WHERE do you start after that? Well, I’ll begin with the mitigating circumstances. Sturridge is a massive, massive miss. As big a miss as the departed Suarez. Allen is out. Emre Can, though we know nothing of his aptitude, is out. Today, Skrtel was returning after a lay off. Lallana and Markovic have missed pre-season work and have looked off the pace; both deemed unworthy of starting at Upton Park.
I took a bit of a caning on twitter yesterday, for dimming the mood on a Friday night, in daring to suggest that I’m not feeling last season’s vibe. Why so, people asked? The simple answer is that I haven’t been impressed with this season’s Liverpool; this year’s production and its new cast. I was still expecting to beat West Ham, but underwhelmed by the prospect. No plans to go out and watch. A studied analysis from home; the equivalent of a visit to the GP with a niggling concern over your health. What exactly is wrong with them?
Well, injuries aside, with each passing match, it is evident there are a myriad of problems in attack and defence. Mignolet is currently a shambles. I thought he did well enough last season but his line-hugging style is beginning to cause havoc from set pieces. Countless crosses and corners which are obvious claims for even the most conservative goalkeeper are being left to centre-halfs on a wing and a prayer.
The defensive line is retreating further and further beneath our crossbar with the inevitable consequence we concede the most basic of goals. It doesn’t even require a decent delivery to cause problems. No-one is taking responsibility in these crucial situations, least of all the man with the gloves. The rotating cast of big lads in front of him are compounding this by passing the buck, poor marking and a remarkable ability to get on the wrong side of their man. Lovren, in particular, has had a very shaky start to his Liverpool career. Twenty million quid and we looked more settled with Daniel Agger who was castigated for same type of errors Lovren has made.
On the sides, Moreno looks a good addition but loves a wander. Glen Johnson would be getting pelters for being out of position, albeit the young Spaniard at least offers some quality beyond a thrust into opposition territory. Manquillo looks OK, but I’d be keen to argue the case of John Flanagan, when fit, in terms of attacking threat and winning one-on-ones.
Steven Gerrard was woeful today. He can still offer quality with his range of passing, switching play beautifully with raking balls to stretch teams wanting to narrow our attacks. During the run-in last season, we dreaded a booking and a suspension such was his talismanic value to the team. His defensive work, mopping up in front of a back four was at times underrated. Not so this season. He’s offering no more than a jog. He looks shattered five or six games in and is offering zilch defensively. But today and this was the nadir for me, regularly giving the ball 5 yards square to Lovren or Sakho to blam it forward. Gerrard has to take responsibility for setting us in motion, dictating a tempo; otherwise his declining influence defensively isn’t enough to warrant a place.
Lucas Leiva, slower and clumsier than ever, in the same midfield four as Gerrard compounds our lack of mobility. There were reminders of the worst of last season; Hull, Newcastle, Arsenal and Everton as the Hammers waltzed through us centrally with Gerrard and Lucas just watching and jogging, jogging and watching. It looked like a lack of effort; it’s probably a case of the flesh not being willing, but the will looked absent too.
Henderson seems shackled and depressed by the problems in and around him. He’s a very ordinary-looking player when the confidence drains from him. He’s inclined to pass backwards and square, whereas he looks a different player when the adrenalin flows. To me he looks like a lad with the weight of the world on his shoulders. The required running and effort to compensate for others is killing him. Jordan Henderson needs a helping hand with the hard yards. And in the absence of the startlingly out-of-form Coutinho, a half-fit Lallana and unproven Markovic, it’s unfair to throw the creative burden at Henderson when running his arse off to fight midfield fires seems his limit.
The second half was marginally better as West Ham sat back and ceded possession. We still created very little. What imagination we had came largely from the introduction of Adam Lallana. He’ll only get better. I think we’re seeing him at about 40%; the symptom of a disrupted pre-season. I see him becoming a fulcrum of the team as the season wears on.
