Stevie in a front 3?

I read somewhere yesterday, gone out of my head now where I read it, that Stevie Gerrard is listed or considered by Brendan Rodgers as a "forward" and not a midfielder that we would all consider him. With Joe Allens' arrival last night plus some other options like Shelvey and Henderson to play midfield and maybe even 1 more midfielder arriving before the window closes do we now have the potential to play Stevie as part of a front 3?

Gerrard Borini Suarez or Gerrard Suarez Borini or Stevie and Luis playing behind Boroini (though this would give the 2 full backs a mountain of work to get through acting as wide men).

If that was the case would you see it working for us? Or do you think Stevie should always have a central role in around midfield. Do you think the balance of the side would be effected by Stevie in a wide forward role in a 4 3 3 or do you think it would potentially blow teams out of the water?

Possible team in that 4 3 3. Unbalanced? Lacking natrual width? Or potential to tear teams apart?

                Reina
Johnson Skrtel Agger Enrique

      Allen   Lucas Shelvey

Gerrard       Borini        Suarez

104 goals (or something close to that) playing in mostly advanced roles during the Benitez era (04/05-09/10 seasons) suggests an advanced Steven Gerrard kicks arse.

Would maybe explain why Rodgers was in for Sigurdsson and also pour water on rumours that we are in for Ramirez?

While i agree he could play there ,do we really have anyone else in the middle who an play the killer ball like him ,the answer to that is no i believe ,there is no doubt about his scoring ability ,and i dont think we have anyone else yet who can pick a man out like stevie can ,so i would keep him just behind our strikers for now ,with a little license to roam.

I would say it could work wonders for us - he's always played well when he can go where he wants.  It won't be a what you might call an 'out and out striker' role but a forward/attacking role.  When he was first moved to right midfield (Rafa's second year?) he scored 23 goals I think, as he was given a licence to roam.  Also the 08-09 season was a revelation.  And I seem to remember Rafa saying, Stevie would (or could) probably end his playing days as a 'striker' (or did I dream that?).

There will be the naysayers however, e.g. Jamie 'top, top player' Redknapp and Roy Hodgson - the latter not saying anything but in a flat old-school 4-4-2 where else is he going to play Gerrard?  Some 'pundits' are surprisingly closed off when it comes to things like variations in tactics ...... and zonal marking of course (but that's another thread altogether).

And I think it's the best place for him.  Let the younger legs do all the fetching and carrying and let him concentrate on attack.  I think in the system there will also be some licence to be flexible, e.g if Allen gets forward.  My only concern would be an Alonso type distributor in the midfield, so we'll see.

A few years ago I'd agree, but I'll be happy to see him play regularly in the midfield for us.
A good run with Gerard, Lucas, Suarez and Borini, ahead of the same defensive unit we had last season gives me hope.

A few years ago I'd agree, but I'll be happy to see him play regularly in the midfield for us.
A good run with Gerard, Lucas, Suarez and Borini, ahead of the same defensive unit we had last season gives me hope.

This.

I was just chatting to a mate last night about Joe Allen and we were pondering possible line ups. I went for Lucas, Allen and Gerrard (Shelvey if Gerrard or Allen are out) in the middle. Then Borini up top with Suarez and Pacheco playing as wing forwards.

Stevie showed on Thursday that he'll still get up there and get a goal playing from the middle. Also some of his link up play with Suarez was fantastic. And on top of all that he'll defend and control play.

If we're having a tough game I think it would be harder for Gerrard to have an influence in a game up top. Especially as he'd be dropping deep to help, he'd basically be in the middle anyway.

The most important factor of all of this now is that this isn't Steven Gerrard who will carry Liverpool for 50-60 games a season. Time catches up with all of us and he can't physically do it at that tempo anymore. Take care of him, use him tactically and get the best out of him, where we always have, in the heart of our mid field.

Gerrard Lucas and Allen seems tob e favourite.I still find Shelvey clumsy and his timing is either perfect or all over the place but he has time on his side.
As for Adam and Spearing they must be thinking when is my taxi due.

The midfield three would probably be more like:

                Lucas
       Allen
                      Gerrard

So he would be just behind Suarez with Borini coming in from the left.

It actually looked like he was playing on the left of the front 3 for a bit against Gomel, and if he were to play in a front 3, that's where I would play him. His crossing is brilliant, especially from a standstill so if was to play of the the left, cut in onto his right and then cross it could work to our advantage. It would also allow Suarez to play on the right too, where he was impressed a lot, with Borini through the middle. Of course, they can switch too as Borini also looks versatile.

It would also allow Suarez to play on the right too, where he was impressed a lot, with Borini through the middle. Of course, they can switch too as Borini also looks versatile.

I think the 3 are very interchangeable which is another bonus. Actually could you picture Stevie playing through the middle with Suarez and Borini out wide?

An interesting question.

I feel it would depend on the opposition, as he can sometimes get sucked into a defensive midfield role when we are under the cosh.
As players get older, they tend to go backwards, that is playing in a position that is more defensive, not go forward in position, but Stevie has always been different.

