If you want Gerrard to play in a deep role and "ping it about" then he needs to be in a midfield 3. There's no way round it. He was at his best for us last season when he was flanked by two of Henderson, Allen, Lucas and occasionally Coutinho. You can probably add Sterling to that as well when he was at the tip of the diamond. They harried, intercepted, tackled and ran and ran and ran, protecting Gerrard and allowing him to pick his passes. He hasn't got the legs to play in a midfield two.