ALMOST three months ago to the day, I wrote an article looking at the types of signings that had been a success for us in recent(ish) years and whether this could form a strategy for us this summer. If you can’t be bothered reading it again, it concluded, based on past successes, that Liverpool should be looking at players aged 21 to 23 who could warrant the gift of a sword or a fireworks display when they left their club.
Now I admit the last bit can be a difficult one to judge. Maybe Burnley don’t have a fireworks budget? So perhaps, before trying to judge whether the players we have bought this summer have the right sort of profile, the second part needs drilling down a bit further.
My point was that the players we target should be clearly ready to make the step up. We shouldn’t be signing anyone on the back of a good six months but instead look at established players who have clearly outgrown their current clubs. Players who made their debuts early and stayed in the team, demonstrating quality and maturity.
Basically our target signings should be modern-day versions of Xabi Alonso — he who was presented with the aforementioned sword on leaving Real Sociedad. He was 22 when we bought him, but had already been captain for two seasons. He’d made 138 first-team appearances when he moved to the Reds, the majority of which were in the top division, and had 11 caps for Spain, 10 of which were won in the year before we bought him. He was a star, very much on the up, at a club who recognised they could hold on to him no longer. Liverpool pounced while others dithered.
So how do these numbers match up with those who we bought this summer? Let’s have a look. All numbers are pre-Liverpool.
- Christian Benteke: Age 24 – Apps 234 – Caps 24
- Adam Bogdan: Age 27 – Apps 121 – Caps 19
- Nathaniel Clyne: Age 24 – Apps 241 – Caps 5
- Roberto Firmino: Age 23 – Apps 206 – Caps 10
- Joe Gomez: Age 18 – Apps 24 – Caps 0
- Danny Ings: Age 23 – Apps 173 – Caps 0
- James Milner: Age 29 – Apps 509 – Caps 54
Now if we discount Milner — who fits into the ‘experienced and low/no transfer fee’ bracket I talked about in the first article — and Bogdan (because sub goalies who’s arsed?) the other five are worth discussing further.
Firstly, I mentioned in the original piece that we hadn’t signed a single lad aged 17 to 19 that had worked out in the last 10 years so it probably wasn’t worth bothering doing that. Now it’s early days for Joe Gomez, but it seems fairly certain that he’s had me off on that one. Which proves both that every transfer policy needs to be flexible for the right player, and that Liverpool’s transfer committee shouldn’t be employing me any time soon.
But look at the others. All aged 23 or 24 (just outside my ideal range, but the same age as Luis Suarez when he signed). All very experienced, mostly at a high level. All highly valued at their clubs, but ready to move on.
Benteke had racked up 234 club appearances before arriving at Liverpool, scoring 98 goals. He’s managed each step up in his career well, looking at plenty of times like he was Aston Villa’s only hope of a goal. By the end Aston Villa fans recognised he deserved a move on, only debating whether Liverpool was worthy of his talents. The cheeky gets.
Clyne had somehow amassed 241 club appearances a month or so after his 24th birthday. In 2010-11 he was the youngest player in the Football League to pay every single game, at only 19. By the time he moved to Southampton, aged 21, he’d played 122 times in the Championship for Crystal Palace. He was straight in the team for The Saints. He’s a young lad who knows how to play right back.
Firmino feels the most Alonso. ‘Only’ the 206 appearances for Bobby, but he’s a year younger than the other two, and has managed to move to another continent as well.
Like Xabi, all the top clubs had a look at him before deciding they weren’t quite sure. Like Xabi, he’s a recent addition to a top international team, with eight of Firmino’s 10 international caps coming in 2015.
As our chat with Hoffenheim scout Lutz Pfannenstiel revealed, the German club accepted he needed to move on and, while not quite buying him a sword, certainly wished him well. This doesn’t guarantee he will be a Xabi-style success, of course. But the profile is encouraging.
Ings feels like the wildcard. A good age at 23, but with the majority of his 173 appearances in the lower leagues. Yet to be capped by his country, it does feel like this move might have come a bit early for Ings, but his situation demanded that it was now.
It might have been a move that made sense from a financial point of view, but whether he is able to contribute to a successful Liverpool team remains to be seen.
So, generally speaking, the profiles look good. Nothing is won by player profiles, of course. They need to do it on the pitch for Liverpool Football Club. But I would argue that the right sort of player has been targeted this summer, even if many of us might have had different positions or specific targets we preferred.
