WooJung

Does him starting today suggest that Gerrard sees him as the first candidate to partner Carlos?

I'm unconvinced by him, he's one of a few who seemed to play much better in empty stadiums.

Based on last season he would probably be 4th choice for me, not only due to his drop on performances, but because of how limited he is on the ball.

2 minutes ago, Steero113 said:

I am also disappointed but could you name the captains that you are categorising as ‘idiots’ please?

Aside from Jack who was most definitely a moron in an academic sense. 

Gabby probably also doesn't top the IQ charts

3 minutes ago, nick76 said:

My faith was low anyway so this hasn’t moved the marker for me.  It’s fairly amusing seeing pro-Gerrard people a bit stumped by this.

I have never been pro Gerrard, I like the calibre of players he attracts, and I would say that is by far his greatest quality, and that's an issue. I'm still on a fence which is starting to tilt more and more towards one side

14 minutes ago, GingerCollins29 said:

Shame about the ridiculous backlash he is getting from posters on here.

Wasn't my choice for captain either but good luck to him, really hope he proves a lot wrong.

For those of you moaning he will play every minute now, he already does. Gerrard has said multiple times he loves him and wants to build the team around him. I'm surprised this has come as a shock.

I wouldn't say he's getting much backlash, Gerrard is.

It's not McGinn who appointed himself captain.

That said, my perception is that most people like McGinn. They don't like the amount of game time he gets regardless of performance levels. Most of people are happy to have him as a squad player, but don't rate him highly enough to take us into the top 8.

1 minute ago, hippo said:

And we must copy Liverpool at all costs 

We copy good ideas and stay away from poor ones, regardless of their origin 

7 minutes ago, nick76 said:

Yes great in theory but we know Gerrard has a fair few guaranteed starters, in fact most managers do.

I know, and I suspect that will be his downfall, sooner or later.

Time will tell, I want him to do well because if he does well then so do we, but I'm gradually losing faith 

2 minutes ago, Paulie said:

Interesting quite a few on here lean towards a Carlos / Chambers partnership… can’t have your captain on the bench.

Says who? Leaders will lead, on and off the pitch. Henderson isn't a guaranteed starter for Liverpool and that doesn't stop him from being captain.

1 minute ago, hippo said:

Agreed. But also the point of the squad is to select your best 11. 

Remains to be seen if TM is seem (in Stevie s) opinion as one of the best 11 players at the club. My feeling is he doesn't.

And probably not in my personal best 11 either, it would probably be Carlos and one of him and Chambers.

But he's done nothing wrong (as far as we know) and i see no reason to strip him of the captaincy. 

44 minutes ago, nick76 said:

Does make me think that maybe Mings isn’t a guaranteed starter from now on, maybe Gerrard is thinking he may favour a combo that doesn’t include Mings to start.  

Probably not the case but still arguably a big move by Gerrard switching the captaincy for very little benefit, so does raise questions why beyond the snippets he gave in the media report.

There should be no guaranteed starters, that's the point of having a squad.

Just now, The_Steve said:

Wonder if McGinn will shift more towards an advanced role like he does with Scotland now with.

And keep one of Bailey or Buendia out to accommodate him? I shudder at the thought 

9 minutes ago, ciggiesnbeer said:

Its true. 

Happy for McGinn! 

 

I'm also happy for him. I'm a lot less happy for us

17 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I have to admit I’m surprised by this but I do think McGinn is a decent player that gets a lot of unnecessary stick.  I didn’t see him as captain material though. 
 

@Zatman is going to be delighted with Gerrard after this  

To me McGinn is a bang average player in who gets a lot of unnecessary game time, but there you go

10 minutes ago, Delphinho123 said:

There is no way Coutinho won't start for us. And rightly so IMO.

But, I don't think you can get Coutinho, Bailey and Buendia on the pitch at the same time without leaving us exposed in midfield. 

If we sign another top class defensive midfielder, I think we could manage it. 

I suppose it might work if you have Luiz and Kamara holding it might work, but we might still be a bit weaker on the flanks. Could work against weaker, hard to break down opposition though 

Hopefully Neil Critchley will spot this and have enough of a say to implement change.

As far as I'm concerned Buendia is our best player, and yet he doesn't start. Weird 

Hopefully Neil Critchley will spot this and have enough of a say to implement change.

As far as I'm concerned Buendia is our best player, and yet he doesn't start. Weird 

6 hours ago, Johnnyp said:

I’m not overly fussed about him. He’s not gonna really move Kamara you’d imagine from the sitting slot and i don’t think he’s good enough to play further forward. 

To be fair if we play a 3 in midfield he's starting in one of the two 8 positions, with Ramsey getting the nod over McGinn for the other one.

And if we play a 2 he's also probably the most suited to start alongside Kamara.

22 hours ago, useless said:

The simple truth is is that Targett is a much better player than Guilbert, so he found it easier to get a move, as more teams would be willing to buy him.

Targett is left footed though, which account for about 10% of the population, so good left backs are much less likely to exist. All round I'd say there is little between them

He's already understood Bamford is a word removed. Great signs of adaptation!

2 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

So the big question is, if chuck was left at home because he wouldnt sign, but luiz has gone out there...

Please  

The main difference is that Luiz is an established premier league player who is good enough to play and arguably to start (as an regularly and if he gives his best I wouldn't have issues with him playing (Kessie left AC Milan on a free but was instrumental to them winning the league, for example).

Chuk has shown nothing, we have invested in him and he's given us sod all in return, as it stands he is nowhere near good enough to feature regularly for us, and his head appears to be just as inflated metaphorically as it does actually.

If he isn't willing to commit to us, we have no reason to commit to him. If he thinks he's better than us, he's welcome to prove it. If he does, he's welcome to play and run down his contract, as long as his performances warrant it. So far he has shown nothing other than potential. And if we can't benefit from that potential, there is absolutely no reason to invest in it.

1 hour ago, WallisFrizz said:

No still on holiday due to playing internationals. 

I think he meant Guilbert

7 minutes ago, duke313 said:

We couldn't really complain if Luiz did leave on a free, after all we signed Kamara that way.

The Marseille fans are complaining though

I like Luiz, even though he was underwhelming this season, but it doesn't seem likely that he will sign a new contract. Weather he leaves this year or next year he will still need to be replaced, so it would make more sense to cash in on him now and have more funds for his replacement.

I'd be disappointed to lose him on a free 

Keep him in the squad alongside 2 other strikers and see what he can do. If he doesn't get enough game time we can loan him once again in January, depending on how the season is going maybe even to a premier League club fighting for relegation

3 hours ago, peterw said:

The problem for targett was no Grealish in front of him meaning attackers were less likely to overload on his side knowing a counter-attack would mean Grealish in space. Also, its not as if his passing or form fell off a cliff until his loan. 100% Konsa for me.

I don't buy this. Targett was brilliant last season (or is it 2 seasons ago already?) Even when Grealish was injured. He still was our best and most consistent player (maybe alongside Konsa) and had bloody El Ghazi playing in front of him

1 hour ago, pintpotvilla said:

I think Ben Mee is Two footed!!!!

I think Ben Mee is six fingered