Brendan Rodgers

[Baracus]

32 days, 4 hours and 32 mins til transfer window opens

[Joey Jones]

32 days, 4 hours and 32 mins til transfer window opens

Are you Jim White?

[Mattshark]

Are you Jim White?

If he was Jim White, he'd have typed in block caps with at least 5 exclamation marks.

[el matador]

Discussing rodgers on talk****e now.

[Joey Jones]

If he was Jim White, he'd have typed in block caps with at least 5 exclamation marks.

Whilst being on the phone to old 'Arry.

[Mattshark]

Whilst being on the phone to old 'Arry.

[Zapater]

On the possession thing, rightly or wrongly, I thought Steve Nicol's quote on the Swansea 0-0 draw being 'Rodgers invention' or words to that effect saying both teams kept the ball effectively, but didn't do anything penetrative with it.

I'm neither here nor there when it comes to that, because there are clearly many different ways to play football. However at the moment we're not playing winning football, and until we are, I don't care about the quality of performance. I'm sick of telling myself the signs of improvement are there for several reasons, because I don't even know what that is anymore.

I like Rodgers, but I don't necessarily believe him to be the right appointment, however people saying he'll be sacked in the near future need to relax, because if he is, then **** we're in bigger trouble. We become more undesirable and it seems like more and more of an impossible job. Real Newcastle like opportunity here is possible. The most important thing is to make sure that each transfer window and each season we improve, regardless of how small of a gap it is. It's still early in Rodgers era so we can't say anything for certain yet. Even though it's too early, it doesn't make us immune from frustration and that's the annoying thing.

Good post.

I too think that our scouting should be able to identify some "diamonds in the rough" especially as we finally have the scouting network.

I really hope we look past England coz as there are some decent quality footballers playing abroad.

I don't necessarily believe it's even diamonds in the rough. I genuinely believe there are good enough players out there at reasonable prices, the only thing that could hinder these kind of deals is a lack of Champions League football. For example, Fernando Gago is only 26 years old, nearly 50 international caps, would be a good fit for what Rodgers is trying to implement, similar to Allen (alas more of a holding player and for me a better overall player), won several titles and has CL experience chopped his wages in half to leave Madrid and only cost 3-4m euros.

I just pulled that example out of thin air, but those are the kind of transfers we should be looking for imo. It seems very much a particular player or no one, where there are clearly inexpensive options with pedigree out there, we just need to find them.

[MrMichael]

Yup, I agree about players Zapater. Although I think that was sort of what the Sahin loan was supposed to be for us this season, a player who is more than a "rough diamond" who was got for reasonable outlay, although that hasn't worked out so amazingly yet.

Skrtel has had a mare this season. Really dipped since last year.

This might not be very popular, but I worry that Skrtel is a relatively average defender prone to the odd lapse who had a year or two of excellent form. I've never been entirely convinced that we couldn't find a better partner for Agger.

which tells you that im unsure about rodgers. I dont see him as the messianic figure some folk do.

Name one person on this forum who sees him as "messianic"?

Some of us just think he's a young guy who is still learning but has some good ideas and needs to be given a proper chance to see them through.

[little dave hedgehog]

disagree. sahin is supposed to be a world class player who couldn't break into the side at real. hasn't got going yet has he?

[MrMichael]

That's what I meant, he fits the bill (for a season anyway) as "an inexpensive player with pedigree", no indication we won't look at similar going forward.

[Yozza]

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/premier-league/paul-hayward-fatal-flaw-in-rodgers-philosophy-is-standard-of-players-he-inherited-3310622.html

Paul Hayward: Fatal flaw in Rodgers' philosophy is standard of players he inherited

Friday November 30 2012

Liverpool are a good idea in search of a team to make it work. They are a philosophy in need of the right players to turn Brendan Rodgers' thinking into victory parades. However counter-intuitive it seems in this age of instant gratification, the temptation is still to applaud even when it all falls short.

Rodgers is not the only Premier League manager defending an idea against the cold reality of the table. Arsene Wenger can no longer hide behind beauty because Arsenal are not beautiful any more. Andre Villas-Boas speaks scientifically but is really a high-stakes poker player, with a mental block about defending in the English game. And Rafa Benitez despises the idea that attacking well means you have to defend in a cavalier manner: hence Chelsea's instant return to regimentation.