In terms of thrust and a direct goal threat, Raheem Sterling remains a shining light. A finisher, a wide man, a probing central influence all in one. Intelligence, commitment, talent. Without him, things would be considerably bleaker. Fabio Borini possesses one of those three attributes. His movement offered us glimpses of hope today. He had 3 attempts, 2 on target but he lacks quality in his decision-making and finishing.
Balotelli remains an enigma. A quality finish in midweek and an involvement in today’s goal. The lad has attributes, but they’re at odds with last season’s free-flowing style of play. Up front we were about pace, darting movement between the lines and between defenders. Balotelli wants to come short, hold it up, pop it off and amble his way into the box. He’s an effective leader of the line; a traditional English target man but we’re not suited to flooding the box in support with runners from deeper positions until a more sure defensive base allows the shackles off Henderson – or a returning Joe Allen.
Rickie Lambert, allowed only brief cameos so far, had made zero impact. Nothing more to add on this, I’m afraid.
To sum up, there’s a big job ahead for Brendan Rodgers in the short and longer term. People said we’d need to take a step back this season; that we’d overachieved. We needed to cement our place in top four. All very reasoned stuff. But, we’ve gone backwards very quickly.
There are things that need addressing. The goalkeeper and defence need serious work on dealing with crosses; communication and a plan. The midfield, and in particular the role of the captain, needs tackling full-on. It is madness to play him in every single minute of every league and European game. Rodgers and Gerrard both need to admit this to themselves, they’re equally culpable on this issue and it’s damaging the present, and the players around him, while doing nothing to address the future.
We also need some players back. There was much talk of an improved squad. Suddenly we’re starting players who were on their way out only weeks ago. It’s far cry from last season in terms of style, substance, effort, and above all bravery. As I said at the beginning, I’m struggling to feel the vibe.
Er when I said “tell me straight doc”, I meant be nice about it!
That was, just too real….
Oh feck….
Come back Danny Agger, all is forgiven. The most important thing now is to get the cup game out of the way and beg, borrow or steal a derby win. Stop the rot. There’s been huge upheaval defensively but the way things are going, it’ll have to continue. Flanagan being crocked til Christmas is a pain the arse. Manquillo will probably come good but it’s expecting a lot for two young Spanish fullbacks to get immediately up to speed with PL frenzy. Get Valdes. I’ve never rated him, frankly, but the current situation isn’t ideal. Centre halves – Lovren needs to get his act together and Skrtel does too. I’d play Can defensive mid, and once Sturridge is back hopefully things will click into gear up front.
I’d give anything for a Xabi or masch to shore up things. At the moment, this season has “late rush to 5th and QF of the champions league” written all over it.
And by the way how bad does that 0-1 loss to Villa at home look in light of Villa getting tonked at home by Arsenal 3-0?
I’ve had an attitude adjustment regarding how we’ll do and decided to simply put this season down as a transitional one. With the fixtures stacking up already I’d suggest a top 4 place is currently looking a distant hope.
There’s that Chinese curse that goes along the lines of “May you live in interesting times.”. We’ve got interesting times ahead it would appear. To end on a positive note I’m certain it won’t be boring…
This is a new back four, a new front line and a tired midfield. I think Rodgers chose to rest the wrong players against Villa and against Ludo Razgd. We should be playing our strongest team in the league
We used the diamond last year and beat teams easily, today West Ham played the diamond today and beat us easily.
Expectations are a killer – for fans and players alike … after a number of false dawns over the last 20 years this felt like a tipping point to grow the team and like already said we’ve gone backwards… and the sad thing is it’s much greater than the loss of Suarez that is fuelling this sudden decline … here’s hoping we get our mojo back soon
It looks as though we’ve gone back to square one;literally! I remember that documentary from the USA a couple of years ago.Brendan on the training pitch telling players how to kick the ball.
Then we started the season playing like line dancers.You pass it there then you pass it there.Then you pass it back again.
Eventually it became more free-flowing and we finished with some great football.
We’ve now signed some big hitters and we really should be kicking on.But it looks to me as though we’ve literally gone back to square one with players looking as though they’re playing like painting by numbers.”You pass to him then you pass to him then you pass it back again.”It was obvious that West Ham had done their homework but even so it was easy to spot where the next pass was going every time we had possession.
