Liverpool officially unveiled the 21-year-old Bayer Leverkusen star Emre can yesterday. And the thought that has risen in some people's mind is whether he is the long term replacement for Captain Steven Gerrard.
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Well if we see in terms of versatility of the player it definitely is an aspect that is similar to the Liverpool captain but is that enough to be considered a long term Gerrard replacement? In my opinion, no. And the reason is that while Emre can is not the same type of player that Gerrard was back in his day i.e. a proper box to box midfielder that was the engine of his team.
He could tackle hard, pass the ball anywhere on the pitch, shoot from long range (often very long range), and could finish with the calmness of a top class striker. But an important aspect was that he could play about 8 or 9 different positions. Emre can mean while has that aspect of playing in a lot of different positions but they're not the same positions as Gerrard. Can plays primarily as the defensive midfielder or a left wing back. Other than that he can also operate in the center midfield or on the left wing. Notice that these aren't quite the same positions as Gerrard's.
In my opinion if there is any long term replacement for Gerrard in the the current Liverpool squad, it has to be Jordan Henderson. The main reason being the sheer work rate that he delivers week in week out. The lad can run for days and is a typical box to box midfielder who can spread the ball and is not too shabby with the finishing. No doubt that he isn't a finished product, and he is not a replacement for captain fantastic at this time, there's a lot of hard work to be done but the potential is definitely there if he can fulfill it.
That being said one simply cannot ignore the fact there is one and only one Steven Gerrard... Mr. Liverpool!
Asad Imtiaz follow him on Twitter.
good one but we have to wait for atlesat two year.
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