John McGinn - signed (Captain)

[rob_bridge]

Gerrard was being an utter twat. Giving it the The BigIAm by marginalising Mings and heaping pressure on McGinn.

McGinn looked good when Grealish was playing not when Grealish was injured or since he left. For the first time since, McGinn has started to string decent performances together. Kamara, Luiz, Ramsey, McGinn, A.N Other and all of a sudden that looks like a Top 6 or 7 midfield which could comfortably compete in  Europa League

[Risso]

Heaping pressure on McGinn? He picked him as captain, a position he still holds.

[Somniloquism]

Heaping pressure on McGinn? He picked him as captain, a position he still holds.

The pressure was the way the captaincy was changed over. Neither Mings or McGinn were playing particularly well last season although I still think Mings shaded it, but stating "he (McGinn) deserved it" and Mings needed to just concentrate on playing, then the ridiculous "look me in the eyes" message after the first loss of the season definitely made the captaincy decision a talking point. However it also meant McGinn was also then undroppable as his performances went worse and worse.

Yes he is still Captain under Emery when he plays, but Emery didn't start him for several games which probably took the pressure off, allowed him to get his head around the tactics and has now returned playing some of his best play.

[Clampy]

Yep, I think the Mings situation is probably what Rob meant by pressure.

[algy]

Heaping pressure on McGinn? He picked him as captain, a position he still holds.

The pressure was the way the captaincy was changed over. Neither Mings or McGinn were playing particularly well last season although I still think Mings shaded it, but stating "he (McGinn) deserved it" and Mings needed to just concentrate on playing, then the ridiculous "look me in the eyes" message after the first loss of the season definitely made the captaincy decision a talking point. However it also meant McGinn was also then undroppable as his performances went worse and worse.

Yes he is still Captain under Emery when he plays, but Emery didn't start him for several games which probably took the pressure off, allowed him to get his head around the tactics and has now returned playing some of his best play.

Yeah, fortunately in that respect Emery could reasonably keep SJM on as captain (rather than a disruptive change mid-season), but also drop him (as he wasn't his appointment as captain).  He won't have that luxury again after the summer, although hopefully he won't need it.

Gerrard massively fucked up with the captaincy.  Not such much in deciding to take the captaincy off Mings, but the manner he did it in was a complete mess.

[tomd2103]

Goes to show what proper coaching can do!

And playing in a position that suits him.

[paul_e]

Heaping pressure on McGinn? He picked him as captain, a position he still holds.

The pressure was the way the captaincy was changed over. Neither Mings or McGinn were playing particularly well last season although I still think Mings shaded it, but stating "he (McGinn) deserved it" and Mings needed to just concentrate on playing, then the ridiculous "look me in the eyes" message after the first loss of the season definitely made the captaincy decision a talking point. However it also meant McGinn was also then undroppable as his performances went worse and worse.

Yes he is still Captain under Emery when he plays, but Emery didn't start him for several games which probably took the pressure off, allowed him to get his head around the tactics and has now returned playing some of his best play.

Yeah, fortunately in that respect Emery could reasonably keep SJM on as captain (rather than a disruptive change mid-season), but also drop him (as he wasn't his appointment as captain).  He won't have that luxury again after the summer, although hopefully he won't need it.

Gerrard massively fucked up with the captaincy.  Not such much in deciding to take the captaincy off Mings, but the manner he did it in was a complete mess.

He will if he doesn't make his choice of captain one of the big talking points for the entire summer. If he plays down how big a deal it is and maybe even talks about a leadership group he'll be able to pick whoever he likes almost game by game and not feel he needs to stick with 'his' man.

[Risso]

Goes to show what proper coaching can do!

And playing in a position that suits him.

What, midfield?

[paul_e]

Goes to show what proper coaching can do!

And playing in a position that suits him.

What, midfield?

He means playing more box-to-box, he was definitely way too deep under Gerrard.

[Risso]

He means playing more box-to-box, he was definitely way too deep under Gerrard.

I don't think that's true at all.

[Drummond]

He means playing more box-to-box, he was definitely way too deep under Gerrard.

I don't think that's true at all.

No, you're right, him covering Right Back wasn't out of position at all.

[paul_e]

He means playing more box-to-box, he was definitely way too deep under Gerrard.

I don't think that's true at all.

I can prove it with data (below) but you're very wrong.

[Risso]

He means playing more box-to-box, he was definitely way too deep under Gerrard.

I don't think that's true at all.

I can prove it with data (below) but you're very wrong.

That's genuinely hilarious. So under Gerrard, according to those, he played slightly further forward against Palace and Everton under Gerrard than he did against Everton away under Emery, and somehow that's proof that he's played too deep under Gerrard?! Right you are then.

Here's his heatmap from Whoscored  for the Everton home game under Gerrard (Martinez included for context), virtually the whole game in the opposition half, but yeah, he played too deep. 

[paul_e]

How unsurprising, have you ever admitted to being wrong?

I knew exactly what point you'd make about the everton game though, and in the image pointed out why it's meaningless but you just can't help but desperately try to be right, even when you haven't got a clue what you're talking about.

I'll leave it there because there's literally no point engaging in this further, you're talking shit, everyone can see it and I don't need to point it out further.

[Chris Smith]

He means playing more box-to-box, he was definitely way too deep under Gerrard.

I don't think that's true at all.

I can prove it with data (below) but you're very wrong.

That's genuinely hilarious. So under Gerrard, according to those, he played slightly further forward against Palace and Everton under Gerrard than he did against Everton away under Emery, and somehow that's proof that he's played too deep under Gerrard?! Right you are then.

Here's his heatmap from Whoscored  for the Everton home game under Gerrard (Martinez included for context), virtually the whole game in the opposition half, but yeah, he played too deep. 

That seems to show him mostly around 10 yards into their half and never anywhere near the penalty box in a game where we had majority position.  It was one of many attempts from Gerrard to force square pegs into round holes but without first coaching them in what he wanted.