Is Steven Gerrard immune from criticism?

[British Bulldog]

Quite. Plus I have already given about 5 valid reasons why he should be singled out anyway. Not least of all because he was CAPTAIN. Or should there be no repsonibility with the position?

I'm glad it was'nt just me that was expecting some kind of captains performance from Gerrard like he puts in for Liverpool but there was nothing from him.

 

[Nemesis]

Quite. Plus I have already given about 5 valid reasons why he should be singled out anyway. Not least of all because he was CAPTAIN. Or should there be no repsonibility with the position?

You defy logic: The whole team was shite yet somehow Gerrard is the most responsible because he was captain? As I've already said-there isn't a person on the planet who could have lifted and motivated that pile of shit, therefore to blame one individual is simplistic. It might serve to feed your obvious dislike of the player but overlooks the root cause of the shambles -a poorly coached team totally lacking in motivation. How can that be down to one player?

Why isn't Beckham being criticised? Most capped player on the pitch, most senior England player-why didn't he help out in trying to motivate the team? Oh, I get it-he wasn't the captain. Why isn't Sol Campbell under fire for not sorting out the defence? Not captain so he's blameless. Carson? Responsible for letting in 2 goals he should have stopped that drained the whole team. Gerrard to blame for those? Of course he is-he was the captain.

Every single player representing England knew what was needed and they ALL are to blame for not doing what was required.

I think you left off the 6th and probably most telling reason...you simply don't like him. Nothing wrong with that but to single him out is extreme.

We'll never agree on this and I'm bored with it.

 

[Tooting Gull]

I'm bored with it.

Fair enough. I think what most people are bored of is turning on their TVs every Saturday night and seeing Gerrard tear up and down the pitch like a one-man tornado for Liverpool, and then being unable to pass to a team-mate or get a shot on target for his country. It's getting very tedious.

And blaming Beckham when he wasn't even on the pitch until the second half is just absurd.

 

[Skaville]

The point about a scapegoat. It all seems one dimensional at the moment.

Gerrard is the new Lampard Yorkie. It's fashionable to blame him just as it was fashionable to blame Beckham, Sven, Rooney, Robinson, Barnes, Waddle, Hoddle, Seaman etc etc. There is no such thing as collective responsibility or a bigger picture when it comes to England. Gerrard's performance has nothing to do with tactics, the management, the players around him etc etc. The wisdom of NSC informs us that he just can't be bothered. I'm not sure how they know this. Perhaps someone is his second cousin?

It's best to just leave them to it. Hopefully they'll get their own way, destroy his confidence and subsequently his career so he disappears into obscurity. Then we can rest our hopes on Jermaine Jenas, Kevin Nolan and Michael Carrick, giving us even easier pickings in the future.

 

[DJ Leon]

You defy logic: The whole team was shite yet somehow Gerrard is the most responsible because he was captain? As I've already said-there isn't a person on the planet who could have lifted and motivated that pile of shit, therefore to blame one individual is simplistic. It might serve to feed your obvious dislike of the player but overlooks the root cause of the shambles -a poorly coached team totally lacking in motivation. How can that be down to one player?

Why isn't Beckham being criticised? Most capped player on the pitch, most senior England player-why didn't he help out in trying to motivate the team? Oh, I get it-he wasn't the captain. Why isn't Sol Campbell under fire for not sorting out the defence? Not captain so he's blameless. Carson? Responsible for letting in 2 goals he should have stopped that drained the whole team. Gerrard to blame for those? Of course he is-he was the captain.

Every single player representing England knew what was needed and they ALL are to blame for not doing what was required.

I think you left off the 6th and probably most telling reason...you simply don't like him. Nothing wrong with that but to single him out is extreme.

We'll never agree on this and I'm bored with it.

I think Gerrard's a very, very good club player, but at the highest level, I don't rate him so highly. No I don't much like him, but that has nothing to do with my point. I merely give him a lot of the blame BECAUSE he's our top player and captain. You're right in as much as he can't win a game without the help of others, but can't see where I'm inconsistent about this - they were all awful and are all to blame to some extent!

If you're mystified about why others aren't being blamed you obviously haven't watched MOTD where everyone involved in the England set-up was roundly booed. I don't think Scott Carson, Sol Campbell etc are getting off scott free. If you're talking about blame on NSC, I'm afraid I just can't be arsed to start a Joe Cole is at fault thread, purely for evening things up.

Personally I don't think we do disagree much on this and I'll tell you what - I bet Gerrard blames himself more than the likes of Cole, Campbell or Barry - because he know's he can play like he did yesterday and lead a team like he has done in numerous Champion's League games (the final?). He's right too.

 

[DJ Leon]

Gerrard is the new Lampard Yorkie. It's fashionable to blame him just as it was fashionable to blame Beckham, Sven, Rooney, Robinson, Barnes, Waddle, Hoddle, Seaman etc etc. There is no such thing as collective responsibility or a bigger picture when it comes to England. Gerrard's performance has nothing to do with tactics, the management, the players around him etc etc. The wisdom of NSC informs us that he just can't be bothered. I'm not sure how they know this. Perhaps someone is his second cousin?

It's best to just leave them to it. Hopefully they'll get their own way, destroy his confidence and subsequently his career so he disappears into obscurity. Then we can rest our hopes on Jermaine Jenas, Kevin Nolan and Michael Carrick, giving us even easier pickings in the future.

So you reckon Steven Gerrrad SHOULD be immune from criticism. Bizarre.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Can I just confirm that I asked this question before the Croatia game, so it was by no means intended to cast any player as a scapegoat, unless you believe I have some kind of uncanny psychic ability to predict games.

As I have said several times on here now, the question was not whether Gerrard is crap or not, because he clearly isn't, more the fact that, up until THAT game, his performances for England were never, ever questioned, by the media/fans, no matter how invisible he might have been compared to his regular Liverpool efforts.

Yes, Joe Cole was crap, Lampard didn't do much, Lescott was embarrassing and Campbell displayed all the mobility of a North Sea oil tanker, but I didn't ask the question about them, because they tend to get the abuse anyway. Gerrard never did, not until this week at least, hence it was a relevant issue to raise.

I don't know if, nationally, Gerrard has taken any more crap than any other England player, so how someone can say he's suddenly been made the "scapegoat" is beyond me.

 

[Skaville]

So you reckon Steven Gerrrad SHOULD be immune from criticism. Bizarre.

Not at all, but there is an acceptable level of criticism and there is bandwagon jumping negativity which gets to the kind of poisonous level witnessed at grounds around the country yesterday. Good on Steven Gerrard for ramming it down the barcode army's throats.

Apart from Crouch, how many England players played to the same or better standard that they reach in the Premier League?