick.

 

[royalblue66]

I did as well - he was fantastic in his day and carried Liverpool on several ocassions. Anyone who says he wasn't a good player is just silly. Surely this much is obvious?

Can't stand the bloke though.

He's a Chunt full stop.

 

[d34noj]

I did as well - he was fantastic in his day and carried Liverpool on several ocassions. Anyone who says he wasn't a good player is just silly. Surely this much is obvious?

Can't stand the bloke though.

People aren't saying he wasn't a good player mate - they are saying he isn't as good as the media/Kopites would have you believe. It's a stretch to put him in the top 10 midfielders of the Premier League era for me.

 

[Jim Lahey]

People aren't saying he wasn't a good player mate - they are saying he isn't as good as the media/Kopites would have you believe. It's a stretch to put him in the top 10 midfielders of the Premier League era for me.

Agreed - they overrate him. But every club's supporter rate their own more than others mate, we're tribalistic by default.

 

[catcherintherye]

I did as well - he was fantastic in his day and carried Liverpool on several ocassions. Anyone who says he wasn't a good player is just silly. Surely this much is obvious?

Can't stand the bloke though.

I don't think people are saying he's not a good player. I'm not he was a fantastic player. He was fast, had a terrific shot and passing range and was a brilliant tackler and drove the team forward.

I suppose what I'm saying is he was never a team player. He required people to fill in for him. The game was all about him. While he was an excellent player he was nowhere near as good at what he thinks he is. Players like Lampard and Scholes had to curb their natural game to suit him. Alonso, Lucas and Mascherano likewise. And ultimately when he had teams built around him he failed to deliver.

 

[catcherintherye]

Agreed - they overrate him. But every club's supporter rate their own more than others mate, we're tribalistic by default.

And again true. But there are very concrete reasons for overating Gerrard. For example I think Lucas is quite an underated player really, even by Liverpool fans.

 

[hullefc]

Some good posts in here - spot-on.

I disagree about Gerrard playing as a DMF though. He's terrible all over the pitch now. His game was based on power and charging about the pitch. He isn't an intelligent player like Scholes or Pirlo i.e. he can't sit deep and dictate the game like they could/can.

He is finished at the top level which is why he's considering the MLS.

Jim, do you rate Cantona? Did he make a difference than helped Manu win the league? Were LFC under Benitez with Alonso, Mascherano, Torres better than or as good as that Manu team Cantona walked into and they won the first Premier league title? Certain players make the difference to good teams Zola, Bergkamp. I think Gerrard was good but not real top drawer to make the difference to a team and help them win the title.

 

[Jim Lahey]

Jim, do you rate Cantona? Did he make a difference than helped Manu win the league? Were LFC under Benitez with Alonso, Mascherano, Torres better than or as good as that Manu team Cantona walked into and they won the first Premier league title? Certain players make the difference to good teams Zola, Bergkamp. I think Gerrard was good but not real top drawer to make the difference to a team and help them win the title.

Yes of course I rated Cantona. Gerrard would have won loadsa titles at Man Utd or Chelsea and been a very important player IMO.

 

[The Cowboy]

He says he has turned down the new one year contract because he has been told he is no longer a guaranteed starter (aged 34 and slow and poor in his current position) and has to take a pay cut, so he has spat his dummy out....selfish, deluded, vain, greedy....take your pick.

Why is that spitting the dummy out/selfish/deluded/vain/greedy? You think you're capable of a job and your manager thinks you're not, so you choose to look for more meaningful employment - what's up with that?

Can't believe I'm defending Gerrard here, but people seem to be creating something from nothing regarding his departure.