Brendan Rodgers

[baitman]

Swansea showed a good example of what we need to do last night.

They got forward in numbers, and their front 3 moved in tandem.

Our front 3 is too static, one forward with two wingers that stick to the wings. IMO we need one of our wingers to tuck inside and become a striker when the ball is on the other side of the pitch, Im fed up of attacks breaking down because we have no-one in the box.

Whens Borini due back?

i made this point elsewhere.
a front 3, to be effective need to be within 10 yards of the next man, not one isolated on each wing. on the wing you can only come inside, but playing more as an inside forward there is now two options, so a defender can never be sure or anticipate your next move.
if the ball comes in from the left, the wide right man must be on the right edge of the box, to keep the ball active in the goal area and give us other shooting options.
swansea attacked as a team of three. we dont have the discipline or direction from the manager.

[Shanks]

Roger's ideas are sound, he just doesn't have the players to make the system work yet.

Hopefully he'll get some of that sorted with some backing in Jan.
I think next summer will give us a better idea of where we are at.

[Shaggy]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/liverpool/9649282/Liverpool-will-bankroll-Brendan-Rodgers-after-his-patience-snaps.html

Liverpool will bankroll Brendan Rodgers after his patience snaps

Liverpool will bankroll Brendan Rodgers’ attempts to strengthen his side in January after his patience finally snapped with the under-performing squad he inherited.

By Chris Bascombe
1:00PM GMT 01 Nov 2012

The thinness of Rodgers’ options were laid bare in the 3-1 defeat to Swansea City in the Capital One Cup, the urgency for reinforcements to relieve the pressure on Luis Suárez, Steven Gerrard and the club’s increasingly overburdened youngsters all too clear.

Joe Cole was the most high-profile failure, but there was an equally unfavourable assessment of Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson - players whose opportunities have been limited since the summer but fell woefully short of making a point to the manager.

Rodgers made reference to the “astronomical” costs of retaining players who are surplus to requirements, his frustration at the lack of strength in depth plain to see.

Although Cole, who is costing Liverpool around £5 million a year for the duration of his four-year deal, is an obvious target, Rodgers would offload all of his costly fringe players in January if he thought there was an interest and he could replace them.

Those players are fully aware they are welcome to talk to other clubs - although attracting any offers that would lure them from their comfortable, lucrative salaries on Merseyside will be as difficult in the New Year as it was last summer.

Left-back Jose Enrique has also failed to impress the manager, only featuring in emergencies, and with Andy Carroll already on loan and Charlie Adam sold, it is a damning indictment on the profligate spending prior to Rodgers’ arrival.
Suárez and back-up centre-half Sebastian Coates are the only signings left from the Kenny Dalglish reign who Liverpool are not actively trying to sell.

Liverpool’s American owners, Fenway Sports Group, will make money available to reinforce when the transfer window opens, although it is by no means a deep kitty.

Although they failed to back Rodgers in his pursuit of Clint Dempsey on transfer-deadline day in August, they will welcome a list of fresh targets for January which will once more include Arsenal’s Theo Walcott, his contract impasse having been monitored closely at Anfield since the summer.
Rodgers could assist his spending powers by reducing his wage bill even further, but he is not working under any guarantee there will any takers for his unwanted, high earning players.

The volume of money wasted at Anfield since their last successful spending splurge in 2007 is horrifying. Five years ago, former manager Rafael Benítez signed Fernando Torres, Javier Mascherano and Martin Skrtel in the same calendar year in what represents the last successful sequence of purchases, but since then - with the exception of Glen Johnson, Suárez and last summer’s acquisition of Joe Allen, every major signing has been a failure.

Robbie Keane (£20 million), Alberto Aquilani (£20 million), Downing (£20 million), Henderson (£18 million), Carroll (£35 million), Adam (£9 million) and Enrique (£7 million) form a rogues gallery, evidence of the most wasteful era of spending in Anfield and, perhaps, Premier League history.

