Liverpool FC Forum

[eds]

I agree with ethanr, this season was always going to be transitional and we were never going to be front running with clubs like City and Chelsea who were building from a position of strength.
Both of those clubs didn't have to sell their best player like we did and they didn't lose their main striker for half a season either.
Considering what we have had to cope with I think we have done well.

Hey Yakka,

You are one of the better posters in this forum. I actually like reading your posts.

I guess most of the people here, know of my opinon of Rodgers... I just want to know your opinon in this issue.

IMO, Rodgers has largely been hiding behind Sturridge's injury this season. That is his "get out of jail card". Once Sturridge is back...things will get better. Well Sturridge is back and now what happens ? .......

...... It looks like Lucas might be out. And with the tough matches coming up (with Spurs, Man City, Europa cup games...etc ), If we do drop points ... are we gonna use the excuse "oh....look, our best DM is injured. Lets wait for him to come back and things will pick up" ? How about, if Henderson gets suspended or injured once Lucas comes back ? Another round of excuses ?

I am not saying you are the one making these excuses. I just wanna know of your opinion in this issue.

It seems quite a lot of fans (along with rodgers) seem to blame everything else apart from his tactics/formations and player selections for sub-par performance this year. His 3-4-3 formation is alienating lots of players in his squd. Against teams which sit up...does it make sense to go with 3 CBs ?

Our performance in the last 6 or 7 matches have been good.....No questions about it. But we have played really bad teams in that run.  How do you think we will hold up against spurs, southampton and mancity ?

I know your post is directed to yakka. But I just don't get your post. Rodgers did turn it around when he changed to 3-4-3 and that is before Sturridge came back. So how is that hiding behind Sturridge's injury? And how is his 3-4-3 alienating alot of the players in his squad? The 3-4-3 is designed to make use of alot of our creative players. BR has stabilised the defense and at the same time made use of alot of our creative players such as Sterling, Markovic, Lallana, Coutinho and moreno with this formation. So now that Sturridge is back, he is suppose to spearhead this formation. With an out an out striker like Sturridge, this formation is suppose to have more goals. The question now is, which I have highlighted in when Sturridge return thread, who will give way for Sturridge?

Why did it take him almost 3 months to work out that the 4-5-1 wasn't working and then revert to a 3-4-3?
Up until that point the apologists where pathetically excusing him and blaming our results on not having Suarez and Sturridge in the side.
He then realises based on the players at his disposal that the 3-4-3 is the best system to go with, and plays a dedicated DM in our midfield in Lucas.
All of a sudden the lemming brigade jumps out of the woodwork like Danish Red, claiming a genius "master stroke" and that we are "back on track" 
Now with Lucas out, as RBG has pointedly highlighted we will truly see what he is made of, bet you he will persist with 3-4-3 for next few games, until he realises it won't work with a makeshift DM consisting of either Allen, Henderson or Gerrard.
I will give him every credit he deserves if he can win enough games b/w now and the end of the season to get us 4th but he is too tactically naive to get through the gauntlet of games we need to win in order to for this to be done.
As many have pointed out, he is clearly learning on the job and frankly for our club, it's unacceptable.
If you disagree, then go ahead and pin your hopes on blind faith.

[eds]

No one is making excuses for Allen, we all agree he, Borini, Johnson, Enrique and half a dozen others shouldn't be anywhere north of Watford Gap never mind at LFC.

Liverpool have underperformed over the past 20 years there's no doubt and our inability to have won the league even once is a mind numbing disaster. But, we are still not top 2 material depiste last year's one-off performance. The Chavs and Citeh are better and Man Urd are a decling super power. Southamption are having a cracking   one-off season like ours last year but logic says they don't have the resources to repeat it. Arsenal are also declining. LFC, Arsenal, Ure are in transition, LFC upward, the other 2 in decline. Unless they fall apart which is unlikely, the 3 clubs will be neck and neck at the end of the season. In our case if we get 3rd or 4th this season having largely rebuilt the team will be a cracking achievement. Ure have one more season to reverse the decline before they become second tier behind the top 3. Likewise Arsenal, with the Reds are climing from that 2nd tier into the first tier.

Some people may enjoy polishing turds, but at least when you're trying to polish your diamond you should be able spot the difference between and not think a diamond is turd simply because you're envious of his teeth.

