IT’S been well documented that Brendan Rodgers has an unusual footballing philosophy for someone from the UK, so much so I’m surprised there hasn’t been a petition from the press to check his passport to ascertain whether he is actually from Carnlough, Northern Ireland and not Cadiz, Spain.
His ‘tiki-taka’ methods will be put into place slowly but surely at Liverpool over the coming months as the players come back from the Euro’s or their holidays in drips and drabs.
But what I was pondering is who will welcome the new tactics and flourish, and who will flounder?
Let’s start with who I believe will prosper under the new system:
1) As I stated at length during my last blog, I believe Jonjo Shelvey will thrive under this type of football. He has the technical ability and awareness to be able to slot into this system seamlessly and with his hard-working nature he will be surely be a more favourable selection ahead of Adam for Rodgers.
2) Luis Suarez. After looking at the tactics Rodgers employs it’s quite probable that we will see Suarez in an inside left/right role and not as the main striker as he played under Dalglish most of the time. From this position we will see him at his best; creating space for himself and manipulating the full-back which he is one of the best at. His work-rate is exemplary as are most of his footballing skills but one point where Brendan may focus is his passing skills which will most likely be worked on. This shouldn’t be a problem as the training that Brendan will put in place will be focussed on ball retention and pass accuracy, hopefully boosting Suarez’s pass accuracy from last season’s total of 75.4%.
3) Jordan Henderson. As stated in a previous blog, Jordan is a player that has had his critics in since his signing from Liverpool but at only 22 he has time and an abundance of potential on his side. He has the engine and the passing ability to adapt into the new system nicely. Brendan will see him as an excellent tool to the Liverpool squad as he has good defensive and attacking abilities and will run his heart out for this team.
4) Another player that I believe will excel under Rodgers is Lucas. His ascension to becoming a key figure in our team is testament to how much he has improved over the years. His passing and demolishing abilities in the middle of the park will be welcomed back with open arms after having no defensive midfielder on a level with Lucas’ ability during the second half of last season. His passing accuracy during his 12 Premier League games last season was 85.6% and 82.6% in the opponents half; something we hope he can replicate come next season.
5) I really believe Raheem Sterling may be given a lot more opportunities next season; well at least I hope he will be. Even though he is only 17 years old, he has shown why he has been touted as one of the most promising Liverpool players coming through the ranks. He has a shed load of pace and doesn’t shirk his defensive duties, constantly seen running back to help his full-back in the reserve and U18 games. That old adage of ‘if you’re good enough, you’re old enough’ certainly applies to Raheem and I for one am excited about how he will perform under the new boss.
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Now onto the five players that may not be able to adapt into the new system:
1) Top of the list as you probably guessed is Jamie Carragher. A Liverpool legend that has played at the highest level for 16 years with the club. The problem is that he has been born and bred with the British ‘lump-it’ style which Rodgers isn’t familiar with; as a result Carra will find it tough to break his way into the team with the likes of Agger and an ever improving Martin Skrtel ready to partner each other at the heart of the defence. I think Jamie will know himself that this season will probably be his last, as the old saying goes you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Hopefully Brendan can find him a slot on his coaching staff come next season when he may just hang-up his boots.
2) Charlie Adam. We all know that on his day he has the ability to carve open the tightest defences. His passing and vision doesn’t worry me, it’s the shift that he’ll have to put into each 90 minutes that irks me as he has tends to adopt the ‘Stephane Henchoz’ facial expressions after a worryingly short amount of time. Brendan Rodgers has said that the players should be able to ‘wring the sweat out of their shirt’ after every training session and match. If Charlie wants to be a part of this team he’s going to have to improve his fitness and sharpness, also his tackling as I think everyone is now sick of the sight of him steam-rolling opponents onto the turf just outside the box.
