Brendan Rodgers

[Sarb]

Besides what Pearce says absolutely nothing indicates that he had any interest in players like Costa, Eriksen and even Henrikh. He wanted Demspey, Bertrand, Williams, Vorm, Bony, Lovren, Lalllana, Lambert, Allen, Borini. The players he allegedly missed out on are the opposite. If anything, the smack of Committee targets to me. He didnt even want Sturridge.

Guess FSG know the truth though, so we'll see what happens over the next few weeks

[ronanm]

Whatever the truth, the pitch is where the problem is at the moment. Still should have had enough to beat Ludgorets and Basle. Deal with that.

[Sarb]

Whatever the truth, the pitch is where the problem is at the moment. Still should have had enough to beat Ludgorets and Basle. Deal with that.

[cream]

Whatever the truth, the pitch is where the problem is at the moment. Still should have had enough to beat Ludgorets and Basle. Deal with that.

Get the right players on the pitch and there's a good chance of doing that.

[Lecter]

Don't think it exonerates him but more explains why Allen is getting game time over some of the new young chaps brought in and why Borini isn't getting being played so that he gets the message and doesn't refuse another transfer in jan should one come in.

Reading between the lines is Pearce suggesting Brendan is point scoring through team selection

He (Brendan) is an absolute dickhead if he is doing that, as the only person its damaging is himself

[Lecter]

Don't think it exonerates him but more explains why Allen is getting game time over some of the new young chaps brought in and why Borini isn't getting being played so that he gets the message and doesn't refuse another transfer in jan should one come in.

Dont really get that bit by Pearce.

Let me get this straight, Can is struggling to adjust to Brendans system and philosophy and thats why hes playing Allen

Wow I am not sure where to start on that one

[Lecter]

In summary I think its too late and Rodgers is preparing excuses

It reads very like that, sadly

[Muddled]

Allen can be trusted to follow Rodgers' instruction, Can can not.

Whether it's the right choice, that's another matter but we do know Rodgers is feeling the pressure and he is turning to experienced players to try and help him turn things around.

And all this clamour for Can is borderline ridiculous. It's like Rodgers has benched the second coming of Gerrard.

[Sarb]

Allen can be trusted to follow Rodgers' instruction, Can can not.

Whether it's the right choice, that's another matter but we do know Rodgers is feeling the pressure and he is turning to experienced players to try and help him turn things around.

Problem is his instructions are crap and Allen isn't doing anything remotely useful in a pedestrian midfield. Can had two good games and was dropped. What more does he want from his players? More and more it looks like he doesn't want Committee signings excelling.

[Lecter]

Allen can be trusted to follow Rodgers' instruction, Can can not.

Whether it's the right choice, that's another matter but we do know Rodgers is feeling the pressure and he is turning to experienced players to try and help him turn things around.

And all this clamour for Can is borderline ridiculous. It's like Rodgers has benched the second coming of Gerrard.

I'm worried what the instructions are if Allen is following them to the letter

To me its not so much a case as Can has to play its more a case of Allen shouldnt and who else do we have

[Lecter]

Whatever the truth, the pitch is where the problem is at the moment. Still should have had enough to beat Ludgorets and Basle. Deal with that.

[Lecter]

I wonder what his instructions are to Allen

"Dont tackle or compete for possession, get knocked off the ball as often as possible. When you get the ball make sure you look who is behind you and to the side of you and pass to them and never ever threaten the opposition box"

"Thats it top man Joe, follows my instructions and can be relied on as hes one of my experienced heads on the pitch"

[Muddled]

Problem is his instructions are crap and Allen isn't doing anything remotely useful in a pedestrian midfield. Can had two good games and was dropped. What more does he want from his players? More and more it looks like he doesn't want Committee signings excelling.

They're not crap, they're ineffective and the players need to shoulder some of the responsibility. Allen has looked average, but Can hasn't set the world alight. You can see why Rodgers persists with Allen, Johnson, et al.

The snippet about not wanting to play committee signings is a tad ridiculous.

[Robbie-9-Fowler]

Mind you the same Carragher and Neville were praising Lovern only a few short months ago calling him an organiser and saying he was exactly what Liverpool needed.


Easy for them to sit there now and slag off the defense after it has been shyte, but where was that expert opinion at the start of the season when Lovern was being praised by them?

They talked about that, said they didn't make it up they watched with their own eyes a different player last year. That although he makes similar mistakes with Southampton in terms of positioning he only made 1 mistake that lead to a goal and showed clips last year of our defenders defending as individuals leaving huge gaps.

[DannyMan2006]

Water is getting very muddy, very quickly. In normal circumstances, a manager doesn't last very long.

Football is about results, we all know that. When the results are right, everything is rosy. when they're not, it's all doom and gloom. To me, there is a problem at the club and it needs sorting fast. I can only speculate on what that problem is, the people within the club should have a better idea. The biggest problem becomes if the actual problem is the one employed to make decisions. Then we're in real trouble. I hope that's not the case.

But let's hope that's not the case.

So being slightly more positive, first off, I'll blame the manager. Brendan Rodgers.

