Brendan Rodgers

[spud_gun]

In our system it is solely Gerrard because that's the job he's picked to do.
Same system with Can in there and Gerrard more advanced it becomes Can's role.

Change the system or keep the system and change the players.

How does that explain our tendancy to concede from set pieces?

I think our defensive issues are a little more than just Stevie G not having the legs to carry out the role that he a being asked.

I've said before that Rodgers time with us will be defined by how he handles the end of Gerrard's career.

[ric.williams]

In our system it is solely Gerrard because that's the job he's picked to do.
Same system with Can in there and Gerrard more advanced it becomes Can's role.

Change the system or keep the system and change the players.

agreed

but i believe its the system that should change

[meffin]

Can can't play the role Gerrard is in- he runs forward, he's more like Gerrard used to be.
That would just leave us with massive gaps at the back.

[Rich]

From the little I've seen of Can he doesn't strike me as a defensively minded player.

Is Lucas injury free? Let's play him as an orthodox DM, that should immediately help the centrebacks.

[Shaggy]

From the little I've seen of Can he doesn't strike me as a defensively minded player.

Is Lucas injury free? Let's play him as an orthodox DM, that should immediately help the centrebacks.

Not even on the bench last night. I think Rodgers has had enough of him.

[Muddled]

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

Liverpool v Barcelona 2001
Valencia v Liverpool 2002
Liverpool v Valencia 2002
Basel v Liverpool ?
Liverpool v Fiorentina 2009

And probably many others that I can't think of right now. Funnily enough, none of those were against the reigning European Champions. A team with hundreds of millions of pounds worth of talent in excellent form.

This is Rodgers' first experience of Champions League football.

[Lecter]

In our system it is solely Gerrard because that's the job he's picked to do.
Same system with Can in there and Gerrard more advanced it becomes Can's role.

Change the system or keep the system and change the players.

I think hes changed the system anyway

Very rarely have we played a diamond this season

[Lecter]

From the little I've seen of Can he doesn't strike me as a defensively minded player.

Is Lucas injury free? Let's play him as an orthodox DM, that should immediately help the centrebacks.

Can isnt a holding midfield player imo

Neither is Joe Allen, Henderson or Gerrard

Lucas is completely shot

And therein lies another one of our problems

However I still go back to two things

Firstly we are conceeding goals mainly from set pieces and direct balls which by-pass midfield

So we need to cut out the direct balls at source with pressing higher up the field AND be able to deal with the ball in the event it is played up in and around our box

Most of the time our defenders dont deal with it but on the odd occasion they do we rarely if ever compete and win the second balls

Ours is a multi-faceted problem, changing one thing doesnt solve all our issues

We've tried a new centre-half and it hasnt worked, we have tried a change in system that hasnt worked and I dont believe changing Gerrard waives a magic wand and resolves the issues either

[Kenneth]

It's true. I don't think we have any DMs at the club with the exception of Lucas, who's finished. Not clever.

[alonso14]

Exactly. There's every chance we would have got battered by them under Rafa too. Ronaldo is just that good that trying to shut up shop against them probably would have backfired anyway.

It was always going to be a nightmare fixture. We made a very poor job of it though. Extremely poor.

Worryingly it might get even worse in the away game as they only played for 40 minutes last night!

true but i think defensively we would be better organised than what we are.

[Lecter]

true but i think defensively we would be better organised than what we are.

I think we would be better organised but even with Rafa you saw how quickly his system fell down when he lost Hamann and then Alonso and Hyypia became too old

Its as much about good players / defenders as it is about systems / organisation etc...

[Chris]

Really like Rodgers but think he is tactically inept.

Would Rafa (i know, i know) or Jose lost 3-0? No, they would have set up defensively and scraped a draw.

Maybe, then again Napoli got bummed by a hapless Bilbao side who cant even beat Bate Borisov.

[cream]

Maybe, then again Napoli got bummed by a hapless Bilbao side who cant even beat Bate Borisov.

That would've never happened under Rafa, I don't believe you, liar.

[The_weatherman]

Can isnt a holding midfield player imo

Neither is Joe Allen, Henderson or Gerrard

Lucas is completely shot

And therein lies another one of our problems

However I still go back to two things

Firstly we are conceeding goals mainly from set pieces and direct balls which by-pass midfield

So we need to cut out the direct balls at source with pressing higher up the field AND be able to deal with the ball in the event it is played up in and around our box

Most of the time our defenders dont deal with it but on the odd occasion they do we rarely if ever compete and win the second balls

Ours is a multi-faceted problem, changing one thing doesnt solve all our issues

We've tried a new centre-half and it hasnt worked, we have tried a change in system that hasnt worked and I dont believe changing Gerrard waives a magic wand and resolves the issues either

I agree that we are facing several problems, I think Brendan is responsible for that. He should have bought a DM in the summer and a more suitable striker for a start.

I think we need to develop a plan and stick to it, I would go for Lovren and Sakho for a bit in the centre and drop Gerrard for a bit, I know Lucas is shot but I'd put him in front of the defence and play a midfield of Henderson, Can, Coutinho and use Lallana and Sterling upfront. We need to pack the team with energy and dynamism and when Sturridge comes back he plays alongside Sterling.

Balotelli can come on later in games, he can be given some time to adjust that way.

[Roboklopp]

How does that explain our tendancy to concede from set pieces?

I think our defensive issues are a little more than just Stevie G not having the legs to carry out the role that he a being asked.

I've said before that Rodgers time with us will be defined by how he handles the end of Gerrard's career.

All true. I think the Gerrard thing is a timing thing though & not a Brendog thing. Any other manager at this time would be facing that same problem/ politics with Stevie. Takes a brave man to drop him.