Liverpool FC Forum

[RedAnt]

For perspectives sake, at the beginning of the season we had a lot of money to spend from the sale of Suarez to help us build on last season. I doubt very much that the board will put last season to luck or fate or anything else. Henry and co are business men and will expect progress, especially with the money invested into the squad.
At the beginning of the season we were in the league cup, the FA cup, the CL, and of course the league. I don't know what the boards expectations were at the start, but I'd imagine a top four finish, a good FA cup run and to make a mark in the CL would be reasonable targets, along with more building to improve again next season. That's speculation of course, but those goals should be more than acceptable to a manager of BR's apparent level.
There's a few games to go but we are struggling to reach these targets. So to all those who call us doubters "pathetic" I'd like to know... With a reputation like LFC have, and a war chest like ours, along with the "excellent" Brendan Rodgers at the helm, why are we making such hard work of it?
Seems to me that if we do claw our way into the top four a lot of people will say "well done BR" when he's made real hard work of it.
Maybe I'm just being naive...

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

For perspectives sake, at the beginning of the season we had a lot of money to spend from the sale of Suarez to help us build on last season. I doubt very much that the board will put last season to luck or fate or anything else. Henry and co are business men and will expect progress, especially with the money invested into the squad.
At the beginning of the season we were in the league cup, the FA cup, the CL, and of course the league. I don't know what the boards expectations were at the start, but I'd imagine a top four finish, a good FA cup run and to make a mark in the CL would be reasonable targets, along with more building to improve again next season. That's speculation of course, but those goals should be more than acceptable to a manager of BR's apparent level.
There's a few games to go but we are struggling to reach these targets. So to all those who call us doubters "pathetic" I'd like to know... With a reputation like LFC have, and a war chest like ours, along with the "excellent" Brendan Rodgers at the helm, why are we making such hard work of it?
Seems to me that if we do claw our way into the top four a lot of people will say "well done BR" when he's made real hard work of it.
Maybe I'm just being naive...

I wouldn't say naive, more unrealistic.
Unless you have been asleep for the last 2 decades you couldn't fail to notice that money rules the roost in football these days, that's why no mark clubs like Chelsea and City who have spent most of their history yo-yo-ing between divisions now find themselves as powerhouses of European football.
That's also why the oldest and greatest of cup competitions which used to bring the entire country to a halt 30 years ago is now reduced to a side show.
Money calls the shots and unfortunately for us there are at least 4 clubs in this division who have far more of the stuff than us.
Factors which meant a lot in the old days like fan base, history and tradition don't add up to a hill of beans these days, look at PSG, formed in 1970, now a european force full of star names. Look at Monaco, Tranmere probably get bigger crowds than them yet they had the likes of Falcao and Victor Valdez in their team last season.
These 4 teams in this country that have more money than us are packed with star names like Hazard, Sanchez, Fabregas, Falcao, Costa, DiMaria, Toure, Silva, Aguero etc etc and are managed by top managers like Mourinho, Van Gaal and Wenger, for us to finish above just one of those teams we would have to seriously punch above our weight.
Now over the last 2 seasons Rodgers has had us slugging it out toe to toe with those clubs, we've beaten them in some games they have beaten us in some games and that is the way it is going to be unless we too suddenly have the ability to go out and buy the best players on the planet.
We are not going to put clear daylight between us and those other clubs on a shoestring budget in an era when money is not just King its God.
FSG can have all the reviews they want, they can change managers, bring in DoF's or whatever but the bottom line is that at the moment Liverpool managers are at a disadvantage compared to their rivals, the deck is not stacked in their favour, the other managers hold all the cards.
People can blame Rodgers but they are missing the bigger point.

[RedAnt]

Good post Yakka, thanks.

To pick out one part though, we've always gone toe to toe with the best. The Kop, our tradition, history, passion, philosophy all rolls into a powerful weapon. It's not purely down to tactics, players and managers. We've always been capable of beating anyone on our day, regardless of manager. It's not fair to claim Rodgers makes us competitive on limited resources. We're usually competitive. Rodgers is there to make us winners.

