THE last time I cracked my fingers and wrote a little piece for The Anfield Wrap I was defending Brendan Rodgers’ team selection and the Reds’ performance in Madrid. It was a positive article backing the manager and trying to silence the naysayers. This piece will be a tad different.
Liverpool 1-1 FC Basel — a scoreline that sends the Reds crashing out of the Champions League group stage with one win from six games in a group that contained Real Madrid, the Swiss side and Ludogorets. Be honest, when the draw was made, most of us were contemplating what youngsters Rodgers might play in the dead rubber final group game after our passage with Madrid was confirmed with time to spare.
What has followed has not just been a disappointing set of results, but a series of limp, insipid and frankly unacceptable performances. The Champions League was supposed to be the platform for an exciting and vibrant Liverpool to announce their comeback to the world. Instead it has been three months of being made to do PE in our pants in front of the Year 11s.
Apart from the opening five and final 10 minutes, which even then included some baffling moments, there was nothing from Liverpool to make you think anything other than “That’s that then.” It was a gutless performance from a group of players who had spent the pre-match telling everyone how ‘up for it’ they were, then spent the game doing an impression of a team that was playing the last game of the season having already been relegated.
To be fair, Sterling was good — very good at times — Gerrard was brilliantly Gerrard in the final 15 but just as ineffective as everyone else before that, Markovic was impressive before getting sent off for blatant eyebrow fondling, Moreno did what he could, which was cross ball after ball to where a striker used to be, but aside from that it was 5 out of 10s or less all round. Henderson showed enthusiasm but very little in football ability, Lucas had his first shaky game since returning to the first team, Allen I’ll come to later (he deserves his own paragraph), and the defence was, well, nothing that hasn’t been said a million times already this season.
I was excited pre-game. In spite of everything, in spite of the fact we’ve only had one performance this season that could be described as better than “alright”, this was a crucial European night. It’s different, the crowd will be buzzing, the players will feed off it, Basel won’t know what hit them. This was St Etienne, Roma, Olympiakos… or that was the plan. Instead we got Fiorentina, Braga and Zenit.
The performance in Madrid aside — which I maintain was a good one — every other game has shown us up, and it appears, shown the manager up too. Rodgers’ rocky and slightly naive management of the Europa League campaign in his first season at Anfield was understandable, he was a relative rookie, but now almost two and a half years into his role you would have hoped that he would have learned lessons and figured out how to manage against European teams. Alas, five poor performances and an honourable defeat suggests that he still has a very long way to go.
I am a big defender of what Brendan Rodgers did last season. Over the summer I couldn’t believe the cavalier way with which people from all over were stating as fact that Rodgers had at most about five per cent to do with last season’s success, and that Suarez and Sturridge had been the other 95 per cent between them. It was an opinion based on hope from rival fans and general LFC dislikers that the incredible scoring feat and 2nd place finish was a one off, a fluke. It came from the same place our assumptions did when we said that Manchester United would be a bottom half team without Cantona/Ronaldo/Ferguson.
To suggest that a manager shouldn’t get great swathes of credit for getting a previously limited team to finish 2nd above Chelsea, above Arsenal, and WAY above United was ludicrous and ignorant. I spent the summer and the early part of this season defending Rodgers against the baying masses who said he was a lucky manager and a flash in the pan, and it seems that he is dedicating the entire campaign to making me look like a complete idiot.
That team selection. Oh what a team selection. I defended Rodgers and his team selection in Madrid. It was barmy, but I accepted it, hell I actually quite enjoyed it! Tuesday’s team selection was barmy, but in a very different way. Short of taking out Sterling and putting Brad Jones in to stand next to Mignolet, it couldn’t have been any less set up to win than it was. A must win game, MUST WIN, and you play four centre midfielders who have spent the sum total of about 14 seconds in opposition penalty boxes in the last year, and a lone striker whose lack of movement against Sunderland almost led a stray dog to wee on his leg. A left back who is as likely to score or create as Mad Barry in the Annie Road End, two holding mids, oh and Henderson out wide.