Rodgers looks up the league to see both Everton and his old team, Swansea, above him. A club who have won five European Cups and spent £35m on a loaned-out centre-forward are in "transition", aka 16 points from 14 games. But here's the thing: a curse on those who mock everything beyond today's results.

In the press box at White Hart Lane on Wednesday night, I could sense why Liverpool supporters are mostly understanding, except on fan site 'Est 1892', of what Rodgers is trying to do. Their patience stems from somewhere deeper: the feeling that Rodgers is instilling a culture of ground-based play that is true to the best on show in Europe.

With his emphasis on passing from the back, his midfield pivot and his insistence on courage under pressure, Rodgers laid the foundations for what Swansea are today, and he will do the same for Liverpool, on a grander scale, if he is allowed to choose players capable of imposing his ideas.

Arguably the most wasteful splurge in Premier League history – on Andy Carroll, Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing – is being reversed with brutal clarity, and while the lack of a proven striker to play with Luis Suarez is embarrassing, it is not the manager's fault.

Nor were the dozens of other sub-standard buys made prior to Rodgers' arrival: recruitment errors that have worked like a ball and chain at Liverpool's feet. Last season yielded an eighth-place finish and 52 points: their worst return since 1962. Faced with those numbers, you need a whole new start. Even with seven draws from 14 matches, Liverpool have a new purpose, an identity.

Swarming all over Spurs in the second half on Wednesday night, Liverpool again relied on the thespian-king Suarez to land the telling blow. Suarez is a "false No 9" because Liverpool lack a real one. On the flanks, Downing cannot give them what they need. In the centre, Henderson is emotionally frozen into a world of safe short passes. He knows the manager is only using him until he can move him on. In goal, Pepe Reina's aura of gymnastic impregnability has gone missing.

Yet the idea still makes sense. The logic works. Over the last 10 years, Liverpool have had no single vision to cheer. They have had good teams and players, certainly, but no guiding manifesto.

As the Premier League title race settles unmistakably into a battle to see who is the best side in Manchester, the absurdities multiply for Liverpool. Thomas Ince, sold to Blackpool for £250,000, may now cost £6m to repatriate. Downing (a £20m buy) could end up back at Middlesbrough and Henderson needs to send a search party out for his confidence and to start afresh elsewhere.

To cheer Joe Allen's pass completion rate of 91.69pc is, to the more pragmatic observers, risible because it elevates short passing above the kind of defence-splitting zingers that Steven Gerrard has always loved to deliver.

But Rodgers is not arguing for sterile domination. He wants to see a killing at the other end as well, but simply lacks the staff because of the cumulative transfer errors of the last few years.

With that eighth-placed finish in May, Liverpool found a league point so low that they had no choice but to abandon the image of themselves as a title-chasing team. To prevent it turning into a permanent exclusion from the elite, they needed to do something radical: to find a modern style, skilful, methodical and soulful.

There is no flaw in Brendan Rodgers' scheme, only in the ownership and some of the players he was given. (© Daily Telegraph, London)

[Vermilion]

Est.

But..

There is no flaw in Brendan Rodgers' scheme, only in the ownership

hmmm. So in other words, it can only be done with money, iho ?

[baitman]

...I could sense why Liverpool supporters are mostly understanding, except on fan site 'Est 1892', of what Rodgers is trying to do.

i see what you did there...

[el matador]

Yup, I agree about players Zapater. Although I think that was sort of what the Sahin loan was supposed to be for us this season, a player who is more than a "rough diamond" who was got for reasonable outlay, although that hasn't worked out so amazingly yet.



This might not be very popular, but I worry that Skrtel is a relatively average defender prone to the odd lapse who had a year or two of excellent form. I've never been entirely convinced that we couldn't find a better partner for Agger.



Name one person on this forum who sees him as "messianic"?

Some of us just think he's a young guy who is still learning but has some good ideas and needs to be given a proper chance to see them through.

if he's a young manager learning his trade thats fine. but why does he come across as the ******* lovechild of jesus and david brent.

