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Gerrard says what the rest of us think

surf

By surf
in Liverpool FC

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surf

surf

Posted
Posted

good interview

 

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id...668&cc=5739

 

 

Steven Gerrard has delivered a scathing assessment of Liverpool's faltering campaign by declaring even winning the Champions League will not make up for the dismal performance in the Premier League.

 

The Liverpool skipper accepts that only fourth place now is acceptable as they battle to secure entry into Europe's elite competition next term.

 

But he said: 'You don't get any prizes in football for finishing in second place, never mind fourth.

 

'I don't think that the fans would accept fourth as an accomplishment and for me it's not nearly good enough.

 

'We need to improve dramatically and even if we do finish fourth, it doesn't mean we have had a good season.'

 

Gerrard accepts Liverpool are now involved in a winner-takes-all battle for fourth spot with neighbours Everton and Aston Villa, Portsmouth and Manchester City.

 

Having regained fourth place on Saturday by beating Middlesbrough, they saw Everton grab it back on Monday with an impressive demolition of Sven-Goran Eriksson's City.

 

And the battle will rage on this weekend with Liverpool at Bolton on Sunday while Everton are at home to Pompey later in the day.

 

Gerrard, in an LFC magazine interview, showed his own frustrations and anger at the club's current fortunes.

 

He said: 'In the position we find ourselves now, fourth is the least that is acceptable. But we have bigger ambitions than that.

 

'The only way we can fulfil those ambitions is in the Champions League. And I am not going to pretend that even winning that trophy - and we are a long way away from it at the moment - will make up for the disappointment of the league campaign.

 

'I'm pretty gutted every time I look at the table and see the gap between us and Arsenal at the top, and even the gap between us and second and third.

 

'We believed we had the players to challenge for the title, and we wanted that one more than any other trophy available to us. I still believe we have the squad to be a hell of a lot more competitive than we are right now.'

 

And Gerrard, significantly, claims the time has come for the club to stop looking at their long-term potential. The Reds skipper, who has again been linked recently with a summer move to Real Madrid, said: 'I'm getting tired of saying the same thing over and over again.

 

'We can't keep talking about next season all the time. There are only so many times you can say it and believe it. Sooner or later we have to make one season the season we make it happen and do the talking on the pitch.

 

'We need to make people believe it. I'm 27 now, I don't want to be talking about 'next season' for Liverpool when I'm 32.

 

'We've got the stadium, the fans, the manager and the players to compete for the Premier League. But we have no chance of doing that if we are always well out of it by the first week in January.

 

'And at the moment we have our work cut out fighting it out with Villa, Everton and Manchester City for fourth.'

 

And he added: 'Only we can make this season a success now. We'd like to finish fourth and win the European Cup again.

 

'But the demands of being a Liverpool player, the expectations that come with the privilege of pulling on that jersey mean we've got to improve.

 

'You make your own luck, shape your own destiny. And now we soon have massive games at Manchester United and Arsenal, knowing we can't win the league.

 

'We are not bothered about whether we have an impact on the title race we're not in. But winning at both those places would send out a message for next season. That would lay down a marker that no-one would ignore.'

 

Gerrard also expresses a disappointment that a season of crisis off the pitch has given 'those in the media who don't like Liverpool' the chance to criticise.

 

'We have made it easy for them,' he said.

 

'It's not been a good situation (the takeover speculation) for anybody. It's sad so much of the club's business has been conducted in public. The club I have grown up supporting always did its business behind closed doors, and that is what we have to get back to.

 

'It's been a damaging situation for every single person involved with the club, fans, players, bosses, owners, from top to bottom.'

 

But Gerrard's theme, which should not be ignored by those 'bosses and owners', is the lack of a real title challenge.

 

He added: 'If you asked most of our fans, they would rather see the title than the European Cup at Anfield. We've not won it in a long, long time.

 

'Looking at the league table hurts. This time last year we were third and Arsenal were fourth, and that is the way the season ended. It hurts to see where Arsenal are now.'

Guest Prongsy

Guest Prongsy

Posted
Posted
I'd soon get over my disapointment with the league if we won a 6th European cup.

 

Me too, he's right though. It's not been good enough in the league and we've performed way below our potential.

 

I feel like the whole thing is a dig at Rafa, which may or may not be fair comment. It's a joint responsibility between the players, manager and fans.

Bo Benn

Bo Benn

Posted
Posted

It's disappointing to see the team has yet to unlock the "mystery" of how to beat worse teams than us on a regular basis. Even though our results against the top teams in the league have been a bit disappointing too I do think we've been a bit unlucky against the likes of Man U and Chelsea lately. Our huge amount of draws against pretty poor opposition is not down to bad luck however.

CaptainXabi

CaptainXabi

Posted
Posted

About f***ing time and I agree with him 100%. It will never be the perfect time for us to win the title. We'll never have enough money or a perfect squad or a perfect manager. We have to dump the excuses and go and win it because we're LFC.

