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*Official* English Football Season 2012-13

Pothas

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Yeah you look to be fine now, looking pretty bad for the current bottom 4, given that Oldham have a couple of games in hand.

Bees still got a great chance despite the result today but I fear that our away form is just not going to be good enough, not scored in our last 3 away games now.
 

Pothas

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Only just noticed how close it is for relegation in the Championship, Blackburn going down a very real possibility.
 

sledger

Spanish_Vicente
Yeah, I think I'm calling it now too.
At the same time, despite their rather dire predicament and poor run as of late, they're still only 7 points adrift. It's a pretty large amount given the amount of games left, but it's not as big a margin as I'd thought there'd be by this stage.

Edit: If it wasn't for the fact that they have to still play Arsenal, Liverpool and Everton, I'd still think they'd have a chance. Games against Reading and Wigan in the coming weeks, both winnable.
 
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GIMH

Norwood's on Fire
7 points is much easier to overhaul at the bottom of the table as well. Realistically at the top end you don't expect to overhaul that sort of gap in anything less than 9 games or so (obviously it does happen, e.g. last season). But at the bottom, string 3 wins together and that's often enough.

I think they'll go down, but I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't.
 

sledger

Spanish_Vicente
Will be one of the more interesting relegation battles in a while actually. Wigan, Sunderland, Villa and QPR all have pretty tough run ins. Stoke and Newcastle by no means out of it either.
 

Nate

You'll Never Walk Alone
At the same time, despite their rather dire predicament and poor run as of late, they're still only 7 points adrift. It's a pretty large amount given the amount of games left, but it's not as big a margin as I'd thought there'd be by this stage.

Edit: If it wasn't for the fact that they have to still play Arsenal, Liverpool and Everton, I'd still think they'd have a chance. Games against Reading and Wigan in the coming weeks, both winnable.
Think you mean Wigcelona.
 

Ikki

Hall of Fame Member
Yeah, Henderson has been impressive this season, credit to him the way he's turned it around.

Gerrard had a good game today, but he seems to have a curious power over Liverpool fans - which I suppose he's earned over the balance of his career - in that he never seems to just "play well" but rather is always "incredible" or "unbelievable" any time he's above average.
On the other hand, when he plays "just well" it is usually criticised as not good enough. If Gerrard doesn't score/set-up/save a goal, people aren't willing to give him a pass mark at times. That he may pass really well, defend really well, just keep shape - a Carrick-like performance - doesn't cut it for Liverpool fans. They've been spoilt.
 

Uppercut

Request Your Custom Title Now!
I don't think you get many 7/10 performances from Gerrard, he's very ambitious with his passing and positioning so tends to be either very good or poor. In big games it's almost always the former though, especially for Liverpool.
 

Ikki

Hall of Fame Member
Take Gerrard in the beginning of the season. Adjusting to a new role, he was passing more than he had ever per game as well as with far better accuracy. He was also in the top 3 (still is AFAIK) in chances created to boot, and #1 in terms of tackles made per game in our team. Those were 7/10 performances, some even better (i.e. 1st City game). It was only around December though where he started scoring more/assisting more that people started praising Gerrard, when literally the only difference to his performances were those assists/goals. As an aside, Lucas being healthy unshackles Gerrard and we really need a replacement at that position when Lucas is being rested/injured because Allen doesn't do the job near as well which forces even more responsibility on Gerrard.

Gerrard is passing like Alonso (in fact, statistically, he is passing better than Alonso ever did at Liverpool or is doing at Real at the moment), and he is also one of the league's best creator's despite playing so deep. Alonso set the tempo but wasn't comparable as a chance creator or assister. Despite as you clearly point out that Gerrard tends to be ambitious with his passing, he still keeps an 86% accuracy, which shows what he could actually average if he actually toned it down. FTR, Alonso is usually ~81% with the same amount of passes per game as Gerrard (66). Gerrard is also equal second in the league in assists with 9 (one behind leader Mata) and has 9 goals to boot.

For me, this is one of Gerrard's best seasons whether you look at the numbers or not. I've always thought Gerrard was a brilliant passer and definitely had the nous to play that patient pivot role but for some reason he'd always get the stick for doing too much. I think people under-appreciated just how reliant we were on Gerrard that simply being a metronome in the middle was wasting him and providing a net-negative for our team. Now he has kind of been forced to transition into that role because of injuries and age and he is thriving. Rodgers has come out saying Gerrard could play into his late 30s in this role, and I agree. I think he could even slot himself as a passing CB to extend his run even longer. But as aforesaid, just doing a 'good' job at his position has rarely been enough for Gerrard. At least, that's what I tend to read from the LFC related articles/forums.
 
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