BILL Shankly once likened the pain in the wake of an important defeat to cutting your finger: “It’s very sore to start with. After a few days it heals up. And then after a week you’ve forgotten, until the next match.” One of the great man’s less-heralded quotes, and another that in the modern era seems increasingly anachronistic.
In the week that has followed Liverpool’s excruciating defeat at home to West Ham, far from the sting easing, the hurt lingers on. Much of the justified optimism gleaned from the opening three fixtures — and in particular the performance at Arsenal — was erased on one error-strewn afternoon at Anfield. The fall-out has been spectacular; the forums and social media criticism ramped up by the day, and most of it directed at Brendan Rodgers.
If the response to the unremarkable decision last week to send Lazar Markovic out on loan flushed out the latent dislike of the Liverpool manager, the surrender of an unbeaten home record against The Hammers stretching back to 1963 has brought his detractors out in droves. A 3-0 reverse, as surprising as it was disappointing, hasn’t been viewed in the context of an encouraging start to the season but instead with references to the May debacles at home to Crystal Palace and the infamous mauling at Stoke. The naysayers have well and truly crawled out the woodwork and only a win at Manchester United will see them burrow their way back in.
When FSG took the decision to back Brendan Rodgers in the summer, what they failed to account for is that a third trophyless season, ignominy in Europe and a sixth-placed finish leaves an impatient fan base with its finger permanently on the trigger. Suddenly, narrow wins against Stoke and Bournemouth are viewed as “lucky” and the excellent overall showing at The Emirates seen as no more than a creditable draw with the help of a linesman’s flag.
It would be easy to dismiss the fall-out in the aftermath of last weekend as familiar and tiresome Twitter fume, but the boos at half-time and the mass exodus after the third goal suggest Rodgers’s stock is just as low among the match-going support. Short of enduring good results positioning Liverpool comfortably in the top four, calls for Rodgers’ head will never be far away as the season progresses.
The patience levels and atmosphere at Anfield is bad enough without a sense that the crowd is constantly baying for the manager’s blood, but if Liverpool and Rodgers are to improve their home results and performances it seems they are very much on their own. For the moment the prevailing mood is embodied by watchful silence but any more Anfield slip-ups and it won’t be long before there is open revolt. And more planes.
To be fair to all supporters; those who voted with their feet as West Ham’s third goal rolled unchallenged past Simon Mignolet or those who took to phone-ins and forums to vent their spleen, a refusal to accept such a poor showing is what has kept Liverpool FC always on the verge of recovery from even the darkest of days. Diafra Sakho’s final nail in the coffin, though largely irrelevant, gave legitimate oxygen to fans bemoaning an unacceptable display.
What concerns me most though, other than Dejan Lovren suddenly tracing his family tree back to Croatian relatives of Pele, is the level and nature of vitriol towards Rodgers. This is just the tip of the iceberg and it’s not healthy. A season could be derailed before it has even begun. Much of the commentary on Rodgers now has him unfairly on par with Roy Hodgson.
Hodgson deserved everything he got; he made no effort to connect with the fans or the City, played appalling football in a draconian formation, talked constant self-serving drivel and had Liverpool languishing in the relegation zone. Rodgers, for all that 2013-14 is an ever more distant memory, came close to the Holy Grail.
Even last season had its bright spots; mid-season innovation and a run that promised a Champions League place — and brought two cup semi-finals. And, although you won’t need reminding, there was a creditable seven points from nine to begin this campaign. Quite frankly, he deserves better than being described as “clueless” and battered by tired, old clichés and personal attacks. However, what he deserves and what he gets are two entirely different things.
Even the most demanding fans could have expected no more than a return of eight or nine points from the opening phase of four fixtures before this weekend’s international break. Seven points isn’t quite what we would have wanted but it’s hardly doomsday.
Liverpool 0-3 West Ham United Highlights 29/8/2015 from Yariga on Vimeo.
This week, to at least put things in some kind of perspective, I cast my mind back to years gone by when Liverpool have endured a genuinely ropey start to a campaign well into the autumn and beyond.
Famously, under Bob Paisley in 1981, Liverpool slumped to 12th place on Boxing Day.
