IN the underwhelming, uninspiring and lacklustre affair that was last weekend’s Merseyside derby, the cracks papered over by the 6-0 demolition of Newcastle at St. James’ Park the previous week were so simply exposed.
A select few players were singled out for their particularly poorer performances as per – Lucas Leiva in particular was singled out for his what was viewed as an exceptionally poor performance. By the Brazilian’s standards, he was below-par – being careless in possession, giving the ball away cheaply with what quite simply put was mediocre distribution of the ball.
However, he was by no means as abysmal as it was made out to be by supporters. Put it bluntly, being the easy target that he is, he was as so often made the scapegoat to what was a collectively poor performance.
One player who escaped with little to no criticism however was left-back José Enrique.
At the earlier stages of the campaign, the 27 year-old’s future at Liverpool looked bleak, with him being singled out as one of a select few players who needed to clean up their act or face a possible exit from the club. Several months on and Enrique has re-established himself as a key member of Rodgers’ squad, following a series of stellar performances for the Reds from full-back, effectively cementing his place as the club’s first-choice left-back.
In watching the Spaniard in his extended run in the team and his most recent performance at the weekend, one thing has been made clear to me – José Enrique is simply not good enough.
His flamboyant long balls and sometimes awesome displays of strength in shepherding the ball out of play may stand out but what most fans don’t see are his, when pin-pointed, quite crucial flaws. His tendency to stray out of position for one is something that is of great concern as he is often seen wandering a good 20 yards out of position only to fail to get back on time.
Yet another critical shortcoming of José’s is his ‘weakness’ in the challenge, making half-hearted, subdued and even lazy attempts to dispossess the opponent. A prime example would be in last season’s FA Cup final against Roberto Di Matteo’s Chelsea, where Enrique quite literally gifted them the opener, opting for a withdrawn, sluggish challenge on Ramires in a sorry attempt to nick the ball off his feet. Needless to say he was shrugged off with ease, allowing Ramires through on goal – and the rest is history.
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Another thing that became evident in Sunday’s clash with David Moyes’ men was Enrique’s ineffectiveness. So often was he brought into the game, only to give the ball straight back to the opposition in the final third with a poorly executed cross, inaccurate pass or lapse in concentration on his part. He just seemed to run out of ideas as he approached the business end of the pitch.
Ultimately, finding a replacement would be, in my opinion, the best course of action for the club. So, where do we look? The answer quite literally is sitting in our backyard it being young Jack Robinson, currently on-loan at now relegated Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Having been thrown straight into the first-team at Molineux, following a, in hindsight, rather fortunate injury to Ward, Robinson has since established himself as Wolves’ first-choice left-back and made himself a fan-favourite in the West Midlands.
The 19 year-old has impressed greatly in his time with (what is now formerly) Dean Saunders’ men, showing an almost monstrous amount of space, robustness in the tackle and consistent effectiveness.
Despite his relative inexperience and comparably small physique, Robinson gives what the Reds have missed from their left flank ever since the departure of John Arne Riise – directness. Robinson has displayed his ability to run at defenders at force his way into the box, more often than not finding a teammate with a pinpoint pull-back rather than an aimless, floated ball over the top.
His composure on the ball coupled with his direct, unrelenting style of play would be a valuable asset to the team, much more so than José Enrique possibly could.
If ever there was a time to step up, now, more so than ever would be it for young Jack Robinson, quite simply Liverpool’s best left-back.
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Totally totally agree , but Rodgers wont have the balls to give the youth a proper go . Since xmas he dropped them all
Fret not. Given the injury problems we’ve been hit with, you can be sure we’ll see a lot more youth in the remaining games.
Funny, but did you give credit to Rodgers when he was playing the youth?
If you were not then how can you criticize him for not giving them a chance?