3) Stewart Downing. It’s safe to say he has not performed to anywhere near the level we and he knows he is capable of. With no assists and no goals in his first season for Liverpool it’s obvious why he has had his critics and why his inclusion in the England squad was met by a furore. His passing accuracy is sometimes suspect along with his control of the ball at times. His passing success last season in the opponents half was only 72.5% which is something he can improve on. Compare this to Maxi Rodriguez who had a pass success of 85.2% in the opponents half and it tells a story. The other stat which must improve for him is his successful crosses. Last season only 20.9% of his crosses were successful which is poor for someone of his standard. The 39.6% shooting accuracy could also be improved upon if he is to get the amount of games he wants next season. His standard of work-rate was good last season but I’ve a sneaking suspicion Brendan will be asking him to improve in all areas and if he works hard in training and favours the tactics, then we could finally see the Stewart Downing we paid £20m for.
4) Jay Spearing. I’ve been one of the biggest fans of Jay since his rapid progression from him seemingly set to become just another one of the academy lads being released or sold to a lesser club to becoming a steady centre midfielder with much improved confidence in himself to perform at the highest level. Personally, I’d love him to stay as a squad player; I think he’s deserved that after last season and how hard he has worked. He’s not the quickest out of the blocks but he does put his foot in where other people may refrain from and as I said his passing ability has come on tenfold since his breakthrough into the first team. For these reasons, I might be completely wrong by placing Spearing in this bracket and saying he may not be able to shine with the new tactics so I hope he proves me wrong. If he is given some chances and performs well then I’ll be delighted for him, it’s just that with the impending arrival of Gylfi Sigurdsson and Shelvey’s rise it looks as though he’ll have a tough battle on his hands to force his way into Rodgers’ XI.
5) Seen as I would have been struggling at this point I probably would have had Dirk Kuyt as number 5 but now he’s left for Fenerbahce it’s all academic as to whether he would have suited the fresh tactics. His work rate, undoubtedly, would have fitted in with new bosses’ philosophy. It would have been his technique and first touch that maybe would have held him back from getting as many games as he’d have liked.
Comments appreciated!
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I rather think that the craft of Aquilani is of a level to have him in the top 5 who are capable without a doubt. He has a damn good football brain and is quick to see space to utilize for moving. I would like to see the young Boudebouz from Sochaux with us as he can play quick adaptive football in any midfield position from wing to wing . He was a delight on the left wing in France.
I agree with your Aquilani shout, there’s no doubting his ability. It’s just a shame that the player’s heart isn’t ‘in it’ – standing up to the rigours of the English game.
Only problem with aquilani is that if we play him next season we have to pay another big instalment on him! £4.5m was payed upfront, then £4.5m the next season but because he has been out on loan he has not triggered any more payments! We have payed £9m for him in total and i think we are trying to cut our losses on him as he doesn’t really want to come back to us! benitez is thinking of taking over at sampdoria so he may make aqua his first signing? who knows? it would solve two problems for two clubs, liverpool need him off the wage bill and sampdoria need a few big signings after coming back into serie A! watch this space…..
Hi Gareth.
I know that story was put out by his previous club that LFC would pay for Aquilani in installments, but the published accounts show that wasn’t the case and his fee was paid in a normal transaction.
I have had this statement before, just to enlighten you, in accounting if a payment is agreed to be paid in installments it will be shown in the accounts as the total figure because the accounts are prepared not on cash basis. This is the case even if the payments of installments is subject to some conditions as long as the management is expecting the condition to be met. A revesal will be done when the condition is not met. So in the case of Aquilani the fact that the whole figure was shown it does not mean it was paid as part of the other leg maybe sitting in payables. This might be the reason why he is shipped away time and again, at one point Rodgers mentioned that in the case of Aquilani there maybe so details behind , he might have had them from his sources.