I like the idea, but I do think it would depend on who we are playing.

Rafa did say that he could see Stevie finishing his career as an out and out forward, so who knows.

As you said RedPuppy, Stevie has a tendancy to drop deep if things are not going to plan, this was was very evident for 6 months in 09-10 just after Alonso left, so I'm not sure if playing him as a number 9 would suit him now.

With the loss of Lucas last season it left a bit of a gap in the middle I think, which Stevie had to cover off. I don't feel that he looked particularly comfortable or happy when he was played in a wide/forward role.

At this stage of his career I think he would help best as a central mid, helping to create the offense and shutting down the opposition when needed.

Stevie is not the box to box player he was, that said, he is clinical in-front of goal and playing him just behind a front two would be ideal, gives him the room to get forward but also not the responsibility in having to track back "as much"

Doesn't have the legs to be a winger at this stage of his career in my opinion and I think he'd be far more useful in the hole in front of Lucas and Allen and just behind the front three in a position where he can spark attacks from the midfield as well as be a support man through the middle or be the cleanup just outside the box.

Let's bump this thread because it is a real possibility if the Sahin rumor has any credibility to it.

In fact BR likes to pla 4-3-3 with inside forwards if I'm not wrong and the width comes mainly from fullbacks(ref. Enrique's interview and Suarez's positioning vs Gomel).

It would not surprise me if we play like this

                       Borini
          Suarez            Gerrard
 
Enrique          Allen              Shelvey*        Johnson
                     Lucas

           Agger          Skrtel
       
                     Reina

We'll press very high and the fullbacks will rarely have to return to "their corner flags" to win the ball.

I think he could play as a narrow, or inside forward on the right or left. Similar to how Borini played against Gomel.

I think we might have one more creative wider forward playing as an inside forward as Borini and Suarez played, and a player offering width as Downing and Sterling have done so far.  Gerrard could definitely play the inside forward role, as could Dempsey - one of our targets. Targets Walcott and Johnson will be for the wider role.

While i agree he could play there ,do we really have anyone else in the middle who an play the killer ball like him ,the answer to that is no i believe ,there is no doubt about his scoring ability ,and i dont think we have anyone else yet who can pick a man out like stevie can ,so i would keep him just behind our strikers for now ,with a little license to roam.

It's a good question but i'd also flip it and ask how many times does Stevie try that killer ball and squander possession as a result? Probably a little too often for BR's liking I suspect. With the style of football we will be looking to play I suspect will be less about playing a killer ball into space and more about being patient with the ball and created openings with clever play in the final 3rd. Assuming we do a good job o0f keeping the ball (I expect us to be in the top 2 in the league) i'd expect to see opposing defences playing much deeper (both home and away) than perhaps is the norm which will increase the difficulty of playing that killer pass that Stebie is so well known for.

I think he will play in a midfield 3 for much of the time but i'm all for Gerrard playing further forward. In the last 2 games he has played much closer to Suarez (much like he did with Torres) and he looked sharp. I'm all for Stevie playing further up the pitch, I still believe he can do a job on the right of a 3 (with licence to roam) as well as playing just behind the striker.

If Sahin comes in, I think we'll see Gerrard move up front next to Suarez and Borini. I can't imagine Sahin coming here to sit on the bench, or for Lucas or Allen to be benched.

I'm all for it... I always thought it was a shame he wasn't played on the right more often, he had maybe the best league season of his career there. With Suarez and Borini we seem to have a very mobile strike force, so it wouldn't be exactly like playing as a wide forward... perhaps more as a withrawn forward... he's certainly one of the better finishers in our squad. That will obviously depend on who we'll bring though.

I'm all for it... I always thought it was a shame he wasn't played on the right more often, he had maybe the best league season of his career there.

Have always felt that Gerrard should have played more often from the right after that fantastic season in 05/06 but I don't think he really wanted to play there himself.

This idea of Gerrard playing as part of a front 3 seems more and more likely as the rumours on Sahin gather pace. Sahin could potentially be brought in to play in the midfield rotation but I think it's more likely that Stevie will play further forward some of the time.

If we're having a tough game I think it would be harder for Gerrard to have an influence in a game up top. Especially as he'd be dropping deep to help, he'd basically be in the middle anyway.

Agree with this although i'd like to think that the lads will boss possession in the majority of games this season IF BR successfully gets his ideas across so getting hold of the ball shouldn't be the problem, at least not with a midfield of Allen, Lucas and Sahin it bloody shouldn't!

Rafa thought Gerrard would be best deployed as a forward during the latter stages of his career and I've said many times that I agree. His link-up play with Suarez is almost telepathic and the thought of those two playing up front with Borini or either side of Carroll is mouthwatering.
I love Stevie's surging runs from midfield but he's going to be able to do that less and less now, combined with his other midfield duties.
I take the point that his creativity in midfield may be missed but at the same time, the game intelligence of him and Luis would make the front line quite easy for the other midfielders to hit.