Who leads LFC, now?....

Slightly gone off topic, into whom should be captain..... And struggling to see past hendo. So does he have enough leadership to lift the team when we are struggling? Toure could be the main part of the spine, playing or not. Characters and experience are key when you have such a young squad.

So players with experience, leadership and characters as I see it are;

Chelsea; terry, ivanovich, Cahill, fabregas, magic?, drogba.
Scum; Carrick, Evans, Rooney.
Arsenal; mertesacker, arteta,
City; Kompany, yaya, Lampard,Zabaletta, milner?
Liverpool; skrtel, toure, Henderson, Lucas, Sakho.

I would like to see Lucas given a go tbh, only thing is, could he hold his place down in the side, depending on the opposition and formation of the side.

It'll be Henderson due to him being the vice captain and he captained the England U-21s for a while. He's the obvious choice to becoming captain. Quite a turnaround for somebody who Rodgers was showing the door to not so long ago.

After that, the options are limited. I've suggested Lallana due to him formerly captaining the Saints. I wouldn't be surprised to see Skrtel get the vice-captaincy. Rodgers obviously rates him as there isn't a game that goes by where he doesn't play. He's been with the club for years. Once Stevie leaves, Skrtel will have played more games for the club than other member of the current squad. And I think there's been the odd game where he has taken the armband previously.

I see some suggesting Sakho, he doesn't scream leader to me. He screams liability. Also do you want a captain who walked out on his team ahead of the biggest game of the season? I don't see Lucas being here past the summer if I'm honest which kinda rules him out, same with Toure. Lovren needs to establish himself as a solid centre half before even thinking about being considered a leader. Emre Can looks captain material but he needs to establish himself in the team first and show his leadership qualities.

Coutinho is an interesting suggestion, maybe in the same sort of mould as Modric. The creative spark who links everything together. While he's no Souness in terms of obvious captain material, he could be the one to lead by example. He's also good for getting stuck in when need be, been a few times where he's squared up to the opposition.

I would think that at a bare minimum the next captain should prove that he is undroppable and essential to the starting XI.  That rules out Flanagan.  And it rules out Henderson who goes missing and hides more often than not.  The only undroppable ones are Sterling and Coutinho really.  Neither of them seems to be good captain material in my eyes.

Maybe Lallana could be a good shout.

Undroppable players are GJ and Skrtel according to our team sheets. But are they essential to starting XI? 

Slightly gone off topic, into whom should be captain..... And struggling to see past hendo. So does he have enough leadership to lift the team when we are struggling? Toure could be the main part of the spine, playing or not. Characters and experience are key when you have such a young squad.

So players with experience, leadership and characters as I see it are;

Chelsea; terry, ivanovich, Cahill, fabregas, magic?, drogba.
Scum; Carrick, Evans, Rooney.
Arsenal; mertesacker, arteta,
City; Kompany, yaya, Lampard,Zabaletta, milner?
Liverpool; skrtel, toure, Henderson, Lucas, Sakho.

Coutinho provides plenty of that.

Coutinho provides plenty of that.

Experience, leadership? Not sure mate. Hes the dogs bollix on the pitch, and our best player right now but is he one to speak up in the dressing room before or during a match to lift the team?

Maybe Im making too much of the need for the spine, but I'm concerned. Think we have missed a trick here. Gerrard going is like our last big name, our last true scouse, our last player who bleeds liverpool. Carra and him were so vital to the squad.

Slightly going off on a tangent here but, who is the player who will attract big names to the club now? Ye I know the club is bigger than anyone player... but we have NO big names, studge could (maybe is already) be world class and needs a consistent run to get that notoriety. Gerrard is a god of football, bigger name than Suarez, up there with Messi.

Looking at the team post Gerrard, I just dont see a great team - Purely based on status/names, if you know what I mean?

Coutinho provides plenty of that.

Oh I see what you were referring to. Ha Damn autocorrect. "Matic"..... He is Magic for them now though. Ha

yea that's convenient isn't it.  Stevie and Rafa never got on and if Rafa told Stevie not to jump off a cliff he would have done just to spite Rafa. and yet suddenly Rafa tells Stevie not to speak out against H&G and Stevie "reluctantly" goes along with it?  give me a f**king break.  Both Carra and Pepe said the entire squad pushed Stevie to come out and say something not only as captain of the team but as a representative of the club he loved his whole life.  and you're telling me he would have done if Rafa hadn't held him back?  Stevie never gave two shits about what Rafa said anyway.  why would he suddenly say "well I want to, but Rafa told me not to..."

Let's just call a spade a spade.  Stevie was too afraid to speak out against H&G despite every single player in the squad wanting him to do it. 

and he didn't.  End of.

