The manager - where are you at?

[DannyMan2006]

Not been impressed with majority of his signings over the past few windows, and was furious about Lovren and balotelli. Didn't want Borini, didnt want Markovic, didnt want a bunch of others we thankfully didnt manage to sign. I dont have faith in him buying players. I'm also furious at seeing the same rubbish tactics of defenders passing the ball a billion times amongst themselves. Tired of seeing Lovren on the field. Physically ill at seeing johnson still playing for us, and seeing they tried to offer him a ****ing 2 year extension as reward for being ****house. Would rather gerrard be a sub otherwise removed altogether. Stunting coutinho something stupid with our useless non movement. I'm expecting an outright anal rupture when UTD destroy us.

So frustrated I could give myself a paper cut.

And then you realise he didn't actually make that call to sign those players....... Whilst also realising his suggestions may not have been much better...... Whilst also realising that had he at least made all the signings we could judge him properly........ And whilst realising that sounds a good idea......... You also realise that having a successful committee in place would keep us being successful regardless of which manager comes and goes....... So realise that on the face of it, that too is a good idea.


That's about where my head is right now, all over the place...... I don't feel sorry for Rodgers, if he doesn't work out he walks away with millions. Hopefully the board were savvy enough to put in performance related objectives. Ie, finish lower than fourth and all bets are off, ala United and Moyes.

Personally I think Rodgers WILL get time (think we all know that) and I also think he WILL get it right and keep himself in the job. Whilst there is no doubt that his halo has well and truly slipped, I've seen enough to think he has the ability to build a side that is entertaining to watch and capable of competing for honours.

And whilst there is no doubt that I'm a fan of this club as opposed to someone seeking to be entertained, watching us last season was the most I've ever been entertained watching a team and it just so happens that team happened to be us. Sorry, but I can't give up on a coach who was at the helm of that. Yes he had Suarez, but so have other teams as well as having better players than our Luis and they've never been as exciting to watch as that.

I really had fell out of love with football prior to Rodgers getting the job. He brought that love back, and for that I am grateful to Rodgers.

[Pablo]

Skrtel has always been ****, always.

On Lovren, he defended perfectly well in the Southampton side with Clyne and Shaw as full backs so he's used to having space to defend down the sides of him.
What Lovren isn't used to is also having to defend the ball into the front mans feet as Wanyama and or Scheiderlin used to cut that off allowing him to defend the ball in behind.

I honestly think if you pair Lovren with either Toure or Sakho for 4-5 games in a row with Lucas, Can even Allen sat in-front as a proper defensive midfielder you'd get a marked improvement.

We bought Lovren to be a front foot defender, at Southampton he attacked most things and Fonte covered, with Skrtel they both want to be the defender attacking the first ball and both of them get caught out making the wrong decisions time and time again.

Very valid point. Both front foot defenders, both like to attack the ball. They are a total mismatch as a pair. Yet we persist with the pairing regardless. Absolutely baffling.

To be honest though Sakho is very much a front foot defender too.

Kolo I'm not too sure about?

[baitman]

On Lovren, he defended perfectly well in the Southampton side with Clyne and Shaw as full backs so he's used to having space to defend down the sides of him.
What Lovren isn't used to is also having to defend the ball into the front mans feet as Wanyama and or Scheiderlin used to cut that off allowing him to defend the ball in behind.

I honestly think if you pair Lovren with either Toure or Sakho for 4-5 games in a row with Lucas, Can even Allen sat in-front as a proper defensive midfielder you'd get a marked improvement.

We bought Lovren to be a front foot defender, at Southampton he attacked most things and Fonte covered, with Skrtel they both want to be the defender attacking the first ball and both of them get caught out making the wrong decisions time and time again.

with more control in the midfield [lucas and can] the CBs will not need to be as rash diving out to snuff out the impeding attempt at goal. hopefully then there will be more communication and a better understanding of who is doing what, and where. currently with SG in and out and all over the place no one knows wtf is going on.

[DannyMan2006]

Have just checked his first season in the Premier League Swansea conceeded 51 goals (LFC conceeded 40 that year)

His first season with us we conceeded 43 (Swansea conceeded 51 again that season), with 50 conceeded by us last year (54 conceeded by Swansea)

Conceding about 50 for a side like Swansea is pretty good. They play risky football like we do and they play to win games, even against the top sides they play their own game. That's why everyone in the media was part of the Rodgers love in after his first season.

If you play open and expansive football you will leave yourself open at the back. If you excel at what you do, you make it so teams can't press because of the threat you provide. Teams then drop deep and don't break out so much. If you have enough ability, even when teams drop deep, you'll find a way through, we NEARLY had it all last year, we just lacked that final touch to be able to break open a packed defence.

This year, sadly, we are neither being solid or playing expansive football. We're set up still to play attacking football, but the players are lacking the confidence (or ability?) to carry it off.

[Rich]

Very valid point. Both front foot defenders, both like to attack the ball. They are a total mismatch as a pair. Yet we persist with the pairing regardless. Absolutely baffling.

To be honest though Sakho is very much a front foot defender too.

Kolo I'm not too sure about?

Spot on. I think Sakho and Toure are both more neutral in their play.

[DannyMan2006]

Very valid point. Both front foot defenders, both like to attack the ball. They are a total mismatch as a pair. Yet we persist with the pairing regardless. Absolutely baffling.

To be honest though Sakho is very much a front foot defender too.

Kolo I'm not too sure about?

