Brentan Rodgers

[simonhch]

Rodgers has managed to carry with him this reputation of playing wonderful passing football, almost entirely off the back of two seasons at Swansea. That's not to say that playing a short, possession orientated passing game isn't his favoured system, it's just that the perception seems to be he created this from scratch at Swansea; and therefore he'll do the same at Liverpool. Fact of the matter is though, that Roberto Martinez is the one that got Swansea playing that way, and left behind him a wonderfully cohesive, pass and move team. Paolo Souza continued that tradition, the following season; before Rodgers took over and kept them playing the same way. He reaped the fruits of his predecessor's hard work. You can see that after he has gone, they have maintained the same modus operandi and brought in a manager with the same playing philosophy. Much credit has to go to the chairman. I am sure this has all been covered somewhere in this thread. I just couldn't be bothered to read it.

This is not to take anything away from the job Rodgers did at Swansea, because he was excellent. But it has to be put into proper context. It's good to see young british managers effectively deploying proper football. That said, it's hard to watch "being Liverpool" without drawing the conclusion that he is a complete clown.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Do you agree with Rodgers assessment of Alves being one of the best right-backs in the world Steve ?. Considering the fact that he's highly suspect on the odd occasion he's asked to do defensive duties, then I don't think there's a lot of difference between the 2 players.

Not a lot between Alves and Johnson?!?

Btw, what did people think of the Liverpool's formation against Chelsea? I thought the system with 3 CBs and two wing backs looked really poor for most of the game with the players looking a bit clueless how to make it work. q

 

[simonhch]

Not a lot between Alves and Johnson?!?

Btw, what did people think of the Liverpool's formation against Chelsea? I thought the system with 3 CBs and two wing backs looked really poor for most of the game with the players looking a bit clueless how to make it work. q

Yeah that's nuts. Alves might not be the very best defensively but he's in a different class to Glen fecking Johnson.

They looked all at see vs Chelsea and should've been on the end of a proper pasting. In the end they could've won it, which would've been a travesty, but that's what teams get if they are as profligate as Chelsea were. In the end, a draw was a perfect result for United. Doesn't help either team.

Very few teams pull off the 3-5-2 with any success. Barca occasionally. Juve, I think have been using it. Italy did somewhat at the Euros, until Spain gave them a good raping in the final. When I've seen United, City and Liverpool use it in recent seasons, it's only gone poorly. That said, it's worked wonders for wee Wigan.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Yeah that's nuts. Alves might not be the very best defensively but he's in a different class to Glen fecking Johnson.

They looked all at see vs Chelsea and should've been on the end of a proper pasting. In the end they could've won it, which would've been a travesty, but that's what teams get if they are as profligate as Chelsea were. In the end, a draw was a perfect result for United. Doesn't help either team.

Very few teams pull off the 3-5-2 with any success. Barca occasionally. Juve, I think have been using it. Italy did somewhat at the Euros, until Spain gave them a good raping in the final. When I've seen United, City and Liverpool use it in recent seasons, it's only gone poorly. That said, it's worked wonders for wee Wigan.

Yup. I just thought it was a complete mess, particularly in the first half. The back 5 (of sorts) seem to struggle to get the ball up the pitch.

 

[Sauxees Moi Hui]

Lacina Traore, I presume.

You had me confused for a minute as they also have Lassana Diarra.

Yes. Edited.

 

[Gio]

Do you agree with Rodgers assessment of Alves being one of the best right-backs in the world Steve ?. Considering the fact that he's highly suspect on the odd occasion he's asked to do defensive duties, then I don't think there's a lot of difference between the 2 players.

They might have the same style of play but so do Joe Allen and Xavi.

Big comments about Johnson from Brendan but he really is underrated on here and in general across the nation. Easily England's best RB yet you still get people calling for Walker/Richards every time he starts a game for the national side.

That's because for England he tends to get found out every time he faces up to a top-class winger.

 

[Bryan_Munich]

 

[Sunny Jim]

i would do the same thing !

 

[Burrow]

He has set his sight on a top 2-finish apparently

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20735575

Edit: Upon closer reading, he doesnt say that at all. Still, it wouldnt surprise me if he actually would aim for a top 2-finish.

 

[SteveJ]

Perhaps he was referring to the video posted above...

 

[Burrow]

Hah.

 

[kouroux]

Perhaps he was referring to the video posted above...

That's a terrible and misleading headline and we're talking about the fecking BBC.

 

[peterstorey]

Le BBC is as shite as everybody else these days, writing bollox headlines and standfirsts to draw the hits.

 

[Sassy Colin]

The mighty Scousepool!

The Reds entertain Aston Villa on Saturday looking for a third straight league win - something they have not achieved since the 2010-11 season.

