before the palace collapse last year the warning signs were there how shaky they were at the back. I remember Norwich away they were on the ropes, Norwich were coming back into the game and another 5 minutes would have scored. they just kept managing to score so nothing was made of it. he just cant be bothered defending seriously, or has a serious blind spot for it. which is refreshing and hugely entertaining for the rest of us
Brentan Rodgers
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before the palace collapse last year the warning signs were there how shaky they were at the back. I remember Norwich away they were on the ropes, Norwich were coming back into the game and another 5 minutes would have scored. they just kept managing to score so nothing was made of it. he just cant be bothered defending seriously, or has a serious blind spot for it. which is refreshing and hugely entertaining for the rest of us
I was just having a look at the football money league and Liverpool's revenue is actually pretty impressive for a club who's been out of the Champions league for a while. 100m over Atletico, would imagine they could offer the likes of Griezmann a better wage and got him to sign. Probably just a blunder in taking the safe route of premier league proven Lallana over Griezmann.
They were in the champions league at the time and had just came close in a title chase so they would have been an attractive proposition for him and with the higher wage they may have been able to get him over Atletico.
They were in the champions league at the time and had just came close in a title chase so they would have been an attractive proposition for him and with the higher wage they may have been able to get him over Atletico.
How anyone cant question Citys revenue spike is beyond me. In a couple of seasons they'll be leading the way by some margin
If one can't see that Rogers is a talented coach, I can only assume that they're letting their dislike of him get in the way. He obviously is a very cringy fellow who regards himself very highly but a bad coach he is not. You watch Liverpool from January 2013 up to now and it's a team that is clearly very well coached in terms of how they build attacks and move on the pitch. Of course he has faults, he can be a touch Wengeresque in his insistence to try and play in all circumstances and his man management was not the best at certain moments. But when it comes to tactics and by tactics here I don't mean Mourinho put 10 behind the ball and defend for your life to get called a tactical genius by the British media. I mean tactics in setting a team up to move and create space and such, Rogers is definitely a talented coach. Unfortunately for him, that's only one ingredient to success and it remains to be seen if he has the other ingredients.
Agree with this. Rodgers fatal flaw is that his biggest weakness is the one thing that at a club like Liverpool you need in abundance: being quality in the transfer market. He can be the best tactician on the planet; if he can't assemble a team to compete with clubs with a greater budget than him he's only ever going to be a nearly man.
The other clubs don't have "far" more money to spend though, as evidenced by Arsenal having a net spend of just £7 million more even though Liverpool received £75 million for one player. I took Ozil and Sanchez out because Arsenal's net spend is similar to Liverpool's, yet they spent it on quality for the first team that you keep insisting Liverpool cannot afford for themselves. By all accounts they apparently offered Sanchez more money than Arsenal did, he just chose Arsenal. If it's not an issue of affording players, then it becomes an issue of not being able to attract the top caliber of player. The problem then is that they've been top quality fees for lower quality players.
Liverpool finishing 2nd last season is a separate issue. It was a great achievement, but a very lucky one. To say otherwise is to ignore the context that you appear to love so much. I don't feel that you can take Liverpool finishing 2nd last season as a serious measure of Rodgers' quality as a manager, whilst simultaneously stating that 5th-7th is about their level and he's doing a fine job if he finishes there. Either he's good enough to have them up at the top, or his level is that rung just below.
I know this is Rodgers' third season. I referenced the fourth because I've been repeatedly talking about the end of next season as a time when his job will be under pressure, and next season will be his fourth. It's possible, though I feel unlikely, that Liverpool can catch up and make a proper go of top 4 this season, whilst creating a bit of a gap between them and Spurs/Southampton. It's also possible that everything clicks into place next season and they make a proper go of it then. I'm not saying that they should sack him if they narrowly miss out on 4th, I'm saying his job will be in danger if they finish a good number of points off this season (which is looking likely), and do the same again next season. Signs of progress will be fine, but I've not been at all convinced by his signings or his naive tactical approach to big games.