Joe Fagan’s Liverpool won just two from the first 11 matches seeing The Reds a lowly 17th in October 1984.
Kenny Dalglish’s 1985-86 debut campaign as player-manager, which ended in the Double, started with just two wins in five. Dalglish also began 1988-89 with three wins, three draws and three defeats.
Graeme Souness’s Liverpool flirted with relegation, languishing 15th in March 1983 having won just nine of 30 matches and still he survived the chop! More recently, two wins in eight saw Rafa Benitez’s European Champions drop to 12th position by October 2005.
Of course, each of the managers mentioned had their critics at the time; hardly surprising given the sometimes abject win percentages cited above. What separates them from Brendan Rodgers though is their previous track record, whether as time-served Liverpool players, or as managers who had already brought success to Anfield.
They were each offered backing from the boardroom and support in the ground. Other than Souness, all of them eventually turned things round to an extent. It seems that Rodgers won’t be afforded the same patience — at least from the fans — for as long as his managerial CV remains undecorated by silverware, notwithstanding coming closest to returning the Championship pennant in the modern era.
From the outside looking in, from the perspective of FSG towards the manager this year, it appears it is top four or bust but with the majority of observers keen to move judgement day forward right from the off. After three years in the job, the only context considered is the failing of last season and the sole salvation for Rodgers this year, a trophy (maybe) or a return to the Champions League.
The burning question however is — should this be the benchmark? Should a place in the top four this season be deemed the minimum requirement before we consider rolling the managerial dice again?
It’s worth remembering that during the 1980s and 1990s, Liverpool spent money on a scale to outstrip or equal all our top-flight rivals. The financial doping that now almost guarantees Chelsea and Manchester City a place in the Champions League has moved the goalposts. Manchester United too, despite the Glazer debt, have thrown shed loads of cash at the problems caused by Alex Ferguson’s departure. Arsenal, more parsimonious this summer, have dug deep to recruit internationally-renowned names Mezut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez to bolster the appeal of perennial attendance at European football’s top table.
For all that Luis Suarez inspired the Reds’ title challenge in 2014; he was then sold from under Rodgers’ feet. This summer the club has cashed in on Raheem Sterling, regardless of his intentions to leave. Selling your best players in consecutive seasons is bound to have an impact on performance. In particular, any manager has to adapt systems to fit players at his disposal and if personnel is constantly changing, finding a consistent pattern of play — something Rodgers’s critics highlight as a failing — becomes more challenging.
The words “net spend” became familiar during the latter part of Rafa Benitez’s reign. While some supporters point to the outlay required to support the overhaul of the last two summer windows, the net investment (no more than £20m) this year isn’t commensurate with achieving Champions League football.
FSG appear content to bask in the windfall of ever increasing TV funds and Liverpool’s growing commercial revenues and merely pay lip service to the aspiration of a permanent place in the top four. It seems the fans’ maxim that “We are Liverpool” is at odds with the backing provided by the owners and, if that is the case, Rodgers, or indeed any successor will be judged on his ability to overachieve.
The prevailing mood of the fans however is that Brendan Rodgers is underachieving, the collapse at the end of last season compounded by last Saturday’s Anfield wake-up call. Supporters don’t do perspective. Patience is wearing thin and discontent simmers beneath the surface.
It is hardly the worst start to the season and yet it feels like Brendan Rodgers is under pressure after one bad day at the office. Only good results can release that valve — and only for so long — before the newspapers pick up on the mood of supporters and feed a media frenzy. Losing hurts and fans suffer the most.
In years gone by The Kop would “circle the wagons” and back the players and manager to the hilt through more drastic slumps than this — but no more. Suddenly, the run of difficult upcoming away fixtures — and now a succession of home games in the image of the West Ham nightmare — puts Rodgers back in the spotlight. If he is to build a bridge over the troubled waters in the Anfield stands he needs results — and fast.
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Pics: David Rawcliffe-Propaganda Photo
Didn’t you all predict this would happen at the end of last season?
Yeah, pretty much everyone could see it turning a bit toxic again if we couldn’t avoid a poor early result. To be honest, 7 points from these pre-international break fixtures was about what most would expect (draw at Stoke, loss at Arsenal, two home wins). The order the results occurred make it feel like everyone’s bubble has burst. I thought anything might have been possible after Arsenal but that West Ham hiding was such a reality check.