Kolo is also front foot. To a man, they all looked better with Agger last year, who likes to sweep. I'll be honest, when we signed Lovren I thought we were getting someone who liked to drop off, but I couldn't have been more wrong.

I think the best defensive partnerships have ann attacker and a sweeper, but you can have two attackers if you have a strong and dominant character to tell the other what to do. Again, we hoped Lovren was that. If he is, he's lost all confidence to do that. In his first couple of games he was loud and commanding. Since then, I've not heard or seen him say a word.

[DannyMan2006]

I'll repeat myself, but Raphael Varane would have been perfect. He's a sweeper defender and looks good next to Sakho for France. He's a RCB and a sweeper, good on the ball and fast for a defender too. Ah well.

We all keep going on about what we could or couldn't do, but the only one in charge is Rodgers and it's up to him to live and die by his decisions. He either has to show his great ability with some amazing tactical changes or get lucky. Doesn't matter which tbh. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good as they say, but it needs to come soon to see us progress.
.

[baitman]

I think the best defensive partnerships have ann attacker and a sweeper, but you can have two attackers if you have a strong and dominant character to tell the other what to do. Again, we hoped Lovren was that. If he is, he's lost all confidence to do that.
In his first couple of games he was loud and commanding. Since then, I've not heard or seen him say a word.

i wonder if other players are to in awe of gerrard and wont shout the odds as they feel they might be seen to be overstepping.

funny how when gerrard was out for a while [in the rafa era] and he wasnt there to carry everyone the other players all seemed to up their collective game.

[Rich]

I'll repeat myself, but Raphael Varane would have been perfect. He's a sweeper defender and looks good next to Sakho for France. He's a RCB and a sweeper, good on the ball and fast for a defender too. Ah well.

We all keep going on about what we could or couldn't do, but the only one in charge is Rodgers and it's up to him to live and die by his decisions. He either has to show his great ability with some amazing tactical changes or get lucky. Doesn't matter which tbh. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good as they say, but it needs to come soon to see us progress.
.

I've seen nothing to suggest that Varane was available in the summer?

[Marina]

The team's situation is equal parts depressing and baffling. It's so hard to grasp. How could things get so catastrophically bad so soon?

Even so it would be stupid to sack him now. Foolish and reactionary. Results have been unacceptable but saying last season's brilliance was all down to Suarez is a bit of a cop-out. Rodgers seems historically aware of the odds stacked against him and I personally think he will realise that something's got to give in the wake of the embarrassing results we've had of late. He's not stupid.

[SK]

Watch Glenn Johnson makes no effort to track back or anything...Disgraceful

this was posted in the johnson thread and rightly so, but just to again state my point about gerrard, watch him loose ledley who then went on to score

[Kenneth]

It's a fair point. They can't be arsed.

[fidget]

Skrtel has always been ****, always.

On Lovren, he defended perfectly well in the Southampton side with Clyne and Shaw as full backs so he's used to having space to defend down the sides of him.
What Lovren isn't used to is also having to defend the ball into the front mans feet as Wanyama and or Scheiderlin used to cut that off allowing him to defend the ball in behind.

I honestly think if you pair Lovren with either Toure or Sakho for 4-5 games in a row with Lucas, Can even Allen sat in-front as a proper defensive midfielder you'd get a marked improvement.

We bought Lovren to be a front foot defender, at Southampton he attacked most things and Fonte covered, with Skrtel they both want to be the defender attacking the first ball and both of them get caught out making the wrong decisions time and time again.

Excellent post

[Darkon]

Agree with a lot of this and you would expect ups and downs yet with us they are often so extreme

I never expected us to win the league this season but I thought we would get 4th and I thought performance levels might be slightly off (but not as much as they are now)

BUT the whole thing has just dropped off a cliff and the worrying thing is Rodgers doesnt appear to be doing anything to change things

Players who are consistently **** get games ahead of those that have had the odd cameo and done well, players who have looked promising (Lallana, Can & Moreno) are inexplicably sidelined in favour of players who havent cut it at all by any stretch of the imagination

Its a real tough one at the minute I worry if we bullet him then we are once again entering a lottery, however I have little or no faith in him actually turning things round

I agree with have a tendency to go from close second to what the ****s happening this season, and it's frustrating as hell. Same with Houllier and Rafa really.

I have as hard a time as any seeing the way forward right now, but I don't believe changing manager right now will be the solution, and as most examples through footballing history have shown it really rarely solves anything. It can give a shock effect for a couple of games, but teams sorting to that will usually end up where they were.

As with you I expect(ed) us to challenge for fourth this season, but rulling it out being 5 points behind seems exceptionally rash and firering Rodgers now seems like an overreaction to me. I know it's counterfactual and of little real use, but imagine us being placed in 5th/6th position being 5 points behind CL places, I do wonder if people reacted like now? Even if we didn't play well neither?

I think the club and supporters need to give the team some working space to get a few wins under the belt. With the talent in the team, I'm certain that once we get the crucial few it will turn around.

But right now

[Lecter]

This year, sadly, we are neither being solid or playing expansive football. We're set up still to play attacking football, but the players are lacking the confidence (or ability?) to carry it off.

I am not sure we are set up to play attacking football

Last season that was absolutely the case, this year its all about possession and trying to wear the opposition down through the "death by football" method he tried during his first 6 months here

I still think we have the players to go on the front foot (see Spurs) but to me its the new system and poor team selection to compliment that system that is hampering us as much as anything