Topic: how good was Steve McMahon

[AnnieRoad(Un)Faithful]

Hyypia was miles better in every way.

Not in terms of pace!

[Jokerman]

One of my favourite players. If you catch me on a particular day I'd probably put McMahon next to McDermott as a fantasy centre midfield, and he's always one of those players that I'd like to have in our side again. Can't understand the comparisons to Lucas at all tho. And that moment where he keeps the ball in that's already been mentioned, is just effing fantastic.

1:24 in...

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/OjFl61bEyzI?fs=1&amp;amp;hl=en_US" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/OjFl61bEyzI?fs=1&amp;amp;hl=en_US</a>

If anything defines his career it's that. Great, great plyer.

[AnnieRoad(Un)Faithful]

Sorry, but comparing McMahon to Lucas is absurd.

Absolutely ABSURD.

Agreed.

Not only was McMahon a far superior player in just about every facet of the game, they haven't played the same role for the club either.

McMahon was a goal threat and scored a goal every 7.03 league games.

Lucas has a ratio of a goal every 100 league games.

Hardly similar.

[Mad Men]

Not in terms of pace! <<---- Hyypia. Which is why I used the Babb vs Hyypia comparison.

[paulrazor]

jones was one fucker you didnt mess with but football wise he was nothing special at all

just a bully who tried to intimidate the opposition

on the cup final day i think we were robbed alright. the challenge by jones on mcmahon mightnt have made mcmahon weary but probably psyched themselves up for it. jones would have been sent off for that today. id argue andy thorn might have gone too for fouling beardsley. disgraceful decision to pull it back though.

wimbledons free leading to the goal was a very poor one too.

[Sangria]

I see what you're saying but I just think the tactics are so different now. Whelan was allowed more licence to roam than Lucas is, let alone McMahon.

By the way, I think Gerrard in 1988 would've played the same game as McMahon did, but don't think in 2011 McMahon would've had the mercurial talent to play in the attacking midfielder role for a top club, and would've had more of the skill set of one of the two "holders, albeit the more adventurous of and mobile of the two. Gerrard's quicker and more talented by some margin (waits for the heresy allegations).

Gerrard has greater individual skill, but McMahon had better positional sense, which made him a better CM than Gerrard in and of himself would be. For those reasons, Gerrard is a far better attacking player than McMahon ever was. The teams they played him gave McMahon an advantage, as he was in a team that made coherent sense, with a direction built over decades. However, Gerrard at his peak had the advantage, although he didn't appreciate it, of Benitez restraining his tendency to wander all over the place. With Torres ahead of him and the rest of the team built to supply him, Gerrard was monstrous.

[Mad Men]

If everyone on here thinks Steve McMahon is a horrible pundit, wait til you hear what Shebby Singh has to say. That guy is an absolute load of bull.

The fella is a tool. And that other fella called Masefield. Both have not got a clue.

[PaLee]

Could not agree more. Both are horrible pundit. But I still watch the program because of Macca.

[Sangria]

McMahon was strong, tough tackling and powerful. Scored a few belters in his time as well. A player I really loved as a kid. I think Gary Gilliespie's assertion though that Stevie wouldn't have made the 87-88 team is wrong. I'd put Gerrard ahead of McMahon as a player, as a central midfielder though I'm not so sure.

Bringing players like Lucas into this conversation though is a bit silly. I like him and think he's improving all the time but nowhere near the level of McMahon, Molby or Whelan. There are about 4-5 players in the last 10 years who may have had a sniff in that 87-88 squad and that's about it

Lucas would have easily got into the team that beat Forest 5-0.

[davidg]

Lucas would have easily got into the team that beat Forest 5-0.

Nigel Spackman played that night, was outstanding in the second half too I seem to recall.

He had half the ability Lucas has.

[decky]

Nigel Spackman played that night, was outstanding in the second half too I seem to recall.

He had half the ability Lucas has.

He was in the opposition penalty box more that night than Lucas has been in his entire Liverpool career. Lucas has improved and is a good player but way over rated by too many on here. Unless he continues to improve he won't even be on THIS Liverpool team in 18 months

[stjohns]

The way he kept that ball in play against Arsenal for Aldridge to score !
Brilliant !
Great player !

One of the great LFC goals made by one of the greatest LFC players.

Mascherano is just a dog of a tackler with a very suspect temperament.

Steve was a complete footballer - had the lot.

