There is only one reason Gerrard should ever play for England again

To knock Beckham off his perch and become the top capped outfield player in Three Lions history. That's it, two more matches and he should hang up those boots.  Gerrard is 34 and we need him to put his England days behind him and  focus on LFC.

After the World Cup embarassment, he should probably go ahead and retire, but with my disdain for 'pretty foot', I don't mind if he suits up a couple more matches.  I don't think it'll do England any good though, they've clearly got to give Barkley, Henderson, and Wilshere more playing time, if they want to improve.  They also need to get a better manager.

I've heard Gerrard called a failure on the International level and that's why he isn't 'world class'.  Rubbish, one man does not make a team, though there were times when Gerrard carried his country.  His statistical output for England has been impressive so far, especially when you consider he's played nearly every outfield position.

npgp90	gcp90	ccp90	ap90	ccv
0.22	0.46	1.97	0.24	12.3
pass%	bp%	sacc%	shot%	TTI90
80.2	25.9*	46.7	15.3	12.7
gap90	gsp90	gop90	tgop	gopd90
0.81	1.99	1.18	0.99	0.19
tp90	tack%	intp90	clrp90	bsp90
2.52	71.8	1.92	1.3	0.45

Those are solid numbers all around save his turnover rate.  His goals on pitch difference per 90 of 0.19 means he has been worth nearly an extra goal every five matches, +21.66 for his career.  Which isn't surprising when he was actually played a part in a quarter of his side's goals when he plays.

I don't really care if others don't think he's world class, but saying it is because he doesn't perform on the international stage is not valid.  In reality, he's played quite well and if it's because he's never won a Euro or a World Cup, I guess Messi, Ronaldo, Bale, Rooney, Robben, Van Persie, and anybody else who hasn't played for Germany, Spain, Italy, or Brazil in the past 12 years isn't 'world class' either.

Griezmann to replace Suarez? That's mental!

Antoine Griezmann, the 23-year-old French International who did little to nothing in the World Cup, has made it known that he wants out of Real Sociedad.  Hopefully Rodgers will be smart and ignore him.  While France scored 8 goals in Brazil, Griezmann was on the pitch for 299 minutes and couldn't even manage an assist.

As for his efforts with Real Sociedad, the Frenchman benefits greatly from having Carlos Vela as a teammate.  In fact, Vela should be the player we go after.  How great would that be?  Bringing on the former Gunner to stick it to Arsene over the Sanchez debacle.

	Griezmann	Vela	Suarez
app(subs)	31(4)	35(2)	33
mins	2652	3104	2962
p90	29.5	34.5	32.9
goals	16	16	31
assist	3	12	12
chances	34	78	87
npgp90	0.54	0.41	0.94
gcp90	0.64	0.81	1.3
ccp90	1.15	2.26	2.6
ap90	0.1	0.35	0.37
ccv	8.7	15.4	14.2
pass%	77.2	78.7	74.8
bp%	46.6	42.9	44.1
sacc%	47.7	41.9	44.8
shot%	14.4	18.6	17.1
TTI90	10.9	11.2	17
gap90	1.49	1.48	1.43
gsp90	1.53	1.65	2.92
gop90	0.04	0.17	1.49
tgop	0.18	0.18	1.32

As you can see from the stats above, Vela was much more valuable to Sociedad than Griezmann.  The Frenchman's stats aren't necessarily bad, even though 34 chances created is pretty poor, but they pale in comparison to his Mexican teammate.  Griezmann is a poacher and not much else, Vela is the more complete player.

I'm not sure why Arsenal let Vela go, they never really gave him a chance to begin with.  In 6 years with the Gunners, he only appeared in 62 matches and was loaned out 3 times.  He hardly started either, accumulating 1051 minutes in 37 league appearances.  The only thing that would worry me is price, if Sociedad think they can get £20m for Griezmann, they are going to want Man United money for Vela.

Paul Scholes: clandestine Liverpool fan

The Ginger Prince appears obsessed with the Reds these days, sounding off on our players whenever he can.  I would say he's a wind-up muppet, but he's not, most of the time he actually talks sense.

He most recently chimed in on the Luis Suarez transfer saga, questioning whether 'El Conejo Loco' and Messi will be able to play together. “If Luis Suarez does sign for Barcelona from Liverpool, will Lionel Messi ‘accept’ him? Suarez is a centre forward and he won’t want to play out wide. I can’t see Suarez and Messi linking well together,” Scholes wrote on his Paddy Power blog.