We need a manager who can make Liverpool competitive in Europe and the Premier League. Rodgers has far too many weaknesses to be the right manager. Like Moyes and all other modern British managers, he belongs more at mid-level clubs where the expectations aren’t so intense.
FSG needed to get Klopp last summer, but not for the first time they are found wanting as owners. Lack of ambition yet lots of PR spin is what they excel at.
Right, you mean the same Jurgen Klopp who said he is taken a year off from football? I’m sure that deal is just a brunch date between he and Ayre away from being done and dusted… You knob.
I got run out of RAWK for pointing out that, with very few exceptions, modern footballers are mercenaries, and LFC need to update the playbook in the transfer market. Alexis Sanchez didn’t come because we didn’t offer money (in a CL year), and then Sterling (who needs significant improvement, but will be brilliant) because we didn’t pony up the cash.
Granddad Henry needs to wet the quill and start signing a few checks in January otherwise it won’t matter who manages us, we’re just another Everton with a bigger wage bill.
Oh, and Lovren. For Christ’s sake! Lovren!
I’m not surprised you got run out of RAWK with your stupidity. Klopp’s agent and German football journo Ralf Honigstein, who knows Klopp, have made it plain that Klopp would accept the Liverpool job.
If we offer him enough money, which is unlikely.
I don’t understand the need for you to call him a knob!!
Why?
You made some great points all spoiled by the fact that you called another supporter a knob for giving his opinion.
Why?
Jon, you’re right. Alan, I extend my apologies for hitting below the belt. The point is, that since the final whistle on that horrible day at Stoke, Klopp was (and still is) a pipe-dream. Klopp’s agent reportedly saying through a newspaper source in a foreign country that he is ready to sign just isn’t sufficient evidence to support your claim.
We need to adjust our transfer policy to one that values a mix of well known established players with limited influx of younger developing players. Right now, we buy far too much on prospect, and spend significantly for the privilege. Milner and Benteke are a decent start, but we need to go after big names with big money, while maintaining our top talent at any price, if we hope to get out of this malaise.
The start to the season needs to be viewed in context – a poor showing last season and a large pile of cash spent – while the team was getting points it was easy to gloss over 2 very ordinary performances against what should be weaker teams (beat Stoke with an out-of-the-blue worldie, if the laws of the game were correctly applied would possibly have been beaten by Bournemouth) .
A good (but ultimately goal-less) half against an Arsenal with a shambolic patched-up back four does not a new dawn create, but the supporters were prepared to go with hope over experience.
West Ham well and truly burst that bubble, purely by means of being solid and organised on the day, Liverpool’s response was weak and lacking in all the things that made 13/14 such a delight – bringing back the worrying feeling that it was the personnel (and a certain Uruguayan genius) rather than the manager’s influence that gave us that season.
For me, it never seems like Brendan Rodgers – aside from initial team selection – can influence a peformance or change things, which is why recently , when things go wrong, they REALLY go wrong – see Palace,Stoke and, most recently, West Ham.
This is an important skill to possess in Premier League management, the cliche is absolutely true, there are no easy games.
On that level, in conjunction with some pretty ropey man management that seems to have damaged as opposed to improving some of our more recent purchases, I’d say that Brendan has to turn things around quickly and offer some demonstrable improvement that the supporters can recognise as being his handiwork or he may have time for a nice long family Xmas…
Yes any performance needs to be viewed in context, but which context?
You choose your context, I (perhaps because I’m being too optimistic) choose another context.
I see three matches where Liverpool have been generally solid at the back and the better team, followed by a match where they through away the game with two defensive gaffs.
I see Liverpool level on points with two rivals and ahead of Chelsea and Spurs.
I see Liverpool having an opportunity to improve the offensive side of the game, as players who have barely played together begin to gel, and as Sturridge returns.
I see a team with players capable of scoring worldies to win games, or save draws. I don’t quite understand why worldies have somehow become a lower class of goal that some how damns the team that scored them as lucky chancers, who don’t deserve the result they get on the back of them!