I’m just a little concerned really.I do have faith in Brendan but I have to wonder why he spends so much on new players who you would expect to slot in .Instead it seems as though we’ve gone backwards and they need to be coached in the very basics yet again and told when and where to pass and who to pass to.
My big criticism of Hodgson has always been that he has a group of players who have been coached and trained in all sorts of formations since they were about 11 years of age.They’ve been kicking football’s about for maybe 15 or 20 years under supervision.
How come we’ve spent millions and millions on this latest bunch sand they seem incapable of making a simple decision of when to pass and when to move? Surely you don’t spend that kind of money on players who constantly need to be led by the nose?
.
I m sorry but I m finding it difficult where to start, but the final judgement is damming . The keeper is poor average shot stopper championship positionally. Left back Moreno good quality but left isolated,flannagan is a top quality wing back and is sorely missed . Manquillo is just a kid but is good quality , our centre backs all three would not get into qpr s first team. Henderson is starting to look like the player the manager was trying to get rid of, Steve Gerrard is I’m afraid well well past it a legend and a true lfc warrior but for his reputations sake and the teams sake should retire as he is taking up a place in the team that could be filled by another who would do more and create more . ( personally I would try him as a centre half because this season that’s where he s played and let’s face it if have anton Ferdinand ahead of the shower of sh1t currently play in that position).
Sterling is excellent but cuts a lonely figure if there isn t improvement he WILL leave. How must Ricky lambert feel when he gets his dream move to his boy hood team and he s benched for an Italian midget aka Borini who after being told in no uncertain terms that he was not wanted any more but stayed anyway gets the nod infront of you !!!Shocking
And last (of the playing side)but by no means least Balottelli, Every team he has played for has ditched him because he just does not do enough for the team , run tackle score he seems to get more cards and headlines than goals what a complete waste of money !!!!
Finally Rodgers
His first season was sporadic his second season was masked by the brilliance of Suarez , now after spending 100 or so million of lfc money we are starting to see why reading sacked him and Swansea let him go. He has taken the most exciting attacking fast free passing team I have personally seen in many years and turned them into frightened little puppies who are out muscled by Aston villa and West Ham and in the process make the afor mentioned mid to lower table strugglers look like world beaters. Tonight’s result is not a blip Spurs aside ( I’m not sure what happened ther) all our games this season so far have been abject and embarrassing and Rodgers is to blame!!!
Out of his depth no coherent transfer policy and no Suarez to rely on!!
Forget the top 4 we are mid table mediocrity at best.
Please excuse my spelling and lack of punctuation
I thought I was alone in this view…. I have felt this way since day one… Look at his transfers from last season… Sakho, Alberto,Aspas,Ilori and Mignolet….. £50m and not one of them worth a carrot… Season before he bought Borini and Allen… The former is dreadful and the latter nothing more than ok… He will dress it up with nonsensical management bollocks… He is a chancer I am afraid to say and is being found out…a one trick pony…
We will win nothing with him as long as I have a hole in my arse….tonight and last Saturday were a shambles… I was at Anfield on Tue night and a draw would have flattered us.. 80 minutes of rubbish….. We are heading for a terrible fall and the only way we get CL football next year is to win it this year… I go back to my arse!!!!
His arrogance and over inflated ego is a big worry.. Who do you know with an oil painting of themselves in their front room….?
I need to rest…
Mike, Brendan Rodgers was given that painting by a group of people and he hangs it up in respect for them. I’m hurting just like you but I beg you to please try and not let your hurt make you irrationally angry. Rodgers is a good coach – in Brendan we trust – YNWA!
Thoroughly agree with your assessment . The thing that gets me is why he plays Stevie G at the back he’s like Cantona and made to score goals and should only take corners that suit his right foot , Rodgers is taking the heat off himself by drivelling on about Gerrard will come good etc and The other Crap about Sterling being protected is ridiculous. Balotelli was a interesting buy but the millions he splurged on the rest will hopefully see him exit next year.