Cole, signed on a free transfer in 2010, cannot be excluded from this list given his extortionate wages. The Anfield board know Rodgers is paying the price for this legacy, which is why they have adopted a long-term strategy. The surrendering of their League Cup title is a setback, but the Northern Irishman can expect several transfer windows to assemble his own team.

So far he has only recruited Allen, who has been a success, and Italian striker Fabio Borini - currently injured after a difficult start - for significant fees.

Nuri Sahin is a loanee while teenager Samed Yesil and winger Oussama Assaidi were recruited for a relatively small price, on a completely different wage structure to the levels created by Rodgers’ predecessors.

Goalkeeper Brad Jones, meanwhile, is hopeful of maintaining his run in the side to prolong Pepe Reina’s absence. The Australian has been in steady form and has won the confidence of Rodgers.

“Everyone wants to play,” Jones said. “When I came to Liverpool I knew Pepe had an unbelievable record. He is a difficult guy to get out of the way. We have a good, friendly rivalry.

“For me this run of games has been a good opportunity to play and show I can perform if needed in the first team. Then it’s down to the manager to what he sees fit. It’s a case of all of us putting pressure on each other.
“I’ve been fairly happy with how things have gone. I haven’t had masses to do but I feel that what I have done has been fairly steady.”

Surplus to requirements?

Joe Cole - Signed on a Bosman in the summer of 2010 on a £20 million wage package, he must surely be asking himself if he has the capability to play at the highest level anymore. Even taking account of lack of fitness and game time, his performance against Swansea was disturbingly poor. Pure ****.

Stewart Downing - An England squad regular, his lack of desire and character in a Liverpool jersey was all too apparent in the League Cup defeat. Signed by Kenny Dalglish for £20 million, the frustration is that he has shown isolated very isolated moments of quality. Nowhere near enough to convince The Kop, however. ****.

Jordan Henderson - Has been messed around since his £18 million arrival; first played wide right last season and ending up at full-back on Wednesday, but his purchase for such an extraordinary price remains mystifying. Fulham were given the chance to sign him last summer and he could be a makeweight in future deals.

Jose Enrique - Began well following a £7 million move from Newcastle a year ago, but has since deteriorated rapidly. Now behind teenager Andre Wisdom and the injured Martin Kelly in the pecking order, although Glen Johnson’s recent injury won him back his place. His defending has been ****, a constant weakness.

[Tee]

The very last line edit. But so true.

[yamiedo]

I think we should be pleased we finally have a manager who is starting to identify the weaknesses in our team. I don't think its a matter of the system but a matter of the personel and the manager sees that too.

[Fivex]

Back on form. None of this DJ bollocks distracting you.

[little dave hedgehog]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/foo...nce-snaps.html

no vaseline.

[el matador]

Its hard to disagree with bascombe. Cole has been a complete disaster, carroll doesnt fit the system, downing is just too gutless, but I dont think hendersons been given a chance.

As for enrique he should start by shifting at least a stone in weight. Hes just too bulky to be a modern dy fullback. He seemed built when he got here but now he just looks like a gorilla and he cant run.

For me carroll and henderson havent been given a proper chance by rodgers. The rest cant complain.

[Corndog]

I speak from personal and a very painful experience about the dangers of having open spaces in the fullback positions without winning the midfield battle and especially scooping up all lose balls.

I coach under 11's and I changed our formation from being based on rafas 4231 to rogers 433 and high fullbacks up the pitch. First 2 games went along fine with 20 goals scored and 1 against. Then we played the best team in the entire competition.

We got battered. Every time they won the second balls in midfield they turned our back line with a ball over the top. Every time they stopped our attacks we were wide open for the counter down our flanks.

It just didnt work against the better sides.

In rafas champions league dreams book he constantly highlights attacking fullbacks as a weakness in the opposition with all the space they leave in behind. Everybody should read this book because its a masterclass.

I think our manager should read it too.

Are you seriously comparing under 11 football to the best professional league competition in the world??? Bit David Brent like don't ya think?

