Brendan Rodgers

[Yozza]

Get back to writing about how great Wayne's England are ffs....

Liverpool are considering whether to sack manager Brendan Rodgers after an underwhelming start to the season. (Metro)

[marcus50bucks]

EXCLUSIVE TMW - Liverpool, bad season and now Rodgers is under consideration

11/14/2014 17:04 by Mark Conterio Twitter: marcoconterio

Beyond the smiles and the official confirmation, Liverpool is beginning to assess the future of Brendan Rodgers .Yeah. The very future of the technician who after a long time has brought the Reds in the Champions League but thanks (or blame) for this, as collected by Tuttomercatoweb.com from English sources, could face. Because the leadership of Anfield Road would not be happy to be in the market conducted in the summer by former Swansea City is the meager results of the season.Mediocrity in the league, third in gironcino Champions League, with the race on 9 December against Basel which could seriously be in or out after the match that the English can be presumed winner in Bulgaria against Ludogorets. Basel not. What is likely to be the true crossroads of Rodgers, now hanging in the balance despite confirmations.

http://www.tuttomercatoweb.com/europa/esclusiva-tmw-liverpool-stagione-negativa-ed-ora-rodgers-e-sotto-esame-613429

[ChrisDR1968]

Not at all surprised by this.

I am surprised it's taken this long for this sort of story to emerge. It isn't just the results that have been poor this season it's the performances and Rodger's stubbornness in playing the same formation with the same players time and time again.

Sturridge's absence apart, he only really has himself to blame for his present situation.

The football this season has seen a bigger drop off than even the 2009/10 season was compared to the season before... something I for one was not at all expecting.

[Slinky Skills]

Getting tedious all this is.

[BigChief]

Getting tedious all this is.

I'm just happy its stopping any nonsense of another club looking to take Rodgers off our hands. Barcelona for example have a clueless manager at present. Imagine Rodgers being in charge of Sterling, Sturridge and Suarez. Now imagine him being in charge of Neymar, Messi and Suarez. It would be carnage.

By the time Rodgers' brand of football has everyone singing his praises again he would have been sufficiently safeguarded against unwanted approaches and head turnings, for another season at least.

[frank the tank]

I'm just happy its stopping any nonsense of another club looking to take Rodgers off our hands. Barcelona for example have a clueless manager at present. Imagine Rodgers being in charge of Sterling, Sturridge and Suarez. Now imagine him being in charge of Neymar, Messi and Suarez. It would be carnage.

By the time Rodgers' brand of football has everyone singing his praises again he would have been sufficiently safeguarded against unwanted approaches and head turnings, for another season at least.

Heres hoping......

[Daniel 7]

Starting to get a bit worried about us under Brendan - it might be irrational, but...

I just finished Suarez's book and his description of how he played football himself - constant pressure, always on the move, hounding down opponents, leading from the front - THAT was the definition of Liverpool last season when the team were at their best. Its almost like the team were built in his image rather than in Brendan's.

This might be illogical, but I can't help thinking back to when Brendan first came in - the football was anodyne, sterile and lacking in dynamic. The pass, pass, pass, pass, pass.....pass, pass, pass, pass, pass side to side then more often than not losing the ball or not capitalising on a chance. Was this the team in Brendan's image? Was the fantastic, high octane football we saw last season the team actually in Suarez's image?

It wasn't until he learned how best to employ Suarez (and then recruiting Coutinho and Sturridge) that we saw things improve and the "project" move forward.

Its noticeable that since Suarez and Sturridge have gone that the pace and drive seems to have gone out of the team, the ponderous football has returned and the 433 (or 4231 variance) has been the default position.

Ok, so injuries have forced his hand to a degree, but so has poor recruitment and also a stubbornness in persisting with playing Balotelli up top on his own. They've looked better when he's switched to Borini going alongside Balotelli and even Lambert has contributed, albeit in a very ploddy manner.

I'm just hoping that Sturridge coming back will get us back to the Suarez style pressure and movement, with maybe Dan doing a Suarez impersonation and Balotelli being the box based number 9.

Still, I think after this start to the season, we're allowed to be a bit nervous - and dubious.

[captainfog]

Anyone who isn't nervous and/or dubious has their head in the sand.

[frank the tank]

In reality, i think we hit a purple patch in the second half of last season where everything came together at once and we just clicked...... Put it this way, a year ago today i don't think anyone realistically thought that we could go and win the league..... (or be a cunts hair away from it).....

For me Suarez was electric for the whole of last season (minus the first 6 games he missed) but in the second half of the season it wasn't just the Luis Suarez and friends show. Sturridge, Sterling, Coutinho and Henderson were all immense. Gerrard was immense from an attacking perspective (or a counter-attacking perspective). I think it is unrealistic to expect these players to keep that form up through a world cup and for another 12 months.

The great thing for us last year is that they all hit form at the same time...... well they have all started to dip in form and fitness (or fatique) at the same time as well. It is up to Brendan now to manage the team and the squad to ensure that we can recapture that form and fitness as a group and take it into the second half of the season........ the fact that he has to integrate the likes of Lovren, Lallana, Moreno, Manquillo and Balotelli into the team now as well further adds to the task.

[Tee]

Starting to get a bit worried about us under Brendan - it might be irrational, but...