[andy c legs]

For perspectives sake, at the beginning of the season we had a lot of money to spend from the sale of Suarez to help us build on last season. I doubt very much that the board will put last season to luck or fate or anything else. Henry and co are business men and will expect progress, especially with the money invested into the squad.
At the beginning of the season we were in the league cup, the FA cup, the CL, and of course the league. I don't know what the boards expectations were at the start, but I'd imagine a top four finish, a good FA cup run and to make a mark in the CL would be reasonable targets, along with more building to improve again next season. That's speculation of course, but those goals should be more than acceptable to a manager of BR's apparent level.
There's a few games to go but we are struggling to reach these targets. So to all those who call us doubters "pathetic" I'd like to know... With a reputation like LFC have, and a war chest like ours, along with the "excellent" Brendan Rodgers at the helm, why are we making such hard work of it?
Seems to me that if we do claw our way into the top four a lot of people will say "well done BR" when he's made real hard work of it.
Maybe I'm just being naive...

I agree with you 'RedAnt' that we had a lot of money to spend in the summer BUT and it's a big BUT, we NEVER got a proper World Class 30 goal a season striker in to properly replace Luis with. That to me was the bottom line. Who ever fault it was. Then we got cruicified for the 1st half of the season because Sturridge was out and that was another 15-20 goals gone. It took BR a while to finally sort the team out and integrate all the new players and let's be fair, he's done a great job since Crimbo,  though if as we all know, having watched our recent performances prior to the United game, we were being found out and also our attitude was not right from the start of Blackburn and Swansea games. Brendan should have addressed that.

Taking a step back or two to look at the bigger picture, it was just a shame Brendan could not have implemented the system sooner and tweaked it here and there for certain games, like yesterday to maybe put Sterling and Sturridge up front, with Coutinho behind them and three solid midfielders behind them and then 4 in defence - just for that game.

Again, as I said this before, all managers make mistakes - I just hope that Brendan has been able and will learn from his, to our long term benefit. I dont dislike Brendan and I don't love him. I just LOVE Liverpool..

It was always going to be an up-hill struggle to get anywhere near CL qualification and the boys have done well - they just MUST NOT let their heads drop now and try to go on another run, especially so as we are still in the FA Cup.    

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

For perspectives sake, at the beginning of the season we had a lot of money to spend from the sale of Suarez to help us build on last season. I doubt very much that the board will put l ast season to luck or fate or anything else. Henry and co are business men and will expect progress, especially with the money invested into the squad.
At the beginning of the season we were in the league cup, the FA cup, the CL, and of course the league. I don't know what the boards expectations were at the start, but I'd imagine a top four finish, a good FA cup run and to make a mark in the CL would be reasonable targets, along with more building to improve again next season. That's speculation of course, but those goals should be more than acceptable to a manager of BR's apparent level.
There's a few games to go but we are struggling to reach these targets. So to all those who call us doubters "pathetic" I'd like to know... With a reputation like LFC have, and a war chest like ours, along with the "excellent" Brendan Rodgers at the helm, why are we making such hard work of it?
Seems to me that if we do claw our way into the top four a lot of people will say "well done BR" when he's made real hard work of it.
Maybe I'm just being naive...

I agree with you 'RedAnt' that we had a lot of money to spend in the summer BUT and it's a big BUT, we NEVER got a proper World Class 30 goal a season striker in to properly replace Luis with. That to me was the bottom line. Who ever fault it was. Then we got cruicified for the 1st half of the season because Sturridge was out and that was another 15-20 goals gone. It took BR a while to finally sort the team out and integrate all the new players and let's be fair, he's done a great job since Crimbo,  though if as we all know, having watched our recent performances prior to the United game, we were being found out and also our attitude was not right from the start of Blackburn and Swansea games. Brendan should have addressed that.

Taking a step back or two to look at the bigger picture, it was just a shame Brendan could not have implemented the system sooner and tweaked it here and there for certain games, like yesterday to maybe put Sterling and Sturridge up front, with Coutinho behind them and three solid midfielders behind them and then 4 in defence - just for that game.