Right, Joe Allen. Nice kid, used to be a tidy player, but on a night when the Reds needed hearts of lions and balls of steel, Allen was never going to be anything other than a wet flannel. I hate victimising players, but Allen has been at Liverpool almost as long as Rodgers, and I’m still yet to really put my finger on what he actually does. He doesn’t score, doesn’t assist and the only player he successfully tackled on Tuesday night was Lucas (twice). Even his passing isn’t particularly up to scratch. In the first half almost every lay off, even simple ones, were behind teammates, inexplicably in the air, or just in the wrong direction. I’ve wanted him to win me over, awaiting something to wow me with open arms, and maybe if he ever comes out from down the side of the settee he might do so.
On a broader note, there have been some strange decisions this season, none stranger than the signing of Mario Balotelli. This is not another ‘let’s get Mario’ rant, it’s not his fault, the club simply signed entirely the wrong player. Of course there are theories that Rodgers doesn’t have final say on transfers, but my counter would be that, if that is indeed the case, then why has he not resigned? Why did he sign a new contract? This is a man who was initially offered the job on condition that he have Louis van Gaal as a Director of Football, and he flat out refused, and got the job anyway. His stock was as high as anything in the summer, if he really had no control over who was coming into his squad then surely a man that headstrong would have packed it in and gone somewhere he could build ‘his’ team.
To replace Suarez like-for-like was impossible, and the initial idea of signing Loic Remy (following the failure to land Alexis Sanchez) was a tad underwhelming but made at least a bit of sense. However, why replace him with a striker who not only isn’t anywhere near as talented, but is the polar opposite in terms of style, so much so that you have to change everything about the way the team is playing to accommodate him (which goes for Rickie Lambert too)?
One signing that appeared to have actually been a Rodgers choice is Adam Lallana. You could hear the enthusiasm in his voice as he gushed about this super talented guy he’d nabbed from Southampton for the modest fee of £25m. Lallana’s come in and hardly set the world on fire, but he’s shown glimpses and scored a couple of fine goals, while providing a wonderful assist for Lambert in the disaster at Crystal Palace. He was clearly ‘the’ main signing of the summer, someone who could add an extra dimension to Liverpool’s attack. So in this MUST WIN Champions League game, where is this superstar? Playing ‘I Spy’ with Brad Jones.
The thing is, Rodgers knows he messed up with his selection. The half time substitutions proved as much. To start Enrique ahead of Moreno, then to haul off Enrique because he’s played like Enrique and not like Moreno, and bring Moreno on, is a sign that he hasn’t really thought it through. To start Lambert, a striker who plays like Lambert, and to bring him off and replace him with Markovic, a midfielder who runs, and not have thought to include Borini, a striker who runs, leaves you wondering if he’s forgotten that the Italian didn’t actually end up going to QPR or Sunderland in the summer.
While being interviewed after the game, Steven Gerrard, as nicely as he could, basically admitted that Daniel Sturridge is the only striker who can score goals for Liverpool. He remembered to backtrack a little and hope that Balotelli comes good, and that Lambert is simply burnt out (must be from those all action performances against… erm) but he also managed to forget about Borini, as apparently did Rodgers.
Don’t get me wrong, this is not me writing off Rodgers and saying his time is up. I said at the start of the season and maintain to this day that no matter how disastrous this season is, last season allows him at least the whole of this campaign to turn it around. However, Rodgers is making all the wrong decisions at the moment, with an alarming consistency that leaves you worrying that it could be a tailspin situation. It feels like if he was offered salad or soup right now, he’d somehow order a shit sandwich, then get five bites into it before realising his error.
Brendan, you still have my backing (which I’m sure means the world to you), but almost everything about your team needs to change and fast. Stop talking about the players showing character and being ‘honest’. It means nothing and frankly I’m not sure it’s even true. If this is the players showing character then they must be atrocious at playing football.
Remember what made us great? The pace, the imagination, the enthusiasm, the belief. Two defeats to United and Arsenal will heap the pressure on immeasurably, whereas two wins will go a long way to making us all forget about how dire 2014/15 has been so far. Let’s just get to January and finally put on a common sense hat in the transfer market. That dunce cap is getting a little bendy.
Something needs to change, because at the moment there is something very very wrong at Liverpool, and it’s starting to smell a little of almonds.
Spot on, except I’m a bit more of an Allen fan. You can name what he does, but not quickly.
