Stevie G

[NEWKID 27,211]

I followed liverpool in the "boys pen" late 60's,then stood with the men on the "KOP", seen some great players and some mediocre,Dalglish is still my best liverpool player ever to pull on a red shirt closely followed by a few more, Steven Gerard was at best a good player but never genuine "World class",he suffered to many injuries in his early career and always pulled out of anything heavy,I watched him carragher,owen,mateo come through as kids and then into the reserves which I went to the games every week, Gerrard never had a decent game and always came off the pitch a poor second to the likes of Vierra,Roy Keane,Figo,etc, these men were all leaders on the pitch and could psyche people out in the tunnel before kick off, a talent shared by the likes of Tommy Smith, the great Jimmy Greaves once came to anfield and was at the top of his game,top scorer for Tottenham and England when Tommy leaned over in the tunnel and put a piece of paper in Greavesies top pocket,he went white and needless to say after 5mins Smith comes in with a heavy tackle leaving Greaves asking to come off,after the game Smith gets asked what was it you put in Greaves top pocket and Smith replied"it was the menu for the Royal Liverpool hospital tonight",needless to say we won that game before a ball was kicked. World class midfield captains can organise a side on the pitch and demand that bit more when it matters,Gerrard thought by him trying a bit harder it would do it, RESPECT is earned on the pitch but he always came a poor second to the players previously mentioned,the champions league final was his finest hour but those type of games were all to rare,the younger fans that have never seen a league title won only have the recent history to compare whereas us "ol farts" can remember the true greats from previous true world class teams,the leaving of Gerrard will help us to play better free flowing football and not keep giving him the ball to hold up in midfield or like all players that slow down, start playing it backwards.he can take a penalty or a free kick but then so can I,that doesn't make him World class,the difference was all to plain to see when he blew the title with early celebrations last year,he lacked true leadership when it was most needed,only my opinion as a life long liverpool fan and football coach, WM

Really good post that WM..