Again, as I said this before, all managers make mistakes - I just hope that Brendan has been able and will learn from his, to our long term benefit. I dont dislike Brendan and I don't love him. I just LOVE Liverpool..

It was always going to be an up-hill struggle to get anywhere near CL qualification and the boys have done well - they just MUST NOT let their heads drop now and try to go on another run, especially so as we are still in the FA Cup.    ???

We had money to spend but unlike our rivals we had to sell our best player to raise it, the likes of City, Chelsea, United and Arsenal didn't have to sell anyone in order to have a war chest, they were building from a position of strength where as the moment Suarez put pen to paper at the Nou Camp we took a massive step backwards.

[Boocity]

For perspectives sake, at the beginning of the season we had a lot of money to spend from the sale of Suarez to help us build on last season. I doubt very much that the board will put last season to luck or fate or anything else. Henry and co are business men and will expect progress, especially with the money invested into the squad.
At the beginning of the season we were in the league cup, the FA cup, the CL, and of course the league. I don't know what the boards expectations were at the start, but I'd imagine a top four finish, a good FA cup run and to make a mark in the CL would be reasonable targets, along with more building to improve again next season. That's speculation of course, but those goals should be more than acceptable to a manager of BR's apparent level.
There's a few games to go but we are struggling to reach these targets. So to all those who call us doubters "pathetic" I'd like to know... With a reputation like LFC have, and a war chest like ours, along with the "excellent" Brendan Rodgers at the helm, why are we making such hard work of it?
Seems to me that if we do claw our way into the top four a lot of people will say "well done BR" when he's made real hard work of it.
Maybe I'm just being naive...

I wouldn't say naive, more unrealistic.
Unless you have been asleep for the last 2 decades you couldn't fail to notice that money rules the roost in football these days, that's why no mark clubs like Chelsea and City who have spent most of their history yo-yo-ing between divisions now find themselves as powerhouses of European football.
That's also why the oldest and greatest of cup competitions which used to bring the entire country to a halt 30 years ago is now reduced to a side show.
Money calls the shots and unfortunately for us there are at least 4 clubs in this division who have far more of the stuff than us.
Factors which meant a lot in the old days like fan base, history and tradition don't add up to a hill of beans these days, look at PSG, formed in 1970, now a european force full of star names. Look at Monaco, Tranmere probably get bigger crowds than them yet they had the likes of Falcao and Victor Valdez in their team last season.
These 4 teams in this country that have more money than us are packed with star names like Hazard, Sanchez, Fabregas, Falcao, Costa, DiMaria, Toure, Silva, Aguero etc etc and are managed by top managers like Mourinho, Van Gaal and Wenger, for us to finish above just one of those teams we would have to seriously punch above our weight.
Now over the last 2 seasons Rodgers has had us slugging it out toe to toe with those clubs, we've beaten them in some games they have beaten us in some games and that is the way it is going to be unless we too suddenly have the ability to go out and buy the best players on the planet.
We are not going to put clear daylight between us and those other clubs on a shoestring budget in an era when money is not just King its God.
FSG can have all the reviews they want, they can change managers, bring in DoF's or whatever but the bottom line is that at the moment Liverpool managers are at a disadvantage compared to their rivals, the deck is not stacked in their favour, the other managers hold all the cards.
People can blame Rodgers but they are missing the bigger point.

Good post Yakka, while I agree with what you have written I believe we could and should have been going toe to toe with these clubs without a moneybags owner but for poor running of the club in the nineties and beyond. When utd were investing in the stadium and commercial activities we were pretty much standing still under Moores and Parry, if we had owners with similar vision in those days we wouldn't be in the position we have been over the past 6 or 7 years or so and we wouldn't have had the H&G debacle. Poor club management has us in this position.

