Brendan Rodgers

[Mark79]

I dont think we have the players to pack the midfield in order to stifle teams and we certain dont have the ability to stay compact

I think we have to remember we dont have the players that Houllier & Rafa had to orchestrate good defensive play and hope to hit teams on the break

So packing the midfield becomes just bodies nothing more nothing less

I really wouldnt know how to approach this game bearing in mind the players at our disposal

We need to try and snuff out their possession with relentless energy and pressing.

We should have the players for that approach because we've seen them do it extremely effectively during the course of last season.

[Lecter]

We need to try and snuff out their possession with relentless energy and pressing.

We should have the players for that approach because we've seen them do it extremely effectively during the course of last season.

We have the players to do this but imo our system has changed and its to the detriment of our pressing game

To effectively press (like last season) we have to play 2 up top and a diamond behind it

This means we put pressure on the ball higher up the pitch and turn it over into quick counter-attacks

We have hardly played this system this year appearing to favour 4-2-3-1 and imo this isnt working because Henderson is having to work from deeper and the lone forward (whoever that might be) is too isolated and is unable / unwilling to set a tempo in chasing the ball

I could go on and on about this, personally I think Brendan has changed way too much (new system on top of new playing staff) and because of this we are in a Spurs moment and its going to take a change of direction and maybe some bravery to admit hes got it wrong

[RedRum]

Is Manquillo available ? Would definitely have him in over Johnson if he is

[alonso14]

How would you set us up??

We clearly cant sit back and defend and try and hit them on the break, because we cant defend to save our lives

If we attack them it will leave us wide open for the counter-attack

Difficult decision

Real madrid are a fantastic team with threats all over the pitch, but with bale out cristiano ronaldo is their major weapon. Benzema also might be out which leaves javier hernandez as their sole striker.

Taking those two factors into account i would set up as below: in our 433 formation.

----------------------------mignolet--------------------------

----johnson-------skrtel------------lovren---------moreno-----

---------------------------allen---------------------------------

-----------henderson-------------------gerrard------------------

--------------------------coutinho-------------------------

---------<-----sterling----------------------->---------------------

--------------------------balotelli------------------------------------

I think this formation could help us to:

- keep a close eye on cristiano ronaldo who plays on their left as both johnson and henderson are good defensively and are both excellent in the air - CR is their best header of the ball especially at the back post.

- stop real madrid playing infront on our centre backs with a more mobile and defensive minded joe allen. he will stop madrid playing 1-2's in the danger zone. with benzema out RM wont pump the ball long so joe allen wont be under pressure to win defensive headers (if we were playing a team from the premier league he wouldnt be suitable for that position)

- keep real's two centre backs on their toes as sterling can play either side of mario balotelli. ideally he would operate down the right hand side as both marcelo and pepe are defensively poor. If marcelo goes walk abouts then raheem is the perfect player to exploit that extra space looking to go 1 v 1 against pepe. if he goes down our left hand side he is probably going to go up against dani carvajal and sergio ramos who are both excellent defenders and he could have less success.

- if sterling plays that free role either side of mario it will help stop madrids passing patterns from the back especially kroos. As with raheem there those midfield players wont have the time to take too many touches on the ball and real's centre backs will be more reluctant to play the short passes into them.

- with sterling operating more down the right, it allows alberto moreno to push forward into open space.

whatever we do it will be a very tough game, but we should concentrate on stopping ronaldo, control the space infront of our centre backs (which steven gerrard isnt brilliant at) and stop kroos / modric from picking up the ball from their back line. It might force them to pump it long in which case you would expect skrtel and lovren to dominate against hernandez.

im not very confident thought because brendan rodgers hasnt shown that he is willing to make team alterations to take into the account the oppositions strenghts. if we try and go after them i think we will get beaten soundly.

like you say, its a big game for the manager to show that he can mix it at this level.

[Rafa Justice]

This would never have happened under Benitez or even Houllier for that matter. Joke performance

[Bloodraven]

Really?

[Rafa Justice]

Really?

Perhaps you could point out some of the home destructions we had in the cl under the aforementioned managers?

[Rich]

It's right to question Rodgers in how we set up defensively. Shambles at the back, complete mess.

[Rafa Justice]

It's right to question Rodgers in how we set up defensively. Shambles at the back, complete mess.

Exactly. Unable to buy defenders that automatically improve defence. Unable to coach the squad to improve defence.

[G]

It's right to question Rodgers in how we set up defensively. Shambles at the back, complete mess.

This is his third season and we are getting worse each year. The forward play heroics masked it last season. I can accept us not being as good up front having lost Suarez but actually getting worse at the back despite spending a fortune is unforgivable.

New contract jinx strikes again. Ged got one and became ****e, Rafa got one and became ****e......

[Roboklopp]

So did kenny.

[alonso14]

It's right to question Rodgers in how we set up defensively. Shambles at the back, complete mess.

I don't think he knows how to. Otherwise we wouldn't be this bad and even throughout his career his teams have always been defensively poor.

Real Madrid didn't have a proper defensive midfield player today but they still handled everything we threw at them. Theyre just organised better offensively and defensively.

[Zapater]

I thought we'd be a lot less tactically naive this season particularly in accordance to approach to big and European games. Pretty disappointing from Rodgers. Very concerning moving forward if we want to grow as a club.

Also the fact we haven't really adapted our style of play regardless of the players is a bit baffling. But hey he's got plenty of games left this season to turn it around. I'm not expecting a change in the near future regardless.

[Gibbo]

If you're not gonna play Lambert put Borini on the bench.

At the very least he offers movement.

[Chris]

I thought we'd do better and obviously have big concerns about defence/set up but not sure tonight is the night to have a go at him.

Guardiola got bummed by Madrid last season, Rudi Garcia got smacked last night, it happens against sides with that quality.