Steven Gerrard

[Tomaszk]

7 hours ago, AvonVillain said:

Christ I'm not sure I've read a post on here I've disagreed with more than this in a long time, except for point #4!

#1. He isn't really, nothing like it.

#2. Look at the resources Everton have ploughed into that dreadful, unbalanced, thin as a biscuit squad. Look at Man United despite all the vulgar money they spend each season. Look at the money MON spent here. It's immensely easy to fail despite resources.

#3. Bruce achieved what again?? Gerrard will be out if he can't get his ideas across, and the fans will turn on him much quicker than the previous manager. So far, he either can't get his ideas across, or the players don't really believe in them. I'm not sure I've ever seen a Villa bench with such talent as this, which demonstrates something detrimental to the current regimes inability to get a tune out of such a squad.

#4. Relief.

#5. There's every point in saying such a thing. Who in the top 4 or 5 sides are guaranteed anything? Football is cyclical. Liverpool won the league last season for the first time in how long??

Doesn't seem like you disagree that much.

1) Yes he is

2) It's hard to spend that much money and be as bad as they are. Really hard. MON is an idiot. Those buying players in the Utd & Everton boardrooms are idiots.

I'll be so gutted if we go and buy a load of under-researched players because Gerrard wants them. That's how you get into the mess Everton are in.

3) Bruce failed spectacularly with incredible resources. The highest wagebill in the history of the championship and we were going to be in a battle to stay up.

Gerrard needs performances more than results. It's looked ropey a lot of the time under him. It's been getting a bit Grealish-y with Coutinho as well. Give it him and see what happens.

5) Liverpool's one title in 30 years means nothing for Villa. Football will be off in a super league mess by the time we're close enough.

If I enjoy watching us, that's mostly enough for me right now.

Edited April 2, 2022 by Tomaszk

[Dale]

It's a strange thing to be concerned about a manager being backed. I think my concern is a manager's life at a club is short, and Gerrard is building for a formation that no one else plays... So if we are to build a squad for it we're back to square one when there's a change (which at some point is inevitable, I think sooner than many do (he's already had a run that'd have seen him sacked if he'd been in post longer)). I can't see him here for the length of his contract. 

I hope I'm proved to be a fool. 

[nick76]

 

 

[sne]

3 minutes ago, nick76 said:

 

 

He's only saying that because he want's to have 5 subs when he manages Liverplop in the future 

[jim]

11 minutes ago, nick76 said:

 

 

No, no, no that can’t be right. Steven has no interest in promoting youth players.

[JPJCB]

5 hours ago, Tomaszk said:

He's played it for the majority of his games here, have you not been watching? 

Having changed it, yielding performances and results, it was very strange to go back to it again. Obviously we played awfully and lost because that system as we are doing it will not work in the PL. I'd find it disturbing if he kept playing a formation which gives the opposition all the initiative.

If by “changed it” you mean when he went to the diamond, I’d say that was more a tweak than a fundamental change.

we’ve broadly had three main phases of the formation since he came in all of which have been based on a narrow formation.

1.)Back end of last year when he first arrived we played narrow with two 10s (typically buendia plus one of Watkins, Ramsey or Bailey) in a conservative way with an aim of keeping a very solid shape: the full backs didn’t bomb on too much and having Nakamba in CDM helped make us more solid. That worked pretty well with us winning most games without conceding against the sides you’d expect albeit unambitious performances against big teams.

2.) from January to late February we signed coutinho and digne and tried to play a much more expansive version of 1.) with buendia and coutinho as the 10s. Digne and cash were much more aggressive in their starting positions and less onus placed on keeping a really solid shape. We were also more vulnerable at the margin having had to switch luiz in for an injured Nakamba plus coutinho not doing much defensively. The balance of this version other than a few occasional highlights (Leeds at home first half and Everton away) didn’t work.

3.) from Brighton to West Ham we played a diamond with buendia dropped for Ings, coutinho more central behind two 9s which had better balance in the front line. Alongside that we went back to some elements of 1.) that worked- much more conservative in our shape and full back starting positions.

long post but my point is that gerrard has stuck to the “narrow” formation through his entire time here and has tweaked it periodically to change the attack/defence balance. People often blame that formation whenever we’re playing badly without recognising that it’s a large contributor to the success we’ve had in the same period- particularly when gerrard came in the change in shape was the single biggest factor behind his excellent start. He’s got the balance wrong occasionally (mostly in 2.)) but I don’t see the shape itself as a problem and it’s just silly to say “it won’t work in the PL” when Chelsea and Liverpool play similar variants of it

[Tomaszk]

5 hours ago, nick76 said:

 

 

Knew we'd be in on it.

So stupid.

[Tomaszk]

6 hours ago, Dale said:

It's a strange thing to be concerned about a manager being backed. I think my concern is a manager's life at a club is short, and Gerrard is building for a formation that no one else plays... So if we are to build a squad for it we're back to square one when there's a change (which at some point is inevitable, I think sooner than many do (he's already had a run that'd have seen him sacked if he'd been in post longer)). I can't see him here for the length of his contract. 

I hope I'm proved to be a fool. 

It would be bold to give someone who has proved nothing loads of money to spend on whoever he wants. I quite like bold a lot of the time.

However if there isn't guidance enforced by Lange I don't really know what he's doing here. This summer probably decides whether we're top 8 or not top 8 for the next three years.

If the owners spend £300m on new players and it doesn't work, I don't expect they'll be in a rush to do it again soon.

Our chief exec has posters of the manager on his wall so we know whose side he'll take should disagreements occur.

[Zatman]

If we dont turn this around then he will have a 50% losing record by the end of the game. That is poor

[rodders0223]

Absolute clown show. Every man was waiting for that Targett transfer to bite us and it has.

Totally and completely unacceptable.  But it's Gerrard. Purslow man. So it's fine.

[joshharris12]

Isn’t gerrards fault these players are mentally s***

[PaulC]

At least we hevent got to worry about him replacing Klopp. 

[AV82]

Totally on Gerrard to play McGinn as a 6. Brainless.

[Dale]

Of our players the best today have been Bailey and Sanson those that haven't had a chance before now. Coutinho anonymous. Ollie has won some flick ons in the air, no one running beyond. 

[AV82]

Just now, Dale said:

Of our players the best today have been Bailey and Sanson those that haven't had a chance before now. Coutinho anonymous. Ollie has won some flick ons in the air, no one running beyond. 

And yet Sanson will be the first one to be hooked on 60 mins for Traore. Nailed on.

[Zatman]

1 minute ago, AV82 said:

Totally on Gerrard to play McGinn as a 6. Brainless.

yet Luiz was our best midfielder in the last month and dropped. His favourites are so blatant

If McGinn isnt hauled off for Luiz at half time then its so blatant

[KMitch]

I'm officially "Gerrard Out" now.  Get this clown out of the club before we spend another 150 million pounds on higher salary players this summer, while still missing out on Europe next season because of this knobhead's clueless tactics.  

[NoelVilla]

23 minutes ago, Zatman said:

If we dont turn this around then he will have a 50% losing record by the end of the game. That is poor

We will have 0,5 point per game against the top 10. That is also something.

[sne]

Starting to get Tactics Tim flashbacks. We look extremely naive and set up in a way that leaves massive areas open to exploit.

 

[Dale]

I will be shocked if he's here at Christmas

World Cup provides a good opportunity for the change I suppose. 

Edited April 2, 2022 by Dale