[Boocity]

For perspectives sake, at the beginning of the season we had a lot of money to spend from the sale of Suarez to help us build on last season. I doubt very much that the board will put last season to luck or fate or anything else. Henry and co are business men and will expect progress, especially with the money invested into the squad.
At the beginning of the season we were in the league cup, the FA cup, the CL, and of course the league. I don't know what the boards expectations were at the start, but I'd imagine a top four finish, a good FA cup run and to make a mark in the CL would be reasonable targets, along with more building to improve again next season. That's speculation of course, but those goals should be more than acceptable to a manager of BR's apparent level.
There's a few games to go but we are struggling to reach these targets. So to all those who call us doubters "pathetic" I'd like to know... With a reputation like LFC have, and a war chest like ours, along with the "excellent" Brendan Rodgers at the helm, why are we making such hard work of it?
Seems to me that if we do claw our way into the top four a lot of people will say "well done BR" when he's made real hard work of it.
Maybe I'm just being naive...

I wouldn't say naive, more unrealistic.
Unless you have been asleep for the last 2 decades you couldn't fail to notice that money rules the roost in football these days, that's why no mark clubs like Chelsea and City who have spent most of their history yo-yo-ing between divisions now find themselves as powerhouses of European football.
That's also why the oldest and greatest of cup competitions which used to bring the entire country to a halt 30 years ago is now reduced to a side show.
Money calls the shots and unfortunately for us there are at least 4 clubs in this division who have far more of the stuff than us.
Factors which meant a lot in the old days like fan base, history and tradition don't add up to a hill of beans these days, look at PSG, formed in 1970, now a european force full of star names. Look at Monaco, Tranmere probably get bigger crowds than them yet they had the likes of Falcao and Victor Valdez in their team last season.
These 4 teams in this country that have more money than us are packed with star names like Hazard, Sanchez, Fabregas, Falcao, Costa, DiMaria, Toure, Silva, Aguero etc etc and are managed by top managers like Mourinho, Van Gaal and Wenger, for us to finish above just one of those teams we would have to seriously punch above our weight.
Now over the last 2 seasons Rodgers has had us slugging it out toe to toe with those clubs, we've beaten them in some games they have beaten us in some games and that is the way it is going to be unless we too suddenly have the ability to go out and buy the best players on the planet.
We are not going to put clear daylight between us and those other clubs on a shoestring budget in an era when money is not just King its God.
FSG can have all the reviews they want, they can change managers, bring in DoF's or whatever but the bottom line is that at the moment Liverpool managers are at a disadvantage compared to their rivals, the deck is not stacked in their favour, the other managers hold all the cards.
People can blame Rodgers but they are missing the bigger point.

Good post Yakka, while I agree with what you have written I believe we could and should have been going toe to toe with these clubs without a moneybags owner but for poor running of the club in the nineties and beyond. When utd were investing in the stadium and commercial activities we were pretty much standing still under Moores and Parry, if we had owners with similar vision in those days we wouldn't be in the position we have been over the past 6 or 7 years or so and we wouldn't have had the H&G debacle. Poor club management has us in this position.

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

Boocity I agree 100% mate, there wasn't a ciggy paper between us and United in terms of size, wealth and prestige back in the late 80's/early 90's but we were incredibly slow to embrace the changes in the game.
Fair dues to United, in the mid to late 80's they were actually against the formation of the premier league because they felt it would make the successful clubs of the era like us and Everton too powerful but they lost the argument. That is one argument I bet they are glad they lost now.

[Boocity]

Boocity I agree 100% mate, there wasn't a ciggy paper between us and United in terms of size, wealth and prestige back in the late 80's/early 90's but we were incredibly slow to embrace the changes in the game.
Fair dues to United, in the mid to late 80's they were actually against the formation of the premier league because they felt it would make the successful clubs of the era like us and Everton too powerful but they lost the argument. That is one argument I bet they are glad they lost now.

Yes and now we have very commercial savvy owners, I wouldn't be surprised if the amount of money we receive on many of these deals will depend on whether we are in the CL or not. After such an appalling result against Utd, the game against Arsenal becomes a must win if we are to make top 4. However lets not kid ourselves if we run out of steam and don't make it, we have had a great run since the new year but the damage was done earlier in the season. The remainer of the season could be career defining for BR as we have no idea how FSG will react if we don't get into the CL, the pressure to remove him may come from these commercial interests.

