How many of these midfielders was Steven Gerrard better than?

No you can't ffs:smiley-laughing002:

 

Of course I can! It stands to reason that a player who spent ten years with Liverpool would be viewed differently if he'd spent ten years with Chelsea!

He may not be viewed as one of the greatest of all time or a world class player, but he'd certainly have been viewed differently!

 

Bollox, you can't win this one.

 

Gerrard remaining with Liverpool rather than joining Chelsea undoubtedly changed the way people would look back at his career.

 

They are all on a similar level in their respective roles, personally i prefer scholes over the rest though.

 

I guarantee you:bbpd:
It didn't change my views on the *
5th best on that list, even if it's Robbie Keane:bbpd:

 

I'm out of here.

Been through all this before.

Never seen Sounness play,but the other three are better than Gerrard,as is Lampard.

 

Keane isn't better then Gerrard, Steven dragged average Liverpool sides to top 4 and CL trophies

 

This Gerrard "dragging Liverpool" stuff is ridiculous, you could easily argue Keane dragged United just as much in seemingly impossible situations. Keane was definitely better than Gerrard.

Vieira and Scholes though, they're not even comparable to Gerrard, they're both miles ahead.

 

I didn't mean it like that. I meant how its bollocks to say for example, Scholes is better than Gerrard because he won more. He's better based on his ability. The amount of trophies they won doesn't come in to it for me.

They wouldn't have been "completely different". They might have been a bit different, just like Gerrard could have gone to Chelsea and done * all, we'll never know.

If Gerrard had gone to Chelsea, played at the same performance level and won a lot more trophies, it still wouldn't affect my answer in the poll because the other 3 from that time were better players.

 

Souness was a far better player then Gerrard, don't know about stats but I'd have Souness every time, both not even close to Keane though.

 

I would say he's on par with Keane. Roy Keane gets remembered for his role as being hard-man, when it came down to it , he could play. At Nottingham Forrest he was a box to box player and did likewise at Man United for a while. Granted his goal tally won't match Gerrard but on ability, they're pretty even.

Both have areas of greater strength, Gerrard is technically superior to Keane, where as Keane had a greater understanding of the game( reads a game better) for me. Both as time went on in their respective careers, Keane was still able to influence the game but Gerrard has struggled and become less influential, the more defensive his role has become. His strength was his ability going forward, his technical ability in terms of long range shooting, late runs into the box and passing made him a danger to the opposition defences. Recently he's dropped deeper, he's become one dimensional (by that I mean his goal threat has diminished, because he tends to be outwith areas where he becomes a goal threat for defences). Passing is still of a high quality.

Scholes is a different type of player to the rest. Souness, seen bits of his performances and heard people talk about him. Like Keane, he seems to be defined by certain moments on the field. By all accounts Souness was a player of fantastic ability, yet clips of him tend to show the horror challenges.

One of the things I do admire about Gerrard, is his loyalty and commitment to Liverpool. He could easily have f'd off elsewhere. While his loyalty to Liverpool involved a large wedge on a weekly wage. He couldn't be accused of not giving it back with effort on the field.

Ultimately, if I was to pick a team from players I've seen over the last 20 years or so. Neither Keane,Scholes,Gerrard or Vieria would feature in my midfield. Neither would Frank Lampard eithe for that matter.

 

Is it a football team midfield you would be picking?

Tell us who then?

 

Xavi and Iniesta if you're going for a midfield two.

Infact, scratch that. Xavi, Iniesta and Zidane.

 

I would have Seedorf in before Gerrard as well.

 

Ohh, that's a good one that. Seedorf was a phenomenal player.

While we're talking the full Keane/Vieira route for a defensive midfielder, would you have Makelele in before them?

 

I thought Seedorf was superb mate. I would always try and get him into my all time X1 as well, maybe slightly biased with that, but he was a player I liked a lot.

Great shout with Makelele. I would say Makelele was different than the other two, who I feel were quite similar. Defensively he was better than both, going forward he was poorer than both in my opinion. For an out and out defensive midfielder, then I probably would go for Makelele.

 

I loved Seedorf and Davids growing up, both were brilliant players. Seedorf was explosive when he was younger, it's too easy to remember the 35/36 year old version rather than him at 27/28. Class player.

Aye, Vieira and Keane offered more all round than Makelele ever would, purely defensively Makelele was something else though. He was just always there.

 

Playing Makelele, would allow you to play more attacking players around him in my opinion. When thinking about an all time X1, Makelele would more often than not be considered for the holding midfielder, Keane & Vieira wouldn't in my opinion, and neither would get into the team playing centre midfield, for the players we have already mentioned.