However, this is only one profile of payer I suggested we look at. The other was the Coutinho/Sturridge example. Players overlooked by top clubs who would come to regret letting them go. Clubs who can buy anyone in the world often discard top players who they no longer have space for, or young players who haven’t had the chance to play because of the bigger names in the dressing room.
Real Madrid have let Sami Khedira and Asier Illarramendi go this summer. Pedro was this season’s talent who got fed up of wondering about his place in the Barcelona team. Bayern Munich were happy to allow Dante leave for a pretty nominal fee.
Could any of these players have been looked at by Liverpool? Perhaps they were. But anyway the time for transfers is now over. Now it’s about what they do on the pitch.
Over to you, boys.
Transfer deadline day: Have Liverpool and FSG done enough?
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Look on certain forums and you’ll find at the very least 70 to 75% of fans want this muppet OUT,he’s destroyed our credibility in European football / Has shambolic team selections / Plays a whole season without a striker just to make a point / Breaks the wrong kind of records the fans want / Losing 6 v 1 at Stoke,1 v 3 Crystal Palace,0 v 3 West Ham and says ” THE TEAM SHOWED CHARACTER ”
FFS GET THIS IDIOT OUT NOW…
I don’t like him and would like to see him gone, but I don’t think you can assume that this and other forums are necessarily representative of general fan views.
Insofar as spending is concerned, I thought we had a fair squad last season but that it was criminally mismanaged. This season is already showing signs that nothing has changed. I posted on another article that I am now more or less indifferent. In fact I would prefer to be resisting relegation with a manager I believed in than perpetual frustration with a manager who is just not credible.
I started from a very different position to you Kevin, 13/14 was a wonderful season and Rodgers nurtured and facilitated that brilliance but it feels as though I’m approaching the rubicon. I just don’t like the way the club is being run at the moment: the supporters blame the manager, the manager blames the players, everyone blames the transfer committee and unattributed briefings and leaks have become a regular feature of a club that is becoming at best Being Liverpool, at worst a soap opera. We used to keep things in house. I preferred it that way. Scapegoating is a sign of weakness and I see it running throughout the club, the supporters and the media.
Wow, first comment on an article about how our most recent signings align to one man’s analysis on what has worked in the past is about fckn Rodgers out.
Im not sold on the bloke either, but time and place – its not all about him
If Brendan manages like a muppet this season and LFC’s results are bad then he’ll get sacked by the end of the season. Just get behind him in the meantime!!!!Anything less than 4th should not be accepted and he should go in this instance but say he does manage LFC to a 4th place, my fear is that overly negative ‘fans’ like yourself will still find something to cry about. It’s make or break. 4th or better or sack. Get behind him and we’ll have a better chance of 4th!!!!
I read this article, and then moved on to the comments, in hope of avoiding the constant bile that’s everywhere at the moment. The artice is about our recent purchases..
I’m pretty happy with our buys this summer. However I can see next year needing to bring in 3/4 new defenders, possibly a new goalkeeper and another midfielder or 2 and that’s only if we hold onto all the players we want.
With Ilori gone on a loan to buy (baffling), Kolo well past his best, Lovren doing his Lovren thing and a new leftback probably needed now we seem to lurch from overhaul to overhaul each summer.
There’s very little consistency in the team. Can we not get to the situation where we can bring in just 3/4 quality players each summer instead?
Rodgers couldn’t spot a quality player if his divorce settlement depended on it.
I’d would love some clarification from the club as to Rodgers buys and committee buys.That way I could try to make sense of the players loaned out and the players constantly played out of position,not to mention the players who shouldn’t be anywhere near the starting eleven (OK, yes Lovren).
That’s debatable, mate, although I see where you’re coming from. Are we cementing the club as an upper mid table side that flops at the odd chance in Europe because of him? If he fucks up the EL this season, he should be fired. If he can’t get it right against the lower level euro sides, there’s zero chance he’ll do it in the CL, assuming the club ever gets there again under him.
I suspect FSG don’t care at the moment. Their investment is doing incredibly well, the ROI is soaring thanks to the influx of TV money, which could be taking another boost as another set of markets start bidding for games soon. And the stadium issue is being (as is the case with many other PL clubs).
When your equity is increasing well beyond standard investments, not being at the pinnacle doesn’t matter in business. If your returns are outstanding, you simple don’t have anything to worry about. The only focus will be an exit strategy to escape before the inevitable downturn. These are owners that didn’t have the decency to attend our greatest modern day player’s final game. The numbers look good, no one is damaging the brand, no interest in this part of their portfolio.
