Brendan Rodgers

[Mattshark]

I agree. We're all entitled to our opinion, but I fail to see any improvement this season whatsoever. I accept that our dependency on young players has hampered progress somewhat. Rodgers hasn't done anything to restore confidence. I am fed up moaning about things, just wish someone could inspire our players to perform above themselves (or even to the level they should be achieving!) instead of falling below our expectations. I don't think I'm guilty of overrating our players, I think we have a team and squad more than capable of reaching top six. Any lower than that is a complete failure in my opinion.

6th/7th is about right for our squad. The team is lacking enough quality in a lot of positions.

[TheElephantMan]

6th/7th is about right for our squad. The team is lacking enough quality in a lot of positions.

So we agree about something then!

[MrMichael]

Rodgers is the latest in a long line of managers to fail with the same core group of players. Maybe instead of questioning the managers, we should start asking questions of the players.

This season I've seen us dominate in the majority of our games, only to fail to finish our chances or make a basic defensive error.

If we were getting out played in games then I could understand the criticism. Now of course we could over analyse the situation and find errors that have occurred whilst Rodgers has been in charge. But every manager makes mistakes.

For me personally, he's on the right track. But he needs to sign the right players in the summer. So far, Allen, Borini & Assaidi have flopped. We can't afford to make mistakes this summer. I know those players may yet come good, but we need players to settle immediately.

At least this summer we will have a full pre season under Rodgers.

[Muddled]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/foo...e-strides.html

No problem with him been realistic and saying 4th is unlikely but why make a stupid statement about 2nd earlier in the season

As for the squad of his signings, Sturridge for me is the only one who has improved the squad.

Overall I am disappointed I don't see progress he has done no better than Kenny and we will not be winning any trophies this season.

If you're quantifying progress as finishing higher than 8th, winning the league cup and reaching the final of the FA Cup, then you're quite clearly going to be disappointed.

What were your expectations for a season with a new manager, implementing his own ideas on a squad that had been under-performing for a number of years?

[Arn]

I believe a part of the reason to why we dominate games is that the clubs know how bad we are defending quick counter attacks.

They know that weakness and they use that against us.

It's when you get pressed all over the pitch and still have a great passing game that you know that team really can pass the ball.

Press us and our passing game get very bad or we pass the ball back to Reina.

[Kenneth]

Hello Arn.

I agree.

[Vermilion]

I agree. We're all entitled to our opinion, but I fail to see any improvement this season whatsoever. I accept that our dependency on young players has hampered progress somewhat. Rodgers hasn't done anything to restore confidence. I am fed up moaning about things, just wish someone could inspire our players to perform above themselves (or even to the level they should be achieving!) instead of falling below our expectations. I don't think I'm guilty of overrating our players, I think we have a team and squad more than capable of reaching top six. Any lower than that is a complete failure in my opinion.

I don't buy the notion these players are now no good, people calling our defenders overrated, and yet some of these same defenders and keeper have... over seasons kept a tight ship at the back, being part of a back line that matched the best defenses in this league.

Now though, they are overrated.

Something else is wrong imo.

[G]

Arn is back

[Arn]

I don't buy the notion these players are now no good, people calling our defenders overrated, and yet some of these same defenders and keeper have... over seasons kept a tight ship at the back, being part of a back line that matched the best defenses in this league.

Now though, they are overrated.

Something else is wrong imo.

Rafa, Roy and Kenny built from the back, Rodgers didn't. We have a squad that is used to play in a defensive system, not attacking.

We have a lot of players that don't fit the system Rodgers want us to play. Rodgers should have started to build from the back so we got difficult to beat and score against. Builds confidence and confidence get you points.

[RichC]

Tbh Arn I think Rodgers has tried to plug where he thought we were weakest which was midfield and attack, the back 5 on paper at least is a strong unit but it hasn't worked out that way.