Hi Stephen. You kind of contradicted yourself when you said that last season’s brilliance was masked by Suarez but then said that Rodgers has turned a fast attacking team into puppies? I feel your pain but I honestly don’t think Rodgers is half as bad as you’re making out. What happened to trusting Brendan? In Brendan we trust – YNWA!
Well that was another pretty shocking performance! For the first time i’m starting to doubt whether Rodgers is the right man for the job. I can’t believe i’m saying that after the brilliant season we had last season but as was mentioned above the brilliant Suarez masked other deficiencies in the team. I can’t believe how rubbish our defending still is. I don’t think Rodgers does any training on defending because we can’t do basic defending. Nearly every game there are basic defensive errors and this has been going on for a long time now. It happened all the time last season but it didn’t matter because we were scoring and creating goals for fun because of the brilliant Suarez and Sturridge. Now he’s gone and with Sturridge out injured, we’re still doing the same defensive mistakes but now lack creativity and goals. If Rodgers doesn’t sort this defending problem out quickly then we can kiss goodbye to any Champions League football next season. Skrtel is a liability and i can’t understand why Rodgers can’t see this. He says how magnificent Skrtel is rubbish because he’s regularly cocking up in defence. For the first West Ham goal he wasn’t even marking anybody and instead asks Henderson to mark one of West Ham’s best headers of the ball. This is quite unbelievable. Also he got the team selection completely wrong which is why we were so poor in the first half. Why start with Lucas and Gerrard in the centre when you don’t even have Coutinho in the team. When i looked at the team sheet i thought this isn’t going to go too well and i was proved right. The midfield he started with lacked pace and creativity. Why didn’t he start Markovic or Lallana? Markovic didn’t even play during the week so it just doesn’t make any sense. I think this is Rodgers biggest test now since the first few months of his reign and in the next few weeks/months we will really see how good a manager he is or isn’t.
So that’s it lads ? All Rodgers good work last season bought him 6 games of goodwill. Pathetic , why not try supporting the team and manager , you know , like football supporters? I’m no Rodgers apologist and have qualms about him as I have done every manager since Kenny (first time) but the hysteria and vitriol in these comments is more disheartening than the football being played. Deep breaths eh? Give it 10 games and see how we’ve progressed. Disappointing so far for sure but it’s still September FFS. YNWA
Well said, have a rant but to question Rodgers position after only 6 games is farcical.
Very well said Brooklyn Kev!
Well said Kev…we are 6 games in and most probably not going to win the league, but WTF there are other cups to win. No-one does depression better than Liverpool fans. Keep the faith lads let’s see what the season brings we have been in worse situations!
Agree with your main thrust, Mike, but I’m less pessimistic than you. I was disappointed by Agger’s departure and the failure to buy a new keeper: Mignolet doesn’t suit our style of play. Nor does Mario, despite his qualities. Stevie’s face towards the end of the game told me that he knows he’s not up to this three games a week business, he sets himself high standards and knows he isn’t performing at the moment. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a word with Brendan after the game. More worrying was Raheem’s face. He looked really pissed off and who can blame him? How many positions did he take up last night? Too much for a 19 year old, that’s for sure. He can’t do it all . As for the defence….well, its time Rodgers took some responsibility. Having said all that…..I’m reasonably confident we’ll make the top four. You don’t become a bad manager overnight do you? So let’s keep the faith!
Nicely put pauloffinland. In Brendan we trust – YNWA!
Load of these lads were dancing round the arkles four months ago telling anybody who’s listening how it was all gonna be different now and that we were going to rule England again. Become dominant. It’s easy to be supportive when we do well. These guys are now the ones calling Rodgers out as a bad manager?! And we say chairmen are too quick to rush to sack managers. Some of our own ‘supporters’ would have had him out after villa.
Negativity. The guys that are questioning Rodgers are obviously fair weather fans that haven’t got a clue. I think Rodgers has been unlucky in terms of injuries and the time it is taking for players to settle/ find form.