[maguskwt]

Finally some good debate on the forum without name calling. Credit to RedAnt, yakka, Andy c and boo city.

[RedAnt]

Finally some good debate on the forum without name calling. Credit to RedAnt, yakka, Andy c and boo city.

Thankies. You too.

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

Boocity I agree 100% mate, there wasn't a ciggy paper between us and United in terms of size, wealth and prestige back in the late 80's/early 90's but we were incredibly slow to embrace the changes in the game.
Fair dues to United, in the mid to late 80's they were actually against the formation of the premier league because they felt it would make the successful clubs of the era like us and Everton too powerful but they lost the argument. That is one argument I bet they are glad they lost now.

Yes and now we have very commercial savvy owners, I wouldn't be surprised if the amount of money we receive on many of these deals will depend on whether we are in the CL or not. After such an appalling result against Utd, the game against Arsenal becomes a must win if we are to make top 4. However lets not kid ourselves if we run out of steam and don't make it, we have had a great run since the new year but the damage was done earlier in the season. The remainer of the season could be career defining for BR as we have no idea how FSG will react if we don't get into the CL, the pressure to remove him may come from these commercial interests.

Yeah we have been on an incredible run, last Sunday's defeat was our first in the league this calendar year and when you consider we are a week away from April that's some going. As you say though our terrible start sunk us, we gave clubs like United a 10+ point start and that takes some clawing back.

[jacdaniel]

It is almost 3 years since Brendan Rodgers became our manager and i must say that overall I am quite impressed with the progress we've made. 
I remember clearly the empty feeling I had when Roy was manager and we were slumping from 1 defeat to the next with only 1 shot on target in full games. I remember the highs we had when Kenny was in charge but knowing deep down that maybe the job was a bit too much for him in the long term.  Since Rodgers took over though, we've been at least challenging again against the top clubs and our football has been a joy to watch at times.  I genuinely believe that this style of football is going to win us the league IF we can get the right personnel to execute it. 

And this is my one main gripe with the club at the moment.

Rodgers is constantly having to alter our style to accommodate certain players and get results. 
People hail the switch to 3-4-3 and it does currently suit us, but we need to try to understand why it suits us and what it means going forward. 
The switch came about for several reasons. 

The first and most obvious reason starts at the very back with Mignolet.  He just can't play with the ball at his feet.  He needs to be accomodated in the team. 
Last year we were able to play Gerrard a bit deeper but teams figured it out and pressed up on Gerrard. 
With Mignolet forced to use the ball more, his confidence was destroyed.   
Basically, Mignolet can't do what a Brendan Rodgers system requires him to do. 

Second we have Skrtel.  He is a very good defender at sitting deep but a Rodgers system demands an aggressive defensive and Skrtel is not suited to that role.
Basically, Skrtel can't do what a Rodgers defence requires him to do. 

Third we have the fullbacks.  Rodgers wants them to be very fit and be able to get forward and back as required. 
Of all our fullbacks. I would suggest that only Moreno is possibly capable of this.   
Basically, not all of our fullbacks are capable of doing what is required of them. 

Finally, the strikers need to have great movement and be hard working.  Lambert and Balotelli do not possess those traits. 


The 3-4-3 is basically a workaround that attempts to negate our own weaknesses. 
It takes the pressure off Mignolet as with 3 defenders he always has an easy out ball.
It allows Skrtel to play as sweeper and perform the no nonsense defensive role that he enjoys. 
It allows us to get some pace in the wingback positions.  (Markovic, Ibe, Sterling, Moreno) 
And it allowed us to use Sterling / Borini to create a bit of movement up front. 

Don't get me wrong, its fantastic that Rodgers found a formula to somewhat save our season.  Hopefully we go on to finish top 4 and win the cup. 
But it is a workaround that was implemented to fix self inflicted problems. 
We need to seriously ask why we have a Goalkeeper, Centre halves, Fullbacks and Strikers that don't fit what we were looking to do. 

Are we signing players to fit a desired system or are we signing players based on stats / metrics? 
I don't honestly know the answer to that question.  Some of our signings have been good but some just don't seem suited to our club and its forced us again to sacrifice how we want to play to finding a way to just get results.