I just finished Suarez's book and his description of how he played football himself - constant pressure, always on the move, hounding down opponents, leading from the front - THAT was the definition of Liverpool last season when the team were at their best. Its almost like the team were built in his image rather than in Brendan's.

This might be illogical, but I can't help thinking back to when Brendan first came in - the football was anodyne, sterile and lacking in dynamic. The pass, pass, pass, pass, pass.....pass, pass, pass, pass, pass side to side then more often than not losing the ball or not capitalising on a chance. Was this the team in Brendan's image? Was the fantastic, high octane football we saw last season the team actually in Suarez's image?

It wasn't until he learned how best to employ Suarez (and then recruiting Coutinho and Sturridge) that we saw things improve and the "project" move forward.

Its noticeable that since Suarez and Sturridge have gone that the pace and drive seems to have gone out of the team, the ponderous football has returned and the 433 (or 4231 variance) has been the default position.

Ok, so injuries have forced his hand to a degree, but so has poor recruitment and also a stubbornness in persisting with playing Balotelli up top on his own. They've looked better when he's switched to Borini going alongside Balotelli and even Lambert has contributed, albeit in a very ploddy manner.

I'm just hoping that Sturridge coming back will get us back to the Suarez style pressure and movement, with maybe Dan doing a Suarez impersonation and Balotelli being the box based number 9.

Still, I think after this start to the season, we're allowed to be a bit nervous - and dubious.

There is a lot to this, I agree.

Suarez made BR, much like Stevie made Rafa (IMO). This is a real test for BR now and we will see what he can produce, but no doubts about it there are some question marks.

[DannyMan2006]

Suarez was fantastic last season, but he did go of the boil at times. IMO we only hit top gear when we had the tandem of Sterling, Suarez & Sturridge. When one wasn't there we were noticeably worse. You can call it luck or good management that he found that combination.

Last year Rodgers built a team from the front. That has been missing and it's come down like a house of cards. The defence was never any good last season and it's not improved enough this year to carry the weight. I'm hoping that when Danny gets back we'll have that impact up top again and we can build from there, but that's a wait and see. I know Lecter and others aren't convinced.

To have a successful club you need top players. Suarez was always going to leave one day and we were pushed to the limit to keep him for just one more year. All this talk of Spain, but he wanted to go to Arsenal last year. He only wanted to leave because he wanted to go to a club that matched his ambition. The point is proven when we rake in loads of money and spend most the money on kids. Then we have our captain coming out saying signing someone like Fabregas or Costa is unrealistic. We could have afforded both. But our club would rather divide the money on players we could get a resale value from.

This club is fast becoming the way Arsenal were, but at least they were doing it in order to build a brand spanking new stadium that takes them to the next level. We're neither here nor there.

IMO this club needs to take it's head out the sand. And if not, they better find some scouts who are good enough to find amazing youngsters who will come in and settle pretty darn quickly. Because I have a feeling if we have any player do well, they'll be off and we'll be signing mainly kids to replace them. Arsenal have top facilities and an absolutely top drawer manager, and even he has been pushed to the limit by a policy that I feel we are following. It's no coincidence that the top tier of our club have allegedly praised the Arsenal model and supposedly sort advice from David Dien.

I'm sorry people, but if you really want to take your head out the sand then start accepting the above, start accepting that any top manager coming here would be nuts as they'd have their hands tied behind their back and face up to the new face of Liverpool FC. I wouldn't sack Rodgers as I do not believe we will fair any better under another manager within reason.

[cream]

Anyone who isn't nervous and/or dubious has their head in the sand.

Nervous/dubious about what exactly ?

In reality, i think we hit a purple patch in the second half of last season where everything came together at once and we just clicked...... Put it this way, a year ago today i don't think anyone realistically thought that we could go and win the league..... (or be a cunts hair away from it).....

For me Suarez was electric for the whole of last season (minus the first 6 games he missed) but in the second half of the season it wasn't just the Luis Suarez and friends show. Sturridge, Sterling, Coutinho and Henderson were all immense. Gerrard was immense from an attacking perspective (or a counter-attacking perspective). I think it is unrealistic to expect these players to keep that form up through a world cup and for another 12 months.

The great thing for us last year is that they all hit form at the same time...... well they have all started to dip in form and fitness (or fatique) at the same time as well. It is up to Brendan now to manage the team and the squad to ensure that we can recapture that form and fitness as a group and take it into the second half of the season........ the fact that he has to integrate the likes of Lovren, Lallana, Moreno, Manquillo and Balotelli into the team now as well further adds to the task.

Well said.

[Daniel 7]

For me Suarez was electric for the whole of last season (minus the first 6 games he missed) but in the second half of the season it wasn't just the Luis Suarez and friends show.

He wasn't electric for the whole of the season - his form dropped off considerably come the run in, the goals weren't going in at the same superhuman rate and he looked jaded. What he did offer though was presence and inspiration to his team mates - they played the way he did, he lifted them when he was on the pitch, probably more than Steven Gerrard ever managed when he was at his peak.

[alonso14]

We all hope and believe that mario Balotelli and Daniel sturridge in attack will change our results.

[Daniel 7]

Nervous/dubious about what exactly ?

Concerns laid out in the previous post perhaps?