Worries do remain, but when I view things in my chosen context I remain optimistic.
The problem with that type of goal is that we have to resort to it. It’s literally the only way we are going to score because we are unable to create chances. The old adage of don’t worry when a striker misses chances worry when he is not getting them can be applied to the team as a whole right now.
When Luis was scoring worldies, I never saw it used as a stick to beat the team with.
Also, to suggest we are not creating chances is to ignore the amount of times we have hit the woodwork and missed presentable opportunities.
Coutinho could have scored a brace against both Arsenal and Bornemouth; Benteke also unlucky not to have added to his tally.
Firmino and Benteke are finding their feet and when we get our main assist-provider (Henderson) and clinical finisher (Sturridge) back, we will all be able to assess with a bit more accuracy.
Parsimonious is a great word. Good article as well Mike, thanks.
Brendan is unlucky and also reponsible … the support have had enough of waiting for Silverware and for us win the league again, I think many of us have run out of good will and patients… and to be honest can you blame the support?
Get rid of Rodgers now.
I think disagree that we are only judging this season based on just four games.
Fair or not, we’really judging this ON TOP OF the previous disastrous season. In the long term view, it’s become a trend.
I’m glad you acknowledged Luis Suarez’s role in the 2012-2013. Lots of Rodgers apologists use that as a sign of his tactical brilliance.
Please don’t think I hate him. I feel he’s had too much too soon thrown at him and he’s never really evolved. His constant changes show him trying to figure this league out. He never should have been put in this position because he never should have been hired. Bar that, he needed a more experienced mentor. That failure in man management has to fall on FSG. As an employer, it’s their responsibility to ensure he has all tools needed to succeed (prevents wrongful termination suits).
As far as top four, no, it’s not unreasonable. Rafa did that for us consistently. We hated him because he had a typical Spanish coach mentality : screw the domestic league. We won’t have a prayer. Give Champions League all.
At this point, I have to go with Klopp because an experienced coach is needed to navigate the inexperience of FSG and the ineptitude of Ian Ayre. Also he has experience achieving what FSG public state they want.
I loved Rafa. I would gladly take him back.
I still think of Rafa as our REAL manager…no pun intended but I’ll take it!
I can’t understand the animosity directed at him. He embraced Liverpool and Merseydude (as has Lucas Leiva) and his lack of respect for the likes of Mourino and Ferguson was emdearing. He made ‘This Is Anfield’ a truism. Nowadays it should be ‘This WAS Anfield.’
I certainly didnt hate Rafa. Was absolutely gutted when he went. One of the most un appreciated managers going that fella. Would have him back like a shot – I have nothing against BR but Rafa is far better IMO.
There’s been a coupla of these type of articles now and many reasonable responses.
These first 4 games have to be viewed in context. We had an appalling season last yr culminating in a terrible defeat at Anfield in the last game of the season. 4 competitive matches and approx £80mil later and we have another terrible defeat at Anfield. Stupid defensive mistakes with very little happening up front….sound familiar. If I was very harsh I could go into the referee decisions already that have went our way.
I’m a Rodgers sceptic and there are a lot of us and worse. It’s up to him to convince that he’s up to the job. The favouring of Lovren over Sakho doesn’t help. The playing of the same team and formation away to Arsenal and home to West Ham doesn’t help.
Rodgers is into his 4th season now. He’s had 1 very good season when he had the 2 best strikers in the league fit and firing and 2 poor seasons. He’s failed in Europe and has won nothing either with us or previously. The transfer dealings have been average.
Is it really that strange that the supporters are wondering about his suitability?
Agree with this 100%. With the exception of the transfer dealings. They have been awful. This years crop looks better than most but overall it has been really bad. Whether that is the result of the transfer committee or Rodgers we will probably never know. Buying Lovren after buying Sakho made no sense. Not giving a chance to any of the youngsters not born in Britain doesn’t seem right either. Nor does the number of players bought that seem to be completely the wrong fit tactically.
He didn’t fail in Europe; he FLED Europe.
From whence crawleth the yeasayers, then? Cloudcuckooland.