I enjoyed reading that and agree 100% with everything said. I also agree with chunky about Aquilani, he’s great at short passing and has a decent shot. I know Rodgers would’ve loved him at Swansea last season. Can’t wait till next season starts, but I’m realistic about how long it’s going to take Rodgers to turn Liverpool into a well oiled passing machine, he’ll definitely need time. One of the many things I like about Rodgers is we know he wants to sign the type of players the fans want with pace and ability, no more just “hard workers” that can’t play football.
well said, we really need to move on from hard workers, clubs like stoke and the Boltons of this world are suited to that type of player. If Torres dnt have to do alot of donkey work at LFC he would have scored alot more instead he was creating goals for others.
I know hes left the club but its true he could have scored many more goals.
I agree with most of what you said in the article. I also think that with a change of tactic a top 6 place is not that big an ask! I saw arsenal and spurs struggle last season and newcastle had surpassed expectations but it’s hard to do that two seasons in a row! ask everton, or fulham or any other side who have over achieved one season? spurs need to make the correct decision on their manager and keep ade, bale, modric to maintain their place in the top four! arsenal may be without van percie and they will struggle without him! chelsea, man u and man city are too far infront of everyone else (even though chelsea finnished 5th, they have signed quality this season!) a points total of 65-70 should be enough, or there abouts for a top 4 finnish! 15 points more than we had last season! or 5 more wins! we lost to swansea, stoke, bolton and many other sides they should not be loosing to! Rodgers doesn’t need to make massive improvements to bring us back to competing for a champions league spot! but the quicker he gets there the quicker he can start concentrating on challanging for the title? but one step at a time…..
everytime we have gone 6 and below we have had a bounce the next season. i sincerely hope this is the case again. sometimes teams play better with a new coach, but with a radically new system, that’s a different story, although that in itself should usually resolve itself with time. the question therefore is “how much time”? you forgot joe cole in there. not so sure about shelvey — while he has some technical ability, he appears to be an in-your-face/bulldoze my way type of player. if liverpool is buying, it should look at clinical finishers (not the kuyt, can’t buy a bucket to save your life variety) and skilled players with vision who can keep possession (not the carra, think slow, act slower types). i disagree about henderson. he was slow before he came to liverpool, was slower at liverpool and showed a general timidness in passing the ball. everytime he got the ball, you could tell he was going to pass backwards or sideways even if there was a man open. of course, that could be down to his limited ability to assist (myopic vision, which is bad in football), but i suppose you may be right in that brendan rogers’ system would help coax some confidence out of him. he just needs to keep his head up instead of looking down all the time. that way he may actually see a man or two free up the field. as they say, nothing venture, nothing gained. the worst thing for a player is to not even try. at least if he tried and failed, he could hustle back and defend (and then take the criticism like a man), but the whole of last season all he did was shrink and cower and yet still get lambasted for playing like a coward. that is just plain ol’silly. sorry.
and you forgot about joe cole.
I’d of put Aquilani in there but as Jimmy said, it seems as though he fancies moving on permanently. His quality we only seen in flashes but it was enough to know that he is a top, top player and if (unlikely as it is) he was to stay I think we’d all be excited to see what he can really do once he’s settled at the club.
Tika-Taka applies to the whole team, so goalkeeper and defenders are equally important to the cause.
In this regard, it would be hard to find a sweeper keeper more suited to the role than Reina. Agger would be a stick on for regular selection, due to his ability on the ball, his passing and how comfortable he is going forward.
Tika-Taka should lean more towards wing backs than full backs and I believe Johnson and Enrique will excel, despite their critics.
Joe Cole will also suit this style, as will Aquilani and I don’t believe that Gerrard will have too much trouble adapting either.
It would be nice to think that you were right about Henderson, Shelvey and Stirling and I can’t disagree with your 5 not so good list, so plenty of grounds for optimism.
Interesting to read your thoughts about Adam but I mind reading a stat last season that he had covered mire ground than any other midfielder in the EPL. Yes he does look lazy but he seems to put the shift in. If Rodgers doesn’t start Shelvey then I would like to see him being loaned out again since he seems to improved greatly after his spell at Blackpool.