He's not afraid to criticize his former club either.  On the Shaw transfer, he wrote, 'For a left-back to be worth £34m shows how silly the game has gone. For that money I want a centre-forward who’s going to score 30 goals a season.'  Preaching to the choir, my frienemy.

Before the World Cup, he praised 'the Liverpool way' of playing football and challenged the English to emulate it in Brazil.  On the subject he wrote, 'It would be refreshing for England to adopt Liverpool’s attacking mentality in Brazil. Really go for it. That means certainly four, and possibly five, Liverpool players in the England starting XI against Italy on June 14' and 'I’d love to see Roy be brave enough to play like Liverpool (or Man United teams of the past).'  Glad to see he realizes the glory years of his former club are in the past.

When it comes to Gerrard, he's had nothing but love, stating in the same post, 'Gerrard (a good leader who will have quickly moved on from that slip) has adjusted his game superbly, very much like I did' and 'That’s the big difference between Steven (Gerrard) and Lampard, for example. I’m not sure Lampard has the ability to control a game. He’s always someone who’s up trying to score goals.'  You know now he's expecting a nice Christmas present for the Gerrard household.

The best part is he gets a joke in here and there, for instance, 'Defensively Liverpool were poor – conceding 50 goals – but they can be contenders again next year IF they can get two world-class centre halves and a left-back. I’m talking about players of the standard of Jaap Stam and Rio Ferdinand.' Rio Ferdinand, world class!?!? Oh the wit.

It's too bad Scholesy wasted his career on the dark side.  He should have went to Italy or Spain, where he's actually more appreciated and wouldn't have played in the shadows of bigger personalities.  No matter what, I've never desired him to play for Liverpool and he has never been better than Gerrard.

DeAndre Yedlin? You must be Yanking my chain.

There are reports that Rodgers may be interested in 20-year-old American International and Seattle Sounders right back, DeAndre Yedlin.  The only interesting thing about Yedlin is that he is of 'Native American, African American, and Latvian descent' (thanks Wikipedia). Look, he plays for the Sounders in the MLS and he's far from setting the place ablaze.  If that were the case, I'd say bring him over.  Here are his stats from the previous and current MLS seasons:

	2013	2014
age	19	20
app(subs)	32(1)	11
mins	2712	959
goals	2	0
assist	2	0
chances	20	12
npgp90	0.07	0
gcp90	0.13	0
ccp90	0.66	1.1
ap90	0.07	0
ccv	10.6	0
pass%	74.6	80.3
bp%	32.9	28.8
sacc%	35.7	0
shot%	14.3	0
tp90	2.5	2.5
tack %	65.7	53.3
intp90	3.6	2.7
clrp90	3.2	3.3
dribpp90	0.83	0.9
bsp90	0.43	0.6
adwp90	1.7	0.7
adwon%	57.5	70
TTI90	12.1	10.7

At first glance, these stats look impressive, but they aren't.  If he posted these numbers in the Prem, Man U would buy him for £30m, but in the MLS, he doesn't even break the top 20 in any category.  Seattle has also allowed 23 goals so far this season, that's tied for 9th, so he isn't contributing to a stifling defense.  

The only positive that I can see is his progression, his passing has improved from last season, all the while lowering his back pass rate, and he is turning over the ball less.  Still no reason to get excited and put in a bid.

What about his World Cup showing?  What about it? He made 3 good passes, but was mediocre at best in his 115 minutes of pitch time.  Here's what Squawka thought about his performance in Brazil:

What about his potential? He'll turn 21 in four days and yes, his development is coming around nicely, but he's not 16 and has shown zero desire to leave the safe haven of MLS.  In fact, he was born and raised in Seattle.

Rodgers can not be serious about signing Yedlin. Andre Wisdom and Martin Kelly would both run circles around this kid. Going for players that are products of the World Cup hype machine rarely pan out, Yedlin would be lucky to just to train with our first team.

Memphis Depay: The Dutch Raheem Sterling

If you haven't been impressed with 20-year-old Dutch attacking midfielder, Memphis Depay, at the World Cup, than there's plenty more to drool over.  First off, one of my favorite sites, StatsBomb, wrote an excellent article about how he may be a great replacement for Suarez.  Here's his stats from last season at PSV compared to some of our players and one soon-to-be former player:

