Who Gets Benched When Gerrard Comes Back - And Where Will Stevie Play?

Personally I think Adam is the one to miss out - Lucas is undroppable the way he is playing, and Gerrard is not as fast as he was to play on the wings.

Stevie in an Alonso role suits very well in my opinion

Thoughts?

Personally think it will be Henderson to be sacrificed, I don't think Gerrard will necessarily be playing out on the right, but in more of a free role while drifting in and out on the right side.

I think Kenny likes Adam ALOT, can't see him being dropped If Im honest, unless he produces another performance similar to that of Stoke consistently.

Good thread mate

I think we will see Stevie playing where he has the last few seasons.... as an attacking midfielder playing in the hole.

                  Lucas       Adam

       Suarez         Gerrard        Downing

                          Carroll


With Downing playing wide coming in off the wing, while Suarez plays narrow, moving wider on occasion. Gerrard just being Gerrard helping the midfield and the attack. 


 

Think S@ints formation could be the winner though, that looks tasty.

Good thread mate

I think we will see Stevie playing where he has the last few seasons.... as an attacking midfielder playing in the hole.

                  Lucas       Adam

       Suarez         Gerrard        Downing

                          Carroll


With Downing playing wide coming in off the wing, while Suarez plays narrow, moving wider on occasion. Gerrard just being Gerrard helping the midfield and the attack.   

That's what I was thinking of, Henderson for me atm is the weakest part of our midfield, not slating him, but replacing him with Stevie would have a greater impact than say swapping Adam out.

Personally I think Adam is the one to miss out - Lucas is undroppable the way he is playing, and Gerrard is not as fast as he was to play on the wings.

Stevie in an Alonso role suits very well in my opinion

Thoughts?

I hope this happens, he played there in the latter stages of last season for KK and was immense. I'm not a fan of Gerrard on the right, he drifts in too much.

Henderson for me.

I'm being devil's advocate here, but who's to say Gerrard will come straight back into the team?

Adam, Henderson - Depending on the opposition.

I'm being devil's advocate here, but who's to say Gerrard will come straight back into the team?

He is the captain and driving force of the first team.

I think theres a case for it being Charlie Adam. Gerrard probably won't be able to cover the pitch like he used to. This will leave us needing someone with bags of energy and a bit of pace about them in the middle. Henderson appears to be able to cover more ground than Adam at a quicker rate. Gerrard's passing style is also quite similar to Charlie Adam's too.

There is a case for both though. A direct replacement for either.

He is the captain and driving force of the first team.

Doesn't matter, no player should just walk back into the first team, it's all about fighting for your place now.

Although I think he'll start his comeback at Brighton.

Doesn't matter, no player should just walk back into the first team, it's all about fighting for your place now.

Although I think he'll start his comeback at Brighton.

That would be perfect. Fully motivated captain inspiring a solid win.
Nice headache Kenny has then for the next game.

Good thread mate

I think we will see Stevie playing where he has the last few seasons.... as an attacking midfielder playing in the hole.

                  Lucas       Adam

       Suarez         Gerrard        Downing

                          Carroll


With Downing playing wide coming in off the wing, while Suarez plays narrow, moving wider on occasion. Gerrard just being Gerrard helping the midfield and the attack. 

I think this is very much the way it will look on paper.  Carrol will stay high up the pitch and very central to act as the target.  Suarez, Gerrard, and Downing will all be able to interchange positions and give us a flowing pass and move feel, but I would imagine they will have relatively fixed roles within the system. 

Suarez will drift inside and look to get through the channels.  He can take advantage of flicks and knockdowns from Andy, while Gerrard and Adam are more than capable of putting him through on goal with a precise pass.  He will keep opposition defenders honest and his pace should help prevent teams from playing with too high of a defensive line.

With Suarez pushing up and in, it will free up the right flank for Downing to switch over.  Downing will effectively be able to roam from left to right, and back again at will.  He will be told to get wide, find space, get on the ball, dribble at the defense, and make things happen. 

Gerrard will be given his free role behind the main CF.  He will be given the freedom to check back to receive the ball or push high to help the attack.  He will basically be allowed to roam and create from anywhere his instincts tell him to play. 

Playing like this will require both Lucas and Adam to sit deep, as we may get caught with all four of Carrol, Downing, Suarez, and Gerrard in attack and if we lose possession we will need 2 holding mids to be able to comfortably deal with counter attacks.  It will also mean that our outside backs will need to be more selective about when they get forward to help with the attack, because we will not want to get caught with them too high up field on the counter.

It would be nice to see this team in the next few weeks: 

              Pepe
Kelly  Skrtel  Agger  Enrique
        Lucas   Adam
 Suarez  Gerrard  Downing
             Carrol

Bench:  Doni, Johno, Carra, Spearo, Hendo, Kuyt, Bellamy

Strong team with a good mix of youth and experience, and a very strong bench.  Johno (when fully fit) could be a great sub to come on as he has explosive pace!  Kuyt and Bellamy can also both be game changers, and the likes of Maxi, Aurelio, and Coates are not even in this proposed match day squad!!

I'd have to say Adam or Henderson.

If Henderson gets taken out, Suarez has to play on the wings, IMO. If it's Adam, nothing really changes.

Personally think it will be Henderson to be sacrificed, I don't think Gerrard will necessarily be playing out on the right, but in more of a free role while drifting in and out on the right side.

I think Kenny likes Adam ALOT, can't see him being dropped If Im honest, unless he produces another performance similar to that of Stoke consistently.

Agree..

Gerrard gets benched when Gerrard comes back and we ease him back into the first team.  Having him just on the bench may be enough 'encouragement' for a couple of players to up their game.

Think S@ints formation could be the winner though, that looks tasty.

I wish mate. It looks good on paper. But, I see two problems:

1. Carroll has to start firing
2. Adam needs to play some X times better than how he is playing now.

But, I believe Stevie will play behind the striker.


                  Lucas       Adam

       Suarez         Gerrard        Downing

                          Bellamy

The above will be better IMHO. But, I wish Carroll starts proving the doubters wrong. 

                        Lucas      Adam 

Kuyt                                                        Downing                   

           Gerrard-------Gerrard-------Gerrard

                               Suarez


 does that make sense?

Good thread mate

I think we will see Stevie playing where he has the last few seasons.... as an attacking midfielder playing in the hole.

                  Lucas       Adam

       Suarez         Gerrard        Downing

                          Carroll


With Downing playing wide coming in off the wing, while Suarez plays narrow, moving wider on occasion. Gerrard just being Gerrard helping the midfield and the attack. 


 

Agree with S@int. I think this is the line-up that Kenny plays. Carroll needs to be given the chance to start putting in balls when he has Adam, Gerrard, Downing and Suarez feeding him. If he can't score in this line-up...then we know he's not gonna be the answer for us moving forward.

I think with the midfielders we have that Gerrard may not have to play the full 90 minutes every game . He is the driving force of our team and given the amount of injuries he collects needs protection ,we do options in midfield with our squad but we need to give Hendo experience too

Henderson for me.

               Lucas Adam
   
   Downing   Gerrard   Suarez

               Carroll / Kuyt

Doesn't matter, no player should just walk back into the first team, it's all about fighting for your place now.

This. Captain or no captain he shouldn't be given an automoatic starting place, but I have to agree with s@int formation wise, but swap Bellamy with Carroll and have him as an impact sub.