Brendan Rodgers

[spud_gun]

Saw a few people seeing it as a message from Rodgers to FSG to illustrate the lack of squad depth.

Chelsea loose an experienced defender in Ivanovic, they bring on a left back with 100+ caps for England.

We have a 16 and 19 year old on the bench.

[G]

Coutinho has been so wasteful this season... out left he is very ineffective. His final ball has been poor this season. Superb talent but just not playing to his best at the moment.

His penchant for taking shots when others are better placed is a bit infuriating, especially since he appears to have no power in either boot. He'll learn though.

[danperkins]

His penchant for taking shots when others are better placed is a bit infuriating, especially since he appears to have no power in either boot. He'll learn though.

was amazing last season but IMO has struggled this season. very wasteful as you said. Also his corners have been diabolical!! Much like his shots.. very weak and often hit first man.

[fin7]

Coutinho has been so wasteful this season... out left he is very ineffective. His final ball has been poor this season. Superb talent but just not playing to his best at the moment.

to be fair I think most times he has chosen the correct pass or thru ball, since his injury it just seems that all of his passes are overhit and have just missed the mark, i dont think he is far away maybe just trying to hard to regain form of early 2013

[Sarb]

Bringing Smith on was wrong. If he was sending a message to the owners it was equally wrong. Alberto should have come on. He seems loathe to even give him an opportunity. I like Rodgers but there are certain things he does that just dont stack up for me

[Shaggy]

I cannot believe that bringing Smith on was "political" or sending a message. In a match so big? Practically sabotaging the match? As if. I think he just figured Smith's pace might be to our advantage and he obviously wanted to get Coutinho into the middle. It was a big risk and it didn't work. No way IMO was that "sending a message".

[Sarb]

He could have stuck Alberto or Aspas left and moved Coutinho inside. Just wouldnt have given Smith his debut in those circumstances playing out of position. Was a bad move

[Reece]

I was more "annoyed" with the Sakho substitution actually. At that point in the game, I'd have preferred him to replace Sakho with Alberto, move Agger to CB, Smith to LB, and play either Alberto or Coutinho on the left. We didn't really have much to lose at that point.

[Muddled]

I think for Rodgers to bring on Alberto, it would have meant Coutinho staying on the left.

I believe Rodgers wanted Coutinho central to support Suarez without sacrificing some natural width on the left. We weren't getting that with a centre back at left back, so he put a left footed player out there. Unfortunately, the young, inexperienced player who was thrust into making his debut away from home, in a game we were chasing was overawed by the situation.

I don't think it was a message to FSG, it was just a substitution that back-fired.

[The Birdman]

If Rodgers wanted to 'send a message' that our squad is thin (as if FSG don't already know it, because they do) he'd have put Rossitter on.
Its just cunts trying to be sensational cunts instead of normal cunts.

[danperkins]

Was a really bad move bringing Smith on.. so out of his depth.

[Cormack74]

So was Gerrard IIRC. They have to start somewhere if they're considered good enough for the first team.

[dww]

People were saying much the same about Flanagan after the Arsenal game but he's kicked on since. Think people have to have more patience with young players in general but also with managers when they throw players on. I think Shaggy's analysis of why Rodgers may have done it seems sensible.

I still think that the Aspas + Alberto signings seem very strange now. I suppose we assumed that one would come off but both look light weight and in need of time to adapt to the PL when we needed someone who could contribute to a thin-ish squad straight away.

[Shaggy]

People were saying much the same about Flanagan after the Arsenal game but he's kicked on since. Think people have to have more patience with young players in general but also with managers when they throw players on. I think Shaggy's analysis of why Rodgers may have done it seems sensible.

I still think that the Aspas + Alberto signings seem very strange now. I suppose we assumed that one would come off but both look light weight and in need of time to adapt to the PL when we needed someone who could contribute to a thin-ish squad straight away.

Very strange. Throw in Ilori and it's around £20m spent very dubiously. £20m on players who are total non-factors, not contributing in the slightest. The problem is we don't know who signed them so we can't even criticise Rodgers with any conviction.

I still like what I've seen of Alberto and find Rodgers reluctance to use him very strange. Aspas, on the other hand, genuinely looks like a 12 year old kid playing with men. Feel sorry for him.

[dww]

Very strange. Throw in Ilori and it's around £20m spent very dubiously. £20m on players who are total non-factors, not contributing in the slightest. The problem is we don't know who signed them so we can't even criticise Rodgers with any conviction.

I still like what I've seen of Alberto and find Rodgers reluctance to use him very strange. Aspas, on the other hand, genuinely looks like a 12 year old kid playing with men. Feel sorry for him.

I really liked the movement of Aspas but he really couldn't take the pace/power of the league. In some ways he reminded me of Borini. Maybe we should swap the loan deal with Sunderland.

It is hard to discuss/assign blame with our transfer system. Will be interesting to see if we stick with it. I actually can see a logic in Alberto and Ilori - when Fergusson was at United they would often spend the money on areas they were strong if the right deal was available. I assume with wages those deals make a lot of sense. I just don't get doing that and then adding another gamble like Aspas in.