Who was the better player, Souness or Gerrard?

Southpaws said:
On all the evidence laid before us, it just has to be Souness, he would have driven any top side to greater success. He wasn’t just a truly gifted footballer, he was a warrior and leader, who made the likes of Roy Keane and Viera seem like choirboys.

He’d have required to tone it down in terms of today’s football being far from the ‘full contact’ sport that it was in his day. But his consummate skill, vision and outrageous ability would see him valued as one of the most desired midfielders of this or any other time.

He was immense at Liverpool, strolled it, as if he was born to it in Italy, was part of perhaps Scotland’s greatest crop/generation of players and came to Rangers with the swagger and arrogance which underpinned over a decade of unprecedented success. (At a time when Scottish football was decent and competitive)

The complete professional with the heart of a lion, never once did he back out of a tackle and on many occasions, he perhaps took it a bit too far. He’d be valued in the £100m plus category at today’s prices, love Gerrard, but Souness was at least a level above in overall talent, ability, leadership and literally walking through walls for the team.

all imho of course!
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Fair enough. Can’t argue with that.

However, Gerrard in his prime would easily command £150m+ in the current climate
 
Technical ability its Gerrard,
Out and out hard bastard its Souness, thats not saying Souness wasnt a technicality gifted player, just a different era in the game
A combo of both would be the ultimate player
 
The guy that used to manage my local is a massive Liverpool fan from down that neck of the woods and had a season ticket for Anfield back in the day.

I asked him one night who was better between the two.He came back to me 10 minutes later and said “Souness”.
 
1 0 against Celtic and Istanbul are the 2 best games I ever saw them play. Both dominated the games , different era and it’s tough think Souness just shades it.
 
Souness won more trophies and played in a lot more successful Liverpool side. Its a toss up as to who was best though.
 
Laudo. said:
How can a trophy haul be irrelevant.

It's the metric by which successful teams and players are judged.
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He says Liverpool would have potentially won those trophies anyway.

Gerrard literally dragged an average Liverpool side to trophies.

It’s a valid assessment.
 
Souness. I think people tend to forget just how good a player he was due to the YouTube 'highlights 'of some of his wilder tackles. I know it's a laugh to watch but it does do him a disservice.
Gerrard is almost the opposite, undoubtedly a great player, but his spectacular YouTube moments are 30 yarders which improves his image in the way Sounes's tackles dont.

I think Souness dominated midfields in a way Gerrard didn't. Gerrard needed a Xabi Alonso type alongside him, Souness could do it on his own.

Souness also did well in Italy when that was the league to be in.
 
SouthEast Jim said:
Souness. I think people tend to forget just how good a player he was due to the YouTube 'highlights 'of some of his wilder tackles. I know it's a laugh to watch but it does do him a disservice.
Gerrard is almost the opposite, undoubtedly a great player, but his spectacular YouTube moments are 30 yarders which improves his image in the way Sounes's tackles dont.

I think Souness dominated midfields in a way Gerrard didn't. Gerrard needed a Xabi Alonso type alongside him, Souness could do it on his own.

Souness also did well in Italy when that was the league to be in.
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0_naysmith.jpg
 
It’s close , but Gerrard for me. He had everything. Incredible goals, tough tackling , leadership. Souness did as well but not so much on the goals . So Gerrard for me.
 
SouthEast Jim said:
Oh I know Gerrard did that type of tackle, more than once, but it doesn't really get mentioned that much. Whereas with Souness nowadays people talk about his fouls as if that was all he did
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I know what you mean. I do think Gerrard could dominate midfields and indeed games though.
 
Southpaws said:
On all the evidence laid before us, it just has to be Souness, he would have driven any top side to greater success. He wasn’t just a truly gifted footballer, he was a warrior and leader, who made the likes of Roy Keane and Viera seem like choirboys.

He’d have required to tone it down in terms of today’s football being far from the ‘full contact’ sport that it was in his day. But his consummate skill, vision and outrageous ability would see him valued as one of the most desired midfielders of this or any other time.

He was immense at Liverpool, strolled it, as if he was born to it in Italy, was part of perhaps Scotland’s greatest crop/generation of players and came to Rangers with the swagger and arrogance which underpinned over a decade of unprecedented success. (At a time when Scottish football was decent and competitive)

The complete professional with the heart of a lion, never once did he back out of a tackle and on many occasions, he perhaps took it a bit too far. He’d be valued in the £100m plus category at today’s prices, love Gerrard, but Souness was at least a level above in overall talent, ability, leadership and literally walking through walls for the team.

all imho of course!
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Everything where Gerrard was just that bit better than Souness actually
 
Souness.
The best all round midfielder of my generation.
Sadly his years with us were blighted by injury, but he still provided some classic moments.......Aitken, Leighton, Steaua, etc.
Struck fear in the opposition both through his playing ability and being a scary bstard.

WATP
 
Different game when both played.

Sourness a hard bastard that could play, Gerrard had a bit of everything and scored far more.

Souness won more but played in better side.

I'm calling it a draw.

:)
 
Big Joke New said:
The question you have to ask here is would Souness have got 114 caps for England? I don't think so somehow.
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Not really valid as different times when so many 'minor' countries to play now and 45 friendly caps also here's stats Davy Cooper only got 22 caps and midfielder Paul McStay 76
 
Different types of midfielders in my opinion.
The fact that you could have easily played both of them in the same midfield explains that.
So you are not judging like for like.
I would take both.
 