We signed a couple of good players but yet again we didn’t bring in players with bollocks and leadership.
We are a bollockless team.
We need rid of Rodgers, he is a second rate manager whom other than LFC has never managed a team in a top league that are used to finishing in top 5, he came from Swansea whom are happy to sit in 10th or lower as long as not relegated. Look at the previous managers, all had credentials to prove they have been at top teams and won leagues, champions league, cups etc, what has Rodgers ever won that is worthy of being in a prestigious club like LFC. We need a top manager to help us back to the top, not a manager that plays his players out of position and wonders why he ain’t getting the best out of them, buys lots of players hoping they will improve, buys silly buys just because they play well in PL. I dont doubt that BR heart is in the right place, but his mind is not on top 3 position were all LFC fans would like us to be. FSG need to make ultimatum time, top 5 by Christmas or get rid of his sorry arse. I would love for him to prove me wrong, but I said same last season and final game we lose 6-1, stokes record against us. West Ham never won at Anfield for 52 years, another bad record broken by Rodgers and his ridiculous ideas. Please please please FSG get rid of him before he wastes more of your hard earned cash
“Look at the previous managers, all had credentials to prove they have been at top teams and won leagues, champions league, cups etc, ”
Like Hodgson?
Hodgson was brought in during the death throws of the H&G era. Most fans were baffled by it. He’s got a reasonable record at International and Domestic level. Not including England. He was also responsible for the original scouting of Louis. I didn’t particularly want him on board. But, to be fair he was always on a hiding to nothing with the fans on his case after a few games and the uncertainty surrounding the club.
Suarez was on the radar long before Hodge came along. As bad as he was, it was clear he was a safe stop-gap manager while the club went down the shitter. But he did have one thing over Rodgers, and that was we understood what he was doing on the pitch and why. It was just painful due to it being over two decades after everyone had moved on from it.
That’s pretty incorrect about Swansea to be fair. They may well have changed their mission statement after a year in the Prem to mid table but they and their fans are now firmly in the Top 8 for us category. To dismiss them like that is piss poor tbh
I’m convinced we will never progress from our saurez days as long as Rodgers is in charge . Our players look clueless when we’re in the opponents half . The final balls are diabolical . Benteke will never give us 15 plus goals with the current tactics . I noticed lovren making a few bad errors as usual when we played Bournemouth but that was inhibited because of the bare result which we shouldn’t of won and we didn’t look like scoring against Stoke which took a long range wander goal by coutinho to win us the match and then Rodgers manages to yet again break another record by getting hammered by the hammers . I think the only signings we’ve made that will make an improved difference are both our new fullbacks . I don’t see Benteke banging them in for us and I don’t see Milner making a lot of difference either . I don’t rate ings or origi that much either . To me we just waste far too much money on players from teams like Southampton . Southampton didn’t finish in a top 4 spot with all these players so why would we ???
You make the ‘Suarez days’ sound like a golden age – 2013-14 was an anomaly amidst more of the same, built round him playing like a madman for his dream move. Perhaps the question should be why Alonso and Suarez deserted Liverpool at the height of their powers and chose to give the best years of their careers to other clubs. Anyway this is football. A win against United and everything changes.
It all feels like the rope shooting scenes in the good the bad and the ugly, will he hang, won’t he.
For me if the owners are serious about maximising the value of the club which means consistent CL then Rodgers isn’t the man for me. It’s a shame because of what he nearly achieved. Winning ugly and a well fought draw at Arsenal set a good tone for this year but you just can’t legislate for cunts like Lovren. To be fair he did well at Arsenal but that prick will always let you down and Rodgers should know better by now.
If these aways go bad and we see anything else like WH at home again then gone by Xmas for me, the fans just won’t have it.
A relevant film reference, appropriate understated foul language and a veiled threat against the Manager. What more could you want from a post!
BR has some very good players . Some who were his choice. Some who weren’t. He isn’t brave enough to trust any of them. He’s hamstrung by cowardice and having to protect his decisions. I have hope that the new management / coaching team will benefit the team with their greater collective skills and experience. That this will not take too long. Ramsey goal allowed, Coutinho ruled offside vs Bournemouth ? 4 points from 12.
Oh no! I came to TAW for some intelligent debate and I find it’s been overrun by the abusive Rodgers out brigade.