As for Borini, it looks like he’s being frozen out to make way for a new striker with the funds partly raised from selling the Italian. Can’t imagine he will continue an entire season, and Rodgers can’t be that hurried to put his own head on the guillotine. Expect some people to leave to fund people coming in.
I can see why he opted for a slightly cautious approach to the game. Presumably he hoped that we’d get stronger as the game went on, like we have in the last 3 home games. Because, let’s be honest we’re not really equipped to chase a game. So 0-0 on the hour and start to push on from there kicking into the Kop.
But a couple of obvious flaws.
1. The cumulative effect of recent games on the spine of the team. It’s no coincidence that Lucas, Gerrard & Lambert all had their worst games since the Palace defeat. Kolo didn’t even make the team. Muscle fatigue probably had something to do with him picking up an injury.
2. No attacking subs to add momentum in the last quarter (why does Skrtel look better in the opposition penalty box than his own by the way?)
You can look where you like for reasons, going back to the summer if you want, but the buck stops with the man who manages the players at his disposal. On that count Rodgers fucked up big time last night. I for one can’t see the point in binning him, but his credit rating just took another knock. With 3 tough games in the next 10 days he has to come up with something different. I agree with Kristian Walsh about bringing a forward through from the Academy to add legs. Ryan Kent or Jerome Sinclair would be my choices.
All very well Walter but when you are trying to sell a car do you say ” I don’t drive because it is so unreliable, I drove it once or twice, it broke down for a while, so I loaned to a mate. He loved it, his mates loved it, he took it to London and everyone said it did the business, even caused quite a reaction around Chelsea. Then I got it back and shoved it in the back of the garage, brought it out for a few fifteen minute spins, and once matched it up along another Italian model I own, but in the sixty minutes or so spent along side each other I just reckoned I have had enough. Hawked it back to my mate up north and he offered me way over what I paid for it. The deal didn’t pan out, I was pissed so I put it back in the garage, and I have ignored it ever since. I have paid no attention to it at all, but I assume it still runs. I believe my mate still wants it up north, wonder if he will make me the same offer?”
^ Nice BillO, nice ^
Those of us who follow the CL weren’t expecting to click our fingers Dave. Basel are a good side with CL pedigree.
The decision to play Lambert, Lucas and Kolo on Saturday and Tuesday was both craven and foolhardy. It cost us. Lallana should be playing when Lambert plays, it’s a no-brainer. He’s looked good in flashes, a poor man’s Silva, but decent enough. He or Sterling should be playing behind Lambert with runners, say Markovic and Borini looking to profit from through balls and lay offs.
I’m a Rodgers fan but not for the first time his team selection was awful.
The entire left side of the team was wrong. Who takes arguably your best centre mid and plays him leftwing, when there are at least three players in the squad more adept at playing there.
What was he expecting Henderson to do? Beat a man and whip it in?? As for Enrique, gone in Jan if anyone will take him!
I don’t think it is any coincidence that LFC looked the sharpest they have in weeks (not hard, admittedly) when Rodgers stopped playing the lone big man upfront.
take the hint, Brendan!
This post made me chortle out loud a couple of times, which given how depressing last night was, is quite an achievement. Nice one.
Really liked this article. Out of the 3 tonight it sums up a lot of how I’m feeling.
I think Rodgers is lost a bit, he left his footballing philosophy behind and I think if he’s gonna go down (I don’t want him to) he should go down playing the kind of football he believes in. I want the madness back…..the really good madness so this us how I suggest we go about the next month or until we buy a new striker/get Sturridge back. Stick to the attacking philosophy. Take the game to the opposition. Let them deal with us. Let them try to contain us. Go 4-3-3 but drop Lambert and Balo altogether!
I propose a team as follows, Migs, Johnson, Kolo, Sakho, Moreno, Allen, Henderson, Gerrard, Markovic, Sterling, Lallana. The most important part of this is the front 3. Sterling must play centrally as everything good we do attacking wise has involved him so far. We tell the front 3 to press, work, move and then work some more. We complain about a lack of movement and pace in the final third? Well these 3 have plenty of movement and/or pace. Countinho can slot in for Lallana/Markovic maybe. Gerrard, Henderson and Allen should be able to find one of these 3 with passes surely?! They don’t have to stay rigid to their positions but there must be movement and speed. Pull the defence apart. Run in behind them. Create space for others to attack. I’m sure Gerrard could find a space to sneak into. Even Borini fits into that 4-3-3 if needs be!!