I don’t really care about the answer to this but the fact that they have both been our managers shows what a huge club we are!!
 
Gerrard for me.

There is no correct answer, though.

It’s simply a preference.

Both were world class, either way.
 
Both absolute World Class midfielders and masters of their trade. SG had the better engine over the piece as Souness tended to pace himself and concentrate on the important passages of play. Both hard as nails with a bit of nasty bastard stuff thrown in when required. Winning mentality and ability to inspire those around them. From different era’s but don’t see much between them in the end analysis.
 
Both world class but Souness played in a Liverpool team that was already successful before he joined the club, he added more quality to an already great side.

Gerrard played in Liverpool teams that overall were not of the quality of the team Souness joined, in many games he carried Liverpool to any success they had, perhaps similar to John Greig in our lean years in the late 1960s. Both truly world class though
 
It's Souness.

Gerrard is remembered for a couple of special games and some great strikes but I don't think people really appreciate just how good a player Souness was.

I don't think it is even as close a debate as people are making out.

It's interesting that Fergie thinks it is Graeme. I wonder who Dalglish would choose?
 
Bowery Boy said:
For the guys who seen Souness in his prime, what kinda player was he? He obviously gets recognition as being a hard cnut but he was obviously so much more than that?
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Souness was a very skillful midfield player who had a great range of passing, not a great deal of pace but his positional sense and reading of the game was brilliant. He could control the tempo of a game when needed. A very composed midfield player who would take charge of the midfield, also as we all know a great ball winner
 
Johansen said:
Souness was a very skillful midfield player who had a great range of passing, not a great deal of pace but his positional sense and reading of the game was brilliant. He could control the tempo of a game when needed. A very composed midfield player who would take charge of the midfield, also as we all know a great ball winner
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Rolls Royce then? The fact he was an integral part of such a great side tells me he was a class act. Also played in Serie A when it was the best on earth.
 
Bowery Boy said:
Too young to have seen Souness so difficult to say for sure but his record speaks for itself. However, I'm sure Gerrard would have got in that famous all conquering Liverpool side. Would Souness have dragged an average Liverpool side to CL victory in Istanbul?
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He wouldn't have put up with an average Liverpool side and indeed got out when he thought he should, same as he did at Spurs. I think that's the difference between them.

Gerrard very nearly did it (to Chelsea) but clearly, something held him and thus his career, back.
 
CaptainStaunch said:
The answer of course is no, because he is Scottish. But as the best player in Europe’s best team he would have certainly been good enough.
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According to Maradona Souness and Bryan Robson were the best 2 British players he played against. He was easily good enough to played huge numbers of times for England.
 
Bowery Boy said:
Rolls Royce then? The fact he was an integral part of such a great side tells me he was a class act. Also played in Serie A when it was the best on earth.
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For me, Souness is one of the few players from the 80s who would have been able to play the game today.

He was THAT good a midfielder.

(He'd have to curb some of his tackling, obviously).
 
Steve Snedden said:
It's Souness.

Gerrard is remembered for a couple of special games and some great strikes but I don't think people really appreciate just how good a player Souness was.

I don't think it is even as close a debate as people are making out.

It's interesting that Fergie thinks it is Graeme. I wonder who Dalglish would choose?
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B-)

Off the top of my head; the CL final, UEFA cup final, FA cup final, League cup final (he scored in every one of those finals). The Olympiakos game too, which he also scored in.

The list of great Gerrard appearances is endless.

The ultimate big game player

I definitely remember a lot more than a couple of games.

And the goals. Too many good ones (my favourite is v Middlesbrough).

No formula will give you a definitive answer as to who was the “best” player.
 
Steve Snedden said:
For me, Souness is one of the few players from the 80s who would have been able to play the game today.

He was THAT good a midfielder.

(He'd have to curb some of his tackles, obviously).
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This is exactly the one trait that Souness has used to describe Gerrard - that he could play in any Liverpool team, of any era.
 
petric said:
B-)

Off the top of my head; the CL final, UEFA cup final, FA cup final, League cup final (he scored in every one of those finals). The Olympiakos game too, which he also scored in.

The list of great Gerrard appearances is endless.

The ultimate big game player

I definitely remember a lot more than a couple of games.

And the goals. Too many good ones (my favourite is v Middlesbrough).

No formula will give you a definitive answer as to who was the “best” player.
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I think Gerrard had plenty of great games but The CL and FA Cup were special in as much as he almost single handedly dragged his team to victory.

Souness, under Paisley made Liverpool tick. He imposed himself on the game week in week out and controlled almost every aspect of probably Britain's greatest club side.

Liverpool may have continued to win trophies under Fagan and Kenny Dalglish but they never replaced Souness (certainly not with McMahon).

Despite losing staunch points, I loved Dalglish the player but he needed Souness as much as Rush needed Dalglish.

Souness is only second to Paisley in terms of importance to Liverpool 77-84.

I also think the fact that Gerrard was more recent and TV coverage was more abundant helps his case.

I think Gerrard was a great player but just not Souness.

Very few have ever been or will ever be. There is no shame in that.
 
Im opting for Gerrard, but I'm too young to have seen Souness so hard to judge. Opinion is probably biased by the fact Gerrard is now our manager too.
 
In my opinion Souness was part of a world class Liverpool team . The stats back this up. Gerrard was part of a mediocre Liverpool team. Again the stats back this up. As for who was best ,its impossible to make a decision. Best i can come up with is to swap them with their relevant, different era sides, and then make a decision Based on that it would be Gerrard for me
 
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