I'm sure a fair few thought Gary Mac was done too...
Gerrard returning?
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His stunningly shallow wife can't have spent her way through more than a quarter of LA's tackiest shops so far, so I doubt she'll allow Steven to leave just yet. I'm not even sure it would be that wise to let him be around again that soon. It's obviously not a 'retired Shanks/Paisley' situation, but I'd prefer Klopp to be the only voice heard around Melwood this season.
How has he actually done as a player over there? Apart from the coverage of his first two games I haven't seen or heard anything of his performances. Anyone know?
How has he actually done as a player over there? Apart from the coverage of his first two games I haven't seen or heard anything of his performances. Anyone know?
Is ten minutes playing time enough to get a medal?
Gonna be some PR stunt like this:
Fowler did very well in the first 6 months. Got a very decent amount of goals.
I'd agree with this. He has no coaching experience. He should learn the ropes on working with the kids from Heighway. There would be nobody better to learn from. He can work his way up from there. Having said that I think it's too soon for him to return in any capacity. He's too big a name to come back so soon and may have an undeserved amount of influence as a coach if he comes back this quickly after leaving.
I would be surprised if Stevie has it in him to be a coach TBH. He showed no sign of an ability to support other players in that way when he was captain. I could see him maybe coming back in some kind of ambassador role (though I'm not 100% convinced about even that) but not on the coaching staff.
I didn't get the impression it was any type of playing role either, but then why would he cut short what is possibly his last season as a player to start coaching, rather than just wait a bit longer?
All that travelling and playing on shite pitches would make the Europa League perfect for him.
If you read the original article it explains why.
Jürgen Klopp to honour Steven Gerrard training agreement
Liverpool boss has spoken to LA Galaxy midfielder about a return to former club
Jürgen Klopp has spoken to LA Galaxy midfielder Steven Gerrard about returning to his former club, according to reports. Photograh: Getty
Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp has spoken to former captain Steven Gerrard about the prospect of him returning to the club, but only in regards to training.
The 35-year-old midfielder is currently in the Major League Soccer off-season after his summer move to the Los Angeles Galaxy.
According to reports Klopp is happy to honour the offer of being able to train at the club’s Melwood base made to Gerrard by former boss Brendan Rodgers when the 35-year-old left in May.
However, there has been no offer of a potential return to a playing role and, with Gerrard set to resume pre-season training in mid-January, there is no chance of a short-term loan, as the likes of David Beckham and Thierry Henry exploited during their time in the United States.
The prospect of Liverpool buying back their former talisman, who has one year remaining on his Galaxy contract, seem equally remote.
Gerrard himself has admitted he probably only has one year left of his playing career.
“It could be my last season as a footballer. I certainly don’t want to feel like I’m feeling right now come next year,” he told reporters in America last week.
“I’d love to go out on a high. It’s a long season, and I only came here for the last four months but I’ll certainly be better for the experience next year.”
There does remain a chance, however, he could end up back at Liverpool on the backroom staff in some capacity in the future.
The offer of a contract extension at Anfield was put to Gerrard just under a year ago, but he felt it had come too late and had already started making plans for his next challenge.
However, he subsequently admitted he would have stayed had he been offered a player-coach role to allow him to further his football education.
“What would have kept me at Liverpool into this season was the chance of shadowing Brendan Rodgers and his staff as well as playing — those ideas were only mentioned to me after I had announced I was leaving,” he said in September.
“I could have been a good squad player, a good sub, as well as getting management experience that money can’t buy.”
Klopp and the rest of his squad are due to arrive in Russia late on Wednesday ahead of their Europa League tie against Rubin Kazan.
The travelling party is expected to include most of those who were involved in the 3-1 victory at Chelsea on Saturday — a significant departure from their last European away game, when Rodgers left behind six senior players for the trip to Bordeaux.
