LEAGUE football; it’s a lot more than a reason to get out of the house or neglect your books, it’s probably the most important thing on any football lover’s weekly schedule. That being said, the performance of your team during the week could very well transform it from good to better, good to bad, bad to good or bad to worse. I’m very doubtful though that there are any Kopites whose weeks have gone sour after our recent displays (save the inexplicable Villa game that is).
Our performances have been masterful and the results have finally started to tell the tale of the games .The Fulham match (a performance he all but prophesized in a pre-match interview), for me, was just a culminate manifestation of what has been a steady rise in form, confidence and tactical discipline. The team has picked itself up from dependency on individuals to dependency on the unit, and though there are still some loopholes we might not get away with against tougher opposition, we do look quite solid against teams from mid-table downwards.
Some may attribute this, and rightly so only if not in entirety, to the improvement in form, play and in-game awareness of the likes of Jose Enrique, Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing in the past few weeks, the latter of the three putting up a master-class performance in our emphatic victory over Fulham, but, I believe it would be highly unfair to leave out the one man all our discountenance would have been directed at if those 4 wins in 5 (all competitions I mean) had been losses or even draws: Brendan Rodgers.
He has been criticised without remorse for poor line-ups and tactics after the games we failed to win but I am yet to see an encouraging comment about him even though he has orchestrated a win in Udine to secure a Europa League knockout place and an aggressive league comeback after a poor display against Aston Villa.
He has been brave and unbiased for the most part in the selection of his starting XI. His “If you don’t perform, you don’t play” notion, to me, has been the key to the improvement in players like Hendo and Downing. Players who were sure starters under Dalglish have been made to fight for their positions in the starting XI and we can all attest to the fact that they are becoming better players for it.
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He hasn’t had very much by way of squad options (some may say out of his own doing), but by reposing his confidence and faith in youngsters like Sterling, Wisdom, Shelvey and Suso he has managed to create some form of competition within the squad between youngsters who are trying to prove that they’re good enough for regular first team action and veterans who have now been pushed to justify their first team inclusion.
I have taken plenty of hits for my belief in and defence of Rodgers and his tiki-taka philosophy and remain adamant that he has a role to play in turning our fortunes around. Comparing what he has managed with a lean roster to what Mark Hughes managed with such a wealth of talent at QPR, it would be a sheer lack of appreciation not to acknowledge his contribution to this run of good form.
I said in a much earlier article this season that if Rodgers managed to make it to Christmas with the team within touching distance of the top four and earn a spot in the Europa League knockout stages (both of which he has) then we would have a lot to look forward to in the second half of the season. We may already be halfway through the league fixtures but contrary to popular belief, I think there is every reason to be optimistic (if he actually USES the transfer window this time around).
He may not be an Alex Ferguson, pulling rabbits out of hats almost every week, but he has definitely had a visible impact since arriving on Merseyside and for that I think we must give unto Rodgers what belongs to Rodgers.
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Cant believe anyone has responded to ANY of the points made , cos they are all too pathetic to respond to
Right now owners FSG and CEO are rookies in the EPL. That,i can live with!! But for them to hire a rookie manager who goes on to make rookie signings,while letting experienced players like Aquilani,Kuyt,Bellamy & Rodriguez leave,that i REALLY can’t live with!! Downing is not worth the cash Daglish used,but at least Kenny would bring in Maxi or Bellamy from the bench to clean up the mess when his bad signings had messed up!!! Now we have no experience in the whole LFC organisation.. Stevie is better off joining Eto’o in Russia or Drogba in Asia cos he definately aint worth half the 120k we push to his account every week… Hopefully Rafa can prove himself to FSG over the 7month spell at the Chavs….
Not a word of this is truth . Its all made up fantasy . This site should not let trash like this be read by anyone . Its embarrassing
It’s a joke yes ? Made me laugh . Reading this crap u would think Liverpool were top of league and Rodgers IS the messiah .
Nothin can be further from truth . Rodgers is 2nd div manager ,totally out of his depth in every way . EVERY player he bought is rubbish , and his possession crappy football is boring
1 Good result is all we have had , a away win v west ham . All other wins we got were easy fixtures . FFFS It takes the fool 20 games b4 he drops Allen . Allen who he signed for 15m is prob the most useless player in our history
Rodgers needs to be sacked now , this author too for writing lies
To the writer of this article. If you are not an Everton fan, or BR himself, drugs have many temporary effects. Detachment from reality is one of them.
YNWA
This is the first time i have put a comment on here . I read this site and others because i have a thirst for knowledge and information on all things to do with LFC .
I do appreciate varieng opinions of fans , but this article is making a mockery of this site . It is actually insulting to LFC fans . We are going through a deeply difficult and uncertain period in our history right now , and for this writer to spew out this mumbo jumbo nonsense pretending everything is great – is in my opinion insulting !
What does this site want to be ? A informative site or a totally biased trashy site ? Its not the first article either . If this is the kind of thing advocated by this site then many many readers will not revisit !
Yes this site used to be analytic and have interesting perspectives , but it seems they let anyone write whatever rubbish comes into their head .
It is embarrassing that any Liverpool fan would write something so idiotic
Is there anyone out there who believes this rubbish ? Worst pile of bull ive ever seen
WHAT ???? Credit to Rodgers ? For what ? Wasting ALL our summer budget on crap ? or turning us into a mid table joke ?
person who wrote this is an IDIOT
The author should be ashamed of himself for writing this
Cant believe what im reading . Are there truly fans out there as stupid as this guy ? Or is it a joke ?
Even the dumb ass Rodgers fans cant defend this bullsh*t
Everybody has already said it – Disgracefully stupid article
At last Liverpool fans are showing their not going to conned into believing this dross
wow.. this pile of garbage that passes for an “article” could be the worst piece of drivel ever written. Brenda might go down as a worse manager than dalglish part II…. this assclown needs to be fired and his little b&tchboy allen given the boot with him. FSG are clueless idiots that need to sell and get the f’k out! Until then we are going to continue to be mid table crap… FIRE BRENDA!!
Please Mr Braimah if you could refrain from writing articles , in fact i dont think you share your thoughts on football ever again .You would be doing mankind a service
Unless we suddenly find new owners who have money, Brendan is all we have. Not even Rafa can win anything with the poor quality players that we have, and Brendan tries and tries to squeeze talent from Deadwood at Anfield. Gerrard is past his prime, it isn’t just age,its everything, including his passion for playing for the club, who could blame him considering we are fallen giants; and we ain’t getting up soon. The upshot is that BR is the best we can do under the circumstances. Our only hope is that FSG once they’ve packaged us as a good investment deal for a wealthy entity; then they could sell us and move on. Financial fair play is a pipedream,and will never happen. So we do need owners with cash, not those who count pennies and nickels; therefore give BR a break, sometimes I feel if I train hard enough even I could make that Liverpool squad, said in jest.
Pure Nonsense
Rodgers the best we can do ? What drugs u on ?
Rodgers IS THE WORST we can do