Could you please, seriously I’d love to get your reply, explain to me how are they being abusive and to whom? I read all the posts, and there’s cunt/prick Lovren (1 post) and muppet/idiot Brendan (another), plus a line about his divorce coming from a mostly footballing criticism of player recruitment. I’ll give you that words like cunt or idiot are inappropriate, but honestly given that it all comes from the anonymity of the internet, you could make a case for them being mild insults.
Unlike a lot of the comments coming from a perspective similar to yours, there’s not a single bad thing written about fellow supporters. And don’t you feel that, unless we’re talking about club legends such as Stevie or Kenny, it’s a hell of a lot worse being abusive, insulting or critical towards the supporters than it is the owners, coaches or players? Unlike the supporters who part with a good deal of their hard earned money without the possibility of seeing any sort of material benefit returned, the owners, coaches and players willingly step into the spotlight where there’s bound to be some or a lot of scrutiny, fully prepared for it, knowing how much financial benefit they stand to receive, benefit that for the most part, either directly or indirectly, has to do with the fact that there are so many of those aforementioned fans.
I can understand you having a different view on any LFC issue, let’s say for this particular discussion, the position of the manager and the stability of the club that is inevitably connected to the security of his position for this season, but how about you reply to one of these “abusive Rodgers out brigade” people with an educated and well-argued set of reasons on why you think they’re wrong, instead of calling them names? Especially since not a single one of them had any remarks that could be understood as an insult or abusive language towards you, or generally the people who share your opinion on our club’s situation.
Exactly right but reading such desperate drivel is necessary to re-inforce your belief that players can improve, become motivated and show mental strength. The only thing AT THIS STAGE OF THE SEASON that is really BAD is the attitude of far to many fans. But if results don’t improve they may get their way. I just wish BR could find a blend /formation that gets goals. We need goals more than anything.
At the risk of being overly positive, i’m delighted with the business we’ve done over the summer. Milners an asset to the team, not too many miles on the clock due to sitting on the bench for the past five years, though i imagine he’ll be in need of a break by Xmas. Clyne and Gomez look good, and if we can just get the ball to Benteke he could be the ace in the pack. Firminho needs time to adjust, but hopefully he’ll fit right in.
I’m not sure when Ings is going to get his game, i’d have liked us to be playing with two out and out forwards, because when Sturridge is back, that’s surely the plan ?
Anyway, apart from City who’ve gone mental, i don’t really see anyone else having done much better than us in the transfer market, (Swansea ?), and i was delighted to see Utd make a hash of things yesterday.
Merry Christmas :)
Sitting on the bench for 5 yrs….appearances 45,44,35,36,41.
He’s been involved plenty with City, perhaps not in his preferred position and that’s why he’s joined us.
That surprises me, but as i’d never have picked that many appearances. Doesn’t indicate how many minutes he’s playing though. Here are his stats from Fantasy Footy (so just league games)
2014/15 1749
2013/14 1373
2012/13 1724
2011/12 1586
2010/11 2134
2009/10 3172
Given that 1800 mins is 20 games a year, i’d say that’s not too many miles on the clock during the last five years. By sheer coincidence, his league minutes six years ago, put him at almost 90 mins a game, every game.
Coming on for the last 10 minutes contributes to an “appearance”. He’s come off the bench more than started for at least 4 years now. Which may explain his decent injury record. Let’s see how he does for as a guaranteed starter.
2 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat. The bookies have us at 50/1 to win the league. Chuka Umunna is 40/1 to be the next Prime Minister!
50/1, with well-over a quarter of a billion spent in assembling Rodgers’ squad over 3 years.
We have scored 2 goals (in a single Premier League game) only once in the last 10 matches. That was against QPR.
That run of games included defeats at the hands of Hull, Crystal Palace, Stoke and West Ham. We scored 7 goals and shipped 15, in the last 10 Premier League games.
It may well be time to try something new.
When the club appointed Rafa it was on the basis of what he’d achieved in Spain, more so that he’d managed to desirable the top 2 clubs. Since 2000 only Athleti have managed to achieve what Rafa did. With him brought a deep understanding of how the game and more so the relatively untapped Spanish market, which at the tie was light years ahead in how the game would develop in that period.
In appointing Rodgers we appointed a manager who had promise but ultimately won nothing. Even when we were scoring goals for fun we shipped 50 goals. Nothing in his tenure here has ever led to a outfit that can defend & you don’t achieve anything if you don’t tick that box. With 40 odd goals taken out the side last year we still managed to ship 48, at no point have we become a difficult side to expose.
