IT’S surprising to see Brendan Rodgers seemingly taking the hit from a large number of the supporters.
Whether that’s just on the internet or if it reflects the attitude of the majority of Kopites, that’s another matter. The fact remains that he’d been hired and it was said immediately that Liverpool needed to rebuild.
Things needed to start back up from the grassroots, which means trying to nurture young talent and maybe even sign players who show potential and develop them, perhaps in an Alex Ferguson-like way.
People always remember his famous stunt of throwing the class of ’91 in to the mix, which ironically enough, a former Liverpool great thought was his fellow Scotsman writing his suicide note.
“You’ll never win anything with kids.”
Ring a bell perhaps?
Well Alan Hansen was made to swallow his pride and words as Manchester United dominated the next two decades.
It wasn’t just Ferguson’s youth players like Giggs, Scholes, Beckham, Butt, and the Neville brothers coming of age though. Ferguson bought numerous players and kept his faith in them. Some worked out, others didn’t quite. It took time though.
Liverpool already have a great in Luis Suarez; Philippe Coutinho seems to be showing all the right signs at the moment, Daniel Sturridge has done well – with a bit more time, they can be lethal.
Didier Drogba couldn’t score to save his life at first when he arrived at Chelsea. He went from that, to one of the deadliest forwards seen in recent times and that didn’t happen overnight.
Even in Alex Ferguson’s first season in charge, it took a while for United to fire and yes granted, they started doing so much quicker than the Liverpool players have under Rodgers.
A few things are major points of differences between the late ’80s and now.
Players were mentally tougher back then and they weren’t brought up in a mollycoddling culture where managers are expected to hold their hands across the goal line.
The players today seem to lose all knowledge of how to play the game unless they’re reminded every day. Things you’d learn in your local Sunday league training – just goes out of the window, and that seems to be the case with Liverpool players every week.
During a good spell, everyone seems to remember what they’re supposed to be doing.
Take that win against Tottenham for instance. Forget that the players managed to coax a few costly errors out of the North Londoner’s to win the game. Now think about their equaliser when Bale had just returned to the pitch after getting some treatment for a slight elbow to the head.
He crossed the ball in, despite two Liverpool defenders in front of him. How? No one closed him down.
It wasn’t a case of not going too near so he doesn’t get a chance to just nuzzle the ball away from you. There was room for both defenders to go a few yards closer and put a block in.
That’s not the most worrying thing about that goal though – perhaps the defenders didn’t have enough to get close to Bale or maybe they were avoiding a booking just before half-time in case they did catch the Welshman, which is fair enough.
Once the ball was crossed in, Vertonghen jumps at it with everything he’s got to offer, while his marker Glen Johnson, almost wheels away halfway through the run.
Someone like John Terry would’ve got his head in there, no matter what. All he cares about is the ball and his head alone, no one elses head, body, toes – none of it comes to mind for him. But Glen Johnson almost bends over and allows Vertonghen even some leverage to lean on and direct the header past Pepe Reina.
What is a manager’s role here? Tell his defender that he’s supposed to attack the ball and do everything he can to just get it away?
That’s Football 101 for a defender isn’t it?
Regarding the Southampton defeat, there’s been a whole debris of criticism piled on Rodgers for playing three midfielders.
It isn’t just three of them though. One of the more predominant features of Liverpool attacks have been the forwards up front doubling back as either wingers, which instantly adds at least one more midfielder to the mix, depending on which side of the flank’s at play.
Alternatively one of the forwards has always dropped back a bit in the centre of the pitch while one of the original three are running down the side.
Against Southampton, the players just weren’t alert enough to keep doing that, and that boils down to the attitude that’s been a characteristic of this season – some days the players turn up, others they don’t.
That’s something Rodgers can try and knock out of the players in a Ferguson-like manner. But even Fergie’s admitted that some players nowadays don’t care as much.
Back in the ’80s and ’90s, a manager at Liverpool could scream at the players and threaten they’d never play another game if they carried on like this. Not today.
Players have more power and options than ever before.
While it doesn’t mean Liverpool players are prima donnas, it does say a bit about how much the manager can and can’t do. Rodgers can keep pointing out where the players are going wrong. Then it’s up to the players to correct those mistakes.
Perhaps Rodgers could’ve picked a different central midfielder or adjusted the set-up against Southampton; but playing against a relegation threatened team, while you’re on the back of 3 straight victories – including a late comeback against Tottenham – and you lose 3-1?
For me, that one’s on the players.
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I just can imaging a liverpool fan calling for Mourinho in a wonderfull club with tradition,but y can we just for once build on past by allowing the caoch to continue,I know when we got Brenden will know he can’t win the league for us this season so watch he for another season.to me his going the right direction,anuthing is still posible this seaason
Yea right. The right direction ? No.
My god….It never fails to amaze me how shortsighted and ignorant some Liverpool fans have become. They are a blight on the club and an embarassment to real fans. Calling for the head of BR is just simply LUDICROUS. I am sick of reading these internet warriors bleating on about how he is clueless and we should get Mourinho! !!!! I woukd almost laugh but it’s not funny…these guys are serious!!!! These unrealistic pie in the sky merchants are a cancer on what was once considered the best support in the world. The knee jerkers want instant success when the club has been struggling for 20 years with interspersed success along the way. How can anyone justify sacking a manager after a few months and only 2 transfer windows ro rectify longstanding problems passed down through years of mismanagment and financial woes??????