I didn't say anyone was making excuses for Allen, the point I was making is that without Lucas in the side we look really out of shape as no one can play a dedicated DM role. This should have been addressed over the summer but instead we bought in Lallana and Markovic (who are both attacking players), another key criticism which the Rodgers evangelists on this forum can't explain. I fully agree that Allen alongside Borini, Johnson and a few more are not good enough. Disagree with Enrique, he isn't great but a better player than the few mentioned.

In regards to your comparisons of our rival clubs I agree the there is a significant gap b/w Chelsea and City and the rest. United are in trouble but still good enough to finish top 4 with the attack they possess. They have a lot of problems to address in their defense particularly. Arsenal really worry me as they were a laughing stock for a long time, since their early dominance in the first few years of the millenium. With the recent purchases of Ozil and Sanchez, they have signaled their intent and they are no longer trawling kindergartens across Europe like we are. They have always been defensively fragile, but if they were to get another world class DM like a Viera they will be consolidate themselves as a top, top side again. Tottenham need to build on the likes of Eriksen and Kane, and in my eyes are still a little off from being serious top 4 contenders. Pochettino is genuinely a manager that could go places and is flying under the radar at the moment. If he buys wisely there will be 6 teams competing for 4 spots for the next few years.  Southampton are a flash in the pan, I can't see them competing season in season out.

As for your over elaboration on turds, leave it alone mate, its disgusting really.

[ethanr]

I agree with ethanr, this season was always going to be transitional and we were never going to be front running with clubs like City and Chelsea who were building from a position of strength.
Both of those clubs didn't have to sell their best player like we did and they didn't lose their main striker for half a season either.
Considering what we have had to cope with I think we have done well.

Hey Yakka,

You are one of the better posters in this forum. I actually like reading your posts.

I just want to know your opinon in this issue. IMO, Rodgers has largely been hiding behind Sturridge's injury this season. That is his "get out of jail card". Once Sturridge is back...things will get better. That was what we were all thinking. Well now.... Sturridge is back. And then.............................

...... It looks like Lucas might be out. And with the tough matches coming up (with Spurs, Man City, Europa cup games...etc ), If we do drop points ... are we gonna use the excuse "oh....look, our best DM is injured. Lets wait for him to come back and things will pick up" ? How about, if Henderson gets suspended or injured once Lucas comes back ? Another round of excuses ?

I am not saying you are the one making these excuses. I just wanna know your opinion in this issue.

It seems quite a lot of fans (along with rodgers) seem to blame everything else apart from his tactics/formations and player selections for sub-par performance this year. His 3-4-3 formation is alienating lots of players in his squad. Against teams which sit back...does it make sense to go with 3 CBs ? Wasn't the idea all along was to pair up sturridge with either balotelli or lambert so that we have more strikers to put away the tons of chances created by sterling, hendo and specifically coutinho ?

Our performance in the last 6 or 7 matches have been good.....No questions about it. But we have played really bad teams in that run.  How do you think we will hold up against spurs, southampton and mancity ?

I'm not sure Rogers has really blamed Sturridge's injury on our poor start. I don't think he could get away with that, and I think a lot more people would've called him on it a lot earlier. I feel it's mainly been fans, pundits, the media, etc. who have blamed our poor start on the injury to Sturridge. A manager is always going to try to put it out there that he's positive about the future, and mentioning that having Sturridge back (and yes, at times saying we've been "unfortunate with some injuries") can give the fans and players something to look forward to. Knowing that we still aren't as good as we're going to get can help people stay optimistic.

And we will drop points in the coming weeks. If fans (whether supporters of Rogers or not) are making excuses that we're dropping points because of an injury to Lucas, or solely because Rogers isn't making the right decisions, then they just don't have realistic expectations. The truth is that we aren't the best team in the league, and we're supposed to drop points in these matches if we're being honest with our selves. Even the game against spurs that can usually be considered 50-50, they are playing really well right now and will be hard to beat.

[fivecups]

Some people may enjoy polishing turds, but at least when you're trying to polish your diamond you should be able spot the difference between and not think a diamond is turd simply because you're envious of his teeth.

What the F... are you saying Reg?

Haven't a clue, he's finally lost it!   

[fivecups]

5 wins and 2 draws in the last 7 PL games, top of the form table, and much closer to the top 4 than we've been in a while, and people are still bitching about Rogers' tactics and decisions.