An officials gift win at home against a promoted side calls for hurrahs but a loss to a chronic shite side bedding in new players and a new manager that hasn’t won here in 50 years brings naysayers out of the woodwork.
Brilliant.
Correct Joe. The general level of skepticism about Rodgers is based on evidence – what we see on the pitch, the results versus the level of investment, the shocking transfer ‘policy’ and of course the usual bizarre, sometimes delusional Brendan quotes. Equally the level of concern at the club’s direction under Rodgers is usually informed, considered and analytical. So it does Mike’s generally eloquent piece no good to say “The naysayers have well and truly crawled out the woodwork and only a win at Manchester United will see them burrow their way back in.” Most of those who question Rodgers do so out of a love for the club, our club, not because of some ridiculous vendetta against the man. Yes he’s unpopular but mostly because we want Liverpool FC to be the best and he seems unable to put us on that road that despite 3 years in charge.
Yes he’s unpopular but mostly because we want Liverpool FC to be the best and he seems unable to put us on that road that despite 3 years in charge.
Exactly. We want to be back on top of English football. Telling Manure fans where they can go stuff it.
Totally agree mate! If only we had Klopp. He’d make Allen far better than that Hazard. The likes of Aguero and Costa wouldn’t be fit to lace Benteke’s boots. Forget Silva and Fabregas, we’d have Lallana. We just need Klopp and we’d be back to the top. Never mind the Champions League, we might even win the World Cup.
At the back of all of this is the fact that Brendan has no track record of success. If he did then I think we would all be more forgiving.
The results and performances at the back end of last season and the beginning of this are unacceptable. If he was a proven winner we would be more confident as it is we cannot be.
I want him to do well but I think he is a dead man walking.
In years gone by The Kop would “circle the wagons” and back the players and manager to the hilt through more drastic slumps than this — but no more.
You stated it earlier in the article. All the others either had previous success(meaning trophies), or had played for Liverpool. Rodgers has neither. Coming 2nd place doesn’t count. Also, outside of 2013-14, he’s had a miserable, for Liverpool, record. And when there are managers out there with pedigrees(Klopp and Ancelotti) of course people are going to want proven ones.
That is simply not true. After a middling start in his first few months that saw us in 10th after a defeat to Stoke, Rodgers radically turned it around.
We finished the season 10-6-3 as we scored 42 goals and allowed 17 goals. Put that with the following season, and our record was 36-12-9 with 143 goals scored and 67 conceded.
The following season, lest we forget, he lost both Suarez AND Sturridge. 50 goals just gone and all that was left was Super Mario, a player that never fit the tactics, philosophy, discipline, and work ethic demanded by Rodgers. Despite the general clusterfuck, we spent about a third of the season as the form team with Mignolet ending up with more clean sheets than anyone in the 2015 calendar year.
People moan that we’ll never score goals again, but once Sturridge returns we will have a front three that has scored 134 goals over the last three seasons (Benteke 53, Sturridge 42, Firmino 39). That’s before last season’s 8 scored by Coutinho, 8 scored by Milner, and 7 scored by Henderson.
–Benteke–Sturridge—-
———–Firmino———-
-Coutinho——–Milner-
That’s a fairly impressive front five, and I think it’s a bit premature to suggest that Rodgers, who assembled every one of those players, has no clue what he is doing. Especially when we are two points off 2nd place.
YNWA (or something)
Are we convinced Sturridge will come back the same player. He has been out for a long time and like many other strikers we’ve seen struggle after lengthy lay offs (particularly pacey ones) they struggle. Owen, Fowler, Torres. If he’s lost a yard of pace that is a huge part of his game.
Very good comment this.
It’s so easy in the modern world to slag players and managers without really understanding the situation.
I think you have proved Mike’s point.
I am certainly not a Rodger’s apologist…. I walked out of the game calling him for everything but to say that his record “outside of 2013-2014” is miserable is revisionist.
He was the manager in 2013-14 so you can’t just pretend that did not happen.
The first 5 years of Fergie were not the best but I bet United fans no longer judge him on that bearing in mind what followed.
I am not suggesting Rodgers will do a Fergie…. Very doubtful but you can’t airbrush history to suit your argument.
He was the manager in 2013-14.