For me, the biggest miss of all yesterday, bar Sturridge, was Allen. Coutinho has been massively out of sorts and having no Flanagan has made a big difference for me as well.
As for Leiva, he isn’t a Liverpool player and it perplexes me why he is even in the squad but with Emre injured I suppose Rodgers didn’t have many options.
We will come good. Rodgers will turn it around and I fully expect us to mount a serious challenge for 3rd/4th spot.
Lallana looked good yesterday and he will link superbly well with Sturridge and Balotelli eventually. Once Skrtel finds last seasons form our defence will manage. Lovren will improve.
Here is our best team, one that will reach the heights of last seasons performances:
Valdes
Flanagan Lovren Skrtel Moreno
Gerrard
Allen Henderson
Sterling
Lallana
Sturridge
Let’s get one thing straight here regarding other people’s comments here. I’m not for one minute saying I don’t support the manager. I’m also not saying that the manager should go. I’ve been one of the best supporters of Brendan even at the beginning of his tenure when a lot of people were having a go at him. All I’m saying is the defensive side of our game is worrying and I’m just highlighting this problem and saying it needs addressing. I still believe Brendan is a really good manager but he is not the finished article yet and he really needs to look at the defending. It’s just really frustrating seeing all his excellent work regarding the attacking part of the team being undone time and time again by basic defensive errors. I can understand defenders just making mistakes which are out of their control but we see time an time again defenders not marking anyone, getting out jumped on crosses not being in the right defensive positions. These are things which they can control but they seem incapable of doing properly. Surely no one can be happy with our defending? It cost us the league title last season and could cost us even more this season. We’ve now lost 3 out of four league games and that’s relegation form.
Relegation form? Do me a favour mate, Liverpool aren’t getting relegated but keep up the hyperbolic overreaction it’s good for a laugh at any rate . See the other results today? Give you any perspective? And we’ve played 5 league games mate. Do try to keep up…..
I never said anything about them being relegated I just said that losing 3 out of 4 league games is relegation form. There is a difference. Highlighting rubbish defending isn’t overreacting but I’m simply stating facts. If your happy with mediocrity then that’s up to you but this is Liverpool and we should be doing better. There’s nothing wrong with criticising the team when they’re doing things wrong. Why would I lie and say how brilliant their defending was when it wasn’t. Our defending since Rodgers became manager has always been poor so that’s why I’m concerned but I support the team and the manager and I hope he can sort this out and get us back to where we should be challenging at the top.
Let’s take your ” relegation form” theory through to its conclusion. You are determined to make sweeping statements based on a small sample size. If our “form” remains the same we end up with 42-46 Pts narrowly avoiding relegation. Relieved ? I know I am
Very rare I agree whole heartedly on an article about Liverpool but agree with every word here.
Danny Murphy pointed out after the Southampton game that we needed to strengthen in Gerrard’s position and he was spot on. With Can and Allen injured we are reduce to playing two players without a sprint between them.
Before making his final substitution Rogers appeared to be asking Gerrard whether his hamstring was ok.
This was always ging to be a season of ups and downs and we will have to accept that. We will be a much improved side when we get injured players back and new players bedded in .
Blaming the manager for ruining a style of play that he actually formulated is a bit daft.And don’t underestimate the effect of Champions League games both physically and emotionally.When a team endures a poor spell players start to appear much worse than they actually are.Keep the faith boys and girls.
I have ‘kept the faith’ for 50 years and I will continue to do so as long as I’m able to drag myself to my seat in the Main Stand – wallet permitting. That doesn’t mean blind faith though. Every team and every manager go through difficult times, but self inflicted inadequacy is unforgiveable. Rodgers has had the perfect opportunity to make our club a fixture at the top of the English game and blown it. He had a great platform last May. A team of immense confidence and verve, covering up some midfield inadequacy and defensive frailty. He had tons of money to spend to send us into 2014-15 expecting great things, but he simply cocked things up. Mingolet, his so called ‘competition’ for Pepe was made number 1, Pepe shipped out and the Belgium number 2 gave us all the jitters – any remedy? Yes, just get rid of Pepe permanently and let him carry on flapping, floundering and shot stopping. The world’s best forward gave a year’s notice and we ‘invest’ in a 32 year old bench warmer and a last minute punt on Balotelli as he’s a bargain despite Rodgers declaring he would never sign him.
