Brendan Rodgers

[cream]

I agree, particularly the lack of training time stuff he keeps trotting out. Wish he wouldn't come out with that stuff. I think his thinking has been quite muddled, you can see it with the team selections. And I know we can't read too much into what managers say publicly, but in May he said we'd be focusing on quality and not quantity in the summer. I think he specifically said we won't be going out and buying 7 or 8 players, and in the end that's exactly what we did.

But is that all down to Brendan ?

[Shaggy]

But is that all down to Brendan ?

We don't know do we. That's one of the reasons it seems such a mess.

[Darkon]

But he said it in May when we'd already qualified for the CL.

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11669/9311100/transfer-news-liverpool-manager-brendan-rodgers-wants-quality-not-quantity

And we're in the Champions League with doubts over all of them. eg Markovic, Can, Moreno and Manquillo - all potential. Lovren - **** and not up to it. Lambert...is he CL quality?

What a mess.

I think it was during the Madrid game two weeks ago, but during a match a few weeks ago Jan Mølby commented on Danish television, that when looking at our reinforcements this season the striking thing to him was that all of them we would have been able to attract no matter if we were in the CL or not. And I think he was spot on, didn't think about it in those terms before, but all the players we attracted we could have attracted anyways. In other terms: we havn't been able to capitalize on being back in the CL except being able to get in more players than we otherwise would have.

We failed to get in players playing at a high level already, we tried during the window but failed. We have potential in the squad instead.

[Alex]

Our current trajectory is similar to Arsenals 5 years ago I think.

We keep buying potential, and not really doing what we should to get quality in the side. Its a long term solution, to a short term problem.

I think itll come good, as it always did for Arsenal in the end. But itll be a couple of years before the likes of Can and Markovic make themselves known.

[Alex]

However, having said that. I was happy we had strengthened our squad from last season. Pretty much all the signings looked better on paper than their counterparts.

[Chazza]

Our current trajectory is similar to Arsenals 5 years ago I think.

We keep buying potential, and not really doing what we should to get quality in the side. Its a long term solution, to a short term problem.

I think itll come good, as it always did for Arsenal in the end. But itll be a couple of years before the likes of Can and Markovic make themselves known.

Arsenal went nine years without winning a trophy and finishing top four for them was seen as a success.

Also during that period they ended up selling their best players due to the fact they could not compete.

Even now they are way off challenging for anything other than a domestic cup.

Not really a model I would want to follow.

[baitman]

Our current trajectory is similar to Arsenals 5 years ago I think.

We keep buying potential, and not really doing what we should to get quality in the side. Its a long term solution, to a short term problem.

I think itll come good, as it always did for Arsenal in the end. But itll be a couple of years before the likes of Can and Markovic make themselves known.

buying in potential is ok if the team is already fairly solid.
we needed a couple of first team ready players, as good as or better than what we had, and then a few for the future.

10m on can might be a very good investment.

20m on markovic would be good if he was 100% ready to step into the team and be like a ready to go sterling straight out of the box, but it seems the scouting team have overspent on 'potential' here.

[CAD]

Three weeks ago we were being told Joe Allen returning would make a big difference

Amazing that this player had some of the best stats on the ball in PL for Swansea and cant even piss straight for LFC. He had an exceptional pass completion and was high on tackles and interceptions.

We must find a center to build around for the future and he surely looks like another 15 mill out the window. Right now we cant introduce a player in center anywhere near SG's quality from 2005/06. Coutinho lacks consistency and I dont think he will ever find it. He is the new Garcia - which is fine but wont solve the problem.

I think they blew it this window. They should have mixed it up with proven talent and youngsters.

It's still early days - but we are years away from the title and there is every reason to believe that CL was a one off - sadly. 6th seems like a fair shout right about now.

[Roboklopp]

Arsenal went nine years without winning a trophy and finishing top four for them was scene as a success.

Also during that period they ended up selling their best players due to the fact they could not compete.

Even now they are way off challenging for anything other than a domestic cup.

Not really a model I would want to follow.

