Brendan Rodgers

[Corndog]

Question: Are we going to be missing the next fad?

For example, 2008 was the invention of tika-taka; four years to introduce it, develop it and now - mebbe - counter it? We know football tactics evolve, we now need another three (?) year plan for us as a club to implement it, by 2015 will football have moved on to another style?

Obviously it's hard to guess what will happen in three years time, even more so the football that will be played, but are we preparing to create a style of football that could be outdated by the time it is embedded?

I don't think so, perhaps the preferred formation will again change in the future but the central ideas of keeping possession and pressing further up the field so that you win the ball nearer the opponents goal have been around almost as long as the game itself. They are old ideas re-packaged to seem like new.

Perhaps the name of the fad will change from tika taka to something else but the result should be the same in that how can your opponent counter you in any way when they don't have the ball for most of the game. Most of the time they can't, of course there is always going to be that odd game here or there where some team parks the bus and gets lucky on the counter or off an 89th minute corner.

[Frenchie]

better still develop upon it with the likes of Carroll and decent wide men who can tiki taka it back across the goal or stand it up for the big man to nod down or in, options no...plus the direct style of Pepe Gerrard ..dare I say it Adam or Shelvey to be direct if the occasion presents itself..options

Oh plus £30m net of better than we have or are missing talent ....

[Mostar]

As good as Jack Wilshire?

No but not too many British players are as talented as Jack.

[The Birdman]

All this nonsense about tiki taka, I'm pretty sure all Barca, Swansea and whoever else do it just pass and move.
Fluid football, passing the ball then moving, attacking full backs, goals from midfield, pressing high to win the ball back, it isn't reinventing the wheel.

In fact, sounds a lot like the great LFC teams of the past to me

[cream]

All this nonsense about tiki taka, I'm pretty sure all Barca, Swansea and whoever else do it just pass and move.
Fluid football, passing the ball then moving, attacking full backs, goals from midfield, pressing high to win the ball back, it isn't reinventing the wheel.

In fact, sounds a lot like the great LFC teams of the past to me

Exactly.

[Liverpel]

Brendan Rodgers claims Kenny Dalglish is always welcome at Liverpool


Brendan Rodgers has told Kenny Dalglish he is always welcome at Liverpool and believes the Scot's presence at Anfield would inspire his challenge of restoring the club's fortunes.

The new Liverpool manager claims an element of supporters would treat his appointment as Dalglish's successor with scepticism even if he ended the club's exhaustive wait for the Premier League title. But he has moved to avoid any possible rift with Dalglish personally by asking the Scot, sacked by Fenway Sports Group last month after winning the Carling Cup but finishing eighth in the league, not to keep his distance.

A previous Liverpool manager, Roy Hodgson, felt Dalglish's presence as club ambassador undermined his brief spell in charge, with the Kop calling for the legend's return as Hodgson's tenure unravelled. But Rodgers said: "I have the ultimate respect for Kenny Dalglish. My door is always open for Kenny Dalglish. This is his home. He is the heart and soul of this club. His love for this club is unrivalled. He is the best player in the history of this club.

"I am not here to win any race or competition. This guy is a legend in the game and here at Liverpool Football Club. But what I know is history judges you as a manager and hopefully in time people will look back at what I have achieved here and I can walk beside these people. But there is no way I can try and overtake someone like Kenny Dalglish. All I can do is be myself. This is a prestigious club and this is a guy who has a wonderful history here and will continue to have a great future in terms of Liverpool. I can't worry about that. The only way you can overcome that is by winning."

Dalglish was sacked 12 months into a three-year contract despite ending Liverpool's six-year wait for a trophy and reaching the FA Cup final, but falling way short of expectations in the Premier League. Rodgers, however, denies Liverpool's owners lack perspective over the club's position.

"I've had real open and honest discussions with the owners," said Rodgers, who was powerless to prevent Dirk Kuyt leaving for Fenerbahce due to a £1m release clause in the Dutch international's contract. "They are beginning this cycle of realism as well. There is no doubt they want to be winners, because I do as manager, and so do the supporters and players. But in order to do that the cycle has to begin somewhere."