Midfield needed Gerrard accepting he was no longer the player he was and adjusting to a cameo role. No, he becomes a 3 game a week player and looks like the old guy he now is. The defence has been strengthened with two promising full backs but weakened by buying Loveran, a Skrtyl clone and making him the main centre back to play alongside Sakho who never looks comfortable. Toure (God help us) is retained and Ilori and Coates loaned out. Agger never really had Rodgers’ confidence and diplomatically moved on.
Can and Marcavic- £30m of potential, with Lallana £25m and where will he play, how will he play and will he play?
Watching Stirling play reminds me of an 18 year old Owen carrying the side. How have we come to having a 19 year old as the one we can’t do without, no matter how good he is or might be?
I really hope Rodgers can pull this around, but I live in Freshfield, and judging by the number of times I see him out and about during working hours with his ‘friend’ and the child, I think he’s got other things on his mind.
Well frankie, I’ve been going almost as long as you, and I respect your right to hold an opinion whether I agree or not. But your final sentence conceding Brendan’s private life is massively disrespectful and unnecessary even if it’s true considering he now lives in the city centre. That’s the kind of shite I’d expect from an Evertonian, not a true red.
Have to get over last season. once the season ends, you put a full stop there and have to start all over again come August.
Hoping to see another version of last season is a fools errand. You dont lose genius players and maintain…you lose genius players and take a step back. No matter who you buy or develop.
Start from a standpoint of honesty and then we can figure out what this group is capable of this season.
All the negativity. Only happy when it rains.
Worth repeating that the best result from an English side in the Champions League last week was Liverpools win. Players out, players in, players injured. Unsettled times.
The whiners need to get a fucking grip.
Let’s judge this team when we have Sturridge and Allen back from injury. Even against much stronger sides than Westham and Villa, Liverpool would have done much, much better with Allen and Sturridge in the line-up.
Talk about clutching at straws, then of course resort to the whining card. If you read thecomments, most people are concerned not whining. What would you prefer, the Echo’s version of PRAVDA?
I thought we could continue and go again, I was too optimistic, I was wrong. There are 3 main problems, defense, leadership and scoring goals.
Defense is a problem and has been for a number of years with different players. Mingolet has his strengths but also his weakness and not commanding his area is a massive weakness.
It’s easy to say we should have kept Pepe despite his form dipping, but I will argue we should have kept him because of leadership qualities and experience. If you were going to bomb Pepe out then replace him with like for like but better, or even similar!
The defense is paralyzed at the moment because Mogolet is not controlling his area and defenders like Sakho and Lovren are expecting him to come. Sakho in the World Cup for France was one of the best defenders and Lovren is very good but needs time to settle. The full backs are good young ones and have settled very well.
An underlying concern is that Bredan does not seem to have a good defensive coach within his back room staff and while this is less of a concern when we score lots of goals, without that, it puts pressure on the rest of the team.
This concern now is affecting midfield. Against Southampton we set up with Gerrard and Lucas to protect the back 2 and let the full backs attack. This worked for Rafa however Rafa had a better goalie, central defenders and defensive Mids. Rafa also had Gerrard and Torres to score the goals. This is a different footballing philosophy to the tricky reds of5 last year.
This inevitably brings us to the Gerrard question, which for me is how to get the best out of him in his last few years? When Gerrard played behind Torres, he reminded me of Dalglish but with more pace.
Last year Gerrard was great when we had Suarez leading the attack, without Suarez I would put Gerrard back up top and play Sturridge, Sterling, Markovich. around him with Henderson and Llalana behind. That would allow Gerrard to lead the attack and let the defenders lead the defense, because a defensive mid does not lead the defense or the attack, they are in no mans land; if you play Gerrard as a leader then he has to lead something and he is better at attack than defense.