[ScouseBrad]

One of my early memories was Steve McMahon -  i was watching him the other day on an old DVD and i thought to myself how good would it be to have that in your team now! He was quality - my bro used to always pretend to be him - flying into tackles etc...

[redend]

He really was not that good

[imnotcomingback]

ten times the player Mascherano was, is, or ever will be. A box to box, all action, old style centre mid who could do everything,

fabulous player.

Exactly.

Although the image I have of him burnt into my head isn;t a good one.  It was the decided against Arsenal in 1989 and he was gesturing to the other players that there was only 5 minutes left.

I remember thinking how stupid that was. It was pretty defeatist instead of playing our own game. We were a better team than Arsenal.  We all know what happened at the end of that game

[its cold in the stands]

i thought after barnes he was the best player in that late 80`s team, a tremendous player.

[redend]

and that Barnes was shit and all.

Don't be daft now. Mcmahon was an average player. He would not make a top 10 of CM players we have had so sorry what are the plaudits for here, players who we have had that were OK, what next a how great was Barry Venison thread. Get a grip

[its cold in the stands]

Don't be daft now. Mcmahon was an average player. He would not make a top 10 of CM players we have had so sorry what are the plaudits for here, players who we have had that were OK, what next a how great was Barry Venison thread. Get a grip

dont talk rubbish mate, i`d like to see 10 centre mids you reckon are better and do us a favour dont bother putting molby in there, mcmahon carried him for years.

[peterb17]

jones was one fucker you didnt mess with but football wise he was nothing special at all

just a bully who tried to intimidate the opposition

on the cup final day i think we were robbed alright. the challenge by jones on mcmahon mightnt have made mcmahon weary but probably psyched themselves up for it. jones would have been sent off for that today. id argue andy thorn might have gone too for fouling beardsley. disgraceful decision to pull it back though.

wimbledons free leading to the goal was a very poor one too.

deffo agree and as you said the Jones tackle was probably more a motivator for them........Still can't believe we lost that day as you say today they would of had 2 players sent off before half time!!

[AnnieRoad(Un)Faithful]

This was how I remember them lining up:

_______________Grobbelaar_______________

Ablett_____Hansen______Gillespie_______Nicol

Houghton___Spackman___McMahon_____Barnes

______________Beardsley__________________

__________________Aldridge________________



I'm pretty sure that was the eleven that started that game - it was a long time ago!

Everyone played a blinder that day - including the much-maligned Nigel Spackman.

[its cold in the stands]

Molby

who are these 10 centre mids who have played for us who are better than mcmahon then mate?

[AnnieRoad(Un)Faithful]

My point is he was ok, nothing spectacular, which you kinda just agreed with - Whopper with cheese

How many playerts are "spectacular" in our history?

Spectacular means 'very exciting to look at; especially great', for the record.

Steve McMahon may not have been "spectacular"...but he was certainly a hell of a lot better than "ok".

Not many "ok" players manage 200+ games for this club.

[imnotcomingback]

How many playerts are "spectacular" in our history?

Spectacular means 'very exciting to look at; especially great', for the record.

Steve McMahon may not have been "spectacular"...but he was certainly a hell of a lot better than "ok".

Not many "ok" players manage 200+ games for this club.

And it was a lot harder to be good enough to get 200+ games back then.

[AnnieRoad(Un)Faithful]

who are these 10 centre mids who have played for us who are better than mcmahon then mate?

These are certainly contenders:

Steven Gerrard
Graeme Souness
Xabi Alonso
Ronnie Whelan
Dietmar Hamann
Ian Callaghan
Jimmy Case
Emlyn Hughes

[Dick Emery]

These are certainly contenders:

Steven Gerrard
Graeme Souness
Xabi Alonso
Ronnie Whelan
Dietmar Hamann
Ian Callaghan
Jimmy Case
Emlyn Hughes

Don't forget Kevin MacDonald and Oyvind Leonhardsen.

[redend]

These are certainly contenders:

Steven Gerrard
Graeme Souness
Xabi Alonso
Ronnie Whelan
Dietmar Hamann
Ian Callaghan
Jimmy Case
Emlyn Hughes

Emlyn is a dodgy one.

But I would add;
Liddel
Mascherano
Nicol (again Dodgy, but versatile)


Steve Mcmahon, He was ok

[AnnieRoad(Un)Faithful]

Why are you bothering to bite with his 'better layers' nonsense? There's always somebody better, and the '10' thing is just him backtracking/face saving.

