Contrary to what some LA Galaxy fans might be thinking today in the wake of a huge addition for the reigning MLS Cup champs, Steven Gerrard is not a problem for the LA Galaxy.
Think of him more as a logic puzzle: How to get a superior talent (even at 34 years old Gerrard is exactly that) into what's already a championship-caliber midfield?
- Can it be done in a 4-4-2?
- Can it be done without squeezing Marcelo Sarvas -- quietly the heart and soul, and obviously the "fight" in last year's team -- out of the lineup?
- Is there a way to make the Gerrard/Robbie Keane marriage more effective than it was in that one unhappy season together at Liverpool?
These issues are all intertwined because soccer is, after all, a team game. Keane can't play on the wing (he doesn't defend), so the 4-2-3-1 formation is ruled out. He also can't be a pure No. 9 to lead the line (what he was asked to do in that one year at Anfield), so the 4-3-3 is out as well.
LA were eviscerated for 45 minutes in the only time they played a 3-5-2 last year, so Bruce Arena's probably not going to go in that direction, either.
Having Keane -- the league MVP -- means you pretty much have to play a 4-4-2. Having Gerrard -- the new, big-name super-star -- means you have to find a spot for him in central midfield. You don't spend that kind of money on a guy to play him out of position.
Juninho's role is a given. Does that mean LA will be benching Sarvas?
Let's dig more into that in a minute.
First, understand that Gerrard has moved progressively deeper in the midfield over his decade-and-a-half in Liverpool. Even though he wears and generally plays best as a No. 8, he was legitimately asked to be a No. 10 for a while -- including the second half of the 2005 Champions League final, as recounted here:
That was Gerrard's best moment, with two midfielders (regista Xabi Alonso and destroyer Dietmar Hamann) behind him, two forwards in front of him, and wingbacks bombing up and down the flanks.
But that's not a Gerrard we've seen much of in the last five years. For England, he was more often than not paired with another No. 8 in a midfield that never quite worked. And last season, when Liverpool came achingly close to their first-ever Premiership title, he was more often than not used as a deep-lying playmaker, mimicking the Xabi Alonso role.
In whatever role he was used in, his gift is that most English of traits: the ability to make the game both big and fast. Gerrard's range of passing is Beckhamesque; his physicality -- pace, power, size -- is something few teams in any league can match; and his goal-scoring prowess is still elite. He actually leads Liverpool with nine goals across all competitions this season, and will surely finish in double digits for the third straight year.
LA bought all of the above. Beyond that, LA are buying the connections Gerrard can make with the players around him, connections that he makes by dominating the ball. His usage rate this year (12.19%) mirrors that of Sarvas (13.01%), and they work mostly from the same spots on the field.
Once they're both on the roster, there's probably only room for one of them out there, unless Sarvas is shuffled over to one of the wide midfield positions, as occasionally happened in 2012.
Which brings us back to the original puzzle. I called the Galaxy's midfield "championship caliber" above, but that's a misdirect: with no Landon Donovan working on the left, LA as currently constructed are not championship caliber in the midfield or anywhere else. Gerrard is being brought in to change that not by filling Donovan's on-field role like-for-like, but rather to pilot the whole ship amidst a teamwide recalibration.
That's the puzzle for Arena & Co. to solve. It's probably trickier in the locker room than on the field, but they have seven months to get their pieces in place.