Dalglish played until 36 and he played with his brain and with quick players around him, he was the creator and Gerrard could do the same but for only 60 mins once or twice a week. The idea of Gerrard as a 70 games a year defensive mid is nonsense. He was never a great defender and while he can play that role there are others that do it better. What Gerrard can still do is unlock a defense with a shot pass. They are his strengths we need to play to them.
In attack we don’t know what a Liverpool goal looks like. without Suarez; Sturridge and Sterling are isolated and are lacking someone to link the midfield and attack. We have overlapping fool backs and we have Ballotelli and Lambert as target men, this is a million miles from last years tricky reds, we need to play to there strengths. To progress we need to adapt, adopt and modify.
Quite a few people have made this argument over the last few seasons. i’m afraid it’s a case of the heart ruling the head and yet another attempt to shoehorn Stevie into the team at any cost.
Stevie is really, really slow these days. What made him great was his power and athleticism. It’s gone. It’s no good mourning it, it’s gone. He doesn’t have the shooting power anymore either. We saw that against Chelsea. It’s either defensive mid or the bench I’m afraid. Kenny was able to dominate games with his touch and intelligence; his game was never based on pace. Stevie’s was all about pace and anticipation and powering forward. He’s never had a great first touch, (he’d never use a cloud to fool his marker) that wasn’t his game. Kenny was canny, Stevie was athletic.
well basically, being a DM requires a good phisique and great athleticisism. so the point may be that he can readapt to a centre attacking midfield position, that does not require that much pace or strength; so he can use his vision, passing and his little darting runs into the box as he used to in his prime.
of course, this may involve a different formation up top, trying to adapt his game to sturridges and/or balotellis/borini/lambert. more of a lampard kind of game in is latter days.
But he can’t do the little darting runs, he can’t sprint and that’s why he’s not doing a great job as a DM either. He’s horribly exposed when either Joe Allen or Henderson are out of the team: they do his running for him. It’s not his fault, it’s just nature taking it’s course. It’s happened to everyone who’s ever played the game. Watch some footage from 2007-9 then watch him now: totally different players; one an athlete, the other an aesthete. He just hasn’t got the legs anymore.
A really good article and captured everything i was thinking, especially with regards to Stevie, his little square pushes to the defenders were very frustrating. I know he was being suffocated by Downing to an extent but the square balls were not even complimented by a pass and move which is what is to be expected. Its sad to say that perhaps Stevie is suffering some real deep disappointment from ‘that’ slip which assisted our run in demise, a very poor world cup and then the heart wrenching decision to retire from International football, perhaps subconsciously the word ‘retired’ his haunting him, it certainly looks as though it is. The one question i have is when is the time for him to take the Scholes route and start from the bench where he can influence games and extend his playing career, at the moment the team is trying to accommodate him and it really isn’t helping….there needs to be some real hard decisions made.
The other point I would make is that you mention Balotelli as a traditional centre forward…..wasn’t Carroll supposed to be one of those and BR made it very public that we weren’t going to play that sort of football, I find his acquisition somewhat strange, but good business all the same.
I am worried at the moment as we seem to have lost our identity and heads are hung very low, i don’t just put this down to the team not gelling I really do think there are other more concerning reasons for this dramatic dip, but i hope I’m wrong!
Yes, I do wonder if Mario was foisted on Brendan like Sakho, once the Remy deal fell through.
Balotelli’s agent stated that deal had been worked over a period of “months”. Assuming this was true, I wonder to what extent we were “interested” while still shopping for alternative solutions. I just have a hard time imagining that someone was talking to A.C. Milan AND Balotelli’s agent without him knowing it.
Something else: while Balotelli might be a “traditional CF”, something he had over Carroll is something we’ve been lacking for some time, Suarez excepted: someone who can fire in nice shots from outside the penalty area (and not just from a set piece). Maybe he was brought to provide an added dimension. I don’t know.