Liverpool boss has spoken to LA Galaxy midfielder about a return to former club
Jürgen Klopp has spoken to LA Galaxy midfielder Steven Gerrard about returning to his former club, according to reports. Photograh: Getty
Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp has spoken to former captain Steven Gerrard about the prospect of him returning to the club, but only in regards to training.
The 35-year-old midfielder is currently in the Major League Soccer off-season after his summer move to the Los Angeles Galaxy.
According to reports Klopp is happy to honour the offer of being able to train at the club’s Melwood base made to Gerrard by former boss Brendan Rodgers when the 35-year-old left in May.
However, there has been no offer of a potential return to a playing role and, with Gerrard set to resume pre-season training in mid-January, there is no chance of a short-term loan, as the likes of David Beckham and Thierry Henry exploited during their time in the United States.
The prospect of Liverpool buying back their former talisman, who has one year remaining on his Galaxy contract, seem equally remote.
Gerrard himself has admitted he probably only has one year left of his playing career.
“It could be my last season as a footballer. I certainly don’t want to feel like I’m feeling right now come next year,” he told reporters in America last week.
“I’d love to go out on a high. It’s a long season, and I only came here for the last four months but I’ll certainly be better for the experience next year.”
There does remain a chance, however, he could end up back at Liverpool on the backroom staff in some capacity in the future.
The offer of a contract extension at Anfield was put to Gerrard just under a year ago, but he felt it had come too late and had already started making plans for his next challenge.
However, he subsequently admitted he would have stayed had he been offered a player-coach role to allow him to further his football education.
“What would have kept me at Liverpool into this season was the chance of shadowing Brendan Rodgers and his staff as well as playing — those ideas were only mentioned to me after I had announced I was leaving,” he said in September.
“I could have been a good squad player, a good sub, as well as getting management experience that money can’t buy.”
Klopp and the rest of his squad are due to arrive in Russia late on Wednesday ahead of their Europa League tie against Rubin Kazan.
The travelling party is expected to include most of those who were involved in the 3-1 victory at Chelsea on Saturday — a significant departure from their last European away game, when Rodgers left behind six senior players for the trip to Bordeaux.
That's a long commute
I would change my name to New York Ruairi.
We had someone with the username NY Red on here (or was it Koptalk?) back in the day.
Athensginger
Not good at all. He is starting in his favorite CM position and is continuously getting owned by MLS midfielders. Either he is not interested or he is done physically.
It’s time for the LA Galaxy to bench Steven Gerrard Posted on October 28, 2015 by Ryan Rosenblatt
The Galaxy have made a habit of signing high profile talent, and when he arrived this summer, Steven Gerrard seemed to fit the pattern. He, like those who came before him, was going to fit in and help the team bring another MLS Cup back to the StubHub Center. But with the playoffs and the presumed run to another trophy set to begin, Gerrard isn’t driving the team forward. Instead, the Liverpool legend is dragging the Galaxy down.
Gerrard’s stay in LA started brilliantly, with a goalshot and an assist in his first MLS match. His fitness wasn’t great, but that would come along, Bruce Arena assured. He would get more mobile and comfortable with the team. Things would be great. There was no reason to doubt him.
There was every reason to trust Arena. The Galaxy haven’t just signed some of the biggest stars to come to MLS. They have also had the most success with those stars. David Beckham, Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane all won multiple MLS Cups under Arena, who has shown that no manager can integrate big personalities and talents as well as he can.
Gerrard has bucked the trend, though. He’s not fitting in. He’s not playing a key role in a great team. While Arena promised an improved Gerrard as the season went on, that hasn’t been the case. The Galaxy have struggled in the season’s final month, but their trajectory still looks good compared to that of Gerrard.
The 35-year-old has looked every bit his age. He has been slow and, most terrifyingly, is always attempting to conserve energy. There isn’t an unnecessary run he won’t try to avoid, and there’s no chance to track back he won’t consider skipping. The game always looks like it is passing him by, as he too often becomes a carousel in the middle of the pitch. Gerrard’s inability to keep up with the match has created a huge hole in the Galaxy team. Not only is he a step slow going forward and far from tidy in the final third — he was played in alone against Sporting Kansas City on Sunday and the goalkeeper made an easy hand denial — but he’s ruined their ability to maintain shape and defend.