He has won roughly 50% of his games as Liverpool manager.
That takes some doing and deserves some respect even if you think (like me) he is on borrowed time.
What his record suggests is that he is not an idiot,inept,clueless etc.
He is a good manager, whether that will be enough in his 4th year at the club to save him from the sack who knows.
I am worried for him that’s for sure.
Prove these people wrong Brendan!
The thing is we have pitiful supporters now. The whole “best in the world” tag is just good as irony these days. As a scouser I know plenty of brilliant supporters in the city and from all over but the Internet, and Anfield alike, is full of bitter, entitled moaners. It’s not that people having questions or concerns is in itself a bad thing. Most of us aren’t interested in one-way, blinkered and gushing praise of whatever is happening. But we genuinely did used to be slightly different … and in a good way. There was anger and passion in most stadiums – it was a working-man’s (women too of course, but usually was men to be fair) game. But the appreciation of class in opposition players, the wit, the knowledge and singing of our fans was a little bit different.
Now when I see comments about how we’ll be like this club or that, if we’re not careful, it just makes me laugh. Arsenal supporters – at the Emirates – give more support to their team by a long shot then ours gets at home. And so much of the vitriol and impatience and abuse and personal stuff comes from locals. That’s just such a shame. Certainly at Anfield and it seems also on the net too. There’s always an excuse. Blah blah blah. It’s a real, real shame what’s happened to much of our support. There are lads being told not to wave their flags on the Kop by the club. Craziness. The supporters….the club…we’re not what we used to be. Not by a long shot.
Today’s fans at home _are_ an issue.
The problem (and the solution) is the waiting list. Tired season ticket holders look at the waiting list and know if they gave up their tickets to get a break for a year or two, they would never be back. They hold on to their seats even when they are worn out and bitter. They sit at Anfield and are a misery unless the team is at the absolute heights, moaning at our players and not pressurizing the officials.
The waiting list could provide a fresh rush of enthusiasm to Anfield. How?
Select a third of the season tickets for 16-17 and turn them into half season renewals. Break the released half season tickets into quarter season tickets and offer them to people on the waiting list. Result: two excited new fans for every one partially dispossessed old fan.
Do this again to the next third of season tickets for 17-18.
It’s not too early; it’s probably too late.
Rodgers had a neutral first (part) season – neither good nor bad.
He had a great 2nd season – one for the plus column
He had a bad 3rd season – one for the minus coumn
This season is the decider – do the good things outweigh the bad? The board backed him, giving him new players who will need to be bedded in. In my opinion we need to give him the whole season before passing judgement
I think Liverpool supporter are very stupid…they are not patient. If they stick with Roy Hodgeson they should have won or at least be a serious title challenger now. THE PROBLEM OF LIVERPOOL NOW IS THEIR OWN FANS.
Ddi you get money from BR to write this article? You compare Rodgers’ 4th campaign with Dalghish’s debut season? C’mon.. we all know that he got no clue because we doesn’t have plan B. He doesn’t know gow to set defend. Poor transfer spending and poor suad selection. Tactic awful when compared with other former managers in the past. How dare you compare him with other greats like Shankly, Paisley?
If you could’nt do it better being consistently rational, then do something else that no need to show your ‘limited’ intellengence, mate.
Brendan Oh Brendan. When will a Manager again do us proud of our beloved club. We have been walking alone far too long. I miss very much the days in the 70s and 80s. We were walking together back then. Players come and go but we need to start appreciating players who have done us proud and please don’t leave them alone. Why wait and playing waiting games when we still can keep them our heroes.
Good article Mike.
My only point to add would be that in spite of the vast sums of money Liverpool spent this season, I don’t think FSG have backed Rodgers at all.
If you look at how much we got for player sales and how much we spent they are pretty much identical.
They have only replaced who we have let go.
I would have liked to see some additional investment on top of the players we have let go and replaced.
Liverpool managers of the recent past were always given between 20 and 30 million pounds to improve the squad regardless of who leaves.
That is the equivalent of one really good top class player.
The argument cannot be made that we don’t have the money when you consider the TV deal in place.
If they have decided to keep some money back to hep pay for the ground improvements then I would be happy as long as they informed the fans that this is the case.