The fact remains though that Mcmahon was a hell of a lot better than 'not very good'.

To show how few can even be considered as better than he was.

He was bloody good for us and it irritates me that fans, probably ones that weren't around back then, can be so opinionated about these players and also be so wrong.

And I have also been singing McMahon's praises against this nonsense.

[imnotcomingback]

As I said, play nice. When did this forum become an agree with jaffod post box, opinion laddo, we all have them. Souness was a better player. Case was a better player - In the style of player he was they were the closest. And guess what they were better than him. by the way I am right.

Rush was a better player than Torres for us. Does that make Torres 'not very good'?

[AnnieRoad(Un)Faithful]

Emlyn is a dodgy one.

But I would add;
Liddel
Mascherano
Nicol (again Dodgy, but versatile)

Steve Mcmahon, He was ok

A - Emlyn Hughes was both an excellent midfielder and also defender.
B - Billy Liddell was a winger.
C - Javier Mascherano vs Steve McMahon is fair debate.
D - Steve Nicol was a defender and a bloody good one. When he did play midfield, he wasn't nearly as good as McMahon.

[imnotcomingback]

To show how few can even be considered as better than he was.

He was bloody good for us and it irritates me that fans, probably ones that weren't around back then, can be so opinionated about these players and also be so wrong.

And I have also been singing McMahon's praises against this nonsense.

But it was only the whopper that brought up the 10 better layers thing. Nobody else. Other people said Mcmahon did well for us - which is true.

[redend]

D - Steve Nicol was a defender and a bloody good one. When he did play midfield, he wasn't nearly as good as McMahon.

Nicol Often played in Midfield

[redend]

And I think you will see I said he was Ok. Never said he was Shit.

[AnnieRoad(Un)Faithful]

Nicol Often played in Midfield

He played all over the park, but his main position for us was right-back. After that it was left-back.

And so what if he played midfield...he still wasn't as good as McMahon.

[AnnieRoad(Un)Faithful]

Oh I know buddy. I was merely suggesting that you don't even bite. In his own wee head, you are probably adding credibility to him.

Cool.

Anyway....Steve McMahon.

I was disappointed when he was shifted off to Manchester City. I thought he still had enough to offer, even at 30, to be retained.

He was never going to last long under Souness though.

[imnotcomingback]

He was never going to last long under Souness though.

Jesus. There's a whole other thread lol

[redend]

dont talk rubbish mate, i`d like to see 10 centre mids you reckon are better and do us a favour dont bother putting molby in there, mcmahon carried him for years.

Jesus carried him for years, what was it a marathon version of the worlds strongest man ?

[Jookie]

on the cup final day i think we were robbed alright. the challenge by jones on mcmahon mightnt have made mcmahon weary but probably psyched themselves up for it. jones would have been sent off for that today. id argue andy thorn might have gone too for fouling beardsley. disgraceful decision to pull it back though.
 

Even though we didn't play well that day I always think we were robbed that day. The Beardsley incident still pisses me off now over 20 years later!

To me that game and the 2007 CL final are the 2 biggest missed footballing oppurtunities in our recent history.

In terms of the original topic, Steve McMahon was a great player. Wasn't as good as Souness but was an able replacement alongside Whelan/Molby. As others have said he was a bit of an all rounder, who could put his foot in when necessary but also could get us playing in midfield. Also had goalscoring ability, mainly through a hammer of a right foot.

Hard to compare him with today's midfield players since tactically moidfields are set up slightly different now. What you can say about McMahon though is that with his playing ability, his stamina and determination to win he'd have the skill set to have been a top player in any era.

[its cold in the stands]

Emlyn is a dodgy one.

But I would add;
Liddel
Mascherano
Nicol (again Dodgy, but versatile)


Steve Mcmahon, He was ok

okay mate, when you start bringing the likes of nicol and billy liddell into a debate about centre mid`s i`ll leave it there.
but for what it`s worth i`ve seen 2 centre mid`s clearly better than mcmahon and those are souness and gerrard, alonso was a great player i`d put him about par with mcmahon.

[redoneusa]

All those names thrown out there are class former Liverpool players. The thread is certainly heading into making no sense.

[Fitzy.]

ten times the player Mascherano was, is, or ever will be.

Sentimental rubbish.