 

[Sky1981]

It'll be a draw. trust me

 

[ghaliboy]

This moaning cnut will NOT shut up about the refs?

I've never seen this before, each week genuinley telling the world the refs are wrong. How is he getting away with it?

"We're fed up talking about it, really."

Well shuUuuT THE feck UP THEN YOU Ihni binni dimi diniwiny anitaime. For shits sake. Moaning cnut.

 

[Cold_Boy]

Nice strategy by him.

Even though he is not getting results, he is becoming a bigger and bigger hero amonsgt the pool fans.

 

[MUFCgal]

He was moaning at the weekend about how Liverpool should have had a penalty (when Clark pulled Agger's shirt). But if you saw the replay, you can clearly see that Agger also had a hold of Clark's shirt. So they were both going at it.

He's turned into a right moaner at Liverpool. It must be something in the water at that club.

 

[Antisocial]

Imagine the reaction of the RAWK-type Liverpool supporters (which I'm increasingly believing are the majority) if Rodgers were our manager and carried on like this - like if Suarez played for us, just imagine how much they'd go on about hating them

 

[Orton]

What a twat.

 

[acnumber9]

It's nice that he's finally being found out.

 

[Swaters16]

Lambert definitely has his number. A much more versatile manager than Brendan. Norwich nearly always did well against Swansea and now Villa tuned pool at the weekend.

Just wondering if Rodgers is maybe a bit too dogmatic & stuck in his ways. Once you know how to beat his set-up, he's not got much else. The better managers around have a plan b and c etc. & move with the times (Fergie).

That's what I like about Lambert, he's a horses for courses sort of adaptable manager. He does what will work and change what isn't working. I think in the long run he'll do well at Villa because he will try and get the best out of the players and not try and play a system the players can't handle.

 

[Bebe]

Lambert definitely has his number. A much more versatile manager than Brendan. Norwich nearly always did well against Swansea and now Villa tuned pool at the weekend.

Just wondering if Rodgers is maybe a bit too dogmatic & stuck in his ways. Once you know how to beat his set-up, he's not got much else. The better managers around have a plan b and c etc. & move with the times (Fergie).

To be honest I think he just needs time. Liverpool have shown enough for supporters to believe in Rodgers' vision. 4 months will simply never be enough time to judge him properly. That he is utterly hamstrung by Dalglish's signings doesn't help either. He's having to play teenagers for that reason. Next season will be the one to truly judge whether his methods have Liverpool moving in the right direction, after he (I'm assuming) gets a bit of money to spend in the summer.

In response to the second paragraph I'd say he doesn't have the players for plan bs and cs. Some do say that's his own fault as he let Andy Carroll go, but I disagree. Carroll would have been a constant distraction and adds very little to that team worth keeping around.

 

[Thisistheone]

To be honest I think he just needs time. Liverpool have shown enough for supporters to believe in Rodgers' vision. 4 months will simply never be enough time to judge him properly. That he is utterly hamstrung by Dalglish's signings doesn't help either. He's having to play teenagers for that reason. Next season will be the one to truly judge whether his methods have Liverpool moving in the right direction, after he (I'm assuming) gets a bit of money to spend in the summer.

In response to the second paragraph I'd say he doesn't have the players for plan bs and cs. Some do say that's his own fault as he let Andy Carroll go, but I disagree. Carroll would have been a constant distraction and adds very little to that team worth keeping around.

Well I do think he's a promising young manager. He did well at Swansea and has done some decent things already at Liverpool. But there's more impressive young managers out there. Paul Lambert has impressed me more. Rodgers walked into a fantastic set-up at Swansea. Superb foundations made by Huw Jenkins & Martinez. Lambert took Norwich from League 1 to the Prem without having that kind of base to work from.

And now this season Lambert walked into a club that had a weaker team, less money to spend and smaller wages. Yet he's showing more early on. He's showing he can find a player in the transfer market (Benteke), improve young players dramatically (Holman, Westwood, Weiman etc etc) and have a plan b or c. He doesn't have more options than Rodgers does at Liverpool yet still comes up with different ways of playing, depending on the opposition.

But like you say, it is still early days.

 

[Swaters16]

Well I do think he's a promising young manager. He did well at Swansea and has done some decent things already at Liverpool. But there's more impressive young managers out there. Paul Lambert has impressed me more. Rodgers walked into a fantastic set-up at Swansea. Superb foundations made by Huw Jenkins & Martinez. Lambert took Norwich from League 1 to the Prem without having that kind of base to work from.

And now this season Lambert walked into a club that had a weaker team, less money to spend and smaller wages. Yet he's showing more early on. He's showing he can find a player in the transfer market (Benteke), improve young players dramatically (Holman, Westwood, Weiman etc etc) and have a plan b or c. He doesn't have more options than Rodgers does at Liverpool yet still comes up with different ways of playing, depending on the opposition.