[RedAnt]

It is almost 3 years since Brendan Rodgers became our manager and i must say that overall I am quite impressed with the progress we've made. 
I remember clearly the empty feeling I had when Roy was manager and we were slumping from 1 defeat to the next with only 1 shot on target in full games. I remember the highs we had when Kenny was in charge but knowing deep down that maybe the job was a bit too much for him in the long term.  Since Rodgers took over though, we've been at least challenging again against the top clubs and our football has been a joy to watch at times.  I genuinely believe that this style of football is going to win us the league IF we can get the right personnel to execute it. 

And this is my one main gripe with the club at the moment.

Rodgers is constantly having to alter our style to accommodate certain players and get results. 
People hail the switch to 3-4-3 and it does currently suit us, but we need to try to understand why it suits us and what it means going forward. 
The switch came about for several reasons. 

The first and most obvious reason starts at the very back with Mignolet.  He just can't play with the ball at his feet.  He needs to be accomodated in the team. 
Last year we were able to play Gerrard a bit deeper but teams figured it out and pressed up on Gerrard. 
With Mignolet forced to use the ball more, his confidence was destroyed.   
Basically, Mignolet can't do what a Brendan Rodgers system requires him to do. 

Second we have Skrtel.  He is a very good defender at sitting deep but a Rodgers system demands an aggressive defensive and Skrtel is not suited to that role.
Basically, Skrtel can't do what a Rodgers defence requires him to do. 

Third we have the fullbacks.  Rodgers wants them to be very fit and be able to get forward and back as required. 
Of all our fullbacks. I would suggest that only Moreno is possibly capable of this.   
Basically, not all of our fullbacks are capable of doing what is required of them. 

Finally, the strikers need to have great movement and be hard working.  Lambert and Balotelli do not possess those traits. 


The 3-4-3 is basically a workaround that attempts to negate our own weaknesses. 
It takes the pressure off Mignolet as with 3 defenders he always has an easy out ball.
It allows Skrtel to play as sweeper and perform the no nonsense defensive role that he enjoys. 
It allows us to get some pace in the wingback positions.  (Markovic, Ibe, Sterling, Moreno) 
And it allowed us to use Sterling / Borini to create a bit of movement up front. 

Don't get me wrong, its fantastic that Rodgers found a formula to somewhat save our season.  Hopefully we go on to finish top 4 and win the cup. 
But it is a workaround that was implemented to fix self inflicted problems. 
We need to seriously ask why we have a Goalkeeper, Centre halves, Fullbacks and Strikers that don't fit what we were looking to do. 

Are we signing players to fit a desired system or are we signing players based on stats / metrics? 
I don't honestly know the answer to that question.  Some of our signings have been good but some just don't seem suited to our club and its forced us again to sacrifice how we want to play to finding a way to just get results.

A fresh perspective. Good post.

The part about Mignolet is very true. I think we all know that even with his vastly improved performances and confidence, he's just not the man for the job.

I'm a big fan of Skrtel as a defender, but he's more suited to more conventional tactics and formations.

As for full backs and wing backs I think that's a definite weakness for us. I like Moreno. Johnson is very bog-standard. Flanno is a good full back, but won't ever be a great wing back. And out attacking wide men aren't good enough defensively.

It really is a huge job and we can only hope BR learns at the pace required to catch us up. I think it's too big for him.

[eds]

For perspectives sake, at the beginning of the season we had a lot of money to spend from the sale of Suarez to help us build on last season. I doubt very much that the board will put last season to luck or fate or anything else. Henry and co are business men and will expect progress, especially with the money invested into the squad.
At the beginning of the season we were in the league cup, the FA cup, the CL, and of course the league. I don't know what the boards expectations were at the start, but I'd imagine a top four finish, a good FA cup run and to make a mark in the CL would be reasonable targets, along with more building to improve again next season. That's speculation of course, but those goals should be more than acceptable to a manager of BR's apparent level.
There's a few games to go but we are struggling to reach these targets. So to all those who call us doubters "pathetic" I'd like to know... With a reputation like LFC have, and a war chest like ours, along with the "excellent" Brendan Rodgers at the helm, why are we making such hard work of it?
Seems to me that if we do claw our way into the top four a lot of people will say "well done BR" when he's made real hard work of it.
Maybe I'm just being naive...

