We're saved! (Gerrards back!)

mike65 · 16-11-2004 12:05am #1

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/4010211.stm

Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard has has made his long-awaited comeback for the club's reserve team.

The England star had not played since breaking a metatarsal bone in his foot on 20 September at Manchester United.

But he appeared as a substitute for the Liverpool reserves in their 1-0 win away to Wolves in Telford, in front of a crowd of a crowd of over 6,000.

He is now expected to make his first-team return in the Premiership clash at Middlesbrough next Saturday.

Gerrard came on at the break and did plenty of running before being substituted near the end.

Afterwards he admitted: "It is really up to the manager now whether or not he plays me in some capacity on Saturday.

"But it was great to be back and I felt sharp and enjoyed the match. It has been frustrating being out but I enjoyed the run-out."

Mike.

mayordenis · 16-11-2004 12:06am

There is a god

ianomccabe · 16-11-2004 12:26am

he also came through twenty minutes of a behind closed doors game durin last week which was a mix of reserve,first team players.
all good signs

Take it · 16-11-2004 12:58am

i want to have his babies!!!!!!!!!

DamoRed · 16-11-2004 1:57am

Time to return him to his rightful place in the middle of the action. I wonder how things are going to shape up now. Stevie G and Xavi in tandem at the centre, where does everyone else play?? What system will be used? Maybe a little easier to predict now that we only have Baros as a recognised striker. But the team selection may be still

Kirkland
Josemi

Riise/Traore?

Carragher

Hyypia

Finnan?

Gerrard

Alonso

Kewell
Nunez?

Garcia

Baros

This of course could be all crap, but the possibilities for tactical substitutions are quite extensive, now that Biscan has also shown that he's got a little bit about him. They're not as many as we would have with Cisse still fit, but the unfortunate injury to him has actually polarised the situation. We can only play with Baros upfront as the prime striker, with the option of Sinama, Garcia, or very soon, Mellor as partners, whether as a pair, or one off the other.

Baros now knows the chips are down and to be fair to him, he's taking the load on his shoulders and is on fine form. Partly due to having to take responsibilty, and partly due to the knowledge of a guaranteed extended run without fear of being replaced. To see him form a partnership would be fabulous. I personally would be willing to give Mellor a good run. He finds the net on a regular basis in the reserves and with the confidence of two goals in the Carling Cup too. No disrespect to Sinama, but he's not a goalgetter yet, like Mellor, albeit at reserves level.

There's so much more to discuss in these and other areas of the field, but that'll do for now, from me anyway

Damo

impr0v · 16-11-2004 2:25am

I'd say Wolves reserves were delighted to see him appear after half-time.

eirebhoy · 16-11-2004 2:44am

Potter got MOM in the game tonight, hopefully Benitez was watching.

I have to say, Liverpool have a decent reserve team. Suprising that they only won 2 of their 12 games.

p.pete · 16-11-2004 9:06am

Gerrard hasn't been as big a loss this time as he has been on previous occasions - thanks largely to Alonso being brought in and Riise and Finnan playing further up the pitch. He will make a difference though - especially in terms of goals from midfield which can be vital in tight games.

He should be well settled for the Arsenal game in a few weeks

The Rooster · 16-11-2004 10:06am

Potter could well be pushing Garcia and Kewell for the position of playing just behind Baros shortly. Although, as is common with most new managers, they give their own signings more of a chance than other players, so it looks like Garcia will always play. Likewise there's no way Josemi should be in the team ahead of Finnan based on performances this season.

Be interesting to see what kind of role Benitez has in mind for Hamann when Gerrard is back. Its hard to see a place for him, unless Gerrard is pushed wide right, where everyone knows he's less effective. There might be a formation out there that allows for the 3 of them to play centrally in a 5 man midfield, Hamann sticking in front of the back 4, Gerrard given licence to attack at will, and Alonso in the middle spraying passes about.

I think we'll see Sinama being sent back to France on loan in January. I wonder why he wasnt involved with the reserves yesterday?

Ronan|Raven · 16-11-2004 10:44am

Unl;ess he gives Gerrard a more free role on the midfield area. Keeping Hamman infront of the back 4 with himself and Alonso more forward looking.

kida · 16-11-2004 2:08pm

Depends on who he replaces - if Hamann then might weaken the team as he doesn't have the self control to play a holding role, neither does Alonso. They need that screen as there isn't much pace at the back. Can't see him dropping Alonso either.

impr0v · 16-11-2004 4:16pm

I watched Potter play in the recent Carling Cup game and have to say I was impressed with him.

Boro · 17-11-2004 12:47pm

Well with the fact that at the moment there is only really one attacker at Liverpool, it leaves benitez the option of being able to play the three central midfielders at the same time in a 4-5-1 formation.

p.pete · 17-11-2004 12:48pm

Maybe keep a similar shape as we've had recently and play Gerrard or Baros?

WhiteWashMan · 17-11-2004 2:52pm

one man does not a team make.

jesus_thats_gre · 18-11-2004 12:27am

does make a better team though!

WhiteWashMan · 20-11-2004 6:54pm

didnt see that today tbh...

Chucky the tree · 20-11-2004 7:04pm

WhiteWashMan wrote:

didnt see that today tbh...

well, usually its not wise to judge based on 30mins of football.