But like you say, it is still early days.

I wouldn't say Holman has improved honestly but I know what you mean. I agree as well that Lambert has a great eye for the transfer market, he knows lower leagues and more 'obscure' leagues really well and can find some decent players.

 

[McGrathsipan]

I dont rate him. He was not the best man available for the job.
Liverpool should have a better manager.

I think he is a midtable manager, and liverpool at the moment are no better than mid table, so its a perfect match.

The problem is that Liverpool fans are living in the 80s and expect to be challenging all the time, which is madness.

 

[Stick]

I dont rate him. He was not the best man available for the job.
Liverpool should have a better manager.

I think he is a midtable manager, and liverpool at the moment are no better than mid table, so its a perfect match.

The problem is that Liverpool fans are living in the 80s and expect to be challenging all the time, which is madness.

He seems grand to me. I think given a few years he will have Liverpool back to a top 4 finish. If we keep changing manager and not let them bed in then you will end up in a worse situation. Sure SAF was nearly turfed out of United only for the FA Cup win in the late 80s as folk thought he was a small time manager who couldn't replicate his success down south when the truth was he was trying to sort out a team which took it's orders from him.

Bit of a general statement at the end. I think many accept that rebuilding is required which is knocking title challenges on the head for a bit.

 

[McGrathsipan]

He seems grand to me. I think given a few years he will have Liverpool back to a top 4 finish. If we keep changing manager and not let them bed in then you will end up in a worse situation. Sure SAF was nearly turfed out of United only for the FA Cup win in the late 80s as folk thought he was a small time manager who couldn't replicate his success down south when the truth was he was trying to sort out a team which took it's orders from him.

Bit of a general statement at the end. I think many accept that rebuilding is required which is knocking title challenges on the head for a bit.

Agree about a manager need ing time, and excuse the general statement but thats my experience with Liverpool fans, the ones I know anyway.Most of my mates follow Liverpool and there is only one that believes in BR.
The thing with him is that he is not a big name manager, right, neither was fergie when he came in to United in the 80s but the game has moved on since then and there is alot more at stake. Its a billion pound industry and Liverpool have been left behind a bit.
Pep, Jose, Fergie, Hiddinjk etc are all big names and would be enough for a player to sign for the club just to play for ,if you get me.
Going to play for a Brendan Rodgers in Liverpool with probably no CL isnt going to appeal to players, not the big names anyway, and thats what Liverpool need to kick on.

 

[Jimy_Hills_Chin]

Sure SAF was nearly turfed out of United only for the FA Cup win in the late 80s as folk thought he was a small time manager who couldn't replicate his success down south when the truth was he was trying to sort out a team which took it's orders from him.

Yeah, errrr, SAF took freaking Aberdeen to a European cup final and beat Real Madrid, not to mention breaking the old firm.

What exactly has Rodgers done in his career to be comparable to SAF?

 

[Stick]

Agree about a manager need ing time, and excuse the general statement but thats my experience with Liverpool fans, the ones I know anyway.Most of my mates follow Liverpool and there is only one that believes in BR.
The thing with him is that he is not a big name manager, right, neither was fergie when he came in to United in the 80s but the game has moved on since then and there is alot more at stake. Its a billion pound industry and Liverpool have been left behind a bit.
Pep, Jose, Fergie, Hiddinjk etc are all big names and would be enough for a player to sign for the club just to play for ,if you get me.
Going to play for a Brendan Rodgers in Liverpool with probably no CL isnt going to appeal to players, not the big names anyway, and thats what Liverpool need to kick on.

I know where your coming from and to be honest the RAWK thread here supports the opinion that we are the best team on the planet which is just silly. I'm convinced most have to be kids on there.
I know you say that players will follow a name and money and that the game has moved on but I would prefer a big investment in youth and a few years of gradual progression which seems what Rodgers is in some ways forced into. I don't think we were in a financial position to bring in a big name as they would have wanted a big budget to maintain that name. For me investing in an up and coming manager who shows he can get the best out of a current batch while improving the current financial problems and while not attracting big names still improving quality is enough for now. If in 3 years time Rodgers has not significantly altered the squad to improve us and have us knocking on the door of 4th place then I would start to worry but for now let him find his feet.
You're right about Champions League football but how do you get there with limited resources? Moyes is probably closest to an answer to this but I hope Rodgers turns out to be as shrewd.

 

[Stick]

Yeah, errrr, SAF took freaking Aberdeen to a European cup final and beat Real Madrid, not to mention breaking the old firm.

What exactly has Rodgers done in his career to be comparable to SAF?

I do know what SAF achieved but truth is the majority of United fans wanted him out until he turned it around against Crystal Palace due to his slow start at united. Imagine if they had gotten their way?

