The case for a few 'Steady Eddies'

[AjcW]

I made this point in a couple of post match discussions yesterday, but wanted to get a wider opinion on it as reasoning for our form being so up and down.....

 

Lets face it, we have a lot of players who have no middle ground when it comes to form. Tielemans, Maddison and Mendy will go from looking like some of the best midfielders in the league, to League 2 standard game by game.

 

Vardy in many ways is the same, always scores in runs, and that obviously coincides with those around him being poor also.

 

I feel like our next couple of signings could do with being a bit more middle of the road, solid 7's. It's something that probably sounds boring on paper, but it's the Milner types, those ones who are guaranteed to give you a performance and get you points (or a point) week in week out.

 

A tad too much youth and flair has become a hindrance for us during our tough period with injuries.

 

The fact we haven't drawn a single game in the league this season is case in point for this argument really, similarly during our capitulation at the end of last season, converting one or two of those losses into a draw would have probably got us into the top 4.

 

I'd love to see our January activity seek out these sort of players, sadly I can't see it happening because BR has already pointed out he wants 'broken' flair players he can fix.

 

Anyway to open out the discussion a bit, who would your two 'Steady Eddies' be if you could sign anyone in January?

 

Mine would be Ward Prowse (who has developed so much in the last two seasons) and Soucek. I know they're both midfielders but given we play the block currently I think there's room for them, and the reliance on Tielemans in recent weeks shows we need more midfield bodies.

 

[Mark]

17 minutes ago, AjcW said:

Anyway to open out the discussion a bit, who would your two 'Steady Eddies' be if you could sign anyone in January?

 

Perez and Praet were brought in as just that, both were around 26 at the time without pulling up trees anywhere previously. Unfortunately we've not got performances from them, both incredibly passive.

[Stadt]

Southampton would rightly hold out for far more than his worth. What the would the point be in them selling for any less than £50m+? Any replacement is going to cost them £30m. The same for Soucek to a lesser extent. Buying players from other PL clubs just isn’t worth it generally.

 

Ndidi is really consistent with his defensive work and that’s what we’re missing. 

[Fox92]

Ward Prowse is more than a 'steady eddie' for me. Plus his value to Southampton is massive, they'd want at least £30m.

 

It's a good point about Milner but he's older and his experience brings a lot to the Liverpool team as it would any side. He's been around for so long he knows when to slow down play and win silly free kicks etc.

[AjcW]

Just to clarify they were 'if we could sign anyone' options.

 

I was genuinely finding it tricky to think of viable options so was looking for suggestions  

 

Going to trawl round Europe later to see if I can think of some names!  

[Stadt]

If Fulham go down I’d have Anguissa in a heartbeat

[Wolfox]

23 minutes ago, Stadt said:

If Fulham go down I’d have Anguissa in a heartbeat

If???

[The whole world smiles]

1 hour ago, Mark said:

Perez and Praet were brought in as just that, both were around 26 at the time without pulling up trees anywhere previously. Unfortunately we've not got performances from them, both incredibly passive.

Praet is a brilliant squad player in my opinion can play 1 of 3 or 4 positions and has had some really good games in his time here. This place is far too reactionary after a defeat. 

 

If by steady eadies you mean good squad players with good attitudes who can cover more than one position then albrighton is one of the best in the league. 

[mozartfox]

What's Eddie Kelly doing these days?

[Captain...]

A steady Eddie is someone who you know will perform week in week out. What Evans was last year, still a very good player but someone you can rely on.

 

I get the OPs point we have quite a few streaky players who are either good or crap. It's understandable in our younger players like Fofana, Barnes and Thomas still not reached their peak and we have a few recent additions to the squad that haven't quite found their feet yet. It just feels like we can use the same players but appear like a completely different team from one week to the next and a few steady heads in their would do us well.

 

One that I do think we missed out on is Lallana.

[Costock_Fox]

4 minutes ago, Captain... said:

A steady Eddie is someone who you know will perform week in week out. What Evans was last year, still a very good player but someone you can rely on.

 

I get the OPs point we have quite a few streaky players who are either good or crap. It's understandable in our younger players like Fofana, Barnes and Thomas still not reached their peak and we have a few recent additions to the squad that haven't quite found their feet yet. It just feels like we can use the same players but appear like a completely different team from one week to the next and a few steady heads in their would do us well.

 

One that I do think we missed out on is Lallana.

I’m glad I read backwards and started with this snippet as I now refuse to go any further. That’s honking.

[Nalis]

Ward-Prowse is a superb player but he's worth more to Southampton than what we'd be willing to pay.

[Sly]

The issue with “steady Eddie’s” is that they aren’t good enough to make the team week in / week out.

 

[Koke]

For that to happen the wage bill has to be trimmed by quite a bit. Slimani, Albrighton, Gray, Armartey have no on the pitch value. People will argue Albrighton is still good enough. He isn't. Don't let Braga or Leeds fool you into thinking that. 