[Vermilion]

Rafa, Roy and Kenny built from the back, Rodgers didn't. We have a squad that is used to play in a defensive system, not attacking.

We have a lot of players that don't fit the system Rodgers want us to play. Rodgers should have started to build from the back so we got difficult to beat and score against. Builds confidence and confidence get you points.

It's not helped our defenders for sure. Maybe it's just teething problems, and they'll adapt better over time, with some good correct signings that fit like a glove, but then.....that's what worries me most going on our recent past! who we'll sign and who we'll lose.

[Imy]

I believe a part of the reason to why we dominate games is that the clubs know how bad we are defending quick counter attacks.

They know that weakness and they use that against us.

It's when you get pressed all over the pitch and still have a great passing game that you know that team really can pass the ball.

Press us and our passing game get very bad or we pass the ball back to Reina.

Rafa, Roy and Kenny built from the back, Rodgers didn't. We have a squad that is used to play in a defensive system, not attacking.

We have a lot of players that don't fit the system Rodgers want us to play. Rodgers should have started to build from the back so we got difficult to beat and score against. Builds confidence and confidence get you points.

[MrMichael]

Rafa, Roy and Kenny built from the back, Rodgers didn't. We have a squad that is used to play in a defensive system, not attacking.

We have a lot of players that don't fit the system Rodgers want us to play. Rodgers should have started to build from the back so we got difficult to beat and score against. Builds confidence and confidence get you points.

Not sure Kenny necessarily "built from the back". His only defensive signings were Enrique and Coates, wheras he spent c. £100m on offensive players. That most of them were **** and couldn't score isn't massively the point. And besides, I don't think the argument that what several managers who were sacked did should be done by the next one too necessarily is very logical.

ManU are the most offensively set up team in this league. And they're running away with it. There is no right and wrong way to do this, when Rodgers came in we had a major problem in attack. which he has made serious inroads into sorting. With 12 games left of this season we've already scored more goals than we did all last season. When you consider we only had one striker for half the season that isn't bad going, and indicates the squad is not as unsuited to what they're being asked to do as you say.

Sure we're conceding more too, but when you look at it on paper, are most of our defenders actually unsuited to this style of play? Johnson's been one of our best this year and is very comfortable in attack. Enrique is definitely better going forward. And you'd think Agger would be quite suited to possession based offensive play too.

I dunno, it just seems a bit simplistic to assume we should have "built from the back". Likely if we did, like the previous managers apparently did, we wouldn't be any higher in the league. We weren't under them in the last 3 years. If anything what's hurt us defensively this year has been the lack of an outstanding defensive mid (and maybe overall midfield shape), Lucas being injured then easing back in, Allen lacking form or ability in that role etc.

We were never going to sort everything out in one season, no matter who was in charge and what philosophy they approached the game with. This season has not been perfect, far from it, but it also hasn't been a disaster and there is plenty of reason to be relatively optimistic about the future if we can gain a bit more solidity defensively.

[Redspin]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/foo...e-strides.html

No problem with him been realistic and saying 4th is unlikely but why make a stupid statement about 2nd earlier in the season

As for the squad of his signings, Sturridge for me is the only one who has improved the squad.

Overall I am disappointed I don't see progress he has done no better than Kenny and we will not be winning any trophies this season.

He didn't make a stupid statement about second earlier in the season. it's the stupidity of some fans that's the problem. When asked about our prospects and being only so many points off fourth place he said that we were also not that many more points off second place at the time so it was important to try to win our games and finish as high as possible. An entirely reasonable statement that has been misrepresented by some stupid fans with an agenda

I see plenty of improvement over last season. He hasn't got Dalglish's useless Adam scuffling around in midfield nor are we forever launching high balls to the useless Carroll up front. Our football is much better and I'll be extremely surprised if we finished as low as 8th, where Dalglish left us - our worst league finish in 58 years let's not forget

[Fredo]

Well he is shorter than Michael Owen. Of that we can be sure.