And as I've said, it's highly unlikely that even most of those young signings actually come to fruition. It rarely happens, and young players tend to need experience alongside them to help them develop.
As a somewhat separate issue, I think he's got away with a lot because of the entertaining football he's had Liverpool playing at times, particularly last season. As we've agreed, they punched above their weight massively last season, and it would have been unfair to expect them to mount a serious title challenge this season. If we accept that his first season was about par for the course, last season was an over-achievement, I think finishing >6 points off top 4 this season would represent underachievement. I also think that they should expect a season-long challenge for top 4 next season, and not find themselves in need of a November-March unbeaten run to claw themselves back up from 12th.
Issues that I think have been completely glossed over are:
Letting Suarez go - Clearly he's a despicable human being, but he was probably the best player in the league last season. He'd just signed a contract that would have kept him at Anfield until 2018 so it wasn't as if there was an urgent need to cash-in before his contract expired. Having no proper replacement lined up (or believing Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert were adequate replacements) was a serious error. Considering Sanchez moved to Arsenal the same day Suarez moved to Barca, it very much appears like the two deals were connected. Liverpool should have ensured Sanchez was coming to Anfield, or Suarez wasn't going to Camp Nou.
Not actually building any strength in depth - Rodgers' line over the summer was that they were buying players for the starting eleven and not just padding the squad out with mediocrity. Everyone was in agreement that this was a great idea, especially given the extra games they'd have to play during their return to the European stage. It should have also ensured that the quality of the squad improved. The problem is that Rodgers categorically failed to provide this.
The main area for improvement identified at the close of the 2013/14 season was the defense, with Suarez's departure making another attacker the second priority. Lovren, Manquillo and Moreno were the new defensive additions, but Flanagan's season long injury, and the departures of Cissokho and Agger meant there was no more depth than the season before. Lovren's been kept out of the centre-back position by a 21 year old midfielder, Manquillo is finding himself behind a 20 year old attacker as an option at wing-back, and Moreno, the only defensive signing that plays with any regularity, seems to struggle with the actual defending part of the job.
As for replacing Suarez, that's just been a shambles. Lallana and Markovic are pretty much just rotation options, Lambert was apparently signed to be 6th choice, and Balotelli has been a laughing stock. Despite the key striker, Sturridge, making just 7 league starts this campaign, Balotelli has managed just 8, Lambert just 5, and Borini just 3. Rodgers apparently didn't want Balotelli, but without him that's another 8 starts and a further 6 substitute appearances going to Lambert and Borini.
The midfield clearly hasn't been strengthened because the only central midfielder they bought is currently their 3rd choice centre-back.
Actually being tactically inept - One of Rodgers' greatest strengths is apparently his astute tactical awareness. Frankly, this is a load of shit. It's all well and good finding a single tactic that works for a bit, but he's awful at adapting when it's needed. We saw it at the end of last season when they were eventually found out, and we've seen it over their last few games. Almost found out against Swansea, found out against United, and found out against Arsenal.
That's not the only issue with his apparent tactical ability though. He went into this transfer window with seemingly no idea what he was going to do with the team, despite it being his 3rd season in charge. Yes he lost Suarez, but he also spent over £100 million on new players with apparently no system in mind to actually play them in. He switched his tactic mid-season because it simply wasn't working (and it took him until November to notice), and he's now 3 games in to his latest incarnation being found out. He's got midfielders playing central defense, wingers playing wing-back, and wingers and attacking midfielders playing as strikers.
He's great at talking about how his team plays "the right way" whatever that is, and he does manage to get them playing some entertaining football at times (although this is aided by the comical defending), but playing some pretty football doesn't make him a tactical genius, especially not when he refuses to try anything different even when he knows it's probably not going to work.
Apparently by 2017 they will have overtaken Bayern and Barcelona and will be 3rd on the list.