The players who will struggle within B Rodgers football philosophy are:
J Carragher, C Adams, J Spearing, Flanagan.
These players along with J Cole and Doni should be shipped out.
And B Rodgers should be given £85M this summer to bring in these 7 players:
1: B Matuidi Of PSG should be brought for £6-£12M good competition and cover for LUCAS DM
2: A Cissokho Of Lyon should be brought for £4-£9M good competition and cover for Enrique LB
3: A Lennon Of Tottenham should be brought for £10-£15M RW
4: G Sigurdsson Of Hoffenheim should be brought for £7-£9M to compete with Aquilani and Shelvey for AM position AM
5: D Capel Of Sporting Clube De Portugal should be brought for £7-£14M good competition and cover for Downing LW
6: M Susaeta Of A Bilbao should be brought for £5-£11m to compete with Lennon for Right wing position RW
7: G Agbonglahor Of A Villa should be brought for £10-£15M to compete with Bellamy, Carroll and Suarez for Forward position/role at club FD
Dennis…….so glad you don’t manage LFC.
Are you for real?
Our club have gone backwards in the last four seasons and we are now a mediocre side with a big squad full of poor/average mediocre players. That is why we finished 8th this season and 7th the season before and we have been going backwards. There is good class quality competition for places at our club. As if our 6 out of our 7 world class players are not in team, and are not playing to 75% of their potential we lose or draw, simple.
Our club has been in desperate need of class, quality,pace, skill,speed, width, consistency and goals within side.
1: A lennon Of Tottenham if brought to club would bring pace, speed, trickery and goals to the side.
(£10-£15M) RW
2: B Susaeta Of A Bilbao could compete with Lennon for the right wing position at club and would offer us pace, speed, class, skill, creativity, good delivery and goals to club. (£5-£11M) RW
3:D Capel Of Sporting Clube De Portugal has pace, speed, loves to take on fullbacks something Downing does not and has excellent delivery and goals in his locker. (£7-£14M) LW
4: G Agbonglahor Of A Villa: Offers strength, power, pace, speed,mobility, assists and goals and would be another front man with pace to burn at club as Bellamy is only striker, player at club that stretches other teams defences and at 32, i am sure this could be his last season for us. (£10-£15M)
A Lennon, M Susaeta, D Capel and G Agbonglahor all have more class, quality, pace,speed and creativity and goals in them than we have had at club for last four seasons.
Those 4 players would cost club £55M, Same amount the club spent last year on A Carroll and Downing alone, Those 4 players would fit B Rodgers style of football and bring the club, pace, speed, width, creativity, class, quality and goals to side.
Dennis if u were our coach,we’d be relegated.
If Only you knew about football, How many goals did our club score last season in league? 47 Goals in 38 games and conceded 40, so +7 goals for season.
compare that to:
Man city: 93 goals for 29 goals against. +64 goals
Man Utd: 89 goals for 33 goals against. +56 goals
Arsenal: 74 goals for 49 goals against. +25 goals
Tottenham:66 goals for 41 goals against. +25 goals
And your saying the players i have mentioned would get our club relegated, the 7 players i have said B Rodgers should bring to club this summer would bring us at least 25 More points than we had last season and at least 30 goals more in the season than we had last season.
B Matuidi would offer great, solid competition and cover for LUCAS throughout whole season.
A Cissokho would offer great, solid, tough competition and cover for Enrique.
G Sigurdsson would offer good class, quality competition and cover with Aquilani and Shelvey.
A Lennon and M Susaeta would both compete for the right wing position at club and offer pace, speed, creativity, class, skill and goals from right wing.
D Capel would offer good quality competion to Downing and he would show Downing how to get at full backs and how to take on players, like the best wingers in the world do week in week out. And offer competition for Left wing position.
