Jay Spearing - what are you?

[jackofdk]

This is the problem, and what I find so annoying about the attitude of Liverpool fans.

 

He has played more than Henderson, and is older (by 3 years), yet we are happy to write off Henderson and determined to play up Spearing.

 

Henderson is a better footballer than Spearing already.

 

I am not comparing him to Henderson, so I fail to see what I do to annoy you.

 

Oh, it must be the part about giving a hard trying local lad the benefit of the doubt. Silly me. Should have slated him after a couple of bad performances like a proper fan would.

[jackofdk]

For the record, Jordan Henderson has played 113 first team games in his career to Spearing's 37. He has played more first team games for Liverpool this season than Jay have his whole life.

 

That Rafa refused to use Spearing shouldn't be held against him, in my opinion.

[Guest TK-421]

He's fucking well better than Henderson.

 

Henderson has an ever present thread here where people congregate to slag him off after every game.

 

This one is about Jay.

[Whelan]

I am not comparing him to Henderson, so I fail to see what I do to annoy you.

 

Oh, it must be the part about giving a hard trying local lad the benefit of the doubt. Silly me. Should have slated him after a couple of bad performances like a proper fan would.

 

Well I didn't say you did! I quoted to people, both defending Spearing with different view points that contradicted each other! That was my point, you were calling for patience, another was dismissing a younger player.

 

Again, it is a bit disingenuous comparing Hendersons stats to Spearings as Henderson played for Sunderland and didn't have Alonso, Mascherano, Gerrard, Hamman or Sissoko in front of him. And I am pretty sure that if you included Spearing's spell at Leicester it is higher than 37! If you are comparing like for like, Leicester should be included.

 

It isn't about patience, he is not young, and still not good enough. There are physical weakeness that will never improve.

 

At this moment in time who do you think is a better option, Shelvey, Henderson or Spearing? Who do you feel will be a better player in 3-5 years time?

 

We can't have 3 of our midfield as players for the future, we need to address the here and now, and at this moment in time he isn't good enough at his job e.g. defensive midfielder, and as he is the cover he will play far more than he is currently good enough to play.

 

It has nothing to do with patience, he is 24 this season and hasn't improved since last January when he was given regular games.

[Mr T]

Long term he is clearly not good enough but he tries very hard so he is given the benefit of the doubt, rightly so. At least he didn't cost £20M or is on stupid money.

 

He's the least of our worries right now. Kenny needs to think more about what he's going to do with the golden generation he's brought in, rather than little Jay.

[jackofdk]

Well I didn't say you did! I quoted to people, both defending Spearing with different view points that contradicted each other! That was my point, you were calling for patience, another was dismissing a younger player.

 

Again, it is a bit disingenuous comparing Hendersons stats to Spearings as Henderson played for Sunderland and didn't have Alonso, Mascherano, Gerrard, Hamman or Sissoko in front of him. And I am pretty sure that if you included Spearing's spell at Leicester it is higher than 37! If you are comparing like for like, Leicester should be included.

 

It isn't about patience, he is not young, and still not good enough. There are physical weakeness that will never improve.

 

At this moment in time who do you think is a better option, Shelvey, Henderson or Spearing? Who do you feel will be a better player in 3-5 years time?

 

We can't have 3 of our midfield as players for the future, we need to address the here and now, and at this moment in time he isn't good enough at his job e.g. defensive midfielder, and as he is the cover he will play far more than he is currently good enough to play.

 

It has nothing to do with patience, he is 24 this season and hasn't improved since last January when he was given regular games.

 

A: I didn't start comparing Spearing's stats to Henderson's, you did:

 

He has played more than Henderson

 

B: Spearing's 37 games were league games, I got it wrong, my bad. In total he has played 60 first team games: Jay Spearing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, wheras Henderson has played 134: Jordan Henderson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

C: I think Shelvey, Spearing and Henderson are very different players. The jury is out on all of them, but with his seemingly non-existing grit, I'd probably rate Henderson, however talented, the least likely to make it here. Speo is the only one I'd trust in a holding role or next to Gerrard in a 4-4-2 (which he did so brilliantly against Everton).

[Baresi]

Henderson has an ever present thread here where people congregate to slag him off after every game.

 

This one is about Jay.

 

Well Whelan said that Henderson is better than Spearing, when he's quite clearly not. Hence my post.

[JohnnyH]

He's fucking well better than Henderson.

 

Stick Spearing out on the wing and Henderson in the middle and then lets see who is better.

 

Daft comment anyway. Judge Spearing on Spearing

[Major Tom]

For the record, Jordan Henderson has played 113 first team games in his career to Spearing's 37. He has played more first team games for Liverpool this season than Jay have his whole life.

 

 

There is an obvious reason for this!

[Baresi]

Stick Spearing out on the wing and Henderson in the middle and then lets see who is better.

 

Daft comment anyway. Judge Spearing on Spearing

 

They've both played in the middle numerous times this season. Spearing has been consistently superior to Henderson.

 

See above regarding my reasoning for the comment.

[Whelan]

C: I think Shelvey, Spearing and Henderson are very different players. The jury is out on all of them, but with his seemingly non-existing grit, I'd probably rate Henderson, however talented, the least likely to make it here. Speo is the only one I'd trust in a holding role or next to Gerrard in a 4-4-2 (which he did so brilliantly against Everton).

 

I only really mentioned stats as it was pointed out that Spearing needs more games! To me it is irrelevant as they have both played enough to form an opinion.

 

He is the only option in that role! Which is the problem, in my opinion. I think you are right, they are different players, but Henderson has more to his game than Spearing, although he does seem like a big shithouse. Ultimately they all might not be good enough, but a we can't wait for all three of them.