Didnt look like Gerrard and Rafa were the best pals around but your black and white view of the world fed is ridiculous.

The other motivational force for Gerrard is his manager at Liverpool, Rafael Benitez. It has not always been a comfortable relationship, Gerrard’s tendency to positional indiscipline – a playground footballer is the most common criticism, always chasing the action – at first grated against Benitez’s equally instinctive desire for order.

Over time, they developed mutual respect. Gerrard for Benitez’s meticulous attention to detail and his relentless drive for improvement: Benitez for Gerrard’s match-defining qualities.

'Even after five years with Rafa, I still feel I want to please him, that I want to impress him in every game I play,' Gerrard added.'The great managers are like that. There are a handful operating on a different level and I am lucky enough to play for two of them, Benitez and Fabio Capello.
'It is when you see what they put in, some of the little things they spot, that you realise how hard they work. Rafa will make a point, and you’ll be thinking, "Has this guy not got a life?" because it seems so minor, but it is what sets him apart.
'I can have a good game – tell you what, I’ll be big-headed, say I’ve had a fantastic game – we’ve won 2-1 in the last minute and I’ve scored both. 'I come back into the dressing-room and I’m buzzing, bouncing off the walls, thinking "I feel good today", that is when Rafa comes up and starts talking about a throw-in when they changed the play and I pressed far too late. He’ll say: "If you want, we’ll go out there and I’ll show you".

'Or you’ll have a run of 10 games when you’re in form and flying and he’ll pop you a DVD of your recent play and it’s broken up into sections good and bad. And you’re thinking, "Hang on, bad? I didn’t do anything wrong". But you’ll watch it and you’re out of position in one match, or you pressed late or you let a man go at a set-piece. You wonder when the guy sleeps.

'At first when he did things like that, I’d be asking, "Has he not watched my last 150 games for Liverpool?" There is a danger that you think he has it in for you because he pulls you so much.

'When he arrived, he would keep saying to me "Left foot, left foot" or I’d shoot and he would say "hit the target" and I’m thinking, "Look, mate, I’m trying to hit the f***ing target".
'I would say to people "I'm 26 – if he doesn’t think my left foot’s working now, it’s never going to work" but then a few weeks later I scored with my left and he came up with a little smile and said "lucky goal today, left foot and it hit the target" and then the penny dropped.

'Finally, I realised it was the way he helped push you on and as a player you either recognised it or fought it and, with these guys, if you fight it there is only one winner.
'I think that was why I adapted to Fabio Capello slightly better than some of the England players because his style was similar to what I had experienced with Rafa. He has that same way of keeping your feet on the ground in the moments when you’re thinking you are a bit good."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1216111/STEVEN-GERRARD-EXCLUSIVE-The-trial-changed-It-frightening-I-celebrate-bar--Liverpool-England-star-frank.html

You lost Jamie Carragher a couple of years ago, now Steven is going to leave. How important is that Scouse heart in the team and how do you replace it?

Certainly from a management perspective, not too many managers get to have to manage that situation. Jamie was an incredible player here for the club and has gone on to have a successful career outside of football now. He was pretty much clear in what he wanted to do. Stevie will move on at the end of the season and for us, it's about finding the next one. It's a difficult ask - you've got one of the leading players in world football over the last 10-15 years, but it happens to all the great players and as a football club you've got to look to find the next ones. There is a lot of great work going on in our Academy with a real focus on the players that are on our own doorstep. Now it is easy to look away from your own doorstep and look abroad, but for us we're trying to find the talents - of which I believe there are many - in and around the Merseyside area and Liverpool. That's the challenge now, looking for the next one. There is only one Steven Gerrard, but we have to look for the next talents to come through.

When you took over, you maybe thought the end of Gerrard's Liverpool career would come on your watch. Was there a long-term plan from the beginning in terms of thinking 'in two years' time we're going to have to replace this guy' and a build towards that?

When I came in, I believed Steven had a lot to offer the team in terms of his performance. Working here, I see his great influence in the changing room with the other players and the great work he does throughout the football club. Of course, you always have in the back of your mind there is going to be a time he will move on and you're looking to bring through the next ones - that's something that has had to be looked at from a football perspective. It's neigh on impossible to find a direct replacement for someone of that stature and quality, but we have to continue with our work and continue to find the top players to come in and perform for the club.

Do you think there is one individual out there who could fill that void, or is it going to be a case of filling it with more than one?