G Agbonglahor would bring more pace, speed to forward line as Bellamy and Suarez are only players within 1st team who actually stretch opposing teams backlines with their movement, pace and speed. Agbonglahor would bring strength, movement, pace, speed, goals to side.
So don’t know how you can say these 7 players would get us relegated, They are better than more than 70% of our current mediocre squad.
Dennis, the time to buy Matuidi was before PSG got him, and he’d have been a terrific acquisition. They don’t need to sell anyone at any price now.
Wouldn’t like the spurs or villa players you’ve suggested to be honest.
Will, our club have lacked pace, speed, width, creativity, consistency and goals from out wide.
Lennon and Agbonglahor both have pace and speed to burn and both know the premiership inside out and both would bring creativity and goals to side that we are so desperately in need of.
The 7 players i have mentioned would cost £85M,
Adams, Carroll, Downing and Henderson cost club last season £83M.
do you think Adams, Carroll, Downing and Henderson would have more goals in them than Agbonglahor, Capel, Lennon, Sigurdsson and Susaeta?
And if you think yeah, then your a very brave and stubborn man as the five i have mentioned would bring at least 20-40 goals a season extra to club, whether created or scored. Those 5 players would bring club class,consistency, creativity,goals, mobility,quality,pace and speed to club.
And those are the things our club has been lacking for the last for 5 to 10 seasons now.
I doubt Sigurdsson will be joining us when we already have ample players in that position, unless Brendan Rodgers thinks that Aqua, Shelvey, Cole or Henderson are not good enough……and than again maybe their not.
G Sigurdsson should be brought to club and will be brought to club this summer, he should compete with Aquilani and Shelvey for the AM role at club.
Henderson should take notes and compete with Gerrard for the centre midfield position at club and if B Matuidi is brought to club this summer, him and LUCAS would compete for the Defensive Enforcer/Midfielder role at club, Then if either are injured during season there is class, quality cover there to step in and keep team ticking over.
you forgot reina
Agree with the players,that may not be able to adapt into the new system, but disagree with selections the other way round, as Henderson and Shelvey are not mobile enough.
Henderson not mobile enough? You watch liverpool games do ya?
The boy has been critised for many things, but his mobility has never been questioned. He has a serious motor on him and covers more ground than most on the pitch.
Yes, I watch Liverpool games. That’s how I know Henderson is rubbish. He can’t cover anything like as much ground as Paula Radcliffe, but she’s not playing for us.A bit of football skill should be required to put on the LFC jersey and that’s exactly what Henderson lacks. Kick him out Rogers and do us all a favour. Take anything you can get – for sure it will be more than he’s worth.
Jay Spearing will fit perfectly in the system…. passing and work ethics are his best attributes…
so…???
He hasn’t got any attributes. Doubtful if he even knows what it means. Give him away for God’s sake.
and kuyt will fit in well tooo, dutch are always well educated to the system… have you seen him play??
The only reason I left out the likes of Reina & Agger was because, for me, these players are nigh-on certainties to be successful under the new system. I felt that some of the players I selected in place of those two could come of age under Brendan and begin to show real, constant quality.
Ignore what some of these peeps are saying i agree with your post. Reina n Agger will deffo fit in well in BR system and so will Coates and Enrique
All I want to say is, I would not spend money on Lucas shirt.
Not sure if it will be wearable very long.
Our midfield is begining to worry me
Aqua,Cole,Spearo,Hendo,Raheem,Gerrard,Jonjo ,Maxi,Adam,Lucas & now Sirgurdsson?? Thats a starting 11 on its own
But I agree with the 1st though im not sure Raheem should be considered,his only 17 you know
Oh & I forgot ‘The Other guy’ (Downing)
Henderson couldn’t fit into any system because he is, quite simply and without frills, a rubbish player. If he starts as many games as he did last season then the results will be very similar. You simply can’t play with ten men against eleven match after match and Henderson is a total passenger. If Spearing plays too then that makes two passengers.