It is time for these morons to accept that LFC needs rebuilding from the grass roots up as we no longer can compete financially with the clubs above us. Arsenal,City,United,Chelsea and even Spurs..so BR will have us finishing in 6th…which is where we belong right now…how anyone on here expected to finish above that is either braindead or high on drugs…or as I suspect under 25 and dealing with hormonal issues and anger managment issuess…..the new generation of spoilt kids who demand and expect success without once considering the factors that make it a nigh on impossible task….(at the moment).
Lets look at the facts…..BR has LFC playing some very attractive football while integrating a lot of new and very young players. He has given the squad some competetive edge again and some players who were complacent are now playing much better..eg Henderson Enrique Downing.
There are no young players any more . He dropped them all
You are talking nonsense
Farmer Brown . Are you Brenda Rodgers in disguise. The only other person that speaks that much rubbish IS Rodgers
…really , where to begin ? Your defence of Allen is ludicrous – and shows your complete lack of football understanding. To even suggest he was ever one of our better players is unbelievably stupid
In fact all your excuses are stupid. You obviously don’t understand football so it’s a waste educating you
Biased one sided nonsense. None of your “facts” are even facts ,- they are just your incorrect opinions
A fact is something definite. The only definite is that Rodgers has done a poor job and should be removed ASAP
Also he was badly let down in the summer with the way that window was handled and left us with ONE fit striker!!
I am.not saying BR should be exempt.from critiicism as I am also worried at some aspects of his style. I am worrried that our side is.physically weak and small in stature and at times were bullied out of games..eg Stoke and Southampton…..buy I have confidence BR will see these problems and rectify them. If we were still suffering from the same issues this time next season it would be up for debate. ….But what happened getting behind the manager and having faith that he will learn from mistakes….he is young and will learn as he goes…and I for one will get behind him and the team as I have always done for over 30 years.
Joe Allen……so now Joe is rubbish and is taking All the blame and by inference BR is rubbish too because he signed and coached him? ???? This is another laughable point being brought up by our “loyal world famous fan base”……remember Lucas Leivas formative years anyone???
JOE ALLEN….was without doubt Liverpools.best player for the first part of the season…now all of a sudden he and by default BR are crap….forget the fact he had been.playing with new team mates is very young is undet pressure.from.our own fans and the small matter of playing for months with a shoulder that pops out. Most knowledgeable fans? ?? My arse.
In a nut shell BR has done OK….there are of course.some.negatives and some things he will need to change but there are also some positives and as a proud long standing Reds fans I will do what we have always done..get behind the manager and the players and believe there is better future even against the odds..as that is when success is the sweetest and why once LFC was a club like no other…..the difference was its supporters..nowadays the supporters are no different to Chelsea fans..knee jerk bandwagon glory hunting internet delusional warriors.
What a load of short sighted nonsense. Only a complete fool would think Rodgers is doing a good job
All you are doing is bleating out excuses
Fact – Rodgera has a worse record than any other manager in 50 years
Fact – this is the worst season in living memory
You moan about other fans. Internet warriors like yourself probably don’t even go the games. You sir behind your computer desk slagging the people who pay to see this ce@p every week
Kop on
yea. whatever dude keep takin the medication
EVERYTHING u said is bull*
Get back to your cabbage patch .I’ve never read such delusional nonsense as that.
Judging by the short inarticulate responses I got to my comments I will presume that I am indeed correct about the anti-BR brigade. It is this “burn the witch” mentality that has me despairing at the modern day Liverpool supporter..I am embarrassed at it. Everyone nowadays is an armchair manager. I wonder what level of football any of you “experts” ever got to?? Nonsensical knee jerking from a bitter section of our now fragmented support. BR will not be sacked so its galling to listen to this tripe.Not one of you offered a reasoned argument on what we should do if hypothetically it were to happen. “Get Mourinho” …is that the extent of the argument?? Get a cheque book manager when we have no cheques to give him……yeah that makes sense. BR is building a bastion of invincibity. .Give him.some breathing space.
This is what you get when you hire a coach with no experience at top level football , you get mediocrity.
Rodgers doesnt have what is takes to be a top manager . His man management skills are awful as us his transfer dealings. Rodgers doesnt understand Liverpool either , he is a small club manager out of his depth at a big club
We need a top manager now or our stars will leave , and we will be even further away from the top
A horrendous horrendous error by FSG appointing Rodgers . Lets hope they don’t make the same mistake next time
At last . Someone speaking sense
Rogers out please
Farmer Brown your rant was astonishingly unintelligent and totally wrong. If you don’t understand football don’t comment here
ditto tommy.
it amazes me how so many people can be so ignorant and short-sighted. thank god the morons who comment on these pages don’t have any say in the running of the club. Fact is we are playing better football than we have played in the last 5 years. If you can’t see that then you are blind or stupid, or more likely both.
Keep going Brendan and don’t listen to all these Chelsea fans in disguise.
I wouldn’t bother replying to this as I won’t bother to read it. I’ll save my debating for people with a modicum of intelligence, and you lot are all thick as pig-*.
YNWA
delusional uneducated fool . You have no idea . Thank god fools like you dont have any say
Only Mancs and Chelsea fans want us to keep Rodgers . Which one are you ?
Stick to your own clubs sites