Brendan Rodgers

[kingfunk]

I believe Chelsea can be caught, we need to keep plodding along picking up wins and that game against Chelsea will be massive. I have no doubt Chelsea will drop at least 7 points away from us. They have a CL place to lose, it's a bonus for us. The force is with us

[kingfunk]

Oh and that's not bad at all for a team with one striker for half a season.

[The_weatherman]

I believe Chelsea can be caught, we need to keep plodding along picking up wins and that game against Chelsea will be massive. I have no doubt Chelsea will drop at least 7 points away from us. They have a CL place to lose, it's a bonus for us. The force is with us

We wont get far against Chelsea if we setup like we did yesterday though IMO. I think we need three in central midfield against the better sides and yesterday showed that.

[Muddled]

Has there been progression in a season of transition?

In my first post, I looked at Liverpool’s conversion and creativity measures, and noted that when it came to converting chances, Liverpool were not only still lagging behind the average for the Top 4, but also the league. But I also pointed out that Liverpool, under the new management of Brendan Rodgers, are a team in transition and that an improvement should be expected over time as the players become used to his system, and that the recent goal tally at that point, was probably showing this improvement.

I am going to look further into this and track how these measures have changed over the season. I am also going to introduce form into the measures to show how Liverpool has performed over short-term periods. To give some extra context, I will also include Liverpool’s average from the previous season, and the same for the League as an average as well as the Top 4 from last season (I have used last season as it’s a complete season with all teams having played each other). For the form measure, I will be using a 6-game moving average as this is what we are used to seeing in the media, it should not give too much or little significance to individual matches, and I also believe that over 6 games you should generally see an equal number of Home and Away fixtures, which is not the case for other even numbered amount of games.

I’ll start by looking at shots per game. In my first post I mentioned my surprise that Liverpool had taken more shots than any other team in the top 5 leagues in Europe, as I had been expecting the number of shots to reduce under a more patient approach. Since then, Liverpool still have the highest shots per game in those leagues. This is one area Liverpool were relatively strong last season, with an average just slightly lower than that of the Top 4. This season the rate of shots started off more or less in line with last season up until Game 17, in which Liverpool had 29 shots against Aston Villa, and there was a big increase in form (the 9 shots against Chelsea also dropped out of the 6-game average equation), since then Liverpool’s shots per game has been at a level above what the Top 4 achieved last season, and as we know, the highest in the top leagues in Europe.



Shooting accuracy (this excludes blocked shots, as we don’t know if they were on target or not) started off very poorly, and the season average has only recently started to creep above the level of last season. This has been significantly affected by the poor start however, as the 6-game average has been above last season’s since match 14, although it still has not quite reached the league or Top 4 average from last season yet.



Next I will look at Shot Conversion and Shots on Target Conversion (these conversion rates exclude own goals, as its not clear from the stats alone whether an own goal came from a shot or from something like a misplaced clearance). As you might expect, they follow a very similar pattern. Two things to note are that this season’s Shots on Target Conversion ratio is relatively stronger than the Shot Conversion ratio when compared to last season’s League and Top 4 averages, and that between match 6 and 11 it was even stronger.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I think that last season Liverpool were unlucky in that a number of goalkeepers had outstanding games against them and I think the relative improvement is down, in part, to that. If we look at the peak between game 6 an 11, we see that game 6 was the 5-2 win against Norwich, in which Liverpool had 16 shots, with only 5 on target, but 4 of those were goals (there was one own goal), and 3 were from outside the area, for a massive Shots on Target Conversion of 80%. The other thing to note is that since Match 22 for Shot Conversion, and Match 20 for SOT conversion, Liverpool have been at or above the Top 4 average from last season.





Next up is Clear Cut Chance (CCC) Conversion. For those that don’t know what a CCC is, it is one of Opta’s few subjective stats, although they don’t give a full description, it can broadly be described as a chance where the attacker is probably central to goal with only the keeper to beat, however I don’t think it should be thought of as a chance that should be scored, as statistically speaking, just under 40% of all CCCs in the Premier League are scored, so on average they are a bit harder than a 50/50. The conversion rate for CCCs is much more variable than the other conversion rates, this is because in some games there will be few or even no CCCs, which means that both very high and very low single game conversion rates are far more likely. It is clear to see however that there has been a general improvement over the season, following a start of only 2 CCCs scored in the first 8 games, and that Liverpool have been significantly more clinical at taking easier chances than they were last season.