Others might choose a slightly different defence or midfield but the point being lets get back to our way of playing football; high pressing, closing down, early attacking, intensity, knicking the ball of the opposition toe, loads of movement and pace. Lambert and Balo do not suit our style, leave them on the bench!
Why the hell not?! How can it be any worse than the life sucking dross we’ve had to witness this season?! Dya think Utd would see that coming?! Dya think their defence could deal with it?! What have we got to lose?!
I want the madness back!!!
Allen does do a few things.
For one, he’s brave as a lion, particularly on the ball. No matter the limited space or situation, he always makes himself available to receive a pass. He always takes responsibility, even when playing poorly. He’ll also never shy away from trying a difficult pass. If it’s the right one to play, he’ll do it. That takes balls. When you play badly, it is very easy to hide. People will describe you as “quiet” instead of “awful.” Allen mans up.
He’s also tactically very aware without the ball.
And he’s perfect for a rotating midfield. He can defend, cover ground, cover attacking fullbacks but also knows how to get in and around the box. He might not score or even assist, but he often plays the pass before the assist. His high pressing, when given that task, is superb.
He has an engine even though he isnt the quickest.
He’s going through a bad patch now, like most of them. But what makes me disappointed with him is that he isnt very consistent and more, he tends to play as well as the team is. From Xmas to May last season he looked like a £30m player, now he looks like a £5m player.
So that’s Allen. On to Rodgers.
Just one question: After how many poor team selections, poor substitutions, poor results and poor performances do you stop defending him?
“Of course there are theories that Rodgers doesn’t have final say on transfers, but my counter would be that, if that is indeed the case, then why has he not resigned? Why did he sign a new contract? This is a man who was initially offered the job on condition that he have Louis van Gaal as a Director of Football, and he flat out refused, and got the job anyway. His stock was as high as anything in the summer, if he really had no control over who was coming into his squad then surely a man that headstrong would have packed it in and gone somewhere he could build ‘his’ team.”
This is absolutely spot on for me when people give it the ‘ they were the committee’s buy, he didnt want them. There is blind defence of a position and then there is madness.
Interestingly I saw a link to a Reading paper from 2009 which had asked for Reading fans thoughts on Brendan Rodgers whilst he was manager there. The replies are scarily reminiscent of where we are now. Baffling selections, poor performances, arrogance, awful press conferences. So bad was it that they were begging for Steve Coppell to be re-instated!!. So this obviously isnt a new situation for Rodgers.
I get the ‘he has to have the season’ but at this point in The Hodge’s reign werent we all comfortable in asking for him to begone from our door!? Is there a point where that happens with Rodgers?
Way to go Michael… I vote for that. Nice article Dave made me lol on the shat sandwhich. We also have to watch for that Tailspinn it could be terminal.
Great piece David
I’ve been asking for about a month now and still no-one will answer. At what point do those still supporting Rodgers stop defending him? Anyone?
5 points from 4 games against Basel and Ludogorets is a disgrace.
When the season is over and you can judge that he still wasn’t able to integrate the new signings or get the team playing at a decent level.
Am I the only one that thinks the work rate and effort of Johnson for X amount of time has been one of the main reasons Liverpool are falling apart…
How does he get picked week in week out !!!!
While not disagreeing with your article, Henderson played the first half at the head of the mid field triangle. This frankly stupid move had two knock on results. Firstly he is not a creative inside forward and second, the team was losing the mid field battle that was taking place 30 yds behind him in the midfield. Hence one shot on target in the half, no at temps and a goal down. I sit behind the dug outs, could see what was going wrong, why was it not changed before we went behind ?
The swapping and changing of left full backs is simply beyond logic. You do not bring a young Spanish lad and throw him ( or them ! ) into the Premier league. Think of the Man City goal. So later on you bring back Enrique and swap them around using a TV remote. Just when we need a solid stable defence ! Changing them at half time on Tuesday ilistrated what a mess team selection has become. The players will be as pissed off as we are.
Very enjoyable read!