'i want to teach you' 'i want to educate you'.

WTF - hes put himself out there as some sort of enlightened footballista then cant deliver on the pitch. was it all hype ?

[BootRoom]

http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...d-3310622.html

Paul Hayward: Fatal flaw in Rodgers' philosophy is standard of players he inherited

Friday November 30 2012

Liverpool are a good idea in search of a team to make it work. They are a philosophy in need of the right players to turn Brendan Rodgers' thinking into victory parades. However counter-intuitive it seems in this age of instant gratification, the temptation is still to applaud even when it all falls short.

Rodgers is not the only Premier League manager defending an idea against the cold reality of the table. Arsene Wenger can no longer hide behind beauty because Arsenal are not beautiful any more. Andre Villas-Boas speaks scientifically but is really a high-stakes poker player, with a mental block about defending in the English game. And Rafa Benitez despises the idea that attacking well means you have to defend in a cavalier manner: hence Chelsea's instant return to regimentation.

Rodgers looks up the league to see both Everton and his old team, Swansea, above him. A club who have won five European Cups and spent £35m on a loaned-out centre-forward are in "transition", aka 16 points from 14 games. But here's the thing: a curse on those who mock everything beyond today's results.

In the press box at White Hart Lane on Wednesday night, I could sense why Liverpool supporters are mostly understanding, except on fan site 'Est 1892', of what Rodgers is trying to do. Their patience stems from somewhere deeper: the feeling that Rodgers is instilling a culture of ground-based play that is true to the best on show in Europe.

With his emphasis on passing from the back, his midfield pivot and his insistence on courage under pressure, Rodgers laid the foundations for what Swansea are today, and he will do the same for Liverpool, on a grander scale, if he is allowed to choose players capable of imposing his ideas.

Arguably the most wasteful splurge in Premier League history – on Andy Carroll, Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing – is being reversed with brutal clarity, and while the lack of a proven striker to play with Luis Suarez is embarrassing, it is not the manager's fault.

Nor were the dozens of other sub-standard buys made prior to Rodgers' arrival: recruitment errors that have worked like a ball and chain at Liverpool's feet. Last season yielded an eighth-place finish and 52 points: their worst return since 1962. Faced with those numbers, you need a whole new start. Even with seven draws from 14 matches, Liverpool have a new purpose, an identity.

Swarming all over Spurs in the second half on Wednesday night, Liverpool again relied on the thespian-king Suarez to land the telling blow. Suarez is a "false No 9" because Liverpool lack a real one. On the flanks, Downing cannot give them what they need. In the centre, Henderson is emotionally frozen into a world of safe short passes. He knows the manager is only using him until he can move him on. In goal, Pepe Reina's aura of gymnastic impregnability has gone missing.

Yet the idea still makes sense. The logic works. Over the last 10 years, Liverpool have had no single vision to cheer. They have had good teams and players, certainly, but no guiding manifesto.

As the Premier League title race settles unmistakably into a battle to see who is the best side in Manchester, the absurdities multiply for Liverpool. Thomas Ince, sold to Blackpool for £250,000, may now cost £6m to repatriate. Downing (a £20m buy) could end up back at Middlesbrough and Henderson needs to send a search party out for his confidence and to start afresh elsewhere.

To cheer Joe Allen's pass completion rate of 91.69pc is, to the more pragmatic observers, risible because it elevates short passing above the kind of defence-splitting zingers that Steven Gerrard has always loved to deliver.

But Rodgers is not arguing for sterile domination. He wants to see a killing at the other end as well, but simply lacks the staff because of the cumulative transfer errors of the last few years.

With that eighth-placed finish in May, Liverpool found a league point so low that they had no choice but to abandon the image of themselves as a title-chasing team. To prevent it turning into a permanent exclusion from the elite, they needed to do something radical: to find a modern style, skilful, methodical and soulful.

There is no flaw in Brendan Rodgers' scheme, only in the ownership and some of the players he was given. (© Daily Telegraph, London)

I'm sure Bodge (or any manager) could argue that everything would be absolutely fantastic if he could only just get the players he wanted.