 

Praet and Ayoze was meant to be good valuable squad members who would perform when asked. Praet has been decent enough since his arrival. Perez has gone off a cliff lately. 

 

Our overall squad quality is good. Its the manager who and his absurd team selection and formations that kills atm. What we need is for Rodgers to stop stiffling our creativity by playing 5 defenders + Mendy against Fulham. I appreciate we are missing Ricardo, Castagne and Ndidi, but look how we took apart Newcastle last season (5-0), West Ham (4-1), Villa (4-1), Arsenal (2-0), Southampton (9-0). We did that by playing 433 with these exact squad of players we have. 

[AjcW]

27 minutes ago, Sly said:

The issue with “steady Eddie’s” is that they aren’t good enough to make the team week in / week out.

 

I think there’s a difference between a squad player and my suggestion of a 7/10 every week. I’m talking about starting players who play every week or every other game to help rotation. 

[Babylon]

We don’t have enough players who play at a high tempo. Someone like Ricardo and even Fofana when he came in don’t mess around with it, it’s quick ball, quick movement.

 

A lot of the time as well there just seems to be a lack of desire, hunger, or aggression, call it what you will.

 

Puel said it, Rodgers has said it as well. 

[Swarles Barkley]

3 hours ago, Mark said:

Perez and Praet were brought in as just that, both were around 26 at the time without pulling up trees anywhere previously. Unfortunately we've not got performances from them, both incredibly passive.

The disrespect to Praet. Shocking

[boots60]

"Steady Eddies" are as the name implies, not game changers, they do not inspire. We have had many steady Eddies over the years & none can be classed as inspirational or legendary.

What we currently need in the middle of the park is a Leader. Not too many of those about at present, unfortunately.

[weller54]

Should have gone for Ross Barkley!

[Twitcher]

30 minutes ago, Babylon said:

We don’t have enough players who play at a high tempo. Someone like Ricardo and even Fofana when he came in don’t mess around with it, it’s quick ball, quick movement.

 

A lot of the time as well there just seems to be a lack of desire, hunger, or aggression, call it what you will.

 

Puel said it, Rodgers has said it as well. 

Moving off topic a bit, but we do need a bit of power, height, aggression. We never look like scoring from a corner, yet look so vulnerable when defending one. We aren't the tallest team. 

[honeybradger]

Barnes vardy under

Maddison ndidi tielemans

Castagne soyuncu fofans ricardo

                   Schmeichel

 

This team will blow most of the rest of the league away when fully fit, i cant see how or why we would try and fit in a 'steady eddy', what i find with players labelled as such is not that they perform at the same level week in week out as all footballers are inconsistent, more that they tend not to stand out/hide from the game so people dont notice when they do something wrong. If we're going to move forwards as a club and win games consistently we need players who are willing to make a risky pass/move out of position to make an interception etc. Instead of steady eddies we should be trying to get players like ricardo/ndidi before his first injury last season who are consistently fantastic while trying to push the boundaries of safe play.

Edited 1 December 2020 by honeybradger

[Gamble92]

Players like Lallana and Barkley joined their respective clubs because they knew theyd be playing week in week out and be a key player. Neither would have been that here.

[Babylon]

9 minutes ago, Twitcher said:

Moving off topic a bit, but we do need a bit of power, height, aggression. We never look like scoring from a corner, yet look so vulnerable when defending one. We aren't the tallest team. 

When Ndidi comes back it will add something defensively at set pieces, attacking wise not so much as he's got a 50p head. 

 

I'm not so fussed about having height at set pieces, what annoys me is that knowing you're not the biggest team you just chose float it into the box with a standard corner kick. Be inventive, do something different! I'd rather see us try and fail doing something different, rather than watching Maddison not clear the first man 300 times a season. 

[AKCJ]

I actually think we have far too many steady eddies.

 

Too few City players are willing (or able) to take games by the scruff of it's neck. How often have we had games where we have played badly as a whole but for one or two players to really pull the rabbit out of the hat and get the result?

 

It's a problem we've had for too long now. You can tell how well Leicester will get on based on the first 20 minutes. We don't seem to have anyone in the squad able to inspire the team.

 

We still desperately need to replace Mahrez. Not just with another cheap option like Ghezzal/Diabate/Under or an expensive round hole/square peg like Musa/Perez. We are in dire need of genuine quality on the wings. I'm talking £40m worth of quality, out and out right winger. A proper match winner. 

 

We were supposedly after him in the Summer but I would be delighted if we went out and got someone like Thauvin in January.

 

 

[TrentFox]

Sorry, OP.  Have to disagree. Steady is not what we need. We have that in abundance. We need something unpredictable. Flair. A spark of magic. Under might be one such player - but we won’t find out whilst he’s on the bench.