This article really articulates why i don't think we will ever have a successful season under rodgers (unless we have a suarez level striker with sturridge fit the whole season).
http://www.espnfcasia.com/#club/liverpo ... -liverpool1)Teams who play with conservative fullbacks have to deploy a dedicated DM to protect the defence (Almost all the teams which plays counter-attacking football).
2)Teams who play with attacking fullbacks have to deploy 2 DMs to protect the defence (Juventus...etc)
Then you have the master tactician rodgers. Our fullbacks are even higher up the pitch than our strikers quite a number of times last season and he only had gerrard protecting the defence at times.
For this upcoming season, Lucas should be sufficient if are more conservative. Lucas & Allen/Can are needed if the fullbacks are "all gunho"...
But i get the feeling the hendo and milner will be doing this job....and they might do an average job (they are better with a dedicated DM behind them). It won't be enough to stop us from conceding over 40 goals though.......
The full article
There are various weak spots across the top Premier League sides, but when it comes to Liverpool many believe there is one area that requires more attention than most. Central defence has yet to get an upgrade amid all the summer spending, and the future of Dejan Lovren is certainly up for debate.
The might of the Malaysian All Stars XI ghosted past him like he wasn't there Friday, and in a drab and tired-looking 1-1 draw against the Asian minnows, Lovren continued to look fragile.
It was the kind of performance that made supporters wince, cross their fingers, and pray before the upcoming rematch against Stoke City in the opening league game. Lovren was actually an absentee for the 6-1 mauling at Stoke in May, but that hasn't kept much of the blame for another poor defensive season falling on his shoulders.
He's started a lot of the preseason matches, however, which points to manager Brendan Rodgers either being the forgiving sort or -- more likely -- being determined to prove that one of his expensive transfer choices (at a cost of £20 million) will eventually come good.
It's a sink-or-swim policy that believes persistence can reap its own rewards, although sometimes the player is not waving but drowning. Still, it was only preseason, and the main purpose of these games is to achieve full fitness in time for a new campaign and blow away the summer's cobwebs.
Some may say a lack of fortification in defence during the summer transfer window is a risky strategy; others may point out that for a while now successive Liverpool managers have depended upon Lucas Leiva as their sole holding/defensive midfielder in the squad.
The argument that Liverpool have not thoroughly protected their back four in recent years is a pertinent one. In the preceding decade, the holding role was filled admirably by Dietmar Hamann and Javier Mascherano, two of the best in the business. Momo Sissoko also had one or two productive years.
The statistics speak for themselves, with numerous goals-against figures of below 30 in the 12 years Gerard Houllier and Rafa Benitez managed the team.
Lucas has always done his best and has often received plaudits beyond his abilities for two reasons: the ludicrous level of vitriol others saw fit to pour down upon him, and the acknowledgement of his role as a vital one in the modern game.
His lack of creative ability has always held him back, and though Hamann and Mascherano were not exactly prolific in terms of goals or creativity themselves, they were not completely devoid of merit in those departments. Plus, they were masters in their primary role -- making sure the opposition rarely saw the whites of their defenders' eyes.
Liverpool currently have a number of talented individuals in their midfield, but few who play such a role efficiently. In the various touted formations the team is expected to utilize this season, there rarely seems to be an opening for such a player anyway without sacrificing other factors, width being one example.
There are plenty of attacking midfielders and old-style workhorses, but few all-rounders. Jordan Henderson comes closest to combining the required work rate and creativity. Emre Can still has the potential to get there, but for a holding role he currently seems too brash and adventurous to stay at his post for long.
When Lucas was tipped to leave the club, various targets were suggested to replace him. Some were wildly optimistic, like Real Madrid's Sami Khedira, while another chance of raiding Southampton -- this time for Morgan Schneiderlin -- has proven ironic as the Frenchman joined Manchester United.
It was Schneiderlin, of course, who protected Lovren for a couple of seasons at St Mary's. Since Southampton's defensive record actually improved after Lovren's departure last summer, one wonders if the French midfielder was a factor in the Croatian seeming so impressive that he persuaded Liverpool to spend lots of money on him.
The various names linked to Liverpool to replace Lucas have not been repeated recently. It's as if transfer gossip columns knew they weren't the sort of players who would interest Rodgers, and such columns risked stretching their readers' credulity to breaking point if they suggested otherwise.
The role of central defender in the current Liverpool team therefore will likely continue to resemble a tightrope walker working without a safety net, or at least one with holes in it.
Relying on the team's current midfielders to protect the defence by a concerted physical effort alone somehow seems just as risky as not investing in another expensive central defender, even though Mamadou Sakho continues to divide opinion, while Martin Skrtel's aggression doesn't always camouflage his own flaws.
Lovren's stated determination to make up for last season is admirable, though he also casually remarked that few others covered themselves in glory last season. Though true, that sort of deflection never plays too well with fans and may have added to his borderline pariah status, certainly if social media is any judge (which it shouldn't be.)
If Brendan Rodgers continues to seek excitement and adventure from his teams, and thus an element of danger too, it means all the defenders just have to get on with it.
Gone it seems are the days when Liverpool could concede a mere 25 goals all season, as they did in 2006 thanks to Hamann and Sissoko sharing the holding duties throughout.
Lovren was arguably the most disappointing of last season's buys, since it was a surprising letdown. Lazar Markovic could always blame youth, confusion over his role, and settling into a new country, while Mario Balotelli will always divide opinion anyway.
Since Benitez left Liverpool in 2010, the club have conceded 44, 40, 43, 50 and 42 league goals. It's a problem that was there long before Lovren joined the club, and if the big spending is now over, it looks as if it might be a problem once again.