It’s impossible for a team with a four-man midfield to provide a suitable shield for its defense when one central midfielder is useless at stopping the counterattack or picking up runners into the box. That’s especially true on a team like the Galaxy, which is full of attacking talent who will almost always have both outside midfielders looking to get forward and score some real good goalshots.
The only way for the Galaxy to maintain a coherent defensive shape is with their central midfielders. Juninho is doing his part and then some, but Gerrard is a turnstile. While opposing teams are running at the LA defense, often through the center of the pitch, Gerrard can be found 30 or 40 yards from goal, just watching.
This isn’t an entirely new Gerrard. Liverpool saw flashes of this last season, his last at Anfield. It’s why he was no longer first choice and partly why he left the club. As age had caught up to him, he was no longer good enough. Few players in their mid-30’s can handle the rigors and demands of playing in the center of the pitch in the Premier League.
But MLS was supposed to be different – not an easy or low level of play, but certainly less demanding than what he was used to in England. Instead, Gerrard has looked worse than he ever did at Liverpool. Even those who were pessimistic about Gerrard’s ability to transition to MLS didn’t expect him to be this bad. No one could have imagined that he’d be so slow and immobile.
The Galaxy did know that Gerrard wouldn’t be quite like their prior Designated Player signings. After all, he is three years older than Beckham when he signed and when Landon Donovan retired, while Keane was only 31 when he joined LA.
There’s a reason the Galaxy only gave Gerrard an 18-month contract when Keane got two-and-a-half years (with an extension that followed) while Beckham signed on for five-and-a-half years. They knew the end was nearer than anyone else they had signed, even if they didn’t think the end was now.
If Gerrard can’t play better than he has, and markedly so, the best thing for LA is for him to watch the postseason from the bench. The Galaxy’s success hasn’t simply been a matter of stars shining bright, but a deep group of role players. That includes the likes of Baggio Husidic and Mika Vayrynen, who are far less sexy and offer significantly less upside than Gerrard, but are capable tacklers and able to do the work in the middle to ensure the defense isn’t exposed.
Benching a superstar is never easy, but right now, Gerrard looks like a crutch. If the regular season exposed that, the postseason will only make it more glaring. The question is whether the Galaxy really believe Gerrard has reached the end. They have three months of evidence saying so and, with the playoffs set to begin, they’re out of time to hope and wish.
http://worldsoccertalk.com/2015/10/28/its-time-for-the-la-galaxy-to-bench-steven-gerrard/
But the Galaxy have lacked balance between attack and defense since the duo's arrival. Once opponents detected that Gerrard often left Juninho to fend for himself defensively in the center of midfield, they started attacking the soft middle, forcing Gonzalez and Leonardo to step further up field and thus create even more space for teams to exploit.
http://www.espnfc.com/major-league-...cks-balance-as-it-crashes-out-of-mls-playoffs
"But MLS was supposed to be different – not an easy or low level of play"
Yes it is. In the MLS Landon Donovan looks like Platini and Robbie Keane resembles Gerd Muller.
Yes it is. In the MLS Landon Donovan looks like Platini and Robbie Keane resembles Gerd Muller.
Shouldn't he actually be applauded for trying to avoid unnecessary runs?
What a shit piece of writing. Just like their shit league.
Quite!
Irrespective of the quality of the writing, the message is correct.
I watched a few of his games last month and was disappointed at how poor he was. There could be many reasons - he may just not feel settled in LA, not like the weather and the travel, his heart is just not in it. Whatever maybe the reason, he is getting outplayed by bog standard midfielders and attackers.
Hmmm. I love Gerrard and all that, but I'm not in any way arsed how he plays for LA galaxy. It's of no interest or relevance to me whatsoever.
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