I was at the West Ham game and it was the first ever game that I left after the 3rd goal.
The reason was frustration pure and simple.
Frustration that West Ham did exactly what we would have expected them to do (sit in and counter) and we could not deal with it.
Frustration at playing Lucas at home when it was clear the opposition were going to sit in their half and clog up the middle of the pitch.
And the most frustrating thing for me was the centre back partnership.
It is quite clear that Lovren and Skertel will get Rodgers the sack if he continues to play them.
Yes they kept 3 clean sheets to start the season…. Fair dues.
But they simply are not good enough.
Thiago Llori leaving has only intensified the belief that Rodgers wouldn’t know a decent centre half if one smacked him in the face.
Gomez Sahko and Toure are all better than the current incumbents in my opinion.
Skertel has gone from someone who was going to be sold to a mainstay in Rodger’s defence.
I have never understood why.
For me he is part of the problem not the solution.
If we are going to try and dominate possession then you need defenders with pace and who won’t drop off to the edge of the box when faced with an attacking player running at them.
This allows you to stay in the opponents half and then attack wave after wave.
When BR first arrived I trusted his judgement.
In the first window he got rid of everyone who I thought was crap.
Fast forward 3 years and I am not sure I feel the same.
Maybe he can turn it around…. If he does he will do it by being attacking and ruthless.
Both Lovren and Skertel should be dropped next game.
Send out the message that we have players who can replace you if you play like they did against West Ham or else what is the point in our massive squad.
Just the one point to add….. ha ha ha
I understand the frustration with playing the same team at home to West Ham as away to Arsenal.
Perhaps Henderson, Lallana and Allen all being unavailable had something to do with Lucas’s selection?
As for your insistence that Illori is Hansen Mark II, we’ll all have a chance to watch him perform in the PL. If he impresses, he stays, if he costs goals, it doesn’t harm the Reds. Win win.
Only question is does Rodgers has the balls or pedigree to be manager who can keep his team continuously on top with an attack on title each season.
Again having one good season and then continuous 2 bad season doesn’t give supporters the belief. The patience for supporters has already run out, it needs another trigger like the west ham game and supporters going all against Rodgers.
Even he stays for the 4th year running without any silverware, again supporters should wait for another manager to be given time to settle in than give us the results.Fans need to know does FSG has any respect for them or they are happy with their manager and results because revenues are increasing,club is making money by selling their best players each season.
Only thing I like to add is we need a manager who says we are going all out for the title then we can finish in the top four. If ambition is only top four then it is huge disrespect to our great club and best supporters in the world.
If we’re going to compare our situation under Joe and Bob to where we are under Rodgers you might want to consider we won the league in 80, 82 and 84 sandwiching those runs of poor form.
Let’s get real or let’s not play!!
I’m still unsure of FSGs motives, plan for LFC, and moreover whether BR has the requisite qualifications for this job that is the determining factor for me.
Net spend this summer was £25m, and we lost Sterling, whether you like him or not he was a good player for us. We lost Suarez the season before – and never replaced him.
So my question is HOW DO YOU WIN THE UNFAIR GAME? how do you ‘cheat’ at the top table? How do you bluff in this poker game when you know Man City, Utd, Chelsea (and Arsenal) hold aces, Kings, queens and jacks?
We can’t compete in respect of £30m players in each position, and that’s ok – cause we may not have the money. But I think we had more than we spent this summer.
So we need to turn the league and each game we play into a crazy 90mins. Where we may concede 2/3 but know we’ll score 4/5, we can’t ‘grind’ our way to success like Man City could and Chelsea have, cause we haven’t the players with the experience (and perhaps skill) to do it.
But that philosophy has to come from the top, from a realisation that it isn’t a level playing field, there is no FFP. FSG need to declare their intentions, and and act upon them. Ensureing that the values espoused are those lived. Currently I fear FSG are content for us to be non-serious challengers and simply cream profit.
FSG – tell us what you want to do?
Its not to early, You see… A manager with a national side doesnt have time like the one at the club. So that manager isnt truing to re invent any wheels or play people after tactical ideas made up on a piece of paper.
No.. he needs to use what h’s got and work from there on.