In terms of the signings we have a serious problem at CB, even if Sahko isn’t the answer I’d never play Lovren again, the lad is clearly delusional, his decision making is beyond mental and if he was playing for EFC or UTD we’d be rolling in the aisles, holding up banners saying “Lovren is a football genius”
If the run of aways goes bad and if we see more of what happened against West Ham at home can’t seeing him lasting till Xmas, the fans won’t have it.
It’s not exactly like we’d be moving on from someone whose won anything and whilst not being firmly in the Rodgers Out camp I’m not arsed if he goes.
Little point in signing any one if the manager isn’t up to the job.
‘You’re a girl shut up. ‘
Come on Lisa, that isn’t fair. I may not be in the best position to judge but I can’t remember anyone dismissing any of the (unfortunately) few women who have commented on this site.
Might have been a reference to Ryan Babel ?
Didn’t he say “grow some tits”? It was Daley Thompson that made a comment about throwing like a girl rather than an athlete, but the SJWs chose to ignore the full statement in their faux outrage.
Even Harry Redknapp is sticking the boot into this Liverpool team ffs
The same Harry who was licking Brendans arse two seasons ago ya?
The Harry Redknapp who sent his only begotten son to his favourite club to be schooled in the Anfield Way. That Harry Redknapp.
The same Redknapp that has been very good friends with our club’s best player (Kenny, not Gerrard) for decades. Harry is probably just as pissed off as the fans. Two seasons ago Rodgers had a crazy side that even the neutrals loved, Today we look as lost as when Rodgers first joined. Redknapp was also one for copying the way we played in the 80s. The man is clearly more of a fan than sticking in the boot when asked questions in an interview.
Yeah, that Harry Redknapp, the same one who said we could finish top four after the Arsenal game then a week later claimed it to be the worst Liverpool team in years. To me, that’s putting the boot in. As for his fondness for Liverpool, it’s hardly a state secret, hence “even” Redknapp is putting the boot in.
“I dont fancy Liverpool at all.I think it’s the worst Liverpool team I have seen in years. They look bang average. They are lucky to have any points.
Bournemouth should have beaten them, they got a wonder goal at Stoke. OK, they played all right first half at Arsenal. I think they will do well to finish in the top five. I am not with Liverpool at all this year. Having said that they will probably win the league.
They lost Steven Gerrard, their leader. What a player. They lost Jamie Carragher the year before. They’ve lost their characters.
Look at the two centre-halves [Dejan Lovren and Martin Skrtel]. The left-back [Joe Gomez] is a good young player who can’t kick with his left foot but he is playing at left-back. He’s a fantastic talent, strong, quick.
But what will he give you on the left? He is on the wrong side. They look a badly balanced team to me. Sorry, I can’t have Liverpool. I love Liverpool Football Club…”
-Harry Redknapp
Spot on!
Hello again Velimir. Ok mate, after re-reading the comments I’ll admit you’re right. I came here tired from work and after reading some of the vitriol on The Echo’s comments pages (yeah I know) . I read a few of the early comments on here ( the idiot/muppet/divorce ones to which you refer – not very respectful) and overreacted. Most of the stuff on here is well written and argued as usual, yours included.
I’m sure that most of us sensitive souls who read and post on TAW agonise on a daily basis about our thoughts and feelings towards our manager and the club’s future.Sometimes the repetitive , glib, simplistic negativity in certan quarters annoys the fuck out of me, hence the glib , simplistic response.
Peace and Love as Ringo might well say.
Good article and I would be lying if I said I wasnt pleased with our summer transfer business. As things stand I would put our squad on a par with Arsenal and United. From a personnel perspective there is no reason we cant challenge for 3rd. Chelsea are a different animal but if they are to continue into meltdown then we should be in the fight for second.
However by the end of last season there was something fundamentally wrong with the squad. Rodgers lost me during the home game to Palace. The players had stopped playing for him. That was compounded with the 6-1 loss at Stoke. He got the owners backing, made some good moves in the transfer market and I was willing to afford him another shot.