From day one we knew what we were getting. A good talker with good ideas, someone who would in the main be very positive and was the opposite to what Hodgson had been from the start. A breath of fresh air. But that wasn't the only major difference he had with Rodgers. There were also two other massive differences. First off, he was very much a man who likes the game to be played in a that supporters love. Pass and move, full of attacking verve. Emphasis based on creativity as opposed to dour and defensive.

The final difference? The level of experience. It could be argued that Hodgson himself lacked top level experience. True enough, he's not the perfect candidate after all. But there are many a manager out there who had been around the block a few times who would jump at the chance to manage a club like Liverpool. And with that experience comes a knowledge of how better to manage a crisis. Maybe a better idea of how to identify a player, or know how to handle his young charges better. This lack of experience was obvious, but didn't come to the surface for a while.

First season, Rodgers started slowly as he Inputted his ideas. He'd lost a lot of experience in the summer, players under Kenny who had been key in his first six months. Two that most spring to mind are Maxi & Kuyt. I'm sure there are others, but those two offered experience and they offered goals. To my mind, Kenny hit the skids when he marginalised those two and replaced them with Downing and Henderson (who played RW). Two players who ended up offering zero goal threat.

Key to a progressive is how his team moves between transitions, from defence to midfield to attack. Rodgers had some grand ideas on how to use the players when he came in and he got things horribly wrong. He expected Lucas to come back and be as he was for a while around 2011, arguably the best DM in the league. He expected Gerrard to still be a rampaging attacking force to spearhead the midfield. Massive errors. He envisaged a midfield three of Lucas holding, Gerrard at the fore and Allen in between, as he had at Swansea.

Problem one was Lucas was injured at the start, but that was okay. Allen could cover in the short term and he started quite brightly there. The major problem was Gerrard was no longer the expected force in the final third. That left a gap between the midfield and attack. Henderson has a fantastic energy and found himself pushed into the role. He wasn't a goal threat, but his energy meant he offered something else. Gerrard dropped one back in the position Allen was bought for.

Minor issues lead to big problems. Allen started brightly but his form was wavering. When he got injured Lucas was back in from the start in a midfield with Gerrard and Hendo. Lucas never became the player of 2011 and matched with Gerrard's lack of dynamism equalled problems. Allen struggled to get back in the side, Gerrard had taken his position and he didn't have the energy of Hendo or the defensive skills of Lucas. He quickly became a £15m mistake. The team offered minimal goal threat, Suarez hadn't yet quite found his shooting boots and Downing still struggled to score, to such an extent he played LB. Sterling and Suso offered positives for the future, but again, weren't really offering too much in the way of goals and assists.

Then came the best transfer window for some time. The arrival of Coutinho and Sturridge. I'll fast forward all the positive spin, we all know the integration of the two led to a massive increase in our form. The combination of Sturridge and Coutinho against Newcastle away still gives me huge hope for the future, Suarez was absent that day but we were mesmeric. The following summer was a disaster. Moses, Aspas and Alberto all offered nothing. Cissokho was so bad I still don't know how to spell his name whilst Sakho failed to replace Carra, continuous injuries didn't and still don't help his cause. One similarity he has with Agger at least.

But we started that season with a team full of confidence and free from burden of expectation and zero European football. Mignolet was confident keeper whilst Toure and Agger at the back ensured three clean sheets on the bounce. As usual Agger got injured, but Skrtel came in and had a Great game v United and kept his place. Sterling a form was all over the place, but thankfully we had Suarez back soon enough and we could take him out the firing line for a bit. Moses didn't do much in his place, but it allowed Raheem a breather. He could probably do with one now, maybe More so due to raised expectations.

Eventually Toure burnt out and made errors, finally losing his place to Sakho because of a cock up too many v West Brom. Most fans said he started well but had regressed. In all fairness, he's getting on and couldn't play week in, week out. He still has the same issues now, but such are the mistakes from Lovren, we don't care. We're seemingly all happy to see kolo ran into the ground. But on we went. No midweek games, early knockouts from both cups, no European football. Team were fresh on the run in and no games midweek. Sterling came back in the side slowly at first but by the end was blistering. The SAS became the SASAS and as Flanno came in and replaced Aly at LB we looked much better all over the park. We finished amazingly well, only stopping to rest one of Allen or Coutinho whilst the other played. Yep, still struggling for that balance in midfield. Couts great going forward, but sleeps at the back, still apparent v the Mancs. Allen is disciplined, yet weak.

Anyway, we came second and in no small part down to a genius tactical switch that pushed Gerrard into the holding role and opened up the pitch for his passing with the pace and trickery of the SASAS. Teams couldn't get near Gerrard because of the threat in behind. When they did, we just killed them on the break with the pace of Sturridge. When they were deeper, Suarez just opened them up whilst Gerrard dictated the play.

This year, it's a mess. Bigger squad, but only on terms of depth. The quality isn't there even to field eleven players when one man is injured. The amount of systems and players he's tried is frightening. He's been brave, but it shows he's scratching his head. The extra amount of games has been a huge hindrance. Lack of coaching time and less chance to field a consistent team. Sturridge has gone from a good player in the eyes of Rodgers to suddenly becoming a world class finisher that we're lacking. You have to hope it's the latter he really is at.