A striker, young and naive will try and be clever and put the ball in the net the most difficult way he can, the proper, quality, mature striker will put the ball in the net and do it more often.
Playing with your food is childish.
After watching almost every game and following every story piece on the club for the last two decades, Rodgers looks like a naive childish little man, that plays with its food and imagines his pees are potatoes and beef is chicken.
Trying to reinvent the wheel, using a tiki taka model and coming up with an imbalanced BS (defense/attack) and holding on to it like he does isn’t worth waiting for because in order to make it work you need people that do not listen to childish naive managers, people like Suarez.
Rodgers is trying really hard with a pretty picture in his head, full of belief. In five years, after he is sacked he will realize that he was being a complete idiot and move on. That is when he will have matured into a grown up, and hopefully for his sake he will have a chance to carry on.
An article like this is fine isolation, but now there have been a lot of them. Whether its the intended message or not, a lot of them seem to suggest some sort of lack of intelligence/ perspective/ level headedness (Is that even a real word?) from anyone who has even a word of criticism.
I’ve accepted (maybe a bit too late) that not all fans see things the same way. Thats why you will never see me say anything bad to anyone who is pleased with things are going. Even when there ar accusations flying around that I “should support another team”/”I dont enjoy football” just because I wasn’t exactly excited about 3 games where there only thing to be happy about was that we got a result. How is that an encouraging start? My father watches football matches with me, he doesn’t really support any team but even he said we got points we didn’t necessarily deserve, not because he hates Rodgers/ Loves Klopp, but because thats what he saw.Rather not talk about the fourth.
But anyway, now its becoming clear that “If you haven’t got anything nice to say, just keep quiet”. Maybe some should rather learn to seperate the trolls from fans who are simply concerned about the club they like/love.
I think part of the problem is that the ones blame Rodgers for everything that has ever gone wrong in life have exploited the club’s poor showing for their own “I Told You So ” egotism, hoping to be proven right rather than actually supporting the club in adversity. And, much like the conservative hawks in the build up to the Iraq War, they are bullies who shout down everyone who attempts nuance.
It is saddening to see so many take up the myth that all of our success was down to Suarez, that Rodgers is nothing more than a lucky bungler and implicitly agree that Sturridge, Gerrard, Coutinho, Sterling, and Henderson were mere passengers. As I mentioned earlier, Rodgers was successful after a few months of settling, so long as he had EITHER Suarez or Sturridge. During the 10 game ban on Suarez, we scored 19 goals and conceded just six. Eleven goals in those 10 games were by Sturridge.
Now, Rodgers finally has a striker he fancies, one that scores a goal every other game, plus an attacking midfielder who scores one every three games. And Sturridge, who has scored 40 goals in 66 games for us. That’s 134 goals in net over the last 3 seasons among just three players. In my mind, if you can’t wait 10 games to see how the new crop comes to fruition before launching scathing attacks, then it really seems to stretch the term “supporter” beyond all recognition. Especially for a club with a famous support that sings “You’ll Never Walk Alone” and wants to believe it means something.
There used to be a lot of sceptics on here who either don’t post or have had the plugs pulled because they don’t tow the party line. Some performances and results in Rodgers time are as dire as any under :Hodgson
“…the collapse at the end of last season compounded by last Saturday’s Anfield wake-up call. ”
,,, right there is the reason…
good article and nice writing, Mike, as ever
Why is criticism of Rodgers usually ( and lazily ) labelled as being from people or things that crawl out of the woodwork ?
Rodgers has lost his home record early in each of his four seasons and this time didn’t even make it past August. It was a fairly encouraging start but a mere 180 minutes had passed in competitive matches since Stoke. And it’s not knee jerk if it’s a fourth season and he’s still not won anything. This last and most important point makes comparisons with the 80s pointless.
I’m becoming ever more convinced that Rodgers needs to work under a DOF. He’s a coach and when it was more about coaching ( 13/14 ) he was at his best. Squad building, European fixtures…his record is poor and many of his press conferences resemble someone constantly thinking about the management books they’ve read and how to drop in key phrases that will be appreciated by owners with no pedigree in the beautiful game but lots of ideas about blue sky thinking.