Aye, and the landscape has changed massively since the takeovers at Chelsea and latterly citeh. Even though scum are ****e, they'll soon be chucking £s to leapfrog back into the CL, which basically means us, arsenal & mebbe spuds fighting it out for that vital 4th spot. Even if that is the limit of our ambitions for the interim, we need top quality players. Arsenal have recognised that now with özil (despite limited success) and Sanchez.

[ChrisDR1968]

A lot depends on how stubborn Rodgers continues to be this season.

His preferred formation is 4-2-3-1. That has ALWAYS been his preferred formation. He set the team up this way at the start of last season when Suarez was banned and made it work to a degree because Sturridge is capable of leading the line as a lone striker.

None of the other three strikers are capable of performing that role (I was told yesterday that Lambert has a back injury and is barely training at present even though he could probably do it if fully fit).

Given the personnel we have at the mo it needs to be a diamond with Sterling at the tip of it and Borini and Balotelli up top. The holding midfielder should be Lucas or Can with Gerrard available as an impact sub after an hour gone or so replacing Henderson or Lallana in the centre of midfield.

All those changes take courage especially dropping Gerrard from the first team. Will Rodgers make them?

Doesn't look good right now but if we lose the next three games (which are all tough) he may feel he has no other choice at that point.

[Shaggy]

Thought he was a dyed in the wool 4-3-3 man? I'm sure he played 4-3-3 at Swansea. Although it's not a great deal different to 4-2-3-1 anyway.

Britton, Allen and Sigurdsson in midfield, the likes of Routledge or Dyer wide and Danny Graham up front. No?

[The Birdman]

But is that all down to Brendan ?

We don't know do we. That's one of the reasons it seems such a mess.

Yes it is.

If you think a manager finishes 2nd, gets within minutes of winning the PL then doesn't have a final say on transfers then you're bonkers.

Rodgers refused to work with/under a DoF so to now pretend that **** players aren't his choice is madness, yes we have this committee but fairly recently it came out that Rodgers says what positions we need to strengthen, the committee compile a list and Rodgers gives his preferred order off that list.

What's wrong is that this confusion exists but what is far, far worse is that the club spent £20 mill on Lovren to effectively replace £17 mill Sakho bought not 12 months before.

I can't believe Rodgers has gone the last guy we spent loads on and I haven't really given a fair chance to is **** (even though he is first choice for France and looks great for them) so 1 year into a lucrative 5 years deal can I replace him with someone else???

That conversation cannot have happened surely?

[Shaggy]

I don't doubt he has the final say, not at all. But there is clear confusion and it seems clear to me he is having to rubber stamp players foisted upon him and ones that he is not convinced about.

His (apparent) own choices (Lovren et al) are **** anyway so it doesn't really matter

[alonso14]

Thought he was a dyed in the wool 4-3-3 man? I'm sure he played 4-3-3 at Swansea. Although it's not a great deal different to 4-2-3-1 anyway.

Britton, Allen and Sigurdsson in midfield, the likes of Routledge or Dyer wide and Danny Graham up front. No?

our team cant play 433 because none of our wide players are capable of getting goals and beating their fullbacks. Only sterling would give a fullback something to think of and only lallana can score goals.

if you compare that with say bayern (i know its no comparison) but they are the masters of the 433 - their wide players will probably end up getting as many goals than their main striker lewandowski - both robben and ribery run at their fullbacks and beat them regularly and both will score 20 goals a season.

They're a massive threat whereas our wide players arent of the same quality and would struggle to score 20 between all 4 of them.

4231 relies heavily on the 9 and 10 to create and score like we did with torres and gerrard. But its more about the creativity of the no.10 in the 4231 than the wide forwards in the 433.

the thing is we dont even have a creative 10 who could score 20 and create 20 goals a season - perhaps lallana but he cant get into the team.

[tanner]

Its Rogers ability in the transfer market which is at the route of our problems, well that and the fact that he built our entire system around a psychotic genius who, when he wasn't biting someone, made it perfectly cleat that he wanted to **** off at the first opportunity. It came as a massive surprise to us all when Luis left...

At what point does one man leaving become a period of transition for an entire squad?