Don't know if any of this is true
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/liverpool-crisis-brendan-rodgers-faces-5465250
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/liverpool-crisis-brendan-rodgers-faces-5465250
They didn't really have any senior players against Arsenal so can't see who would speak up against him....Kolo?
Just the Mirror stirring probably.
I wouldn't listen to that as it's not being reported by Barrett, Pearce, Bascombe, Joyce, Hunter, or Maddock.
The "journalist" involved is a regular mouthpiece for Sterling's agent. So no matter what the truth is, a lot of people are going to decide it came from him.
Aww touched a nerve have I? Because it would take some mighty idiocy to not be able to see the difference between defensive and offensive tactics. But again you have only been accustomed to the former for quite some time now so I probably shouldn't be surprised.Yep, that's some hilarious, and yet also ridiculous shit right there. Excellent work.
That the BBC have picked up on it and written an article related to it makes me think there might be some truth to it. Either way, he's cracking
Guess we'll have to wait for the release of Aww, We Didn't Go Again for the details.
"Defensive" tactics that have us top of the league by 7 points with a game in hand. Also have scored the more goals than Arsenal, City, and Liverpool who supposedly play "beautiful, attacking" football. Highest goal difference too.Aww touched a nerve have I? Because it would take some mighty idiocy to not be able to see the difference between defensive and offensive tactics. But again you have only been accustomed to the former for quite some time now so I probably shouldn't be surprised.
We'll take those "defensive" tactics I guess.
Well said Eboue. 5th worthy of a sacking is a bizarre statement.
Nah, this year they're releasing a book about almost winning the calendar league.
Well that takes the cake! Did you just use league position as some sort of justification for defensive tactics? You would have a point if I was saying they don't work which I never did. Italy won World Cups playing even a more defensive style than you lot. You know what it is though? I just feel that if you are a club with top finances, status and size, you should aim for a bit more and not settle for defensive winning football. Obviously, if the choice was between that and Wenger's brand of football over the past 10 years, I'd still pick Mourinho but I don't see why us fans should settle. It sucks the life out of football seeing him abandon any trace of flair or expression any time his teams play a top team from his time at Inter, Real or now. Every big game is the same story. Cower away, defensive organisation, let them play and we will destroy. Of course it works sometimes and it doesn't on others but for a lot of us, goodness me it's a bore! And yea yea you'll take it bla bla which is understandable as you're still in a position as a club to take whatever comes your way. A lot of other top clubs demand a bit more and rightfully IMO."Defensive" tactics that have us top of the league by 7 points with a game in hand. Also have scored the more goals than Arsenal, City, and Liverpool who supposedly play "beautiful, attacking" football. Highest goal difference too.
We'll take those "defensive" tactics I guess.
I don't think he will be manager for much longer.
To be fair to Rodgers Toure was pretty rubbish. Dont know why the other players are upset.
They might feel that he was being unfairly singled out and needed an arm around him rather than a bollocking.
Still good for a laugh.
Fair point. They have no choice but to play him Wed so it probably wasn't the best time to have a go.
They were afraid that he'd Toure him a new one.
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He's like the EssexRob of narrative. If he said something was a certain as the sun rising I'd go out and buy candles.
I'll be delighted if Rodgers gets sacked. He's so full of shit
It would be odd if they did sack him. I think he should have enough credit in the bank from last season to get one more season.
hope toure wasn't asking for more money and cl football
If they do sack him, who is going to replace him? There's no-one better out there at the moment. He's done well and they should stick with him.
They wanted Frank de Boer when they needed a replacement for king Kenny, but now having committed to Ajax I doubt he'll go there. Doubt they can convince Klopp if he wanted to leave Dortmund.
If they do sack him Rawk will talk of the Klopp and Simeone's but they'll end up with Pardew (who it has to be said isn't a bad manager and also fits their nob head profile)
Rafa Benitez
My money would be on that happening
If the 3rd KRAP campaign is doomed, we need to start a new campaign to Bring Rafa to Pool, BRAP!!!
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