Brendan Rodgers

[TheElephantMan]

I think he'll develop into the player Walcott should have become. He has the attributes, but he's far less fragile.

[Fredo]

He's a winger in my books & more suited to setting others up than actually scoring himself.

Sterling is a modern attacking player who plays in a number of positions upfront, not your typical winger.

[SB]

Sterling is a modern attacking player who plays in a number of positions upfront, not your typical winger.

Maybe but he doesn't score enough to be considered to play as a lone striker as he was asked to do.

[Harv]

Sterling is a little cunt

[Fredo]

Maybe but he doesn't score enough to be considered to play as a lone striker as he was asked to do.

He played there because we were short of strikers. The shambles of our transfer committee ensured that the ones who were available to Rodgers, he didn't trust or they were ill suited to our style of play. Part or all of the blame must be attributed to him or not, we don't know and have been speculating about for a long time.

Still, as pointed out, Sterling was our second top scorer last year and I think he is not as ill suited to play in that position as you suggest.

Ffs, why am I talking football at that time.

[DannyMan2006]

Considering he was so against the use of a target man last season, I do have to say I was surprised he signed Benteke. Oh no there's more to Chris than that, but he's hardly a Sterling & a lot closer to Lambert.

[Fredo]

Considering he was so against the use of a target man last season, I do have to say I was surprised he signed Benteke. Oh no there's more to Chris than that, but he's hardly a Sterling & a lot closer to Lambert.

Benteke has a bit more variety to his game than just being a target man.

[Buzzo]

Only a bit though.

He offers us an option, but I think we will be far more dangerous when Sturridge returns. They will either form a partnership or you will have the option of one replacing the other from the bench.

We don't really seem set up to play to Benteke's strengths at all, the same way we weren't set up to Mario's or Lamberts.

[Fredo]

We don't really seem set up to play to Benteke's strengths at all, the same way we weren't set up to Mario's or Lamberts.

His "strengths" are what we perceive them to be when he played under a style of football. Think we've been trying to vary his game a bit more, but as you say, he will probably be more effective with someone partnering him.

I think that's the main idea but Rodgers seem to be a confused man nowadays.

[frank the tank]

Considering he was so against the use of a target man last season, I do have to say I was surprised he signed Benteke. Oh no there's more to Chris than that, but he's hardly a Sterling & a lot closer to Lambert.

I agree 100% with (what I think are) your sentiments.

In reality, we all know that Benteke is better than a Rickie Lambert, better than an Andy Carroll and better than a Peter Crouch. He is also a better professional than Mario Balotelli. He isn't just a Sam Allardyce style statistical player where if your team lumps it into the box 200 times over a season, he will score 18 or more goals.

However, when Brendan first went into LFC, he preferred to bomb out andy carroll without having a replacement in place.....because he was adamant how he wanted his team to play. So while I think most of us agree that Benteke isn't a bad player, what I think is certain is that Brendan has turned 180° with his opinion as to what is a "Brendan Rodgers" player.

I actually think that Benteke would be incredible in a team managed by Benitez. He would have 3 players all working behind him - with the objective to get him chances, and to support the main target man. What Rafa did with Mista at Valencia - and also with Torres here (nobody else could seem to get a song out of Fernando) was brilliant.

Getting back to Brendan, my big problem right now is that the team doesn't seem to have an identity. Brendan seems to want to tweak things so much whereas I would prefer to see a team that is set up to play a certain way 90% of the time. You pick any team in the history of the modern game that had a prolonged period of success, and they had a strong identity. We seem to chop and change so much it is unbearable.

The fact that he bought all those strikers but still plays Benteke on his own is the most frustrating part. And when Sturridge comes back we will all hear the david brent style statements of "now we can watch Daniel and Christian form a partnership" malarkey.....in reality, if you buy all these players, then you should not have to compromise your tactical approach when one player is injured. So if the plan is to partner Benteke and Sturridge - with maybe Firmino in the hole behind them (which i think would be a brilliant approach - with Coutinho in a midfield 3 behind them all. It would be like it is 2013/2014 all over again!!!) then when a player like Sturridge gets injured, Origi or Ings should play there. When a player like Coutinho gets suspended, a player like Lallana should play there..... for me that is Brendans biggest failing at the moment.