The Muppet · 20-11-2004 7:37pm

Chucky the tree wrote:

well, usually its not wise to judge based on 30mins of football.

I,ve seen him play before today, haven't you? Liverpool certainly looked more like scoring with him on the pitch today. He is definitely a big addition to the team. Boros second goal killed the game if pool could have taken one of their chances before that there may have been a different outcome.

Chucky the tree · 20-11-2004 7:42pm

The Muppet wrote:

I,ve seen him play before today, haven't you? Liverpool certainly looked more like scoring with him on the pitch today. He is definitely a big addition to the team. Boros second goal killed the game if pool could have taken one of their chances before that there may have been a different outcome.

haha, of course i have seen him before today. Dont think he made a great difference to the team though, certainly wasnt expecting him too. just glad he got some football in before monaco match. He gave away a few sloppy passes, and looked like a player who has been out for 2 months.

Thanx 4 The Fish · 21-11-2004 11:22pm

mike65 wrote:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/4010211.stm

Mike.

Was at the game and the future for the pool looks bright, Gerrard looked good in the second half and there was a big cheer in the Bucks Head where there was a capacity crowd (first time ever at Telford's new ground).

Potter looked good as did Mellor, Warnock, Partridge (as usual) and Raven.

Hopefully some of these guys will get a chance in the first team in the near future.

Nuttzz · 22-11-2004 1:48am

ohhh the irony

http://www.football365.com/news/transfer_gossip/index.shtml

AND THE REST
Everton are still interested in Porto striker Benni McCarthy who would take up most of their £10m budget...£7m Spurs striker Robbie Keane is also a Toffee target...Spurs are looking to take Pompey hit-man Yakubu...Liverpool are prepared to fork over £8m for Man City striker Nicholas Anelka

I hope there is not truth to it, but if it were.....

Caesar_Bojangle · 22-11-2004 2:54am

The whole team seemed to play with more confidence as soon as Gerrard came on yesterday - admittedly we conceded a goal. I reckon with Gerrard back we might just beat Arsenal next week, or am I being delusional ?

jesus_thats_gre · 22-11-2004 2:59am

no comment

The Muppet · 22-11-2004 9:30am

Caesar_Bojangle wrote:

The whole team seemed to play with more confidence as soon as Gerrard came on yesterday - admittedly we conceded a goal. I reckon with Gerrard back we might just beat Arsenal next week, or am I being delusional ?

Its a good time to play the Gunners as they are going through a bad spell by their standards lately. Liverpool will still have to lift their game to get anything from it.

When is Campbell back? Cygan is rubbish and I thinks Campbells return will see normal service returned.

Kulgan · 22-11-2004 11:07am

Where are the goals gonna come from though?!

Couldnt understand 2-0 down on saturday and liverpool still not looking like producing any worthwhile chances he brings on biscan for alonso ?!?

And Traore although a slight improvement over previous seasons is still a liability at the back!

Ardent · 22-11-2004 11:09am

Caesar_Bojangle wrote:

The whole team seemed to play with more confidence as soon as Gerrard came on yesterday - admittedly we conceded a goal. I reckon with Gerrard back we might just beat Arsenal next week, or am I being delusional ?

Yeah, we went through a good spell shortly after he came on but I couldn't undertsand the logic in taking off Hamann who I thought was having a fine game. I was hoping Rafa would take off Garcia for Gerrard and create a 5 man midfield to try and take the game to Boro.

That performance was so frustrating yesterday. It was always going to be tough without any recognised strikers but to have so many players suffering from inconsistent/poor form - e.g., Kewell, Garcia, Riise - we hadn't a chance.

The Liverpool board need to seriously look at Steve Morgans offer because it's plain as day that Liverpool football club are in dire need of some quality signings in January, with a new striker being a priority. Otherwise, we'll stumble through the rest of the season and won't even make 4th IMO.

uberwolf · 22-11-2004 11:11am

I really couldn't understand why mellor didn't come on. Neither Garcia nor Kewell looked like they cared. Even riisse had a big grin on his mug with ten mins to go. Mellor likes to get in amongst the centre backs and upset them with his presence. Unlike kewell he must still be paranoid aabout some injury the ways he's playing.

Boro · 22-11-2004 6:06pm

So, Boro for the champions league? Its not that much of a stretch considering how badly a lot of other teams seem to be playing lately. I was actually at the game on saturday and thought that liverpool were very poor. Their fans though were great, very vocal. It was kind of ironic though, when they were 2-0 down they started singing "stand up if you've won the league"! Past glories eh? Another funny thing that happened, dont know if ye heard it on TV, was just as the liverpool goal was ruled out, the stadium announcer came on and announced Riggotts goal (1-0 to the boro, and riggott is the scorer) - of course the goal had actually been scored about 5 minutes before that so it was a real sly dig at the liverpool fans - the boro fans loved it though

cerbeus · 22-11-2004 9:49pm

Benitez needs to drop Kewell who obviously needs to sort out his ankle injury once and for all. I'd like to see him use the likes or Warnock and Mellor for the next couple of matches.

He had used Warnock early on in the beginning but seems to have cooled off and he didn't even make the bench for the last couple of matches.

As for beating Arsenal, although they are looking shaky at the back so are we with Josemi and Hyypia both looking like they need to be taught the basics again. Maybe it's time to flog Hyypia while we can still get something for him.

We're saved! (Gerrards back!)

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