I'm not measuring their successes at all but my point is no matter who the manager is, time is required. I compare them only from the point of view that both were relatively young managers to take charge at "sleeping giants," and I wonder if Rodgers will be given time as I think from the posts on RAWK that liverpool fans are not a patient bunch.

 

[Snake Plissken]

Anyone comparing Rodgers with SAF should be permabanned this minute.

 

[SteveJ]

Ah, I guess that's why Rodgers is always talking about 'a bad day at the office'...

 

[Cheesy]

While Fergie comparisons are nonsense, it would be equally nonsensical for Liverpool not to give him time at all. He showed us at Swansea that he's got talent as a manager, but at the moment Liverpool aren't doing too much worse than what their squad is capable of.

He needs time to build a team that suits his own style. He likes passers and patient players who value technique over physicality and have patience. When you see players like Gerrard often still playing, it's obvious that he needs a summer or two to build the sort of team that suits his own style.

Unless they really slip down, he should be given a couple of years there. Whether the fans will give him that or not is another matter. They would give Dalglish all the time in the world and some criticised the owners for getting rid of him after a year, even though he was arguably worse than Hodgson who they gave less time.

 

[The Neviller]

It makes me sick to my stomach that I started this fecking thread.

 

[ShadesOfTomato]

Our squad is threadbare so expectations are far lessened this season for me. The fact we have one fit striker, have scored about 5 goals from midfield all season and that an 18 year old is one of the first names on the team sheet means that I don't expect a top 4 challenge - even improving on last season's finish will be achievement enough. The thing that pisses me off with some fans is that they expect to be challenging at the top end of the table, no matter what. That's the kind of attitude which could get manager after manager sacked, and thankfully most of our fans aren't like that.

I'm fairly fond of Rodgers and whilst reservations do exist from some about his dogmatic ways, he has shown some good in game management and made tactical switches in some games which have given me faith. In any case, it's far too early to make a judgement as to whether he's the man for the job. For me, he needs time to implement his way of playing (which has shone through and impressed at times) and time to mould the squad into what he wants it to be (obviously backing from FSG will play a large part in this) before any proper judgement can be made over whether he can take us forward or not.

 

[kouroux]

Our squad is threadbare so expectations are far lessened this season for me. The fact we have one fit striker, have scored about 5 goals from midfield all season and that an 18 year old is one of the first names on the team sheet means that I don't expect a top 4 challenge - even improving on last season's finish will be achievement enough. The thing that pisses me off with some fans is that they expect to be challenging at the top end of the table, no matter what. That's the kind of attitude which could get manager after manager sacked, and thankfully most of our fans aren't like that.

I'm fairly fond of Rodgers and whilst reservations do exist from some about his dogmatic ways, he has shown some good in game management and made tactical switches in some games which have given me faith. In any case, it's far too early to make a judgement as to whether he's the man for the job. For me, he needs time to implement his way of playing (which has shone through and impressed at times) and time to mould the squad into what he wants it to be (obviously backing from FSG will play a large part in this) before any proper judgement can be made over whether he can take us forward or not.

I think each club has its set of own set of deluded fans.

 

[Marching]

Our squad is threadbare so expectations are far lessened this season for me. The fact we have one fit striker, have scored about 5 goals from midfield all season and that an 18 year old is one of the first names on the team sheet means that I don't expect a top 4 challenge - even improving on last season's finish will be achievement enough. The thing that pisses me off with some fans is that they expect to be challenging at the top end of the table, no matter what. That's the kind of attitude which could get manager after manager sacked, and thankfully most of our fans aren't like that.

I'm fairly fond of Rodgers and whilst reservations do exist from some about his dogmatic ways, he has shown some good in game management and made tactical switches in some games which have given me faith. In any case, it's far too early to make a judgement as to whether he's the man for the job. For me, he needs time to implement his way of playing (which has shone through and impressed at times) and time to mould the squad into what he wants it to be (obviously backing from FSG will play a large part in this) before any proper judgement can be made over whether he can take us forward or not.

Doesn't help when their own manager is deluded enough to think that too.

 

[ShadesOfTomato]

I think each club has its set of own set of deluded fans.

Some more so than others.

Doesn't help when their own manager is deluded enough to think that too.

I found that little more than an optimistic comment. He didn't actually say that we were targeting a top 2 finish.

He also said this recently:

http://www.thisisanfield.com/2012/11/rodgers-anything-above-eighth-would-be-fantastic/

 

[thegregster]

For me Rodgers just doesnt have enough experience to take on the job at Liverpool. Personally if I were the owners I would have gone for a manager with at least 10 years plus experience.

I just think taking on a big job too young can ruin a manager. That said Rodgers probably felt he had to take the opportunity when it came along. Given the love of continental managers he mightn't have got a chance like this again.