I will now look at a measure of how creative Liverpool have been, which is the proportion of chances that they have which are CCCs. One of the main premises of the possession based football that Brendan Rodgers likes is that the team will be patient and wait for good chances to score and not take the first opportunity to shoot. But we’ve seen, counterintuitively, that Liverpool are taking more shots, so have they been creating better opportunities? Liverpool started the season not showing the patience that was required of them and rushing too many shots, and after that slow start, Liverpool’s season average proportion of CCCs has only just edged above last season’s in the last 2 games. However in terms of form, Liverpool have been more creative than last season since Match 20, and around or above the Top 4 average since Match 22. It should not be a surprise that conversion charts have a similar shape to this one, as the easier the chance, the more likely it is to be scored. In my view, this is the clearest indication that Rodgers’ methods, from an attacking point of view, are starting to take shape, although I still think they can often show that impatience, as this excellent forensic analysis by the Sports Analysis blog of the Swansea game shows.



The final graph is the CCCs per game, which is a combination of the first graph and the last one shown. The graph has a similar shape to the one above, however due to the increase in the shots per game form from Match 15, relatively speaking, Liverpool are doing even better in this metric, and have shown Top 4 form since Match 20.



If you were to just look at the averages of these conversion and creativity metrics so far this season, they would show somewhat of an improvement over last season, particularly in terms of conversion rates. They would not take into account the poor start to the season that Liverpool had however, or the steady improvements they have since made, or that they have consistently been showing the attacking strength of a Top 4 team for close to half the season (Match 18, the 4-0 win against Fulham, can probably be pinpointed as the game when things really started to click). It seems to me that Rodgers’ has decided to build from the front, and that he may now be close to having the team playing, at least offensively, how he would like. Of course football is about defence as well as attack, and it is Liverpool’s defence that has garnered the most criticism this season, and in my next post I will look to see if there has been any progression in similar stats from a defensive point of view.


Looking ahead to the final 8 games of the season, 3 of the remaining matches are against teams from the bottom 4, with only 2 teams being higher than Liverpool, so if Liverpool can maintain their recent form (losses against West Brom and Southampton aside), then they should have a relatively good run in. One cause of concern though is that in the last 3 games Liverpool have had only 8, 12 and most recently 10 shots in those games, which are their worst, 4th worst and 3rd worst totals of the season respectively. Liverpool fans will hope that this is a short-term blip and not a downward change in form.

Link: EPL Index

[Neil Young]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/quiz/2013/apr/02/brendan-rodgers-david-brent-quotes-quiz

I didn't recognise any of the quotes but somehow I got 9 out of 10. So either the similarity isn't as strong as many believe or I got lucky.

[Tribute]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/q...nt-quotes-quiz



I didn't recognise any of the quotes but somehow I got 9 out of 10. So either the similarity isn't as strong as many believe or I got lucky.

...I got 8 out of 10, so either we're incredibly intuitive or just damn lucky with guesses... I think we should put a tenner on the National RIGHT NOW....

[Shaggy]

10/10. Piece of piss. This is about the third publication to run one of these hilarious quizzes.

[little dave hedgehog]

they are hilarious though.

[kalesh]

I was listening to TAW from Good Friday and Tony Evans mentioned that, when Redknapp thought he was a shoe-in for the England job, he sounded out Rodgers to be his assistant during the Euros. He only mentioned it in passing and didn't elaborate, but was anyone else aware of this?

[Shaggy]

Probably another load of horse****.

[kalesh]

Probably another load of horse****.

Knowing Evans, it wouldn't surprise me. And Brendan and 'arry didn't sound like the most likely pairing.

[Arn]

LIVERPOOL FC manager Brendan Rodgers has admitted that whilst he has been brought into the club long-term, he has to show improvements on a yearly basis and produce short-term results.

The Reds boss, who was speaking to Yahoo, also hailed this season as possibly Steven Gerrard’s best in terms of Premier League consistency, heaped praise on Jamie Carragher’s character and that of ‘ world class warrior’ Luis Suarez, who he believes is the outstanding candidate to win the PFA Player of the Year award.