Fickle as it may seem that chance is gone. Nothing has changed. There is still something fundamentally wrong with the team and its becoming increasing likely that Rodgers is it. Poor team selections, the teams inept attack, their leaky defence, some players not being afforded a proper chance at the club, others under-performing and being afforded multiple chances. The list goes on. The first half of the Arsenal game aside we have been diabolical this season. That has carried on from preseason where we had mountains of possession in games but created very little. The West Ham game was just a continuation of Palace and Stoke in May. Different personnel same result. For long enough the excuses possibly had some credence. Suarez leaving, other teams out spending us, injuries, our coaching staff, teams coming to Anfield and parking the bus. They were all potentially plausible. One by one those issues have been addressed but the same problems remain. We dont look like scoring and our defence is continually inept. “Outstanding” and “Character”! More like Deluded and Fraud……
Happy with the transfer business, even the Ilori loan deal. I know the unfaithful went all atwitter over it, but they were the same with Pacheco, Nemeth, Spearing, Suso etc. I don’t think you can sheet the blame home entirely to Rodgers – I assume it would have been a collective decision … unlike the decision to play Lovren ahead of Sakho, however. Again, you assume there are very sound reasons for it, but from the outside it is baffling to say the least. I can understand giving Lovren another chance to come good – and a guarantee from the manager that he will start is part of that, but Sakho just looks miles away the better player.
As for the Rodgers hate? What gets me is the sheer vicious, vitriolic nature of it.
This isn’t a few people putting up some cogent thoughts on where they think he is going wrong – this is vehemently nasty.
I happen to agree with those who doubt Rodgers. It seems to me that after he lost Suarez, he looked around for an alternative way to win and came up with Chelsea. Solid at the back, grind teams down, play a lone big man up front and nick a lot of 1-0 wins. Attritional winning! Only problem is that he doesn’t have the cattle for that (with all the will in the world Skrtl and Lovren will never be Alex and Terry and Balo was no Drogba – though Benteke might be).
The isolation of Benteke up front is painful to watch. He has moved away from the blueprint which bought him 2nd place and gone for a safety first approach which will, if he sticks with it, see him lose his job sooner rather than later.
For all that, he’s the manager and I’ll back him, if only because I’ve still not bought into the new Liverpool Way of slagging abuse everytime things don’t happen the way I want.
What boggles my mind is the way people have just forgotten that Sturridge even exists. He literally doesn’t even figure in their thoughts. The guy who scored 36 goals in his first 50 games – more than Suarez (21), Torres (34), Fowler (31), Dalglish (31), Owen (28), etc. He scored in his first three games and went on to score 50 goals faster than ANY PLAYER in LFC history. Only the second player in Premier League history to score in eight games in a row.
And yet he almost never gets mentioned for 13/14. And it’s as if the only player Rodgers lost last season was Suarez. When Sturridge was injured, we had just ripped up Tottenham 3-0. Admittedly, the match against Dortmund was a pre-season friendly, but the attacking intent was absolutely there on display. It wasn’t like Suarez left and Rodgers decided to park the bus for the rest of his career.
The shame is that Rodgers is on record as wanting Bony, who went on to score more goals in 2014 than anyone in the PL. But he was given a choice between Balo and Eto’o by the committee.
Now that he has Benteke with Sturridge returning, I would be shocked if we didn’t see a return to our attacking ways. Especially as we have an attacking three (with Firmino) who have scored a combined 132 in the past 3 seasons. YNWA
Jase I think you have probably just nailed life at LFC from all quarters. Rogers, the Fans and the Players. Brilliant mate I couldn’t agree more.
Especially in terms of where BR’s head has been since we lost the league, it strikes me that he’s possibly still grieving his loss and as a result has psycho blanked out the reality in terms of letting attacking football take us to where we wanna be and in its place he is some how favouring the delusional Chelsea defensive dogged approach to winning. And all this is going on in his head after what I would judzge as a fairly successful Summer transfer campaign to achieve the former. Mind Boggling stuff or what!!! I’ve firmly been in the BR camp due simply to seeing progress since his arrival and to continue winning the support of people such as me he needs to prove his doubters and get over the grief of 13/14 and resume with the positive mental attitude and progress. He has to go again and show the faithful fans he has earned the right to remain in charge as time and opportunities are quickly running out for him, the noose is tightening.
Yet on a more positive note it’s no rocket science really and the solution is simples, the management team need to give us reasons to be cheerful beginning with what made us so good 2 seasons ago. Just fucking do it!! That means stop playing mind games with the players and play the best 11 players for each game and treat each game as potentially your last we may see progress. AFTER THE GREAT PERFORMANCE AT ARSENAL if we had beaten WH 1-0 there wouldn’t be all this fall out nonsense. But the truth is we capitulated because he wasn’t true to his beliefs. Brendan if you’re reading, just get it fucking sorted!!! YNWA