	Depay	Sterling	Coutinho	Lallana	Suarez
age	20	19	22	26	27
app (sub)	32	24(9)	28(5)	37(1)	33
mins	2694	2220	2323	3082	2962
goals	12	9	5	9	31
assists	8	5	7	6	12
chances	86	51	64	68	87
npg90	0.37	0.36	0.19	0.26	0.94
gcp90	0.67	0.57	0.47	0.44	1.3
ccp90	2.88	2.06	2.5	1.9	2.6
ap90	0.27	0.2	0.27	0.21	0.37
ccv	9.4	9.7	10.8	11.1	14.2
pass %	77.5	81.7	80.6	84.6	74.8
bp %	44.1	46.8	36.7	50.3	44.1
sacc %	48.4	48.9	28.7	41.4	44.8
shot %	9.1	20	7	18	17.1
TTI90	11.6	12.1	11	13.9	17

The thing that stands out most is his chances created per 90, he is the best of the bunch, even better than Suarez.  Speaking of 'El Conejo Loco', Depay comes second only to him in non-penalty goals per 90, goals created per 90, and assists per 90.  Only Coutinho keeps better care of the ball, but not by much.

For some reason he's only valued at £4.4m at http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk. I'm sure that was pre-World Cup, because it would be idiotic for PSV to let him go for less than £15m.  Though unlike Lallana, I wouldn't mind spending upwards of £27m for him.

How much will United pay for Dirk Kuyt?

After dishing out ridiculous sums for turnover prone 25-year-old, Ander Herrera, and the nemesis of Victor Moses, Luke Shaw, they are now linked to splash the cash for soon-to-be 34-year-old former 'Liverpool Legend', Dirk Kuyt. I use 'legend' in the loosest sense there, but Kuyt is much more deserving than say, Roy Hodgson.

Dirk Kuyt's evolution as a footballer is interesting to say the least.  At FC Utrecht and especially Feyenoord in the Eredivisie, he was a poacher, a goal-scoring machine.  Unfortunately, he didn't have the pace to translate his finishing skills in the Prem and had to change his approach if he wanted to survive.  So he became a more complete player, a blue collar one mind you, but good enough to earn a starting place as a supporting striker.  His determination to stay and fight for a place at Liverpool after a disappointing first season instead of returning to the Eridivise where he could have easily reverted back to his prolific poaching ways was a testament to his character.

In his first season at Liverpool, he had one assist in 34 appearances, in his second he had 8 in 32.  In his final three seasons he had a chance created per 90 of 1.79, but it was not just his ability to make important passes that improved, he became a defensive forward, if one ever existed.  From 2009-2012, he averaged 1.91 tackles per 90 and 1.56 int per 90, for perspective, during that same period, Rooney contributed 0.63 tp90 and 0.42 intp90, a massive difference.

His latest rebirth as a left wing back for the Netherlands in the World Cup apparently has spurned Van Gaal into thinking about taking him to United when the Dutch coach starts his term there.  If I can say so sans punishment, playing the heavy-footed Kuyt at that position actually is a genius move, it takes advantage of his strengths and less exposes his weaknesses.  His contributions have been solid on both ends of the pitch and the coverage he provides for Daley Blind is pricelesss, but will it translate in the Prem?

The potential big winner here is Fenerbache.  With United willing to pay double and triple a player's valuation, the Turkish club could possibly get £10m for a player they bought for £880,000.

Signing Divock Origi is a waste of everyone's time

There are recent reports that we may be after 19-year-old Belgian and World Cup darling, Divock Origi, but I highly doubt it.  There is absolutely no reason to add him to the squad and no logic for him to join.  I'm not saying he isn't good enough, but why sign a 19-year-old who will be our fourth striker (with or without Suarez, we will sign a top replacement if needs be). He will get little playing time, which could hamper his development, and he'll probably be unhappy spending time on the reserves or loaned out to other sides.  It makes no sense to either party.

Furthermore, there's nothing in his statistical output that separates him from what we already have at the club.  Here are his numbers from last season for Lille along with last season's production of fellow 19-year-old Sterling and the player Origi should long to emulate, Daniel Sturridge:

	Origi	Sterling	Sturridge
age	19	19	24
app (sub)	12(18)	24(9)	26(3)
mins	1286	2220	2267
goals	5	9	21
assists	0	5	7
chances	18	51	29
npg90	0.35	0.36	0.83
gcp90	0.35	0.57	1.1
ccp90	1.3	2.06	1.2
pass %	79.1	81.7	79.3
bp %	54.2	46.8	53.4
sacc %	54.2	48.9	42.4
shot %	20.8	20	21.2
TTI90	12.2	12.1	11

First and foremost, Origi primarily starts up front and covers the left side of the pitch.  Overall his numbers are eerily similar to Sterling with two exceptions, chances created and back pass percentage.  Sterling creates nearly a chance more per 90 and passes towards his own goal much less.  