Liverpool's array of former players in the media, and at Anfield on match-days, have aggravated several former managers who have struggled to recreate the club's title-winning prowess. But Rodgers accepts criticism comes with the job description.

He said: "I respect every player who has played here and passed through the club's history. There are three types of supporters at every club. No1 is those who love their club and love their manager whoever it is because Liverpool is their life and their passion. The second group is supporters who will accept you but to earn their real respect you have to be successful. That's fine.

"The third group are the critics and you never change them ever. Ever. If you win 4-0 it should have been five, if you win one league title you should have won three. I will never worry about that group because you can never change them. I understand that not everybody will want me here. But that's part of the dance."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/jun/04/liverpool-brendan-rodgers-kenny-dalglish

[Muddled]

All this nonsense about tiki taka, I'm pretty sure all Barca, Swansea and whoever else do it just pass and move.
Fluid football, passing the ball then moving, attacking full backs, goals from midfield, pressing high to win the ball back, it isn't reinventing the wheel.

In fact, sounds a lot like the great LFC teams of the past to me

Whilst football is a simple game, to refer to it as 'pass as move' is too simplistic and to dismiss it as 'nonsense' is a bit naive in my opinion; fair enough - it's not reinventing the wheel - but it's not a case of fluid football. It's patient and methodical, precise yet not overly direct. Its a modern day twist on the Dutch's total football, to pigeon hole it along side past LFC teams is incorrect and I'll think you'll see a difference over the next few years.

Surely you can see how football has evolved? Or should we employ a motivator, stick eleven blokes on the pitch and just tell them to pass the ball, then move and if we haven't got the ball just chase it and press?

[Muddled]

I don't think so, perhaps the preferred formation will again change in the future but the central ideas of keeping possession and pressing further up the field so that you win the ball nearer the opponents goal have been around almost as long as the game itself. They are old ideas re-packaged to seem like new.

Perhaps the name of the fad will change from tika taka to something else but the result should be the same in that how can your opponent counter you in any way when they don't have the ball for most of the game. Most of the time they can't, of course there is always going to be that odd game here or there where some team parks the bus and gets lucky on the counter or off an 89th minute corner.

Good post. I'd argue that possession based tactics haven't been around as long as football though - or perhaps to word it better - it's not *all* there has been; whilst there have been variations of it, many successful teams have been set up to surrender possession to the opposition, soak up the pressure and invite teams onto them to then pick them apart, others have set up to score early with relentless pressure and then shut up shop.

I guess the crux of my original point was that 'tika taka' has been a fad since 2008 and whilst Barcelona have the calibre of players to see it through - if we use them as an example - they wiped the floor with everybody in 2009 and then lost out on the title to Real and the Champions League to Chelsea in 2012. Whilst I'm not saying they are finished as a unit, I am saying teams have found a way around them. Granted it took anti-football to get past them for the latter, but they did it and perhaps a more aesthetic version of what Chelsea did (i.e. not a 6-3-1) may be what other teams develop and take forward.

Thus, creating a new fad which is the polar opposite to what we're gearing up for.

I'd like to also say that I'm all for seeing what Rodgers can bring to the club, I'm just trying to see the other side of the argument and get other people's opinion on it. E.g. not this:

Exactly

[yamiedo]

Good post. I'd argue that possession based tactics haven't been around as long as football though - or perhaps to word it better - it's not *all* there has been; whilst there have been variations of it, many successful teams have been set up to surrender possession to the opposition, soak up the pressure and invite teams onto them to then pick them apart, others have set up to score early with relentless pressure and then shut up shop.

I guess the crux of my original point was that 'tika taka' has been a fad since 2008 and whilst Barcelona have the calibre of players to see it through - if we use them as an example - they wiped the floor with everybody in 2009 and then lost out on the title to Real and the Champions League to Chelsea in 2012. Whilst I'm not saying they are finished as a unit, I am saying teams have found a way around them. Granted it took anti-football to get past them for the latter, but they did it and perhaps a more aesthetic version of what Chelsea did (i.e. not a 6-3-1) may be what other teams develop and take forward.