[McDermotX]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/foo...nce-snaps.html

Liverpool will bankroll Brendan Rodgers after his patience snaps
...

Don't like the idea of 'bank-rolling' Brendan...



...much prefer the standard format of a 'transfer war-chest'. That way, we'll have a better idea of where we stand with any dealings.

i.e. one Stewart Downing and one Charlie Adam equals one transfer war-chest etc etc

[Rich]

I speak from personal and a very painful experience about the dangers of having open spaces in the fullback positions without winning the midfield battle and especially scooping up all lose balls.

I coach under 11's and I changed our formation from being based on rafas 4231 to rogers 433 and high fullbacks up the pitch. First 2 games went along fine with 20 goals scored and 1 against. Then we played the best team in the entire competition.

We got battered. Every time they won the second balls in midfield they turned our back line with a ball over the top. Every time they stopped our attacks we were wide open for the counter down our flanks.

It just didnt work against the better sides.

In rafas champions league dreams book he constantly highlights attacking fullbacks as a weakness in the opposition with all the space they leave in behind. Everybody should read this book because its a masterclass.

I think our manager should read it too.

Do you blame yourself? Sleepless nights? Have you reprimanded your players? Lashed out at your coaches? Snubbed the media press conference?

[yamiedo]

I speak from personal and a very painful experience about the dangers of having open spaces in the fullback positions without winning the midfield battle and especially scooping up all lose balls.

I coach under 11's and I changed our formation from being based on rafas 4231 to rogers 433 and high fullbacks up the pitch. First 2 games went along fine with 20 goals scored and 1 against. Then we played the best team in the entire competition.

We got battered. Every time they won the second balls in midfield they turned our back line with a ball over the top. Every time they stopped our attacks we were wide open for the counter down our flanks.

It just didnt work against the better sides.

In rafas champions league dreams book he constantly highlights attacking fullbacks as a weakness in the opposition with all the space they leave in behind. Everybody should read this book because its a masterclass.

I think our manager should read it too.

Maybe its cus they were the best team in the competition and anyway Rodgers has dealt pretty well with teams of high calibre. Its usually the teams of lower reputation that we struggle with.

[The Birdman]

As an absolute minimum we need to sign 2 players in January.
Two 25 years old or older 1st team players. 1 midfielder who is comfortable holding in the Lucas role or being further advanced and the other being a front player.

Yes we all know we need more but bringing 2 in in Jan is realistic, add Lucas (hopefully) returning and staying fit and we have 3 new signings.

Lucas/Allen/Gerrard/Sahin/Shelvey/New signing for the midfield 3.
Suarez/Sterling/Assaidi/Borini/Gerrard/Suso/New Signing for the front 3.

As other teams have shown there are plenty of players out there for £5m or so who would definitely improve us.
I have nothing to back this up but I think we'll get 1 maybe 2 players from Holland given how well Assaidi has started.

If possible I'd also like to to tie up pre contract deals for a free transfer or 2 for next season, Holtby being the obvious one.

[yamiedo]

As an absolute minimum we need to sign 2 players in January.
Two 25 years old or older 1st team players. 1 midfielder who is comfortable holding in the Lucas role or being further advanced and the other being a front player.

Yes we all know we need more but bringing 2 in in Jan is realistic, add Lucas (hopefully) returning and staying fit and we have 3 new signings.

Lucas/Allen/Gerrard/Sahin/Shelvey/New signing for the midfield 3.
Suarez/Sterling/Assaidi/Borini/Gerrard/Suso/New Signing for the front 3.

As other teams have shown there are plenty of players out there for £5m or so who would definitely improve us.
I have nothing to back this up but I think we'll get 1 maybe 2 players from Holland given how well Assaidi has started.

If possible I'd also like to to tie up pre contract deals for a free transfer or 2 for next season, Holtby being the obvious one.

We have a good record of Dutch league players now in Suarez, Kuyt, Assaidi. I wouldn't be surprised. They seem to have a wealth of technical skilled players who aren't afraid to work hard.

[Kenneth]

Ryan Babel.