The only thing separating him and Sturridge is goal-scoring rate, which is kind of important when you're a forward.  Their shooting rate is similar, though Origi has the superior shooting accuracy percentage, which tells me he tends to take bad shots and/or fails to challenge the keeper most of the time.

The bottom line is Origi is not what we need and he's not dynamic enough to justify bringing him in for what will probably be a speculative price.  Let him prove himself elsewhere for 4-5 seasons and when Sturridge starts to go in decline then try to sign him.  Right now he's just the victim of the World Cup hype train.

Suarez has got to go

Let's just hope we can get something for him now.

I'm all for someone being innocent until proven guilty, but the evidence isn't completely exonerating and his past is pretty damning.  The bottom line is that he can't avoid controversy and is distracting to the squad.  It's a shame since 31 non-penalty goals and 13 assists are going to be very hard to replace.

On the pitch it seems Suarez will do anything for club or country, I guess we now know the good and bad of that.  He'll play any position and give it his all, he'll even take a handball to give his side a chance, but this time, for the third time, he apparently took it too far.  I can't even fathom what he was thinking? That he would win a penalty? That's the only logical thing I can come up and it's fringe logic at best.

Most of all this is embarassing.  When people who know nothing of football, who don't support a club, and can't tell you what offside means, feel they have the right to ridicule you because they know you're a Liverpool and Suarez fan, it's very distressing.  When you can longer defend a player you love, it's truly time to let him go.

Even if he plays for Liverpool again, it will not be the same.  To me, he can now only ever be a tarnished hero at best, a player who had the potential to be one of the greats, but couldn't keep his mouth shut.  In opposition eyes, no matter what he achieves on the field, it will now always come second to his vulgar acts.

I was willing to forgive him the first time and he seemed to be on course to becoming a modest human being. No matter the outcome of the investigation, even if he is completely absolved, the fact that he put himself in this situation is infuriating.  It's a complete lack of respect for his country, club, family, and himself.

There is no other option, he has to go.

Blame the FA, Hodgson, or the entire squad, not just Gerrard

It is sad and pathetic that the English press and the wind-up blogs are attempting, though ever so poorly, to blame Steven Gerrard for the early World Cup exit of the Three Lions. He did not pick the manager.  He did not pick the players.  He did not pick the formations, his own position, nor tactics.  All he did was go out and play to the best of his ability, trying to execute the plan of his manager.

Roy Hodgson is not truly to blame either, he is just doing what he has always done, but it is quite evident that his style of management doesn't work for the English side.  He is a blue collar manager if there ever was one.  He found most of his success at clubs in lesser leagues like the Allsvenskan or at smaller clubs like Fulham and West Brom which rely more on tactics than talent.  Let's face it, England is made up of big club players and it is hard for a big club player to revert to simple tactics, it is like asking a chef to wash dishes, he can do it, but he won't be happy nor necessarily do it well.

Capello utilized advanced tactics, but he also knew how to control the superstar egos of the English side.  You were either part of the team or watching from the outside, Hodgson is too much of a gentleman to command the Three Lions.  I'm not saying they lack discipline, because if anything they are seemingly one of England's more mature squads despite their age, I just think Hodgson's tactics and demeanor lack the authority to shape the squad to his liking.

Gerrard had a very poor performance against Uruguay and a medicore one, at least for him, versus Italy.  Neither losses can be fully pegged on him though.  In the Italy match, England's lack of a true defensive midfielder, which they don't even have in the squad, hurt them because no one could stifle the Italian attack.  Neither Gerrard nor Henderson are true DMs and it's idiotic to ask them to play such a role on the world's biggest stage.  Hodgson supposedly imploys zonal marking, so it was either executed quite poorly on both of Italy's goals or nobody listened.  The lack of coverage on the second goal and the careless positioning by Hart are clear signs of a insufficiently managed side.

The Uruguay match was just plain awful from everyone, even for Suarez.  He scored two goals, but was statistically one of, if not the, worst player on the pitch.  Uruguay overall had a passing rate of 64.7%, 53.9% in the England half, and did not connect on a single one of their 18 cross attempts.  Unfortunately the England defense went asleep for a total of about ten seconds and it cost them the match.  Hodgson's tactical approach is a support method of twos and the two centre backs, Jagielka and Cahill, failed to communicate on the first goal, allowing Suarez to sneak in and put away a brilliant header.