Thus, creating a new fad which is the polar opposite to what we're gearing up for.

I'd like to also say that I'm all for seeing what Rodgers can bring to the club, I'm just trying to see the other side of the argument and get other people's opinion on it. E.g. not this:

They pretty much wiped the floor with Chelsea too, the only thing they didn't do was score. Sorry but Chelsea no matter how much the press blow smoke up their arse. They were extremely lucky that night and on another day Barca's finishing could have been a lot more clinical and they would have won by about 5 goals

[Nicey]

Brendan Rodgers claims Kenny Dalglish is always welcome at Liverpool


Brendan Rodgers has told Kenny Dalglish he is always welcome at Liverpool and believes the Scot's presence at Anfield would inspire his challenge of restoring the club's fortunes.

The new Liverpool manager claims an element of supporters would treat his appointment as Dalglish's successor with scepticism even if he ended the club's exhaustive wait for the Premier League title. But he has moved to avoid any possible rift with Dalglish personally by asking the Scot, sacked by Fenway Sports Group last month after winning the Carling Cup but finishing eighth in the league, not to keep his distance.

A previous Liverpool manager, Roy Hodgson, felt Dalglish's presence as club ambassador undermined his brief spell in charge, with the Kop calling for the legend's return as Hodgson's tenure unravelled. But Rodgers said: "I have the ultimate respect for Kenny Dalglish. My door is always open for Kenny Dalglish. This is his home. He is the heart and soul of this club. His love for this club is unrivalled. He is the best player in the history of this club.

"I am not here to win any race or competition. This guy is a legend in the game and here at Liverpool Football Club. But what I know is history judges you as a manager and hopefully in time people will look back at what I have achieved here and I can walk beside these people. But there is no way I can try and overtake someone like Kenny Dalglish. All I can do is be myself. This is a prestigious club and this is a guy who has a wonderful history here and will continue to have a great future in terms of Liverpool. I can't worry about that. The only way you can overcome that is by winning."

Dalglish was sacked 12 months into a three-year contract despite ending Liverpool's six-year wait for a trophy and reaching the FA Cup final, but falling way short of expectations in the Premier League. Rodgers, however, denies Liverpool's owners lack perspective over the club's position.

"I've had real open and honest discussions with the owners," said Rodgers, who was powerless to prevent Dirk Kuyt leaving for Fenerbahce due to a £1m release clause in the Dutch international's contract. "They are beginning this cycle of realism as well. There is no doubt they want to be winners, because I do as manager, and so do the supporters and players. But in order to do that the cycle has to begin somewhere."

Liverpool's array of former players in the media, and at Anfield on match-days, have aggravated several former managers who have struggled to recreate the club's title-winning prowess. But Rodgers accepts criticism comes with the job description.

He said: "I respect every player who has played here and passed through the club's history. There are three types of supporters at every club. No1 is those who love their club and love their manager whoever it is because Liverpool is their life and their passion. The second group is supporters who will accept you but to earn their real respect you have to be successful. That's fine.

"The third group are the critics and you never change them ever. Ever. If you win 4-0 it should have been five, if you win one league title you should have won three. I will never worry about that group because you can never change them. I understand that not everybody will want me here. But that's part of the dance."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2...kenny-dalglish

Buck Says Relax

[RedReet]

"The third group are the critics and you never change them ever. Ever. If you win 4-0 it should have been five, if you win one league title you should have won three. I will never worry about that group because you can never change them. I understand that not everybody will want me here. But that's part of the dance."

Sad, but so true, so really glad he's prepared for that.

[cream]

Need to stop talking now, expectations are rising again.

[Robbie-9-Fowler]

Something I don't get is he's talked about relentless attacking football. Tiki Taka isn't that at all, it's patient controlled play matched by hard work to get the ball back to begin again.

[Nicey]

Can someone tell me what formation Rodgers actually plays ? is it a 4 2 3 1 ? that press's high up the pitch and if so was that not Rafa' s system ?

[Alex]

it's 1-2-3-2-2-1 I think. Don't quote me on it though.