Lucas was injured too early in the game. He probably didn't want to completely change the formation that soon into the game, so he brought in Allen as a like for like. There was no other option to do that. I like how many people have said bring on Lovren, and push Can up. The same people who have been talking about how poor Lovren has been this season.

Rogers is paid millions of pounds every year to make these decisions, and has done a damn good job of it. Believe it or not, he probably knows a little bit more about football than the majority of us. Everton were out to not lose that game, and when a half decent side only plays for a draw, it's not that difficult for them to get one. It's the Derby. Form, ability, favorites, everything goes out the window because it's a game played at such a high emotional level. The way a manager deals with that will completely affect the decisions he makes.

But what am I saying? Of course all of us who have the advantage of hindsight know so much more about managing a team than Rogers does...

Very sensible post.

[RED BEERGOGGLES]

I feel almost obliged given my comments of late regarding the manager ,to state Rodgers  got it spot on tonight....I was actually impressed tonight.

[The_Rock]

Have to give Rodgers props.... Picking markovic upfront in a 3 alongside sturridge and coutinho was a good move.

But why did he go with gerrard and hendo midfield combo ? Sakho has looked out of sorts ever since Gerrard is back at the DM role. If he keeps picking gerrard in that role....expect Skrtel to follow suite soon.

[glenbuck patriot]

Sack this Clown in the Summer, Get Rafa Back, Proven Manager, Simple as IMHO!

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

I wouldn't swap Brendan for any manager, not even Rafa.

[woof woof !]

I haven't been happy with him but did say I'd wait until the end of the season before calling for him to be marched to the Guillotine     

Truth be told he has, albeit slowly, turned things around . If we somehow make a top four finish I'll have to admit he's done a great job .

Lower than fourth and I'll still have questions about his stewardship.

[maguskwt]

I wouldn't swap Brendan for any manager, not even Rafa.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that. But I feel that if we are trying to win the league, Brendan is more suited than Rafa. Rafa is still one of my favourite recent Liverpool managers. He brought in phenomenal players like Alonso, masherano, Torres and Reina. And his tactical acumen in Europe to me is peerless. However, in the end I accepted that Rafa didn't know how to win this league... He tinkered too much for the league games. The league is supposed to be won by sticking to your best system and strategy and be consistent with it. Let the lesser teams worry about you. You can strategise and outfox the stronger teams like man city, Chelsea, Arsenal and man u. But against all other teams, let them worry about you. Rafa struggled against the lesser teams whereas BR can consistently beat the lesser teams. So I think BR has a better chance of winning the league than Rafa IMHO.

You would have the perfect manager if you combine both managers' good qualities...

[Boocity]

I wouldn't swap Brendan for any manager, not even Rafa.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that. But I feel that if we are trying to win the league, Brendan is more suited than Rafa. Rafa is still one of my favourite recent Liverpool managers. He brought in phenomenal players like Alonso, masherano, Torres and Reina. And his tactical acumen in Europe to me is peerless. However, in the end I accepted that Rafa didn't know how to win this league... He tinkered too much for the league games. The league is supposed to be won by sticking to your best system and strategy and be consistent with it. Let the lesser teams worry about you. You can strategise and outfox the stronger teams like man city, Chelsea, Arsenal and man u. But against all other teams, let them worry about you. Rafa struggled against the lesser teams whereas BR can consistently beat the lesser teams. So I think BR has a better chance of winning the league than Rafa IMHO.

You would have the perfect manager if you combine both managers' good qualities...

I agree, I wouldn't want Rafael back, he should have won us the league but as you say he blew it against the lesser teams with his constant tinkering

[only me]

I haven't been happy with him but did say I'd wait until the end of the season before calling for him to be marched to the Guillotine     

Truth be told he has, albeit slowly, turned things around . If we somehow make a top four finish I'll have to admit he's done a great job .

Lower than fourth and I'll still have questions about his stewardship.

I'm afraid I agree 100% 
Only the bottom line will decide his fate,i went from total support to being pretty disgusted from the way he built the the team this season, his lack of vision ,stubbornes and politics on the expense of the team but....he did turn things around so yes we wait and see what the future brings us.

[RED BEERGOGGLES]

I agree, I wouldn't want Rafael back, he should have won us the league but as you say he blew it against the lesser teams with his constant tinkering

Rafa will probably never manage the reds again ,but seriously ,as regards having him back 'in a f*cking heart beat' ,the man is an absolute legend and a winner to boot.

[bunglemark2]

Rafa. Kwaliteeee...