Everyone wants to blame Gerrard for the second goal since he miscalculated his header and passed it on to his Liverpool teammate, but it was the brilliance of Suarez to net at a tight angle with scorching pace.  Still it was Gerrard's error that gave him the ball and actually Cahill did a great job in cutting down Suarez' perspective, but Hart's indecisiveness to go for it or stay back was quite apparent and he ended up doing neither.  If he would have stayed back, he would at least had a chance of a save, but getting stuck in the middle left him little chance.

No one seems to be talking about Rooney missing three point blank chances, one in the Italy match and two versus Uruguay.  He connects on one of those, this post doesn't happen.  England still has hope against Costa Rica.  He better realize that if it weren't for Sterling, Sturridge, and Johnson, he would have had zero assists and zero goals, they better be on his Christmas card list.

Listen I can spew stats all day to disprove Gerrard's culpability and direct the blame on others, but it's just as stupid as being a sensationalist and blaming the captain for a total piss poor team effort.  The bottom line is, and it pains me to say this, they should have brought Michael Carrick and begged Gareth Barry to come, so they would have a true DM.  I don't want to get into why I would have picked a different squad, but I don't see the point in taking Lampard and an injured Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Also, if reports are true, and Hodgson still has a job after the World Cup, than the only people to truly blame are the donkey shepherds at the FA.  Hodgson is not the manager to take England anywhere, not even a watermelon festival.  They should go after a gaffer with balls, who that is, well I don't know, but I would even take André Villas-Boas at this point.

How good is Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz?

Before the World Cup match between Uruguay and England, Roy Hodgson said that Luis Suarez is not yet 'world class'.  Well, he found out the hard way how wrong he was.  Suarez may not have had the greatest match, but his world class ability shone through.

Let's see how he sizes up against some other players considered 'world class'.  Charted below is their previous seasons in their respective leagues except for Falcao, his stats are from his previous and last season in La Liga with Atletico Madrid.

	Suarez	Messi	Ronaldo	Bale	Costa	Falcao
age	27	26	29	24	25	28
app (sub)	33	29(2)	30	24(3)	34(1)	34
mins	2962	2498	2537	2065	2952	2896
goals	31	28	31	15	27	28
assists	12	11	9	12	3	1
chances	87	75	47	40	45	32
npg90	0.94	0.79	0.89	0.66	0.67	0.62
gcp90	1.3	1.4	1.3	1.2	0.91	0.9
ccp90	2.6	2.8	1.6	1.8	1.4	1
pass %	74.8	85	80.3	76.3	75.5	79.9
bp %	44.1	44.6	56.4	52.2	61	59.4
sacc %	44.8	46.3	43.1	34.1	50	43.1
shot %	17.1	17.5	14.4	17.1	25	22.8
TTI90	17	13.1	12.9	11.5	15.5	12.8
	Sturridge	Y. Toure	Aguero	RVP	Rooney	Ribery
age	24	31	26	30	28	31
app (sub)	26(3)	35	20(3)	18(3)	27(2)	18(4)
mins	2267	2917	1526	1578	2446	1635
goals	21	20	17	12	17	10
assists	7	9	6	3	10	10
chances	29	40	34	16	56	56
npg90	0.83	0.43	1	0.57	0.51	0.55
gcp90	1.1	0.9	1.4	0.86	1	1.1
ccp90	1.2	1.2	2	0.9	2.1	2.8
pass %	79.3	90.1	84.9	76.7	80.1	83.9
bp %	53.4	35.1	56	50.9	48.4	50.8
sacc %	42.4	42.2	50	33.9	42.6	49.2
shot %	21.2	31.3	19.8	19.4	16.8	17
TTI90	11	10.2	11.8	10.5	15.4	17.8

Suarez comes in 2nd in non-penalty goals per 90, 3rd in goals created per 90, and 3rd in chances created per 90.  He also finished 4th in shot accuracy.  Unfortunately he had the worst pass rate, but he did have the second lowest back pass percentage, bettered only by Yaya Toure.  His TTI90 was second worst after Franck Ribery, mainly due to bad pass attempts.

Overall he is bested by Messi alone, but the Argentinian's stats are padded by 6 penalty goals where Suarez had none.  If you consider the six penalties that Ronaldo converted, Suarez is much better overall.  He already trumps the defending Ballon D'or winner in nearly every category, but take away spot kicks and CR7 is not even part of the conversation.

Speaking of the Ballon D'or, if Suarez can continue his scorching pace, Messi should be the only other player considered.  How they and their teams perform in the World Cup is probably on what the award will hinge.  Both are off to great starts, but Uruguay will have to beat Italy if they want to advance to the knock-out stages.  Suarez will probably once again have to prove his 'world class' if they are to do so.