Flasher

Flasher

Posted
Posted

"'We believed we had the players to challenge for the title, and we wanted that one more than any other trophy available to us. I still believe we have the squad to be a hell of a lot more competitive than we are right now."

 

That's the important bit for me, and exactly why there can be no excuses. The team and manager have underperformed.

 

They are good enough to challenge. Our squad IS good enough to challenge.

Guest Kaizer

Guest Kaizer

Posted
Posted (edited)

Personally I think that interview is a load of s****, if he is so unhappy about it then maybe he should try to raise his level of performances, how many goals has he scored from open play this season in the league then in his so called preffered position?

Edited by Kaizer
CaptainXabi

CaptainXabi

Posted
Posted
Personally I think that interview is a load of s****, if he is so unhappy about it then maybe he should try to raise his level of performances, how many goals has he scored from open play this season in the league then in his so called preffered position?

He's got something like a 1 in 5 strike rate from open play (and I think it's only fair to include freekicks). That's his career average and he's 27, so besides that being a good return I'm not sure what you're expecting to to change.

Guest Kaizer

Guest Kaizer

Posted
Posted
yup

 

I`m not anti Gerrard at all, I just think that interview is a load of crap.

Mike

Mike

Posted
Posted
Personally I think that interview is a load of s****, if he is so unhappy about it then maybe he should try to raise his level of performances, how many goals has he scored from open play this season in the league then in his so called preffered position?

 

scored in something like 6 consecutive games this season. whopper.

Bo Benn

Bo Benn

Posted
Posted
Personally I think that interview is a load of s****, if he is so unhappy about it then maybe he should try to raise his level of performances, how many goals has he scored from open play this season in the league then in his so called preffered position?

 

I think I can read in some self criticism in what he said. Especially since he has featured in most of our games and he confesses that the team has underperformed.

 

For me the issue is our general playing style in many of our games and how we approach them. How many goals Gerrard scores isn't that important I think. Also many players in the squad have performed waaaay worse than Gerrard this season.

 

Can't see anything wrong in what he said.

Earl Hafler

Earl Hafler

Posted
Posted
I think I can read in some self criticism in what he said. Especially since he has featured in most of our games and he confesses that the team has underperformed.

 

For me the issue is our general playing style in many of our games and how we approach them. How many goals Gerrard scores isn't that important I think. Also many players in the squad have performed waaaay worse than Gerrard this season.

 

Can't see anything wrong in what he said.

 

Ducked a couple of chances to back the manager and then criticised the team for under achieving

 

You can see how some people are going to read this

Guest Kaizer

Guest Kaizer

Posted
Posted (edited)
scored in something like 6 consecutive games this season. whopper.

 

From open play in the league? :unsure:

 

I`ll spare you the time though.

 

Goal 1 - free kick against Villa, 1-2 win.

Goal 2 - free kick against Arsenal, 1-1 draw.

Goal 3 - penalty against Fulham, 2-0 win.

Goal 4 - free kick against Newcastle, 0-3 win

Goal 5 - penalty against Bolton, 4-0 win.

Goal 6 - goal from open play against Reading, Reina-Torres-Gerrard 1-2-3, 3-1-loss.

Goal 7 - goal from open play against Derby, scores from a rebound from the keeper, 1-2 win.

Goal 8 - penalty against Sunderland, 3-0 win.

 

So to summarise it we will find that Gerrard has scored only 2 goals from open play this season, and only in 3 matches has his goals made any difference pointswise to the outcome.

He has got 5 assists as well, probably mostly from set pieces, but unless someone asks me to have a look at them I wont bother.

 

Gerrard has been average in a lot of our league games this season, his influence in open play has been a huge let down considering his role and position in the team, so if I want him to start performing on the pitch instead of moaning in the press I think I have a decent case.

Edited by Kaizer
MFletcher

MFletcher

Posted
Posted (edited)
I can understand the argument against penalties, but what's wrong with free kicks?

 

The argument is that he'd score free kicks regardless of his position. Kaizer is suggesting that his two goals from open play in the league is a poor return, especially when you consider that he has been playing in the centre of the park for the entire season.

Edited by MFletcher
Guest Kaizer

Guest Kaizer

Posted
Posted (edited)
I can understand the argument against penalties, but what's wrong with free kicks?

 

There is nothing wrong with them.

 

I just try to point out that Gerrard could have done a lot better and because of that I dont think he should moan in the press like this.

 

If we only look at goals and assists most will claim Gerrard has had a very good season, but if you consider his actual performances in most matches they might change their mind, he has not really been influential from his central position at all and the sooner he realises this himself and finds his best/natural position out wide, we will not reach our potential, because we have a much better potential with Gerrard out right than in the middle.

Edited by Kaizer

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