I wouldn't say naive, more unrealistic.
Unless you have been asleep for the last 2 decades you couldn't fail to notice that money rules the roost in football these days, that's why no mark clubs like Chelsea and City who have spent most of their history yo-yo-ing between divisions now find themselves as powerhouses of European football.
That's also why the oldest and greatest of cup competitions which used to bring the entire country to a halt 30 years ago is now reduced to a side show.
Money calls the shots and unfortunately for us there are at least 4 clubs in this division who have far more of the stuff than us.
Factors which meant a lot in the old days like fan base, history and tradition don't add up to a hill of beans these days, look at PSG, formed in 1970, now a european force full of star names. Look at Monaco, Tranmere probably get bigger crowds than them yet they had the likes of Falcao and Victor Valdez in their team last season.
These 4 teams in this country that have more money than us are packed with star names like Hazard, Sanchez, Fabregas, Falcao, Costa, DiMaria, Toure, Silva, Aguero etc etc and are managed by top managers like Mourinho, Van Gaal and Wenger, for us to finish above just one of those teams we would have to seriously punch above our weight.
Now over the last 2 seasons Rodgers has had us slugging it out toe to toe with those clubs, we've beaten them in some games they have beaten us in some games and that is the way it is going to be unless we too suddenly have the ability to go out and buy the best players on the planet.
We are not going to put clear daylight between us and those other clubs on a shoestring budget in an era when money is not just King its God.
FSG can have all the reviews they want, they can change managers, bring in DoF's or whatever but the bottom line is that at the moment Liverpool managers are at a disadvantage compared to their rivals, the deck is not stacked in their favour, the other managers hold all the cards.
People can blame Rodgers but they are missing the bigger point.

You think that getting us a top 4 finish, a good FA cup run and decent showing in the CL was unrealistic? With all that money Rodgers had to spend last transfer? 

You can argue all day long that money runs football now, you will have no disagreement from me but to let Rodgers completely off the hook is another thing. You conveniently ONLY mention City and Chelsea but when you look at Arsenal and United's squads last season, we arguably had a better starting XI then both of them. What they did was further strengthen their best XI and what we did was exactly the opposite. From this point all I have heard is excuses on why we can't bring in quality players like; "we have an inexperienced manager", "we aren't a London side", "we aren't in the CL regularly" in order to hide or justify incompetence at all levels at this club. Players like Moreno, Markovic, Can, Manquillo, etc where all youngsters that weren't really going to hit their straps for another few seasons, so how we had any chance of attaining 4th or above THIS season was well beyond anyone's understanding. 

With all your other points Yakka I completly agree, as far as any of us fans are concerned this club was not forced to sell Suarez, no one held a gun to FSG or Ayre's head. When we sold him to Barcelona the yanks essentially sounded off exactly where their ambition lies and that wasn't going to be winning anything soon. It's all about making money and setting themselves up to make even MORE money when they sell us off in a few years' time. They aren't real fans and to think that they are like us is just plain stupid. Half of what they do is just spin PR for the mindless masses, that this club is "moving forward", "we have the right structures in place" and that "we have the best young players and coach for the future" unfortunately the gulliable all too easily fall for this.

Garbage like club reviews, wanting to bring in a new DoF or wanting to change managers is just another load of bs on their behalf to cleverly cover themselves on how s**t they are currently running this club from an ON FIELD performance point of view. Which BTW is the reason why we support this club and not some P&L summary sitting on some accountant's computer which for some reason has become the basis of success these days You have the deluded on here that will continue to defend the owners...........for now but mark my words over the next season or two when we keep going no where with this buying "talented young players" or "statistical anomalies" nonsense things will slowly turn, just like they did with Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dum. It will slowly dawn on the apologist brigade that they were sold a f**king pipe dream.