It's not something that I've overly thought. Steven Gerrard is unique in his play and in his behaviour, how he has been as a football player. For me coming into here, finding out what he is like as a human being, he is a really unique character. You can't make the direct replacement. As we've seen over many years in football, there is always the opportunity there for the next one to come in. For us it'll always be about the team, but this is a football club that is renowned for having world-class players. It gives an opportunity for the young players to keep pushing on and there's no greater club in the world to be an icon at. This is an incredible football club and if you can perform consistently at a top level here, there is no greater place to be to be held in that esteem by the Liverpool supporters.

BR Interview re: Stevie leaving. Kinda side stepped the questions...

I think quite a few leaders will emerge over the coming weeks now that Stevies decision has been made public.  Sometimes having a Club legend as Captain can prevent others stepping up as they don't want to be seen as undermining the hierarchy, this isn't because they aren't confident enough but as a mark of respect which is a good sign of leadership.

I don't necessarily believe that age or seniority makes a better leader either, it's a quality that you either have or don't have but it usually shows at an early age rather than developing later in life.

Hendo is the kind of Captain who will relish the opportunity to lead his troops, he's a proud guy just like Stevie so he understands what an honour it is that he's our Captain.  I think he'll do great and I think he'll raise his game because of it. 

As for VC I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Studge.  He's a leader from the front, well liked by the squad and is great with the younger players.

Stop it now Debs, your talking far to much sense,

and we can't have that in a cesspit of a forum now can we. 


YNWA

Leaders of all leaders - what on earth are we going to do without characters like these?

The current bunch are a dearth of leadership for the first time in an age. Worrying indeed.

Just make the rest of the squad learn French.

Like Arsebal a few years ago when they weren't playing a single Englishman.

Well...appears it's only a matter of time before Lucas leaves so following on from Kuyt, Reina, Agger and now Stevie it's a massive problem for us. Hendo has a great attitude but is he a leader or a inspiration? Not sure but it's up to him and the likes of Lallana to step up.

Like Arsebal a few years ago when they weren't playing a single Englishman.

Damn it 7KK7 - name this unmarried Englishman don't skirt around the issue!

Wait, oh ah that's awkward.....as you were.

Well Stevie has been a fairly rubbish captain, ALTHOUGH AN OUTSTANDING PLAYER, so whoever we choose will probably be an improvement. I would like to see Brendan pick a new captain immediatly but he probably doesn't want to upset his landlord. I'd go for Henderson.

The fact is that we look a better team without Stevie despite all these fuckwit pundits kissing Stevie's arse at the moment calling him our current best midfielder, give me a break!!

Imagine what the difference a Sami (at his peak) would make with regards leadership, within this current squad?

So let's get him in, in a coaching role. deffo need it at the back anyway, and he would install a level of leadership in the dressing room. He is available at the mo !

Of the current squad - Hendo is the best placed. Think Sahko captained his club as a teenager / early 20's so potential VC

What is being overlooked to a degree is the lack of players - particularly local - who have come through the ranks.

Lets face it - Carra, Owen and Gerrard emerged FIFTEEN years ago - and there has been only odd decent premiership class (no one international or world class) in that time. That worries me greatly.

And before the warriors mention Sterling - we bought him from QPR .

Well Stevie has been a fairly rubbish captain

What you basing that on?

That he has captained the club for 11 years? That 5 different managers kept him as captain, that all those players who have played under him call him an inspiration?
Or just cause you don't see him shouting much at times?

Tis rare nowadays for local youths to develop into 1st team stars, well atleast at the big clubs. Clearly something changed over the years, for the worse.

Tis rare nowadays for local youths to develop into 1st team stars, well atleast at the big clubs. Clearly something changed over the years, for the worse.

Money and the influx of foreign players to the extent they are in numbers nowadays

Money and the influx of foreign players to the extent they are in numbers nowadays

Ah thats the reason alright, but a bit short sighted from the money counters. A young English lad brought through the youths to the 1st team, of any serious standard is sold at a heavy profit + an english tax.

Money and the influx of foreign players to the extent they are in numbers nowadays

I think you could add the demand for instant success now. Any lad who pays well in lower leagues or in youth teams is now expected to do the exact same in the senior team. What Sterling (most recently) has done is so rare in the game now. I don't think football fans as a whole have the patience for young players that they used to.

Ah thats the reason alright, but a bit short sighted from the money counters. A young English lad brought through the youths to the 1st team, of any serious standard is sold at a heavy profit + an english tax.

Managers get less time now as well and the lack of patience makes them think that they don't have time to blood kids and they need a quicker fix and a more established foreign player will do the job.

The more foreign coaches as well are more comfortable in bringing that market in

I think you could add the demand for instant success now. Any lad who pays well in lower leagues or in youth teams is now expected to do the exact same in the senior team. What Sterling (most recently) has done is so rare in the game now. I don't think football fans as a whole have the patience for young players that they used to.

Definitely mate