I wrote this in the post-match whine thread, but i truly believe that Gerrard does not have the instincts or anticipation to play as a defender/DM.
His talents are better suited as an attacking player. I don`t have the tactical knowledge to tell you where he would play in the team right now, but I think we can all agree that Coutinho perhaps needs a break and is certainly more suited to playing as an inside attacking player rather than out wide. I think Stevie could be his competitor for that proposed position, and that would not be the end of the world.
Allen or Henderson need to play as the holding midfielder if that`s what we are going to have. Even Kolo Toure may be an option if not utilised in a 3 CB formation.
I love Stevie G, and I am still formulating my reaction to recent events (at Spurs domination, reintroduction into the side, and now the last two games as a "regista" role) as to where his future resides positionally.
On one side, I look at three crucial goals (each one really pisses me off) where our Captain
failed to track his man1)
Swansea - Jonjo's goal (probably shared responsibility with Lucas on this gem)
2)
Everton - Mirallas' put back on the set play was not inevitable and tied the game we were dominating
3)
Aston Villa - Weimann got to his front
Maybe, this trend cost us points or maybe we were destined to tie these games anyway. Who knows?
However, when we combine them with the confusion of the last 15 minutes of 1st half at Stoke and first half of Villa, we saw a player trying to do too much often out of position which led to other players compensating and being off kilter. Can he play the regista role?
Well, when we think about going forward, our second goal was set up by another world class ball pinged by Captain Fantastic. While his position and role changed at half-time, his ability to deliver the tactic that Rodgers wanted to exploit did not. Also, we must not forget the strong sample size of pinged delivery service Gerrard has offered to Suarez over the years. Someone post them, as I cannot remember the list of long balls that have been perfectly placed onto a Suarez, Sturridge etc...
And when you combine this world class talent with his re-start, leadership, impact on referees, sheer force of will, periodic ball-winning and penalty abilities, you have a player that should be on the pitch every game (if we can hide his deficiencies). Can he play the regista role? Certainly, he can! The issue is can we hide his deficiencies well enough to warrant using him in this role, when we have players who are better than him individually, but do not impact the team in totality as well as our Captain.
To me, if we can hide his deficiencies --- as we have done with Lucas for years, then in my mind he could carve out a role. However, it will not be without growing pains and frequent calls by the supporters to get rid of him. This is where Rodgers and staff will really have to do well to create confidence, but find ways to protect him (as he is still a very dangerous weapon). This may speak to how Rodgers sees himself as more of an attacking coach. It also may speak to what the owners wanted from him when he started, (More goals and something visually to sell)...