[Leyton388]

That's the thing though. If Rodgers wanted to play two up top surely he would be playing Ings up with Benteke now instead of persisting with one up front which would allow the team to settle and get use to the formation which Sturridge can then slot in when he returns.

Benteke needs a partner up front with him who can feed off his knock downs and also a runner from midfield. At the moment he looks isolated and although is much better than Mario and Ricky is looking just as effective which is down to Rodgers and his tactics.

We had the same issue and discussion last season with Mario about how when Sturridge returns he will play two up top. We can't be relying on Sturridge as in all likelihood he will break down again. It happened last season and we paid the price. The club should have signed a striker in January but decided not too which was insane at the time considering we were chasing CL qualifications.

I hope the same mistakes of last season are not repeated.

[dww]

I think there is a danger of reading too much into the start of the season. Rodgers has generally started seasons with a different system to that he tries for most of the season. Added to that we have clearly been emphasising some aspects of defensive setup to build a solid base (successfully or otherwise)

[Buzzo]

Basically, there is only 1 plan.

'There is no plan'.

[McDermotX]

Rodgers wants time to implement ‘philosophy’
Saturday 12th September 2015 11:19

Brendan Rodgers has rejected Harry Redknapp’s claims that Liverpool are “bang average”, stressing that implementing his style of play requires more time.

The Reds suffered a demoralising 3-0 home reverse to West Ham before the international break, with pressure mounting on Rodgers and his side.

After following up their push for the title in 2013/14, a disappointing sixth-placed finish last season has seen some call into question Rodgers’ style of play – including Redknapp.

The former Spurs boss branded the Reds “bang average” earlier this month, adding: “I think it’s the worst Liverpool team I have seen in years. They are lucky to have any points. I think they will do well to finish in the top five.”

Rodgers has rejected Redknapp’s claims, and says that it will take more time for him to implement his “philosophy” throughout the squad.

“People will always form opinions and Harry is someone I have huge respect for,” Rodgers said. “But it’s a team that has changed and will progress over the course of the season.

“I know this group of players will improve as the season moves on. We need to give this group a bit of time. That’s something ill afforded to you in modern football but I get great excitement when I see the players, and seeing the likes of Daniel [Sturridge] coming back.

“I think this team will show its worth over the course of the season, not just in these early games. In the season when we nearly won the league we didn’t really play that brand of football until November or December time.

“It’s clear how we want to work. I’m not one who chops and changes the philosophy – that’s something inherent in you. The idea and the philosophy is very clear on how we play. We want to be really creative – create opportunities to score goals while having a strong defensive organisation.

“I’ll always believe in that way. When you work that way with that vision, the consequences of that is teams that will gradually improve. What we are seeing at the moment is players coming in and adapting to it.”

Ahead of Liverpool’s clash with Manchester United on Saturday, Rodgers has spoken of his previous visit to Old Trafford, where he suffered the “best defeat” of his career in a 3-0 loss.

“It was probably the best defeat I’ve ever had. Of course you never want to lose a game and especially not to a rival like Manchester United. But I saw enough that day to know that we had got our identity back again. We created a lot of chances and should have scored goals but we ultimately lost the game because we didn’t defend well enough. From that moment we kicked on and had a very good spell.”

http://www.football365.com/news/rodgers-wants-time-to-implement-philosophy

[tanner]

http://www.football365.com/news/rodg...ent-philosophy

The philosophy should be there already, he's had long enough to instil it. What a load of tosh, are we going to go through this period every season he's here and he's bought a couple of new players? Its a reoccurring excuse, one that's engineered to give him more time each season.