Is Luis Suarez the most talented player you have ever worked with?

I’ve been fortunate enough to work with lots of really good players so it would be disrespectful to single out the best. What I am sure of though, is his warrior spirit and I love his humility, work rate, attitude to training and his desire to be a winner.

He has a real determination and commitment to do well for Liverpool and that side of his game certainly puts him up there with the very best I’ve worked with. He is definitely one of the most naturally talented and mentally strong players I have ever worked with.

Has he impressed enough to win the PFA player of the year award and do you think he will?

He will certainly be in the reckoning. His league goals alone should put him in with a great shout but you also need to look at his consistency throughout the season that makes him arguably the best player.

There are other contenders of course; players like Gareth Bale have been outstanding for Tottenham for example, but I think that Luis’ consistency and the impact he has had for us this season means that he would be my candidate to win.

Suarez isn’t always popular with opposing players and fans, is that something he can channel and turn into a positive?

I know what it was like when I faced him as an opposing manager, I always viewed him as a pest around the penalty area and you know that players like that usually have the quality to score at any give time. When you know him as a person and as a man like we do here, you can see why so many people love him.

It’s not his job to be liked, he’ll be respected because he’s a top football player and it won’t concern him too much if people don’t like him. He is a player who has great humility, I see the guy everyday and I’ve worked with hundreds of junior and senior players and he is one of the most likable, most humble people I’ve come across.


He is also a multi-talented footballer who has shown that he is at a world class level now. The likability of any player is always up for debate, and people will always use their own moral compass to judge Luis Suarez, but that’s not something I tend to focus on. I concentrate on what he is like with me on a day-to-day basis and he is a great man.

Could you argue that this has been Steve Gerrard’s best in terms of consistency and leadership?

It’s been his best season in relation to the number of games he’s played – he has played every minute of every game for us this season, and as a leader of the team he has been immense. It has been a real privilege to work with someone of that calibre and quality. Again, the mark of the man is that he is a very humble guy. This season he has scored goals, created chances, is still an international captain and at 32 still has the hunger, drive and determination to be better. He’s had an outstanding season and I’m sure he’ll continue to get better over the coming seasons.

Jamie Carragher retires at the end of the season, how big a loss will he be not only on the paying side but also in the dressing room?

He’ll be a big loss because of the length of time he has been at the club. It’s very difficult to say that a player is irreplaceable because the nature of football means that someone always steps in to take the shirt and provides different elements to your team.

I will miss Jamie’s drive and determination that he has shown since I’ve been here, and I know that is something he has been doing all his life. We’re going to miss his character but that’s our job, as a club, to look to try and replace him. Jamie will continue to perform until the end of the season with the same drive and determination he has displayed through his entire career, even at 35-years-old he is still performing at the very top level.

How important is the redevelopment of Anfield to the clubs future ability to compete financially?

We have two main objectives; one is to arrive into the top four and the second is the redevelopment of Anfield. That will make us a bigger club financially and help us to compete more; we have to keep building towards that.

The clubs that are competing in the Champions League have a big advantage financially, an extra forty million pounds a year and more. That’s a huge advantage in respect of bringing in new players and we have to keep aiming for that goal. If we can do that by the redevelopment of Anfield, aligned with top four football, we will be in a great position as a club.

You seem to be taking a long term approach to this job. Can you imagine yourself being here in ten years and where do you imagine Liverpool being by then?

I was asked to come in and build the club over the long term. I’m fully aware however, in the short term you need to produce results. Of course this is a club I would love to be at for a long period of time because it is one of the few institutions in football.

This is very much a destination for me as a manager but I have got to show improvements in the club on a yearly basis. Of course I would love to be here long term, but obviously you have to take care of the short term and show that development. I think we have showed that progression this year and I hope we can make more strides next year and keep the club moving forward.

http://live4liverpool.com/2013/04/lf...y-improvements

[Vermilion]

That seemed longer to read than i expected.

[Chazza]

For everyone who loves to hear him speak Rodgers will be on Goals on Sunday with Schteve McClaren this weekend.

[Tee]

For everyone who loves to hear him speak Rodgers will be on Goals on Sunday with Schteve McClaren this weekend.

A new low. Getting grilled by Kammy.