 

But Henderson is vying for his role with Gerrard, Shelvey and Adam (whom I really don't rate), so he is clearly less of a problem as there are more options. Spearing is the alternative to Lucas, who will be returning from a long term injury, and I think, that DM is one of the most important roles as it provides a platform.

 

I think he could bring in £3-5m, so in my opinion he should go this summer, whereas Shelvey requires more time, and Henderson would bring a loss.

 

Swap Flamini for Spearing and we have improved the postion and have money to improve another position.

[jackofdk]

There is an obvious reason for this!

 

Aye, two obvious reasons, actually:

 

One of them came through at a major club with Hamann, Xabi, Mascherano and Gerrard in front of him while the other came through at fucking Sunderland.

 

On top of that Spearing had the misfortune of being caught in the middle of a destructive battle of powers between Rafa and the Academy.

[JohnnyH]

They've both played in the middle numerous times this season. Spearing has been consistently superior to Henderson.

 

 

He simply hasn’t. When Henderson is in the middle he is a far far superior player to Spearing, and Henderson is a genuine youngster still.

[Major Tom]

Aye, two obvious reasons, actually:

 

One of them came through at a major club with Hamann, Xabi, Mascherano and Gerrard in front of him while the other came through at fucking Sunderland.

 

On top of that Spearing had the misfortune of being caught in the middle of a destructive battle of powers between Rafa and the Academy.

 

I'll give you those but for me he isn't good enough for Liverpool and he isn't even better than the current morph of Henderson. Which is damning in itself!

[Mr Nando]

This is the problem, and what I find so annoying about the attitude of Liverpool fans.

 

He has played more than Henderson, and is older (by 3 years), yet we are happy to write off Henderson and determined to play up Spearing.

 

Henderson is a better footballer than Spearing already.

 

Yeah, but Henderson isn't scouse.

[jackofdk]

He simply hasn’t. When Henderson is in the middle he is a far far superior player to Spearing, and Henderson is a genuine youngster still.

 

I haven't seen that from Henderson at all, simply couldn't disagree more.

 

The potential is there and it shows in glimpses, but he generally seem way to content with being a passenger rather than trying to run the game.

[PaulMcC]

Aye, two obvious reasons, actually:

 

One of them came through at a major club with Hamann, Xabi, Mascherano and Gerrard in front of him while the other came through at fucking Sunderland.

 

On top of that Spearing had the misfortune of being caught in the middle of a destructive battle of powers between Rafa and the Academy.

 

Or he wasn't good enough, so didn't get played often.

 

And the fact he was the best at the Academy was a reason Rafa felt he needed to change it. It wasn't producing good enough players.

[Baresi]

He simply hasn’t. When Henderson is in the middle he is a far far superior player to Spearing, and Henderson is a genuine youngster still.

 

No chance. Henderson has been woeful this season, and I (and suspect many more) would have Spearing ahead of him in every game. I'm not Spearing's biggest fan by any means, but to say he's worse than Henderson, is totally untrue.

 

I don't judge players on age, I judge them on ability.

[The Golden Eel]

Henderson looks like he has a certain something that could make him a much better player than Spearing in the future, I don't think Jay has the same room for improvement and I'd say he gets a bit more latitude based on the fact that he's local and didn't cost big money. However, Spearing at the minute is better than Henderson IMO. Henderson is, generally, toss. I'm surprised these days if he's not one of, if not the, worst player on the pitch.

[JohnnyH]

No chance. Henderson has been woeful this season, and I (and suspect many more) would have Spearing ahead of him in every game. I'm not Spearing's biggest fan by any means, but to say he's worse than Henderson, is totally untrue.

 

I don't judge players on age, I judge them on ability.

 

Well if you think that Spearing has more ability then Henderson and that Henderson has been "woeful" when played in the middle, then there really is no point discussing this any further. We'll just agree to disagree,

[Major Tom]

 

I don't judge players on age, I judge them on ability.

 

That's a bit silly in reality. Age has a massive influence on player's abilities.

[dirk grout]

No chance. Henderson has been woeful this season, and I (and suspect many more) would have Spearing ahead of him in every game. I'm not Spearing's biggest fan by any means, but to say he's worse than Henderson, is totally untrue.

 

I don't judge players on age, I judge them on ability.

 

Henderson is far better than spearing, which says quite a lot about jays ability unfortunately.

[Geraghty]

He is not good enough to play for the first team and shouldn't even be a first choice backup if someone gets injured.

 

His height is a serious issue and he doesn't make up for it by excelling in other parts of his game.

 

Brilliant pro though,gives 100% and wish others could develop his attitude.

[jackofdk]

The height thing is bollocks, in my humble opinion. Some of the finest central midfielders since the turn of the millenium was Makalele (5 ft 7), Mascherano (5 ft 9) and Scholes (5 ft 7) - all of them at about Spearing's size (5 ft 6).

 

I accept that some people do not think he is good enough, though I disagree, but his height is not an issue at all.

[Geraghty]

The height thing is bollocks, in my humble opinion. Some of the finest central midfielders since the turn of the millenium was Makalele (5 ft 7), Mascherano (5 ft 9) and Scholes (5 ft 7) - all of them at about Spearing's size (5 ft 6).

 

I accept that some people do not think he is good enough, though I disagree, but his height is not an issue at all.

 

The players you mention which isn't a large group are or used to be world class and they had other attributes that made up for their height issues,ie reading the game passing ect.Spearing does not have that luxury so his height bundled in with his poor decision making and passing means it is a issue