Err… No I never said that
Rodgers only played the kids because he left our squad so horribly short last summer
He dropped the youngsters at xmas but wat happened then num nuts are form picked up immensely you cant have 4 or 5 inexperienced kids playin and expect to be a top top team unless they are truly awsome he was havin a look at wat he had some of them wernt ready so he dropped them simple as give the man a chance
Rodgers has had more of a chance than he deserves. Shocking manager
How is he a terrible manager for his first season hes done pretty well considering where we were last couple seasons judge him at the end of next season when he has spent half of what dalglish did
Are u really that stupid paul ? this season is way way worse than last or do u not remember 2 cup finals & beating all the best clubs
And Rodgers has a greater net spend than Kenny without the injuries and the Evra affair mid season
You need some education
@fotheringham
“You need some education”
The irony. You need an education, mate.
This season has been way worse has it? Compare the points tally to that of last season. Oh but we won the mighty league cup and didn’t win the FA Cup (the latter being a wonderful achievement for any manager aspiring to, er, win things). To be fair the cup runs were good fun, and perhaps I’m being harsh. But it’s all about being finishing in the top 4 frankly and we’re closer this season than last.
Enrique can be great one week and terrible the next. A typical average player who can never find the consistency to be a top player.
Seriously we need a left back that is better than Jose Enrique
I don’t know about Jack Robbo. Overrated in my opinion. Attacking threat not good enough. With rodgers system we need attacking fullbacks. His pace won’t cut it. I’d rather see Ryan Mcoughlin given a run. More explosive going forward. There’s also quite a few rightfooted leftbacks in the world meaning it won’t b a disadvantage. We need Diame, Kelly to go to CB, Eriksen as playmaker. Keep Suarez, Carroll to return as impact player, and a right winger wit pace n goal scoring threat. Whilst grooming Raheem, Sterling and Shelvey. I’m liking the u21 left winger too
Haven’t seen much of this supposed composure on the ball in attacking situations from Robinson.
He definitely showed poor attitude when shooting wildly despite 3 players being in great positions to be found, then telling Suarez to F off when he complained. Not good.
Hardly think establishing yourself in a relegated Championship team means you’re ready for a team hoping to get top 4 next season…..
His attitude definitely needs work among other things. My point here was not that he (Robinson) is good enough to play in a Champions League chasing team, it simply was that he has far more to offer than José Enrique does.
There is no reason to question his attitude at all..its just nonsense from forums like this
Robinson has a excellent attitude
Do you know him haha or is that whst it says on football manager
Another dim comment Paul .He obviously knows more than you (dont we all ? )
Exactly, Robinson’s attitude is terrible. If wolves are so impressed with him, they should bid for him. McLaughlin is going to be a top,top player. Hard working, great positional sense and a real threat going forward.
mclaughlin > robinson…
We are going no were with this clown rodgers in charge, he just doesn no what to do when we cant break teams down. Fsg need to wake up and see its just not going to work with rodgers in charge, they took a chance on him and it just has’n worked out. Rodgers has’n learned on bit from the mistakes he’s made through out his year in charge. I’ve never been so worried about our great club in all the years i’ve followed them. We are a couple years away from even breaking into the top four again, never mind trying to win the league. When a team like everton can finish above us two years in a row with no money and what we have spent in the last two years. Is it any wonder im worried about our great club. YNWA
Well said . Too many deluded idiots on here that can’t see that
Spot on lad . If we dont sack Rodgers , it’s more mid table misery next season
Not even close. The form guide will tell you that our season has progressively improved throughout the season. Yes, 7th is not good enough, but we’ve already surpassed last year’s tally and the signs are encouraging especially the way we play in attack.
In any event, regardless of anyone’s opinion of BR, sacking him now won’t do anything but guarantee more upheaval, and put us back even further. The club needs stability, not a new manager every season because the incumbent didn’t finish fourth. I don’t understand how fans can expect any manager coming in to turn things around in one season. The reason Everton have done so well is because Moyes has been in charge for so many years with a settled squad who’ve played together for a long time.
I think Rodgers is doing okay given the mess we were in before, but I accept next season we will need to see real improvement (a challenge for 4th place).
As for Enrique, I completely agree with the sentiment of this article. He frustrates me more than any other player to the point that I actually dislike him, mainly because he thinks he’s Alonso with the number of long passes he tries to play (unsuccessfully).
Keeping a useless manager causes more upheaval in the long run . he will be sacked sometime next season anyway
But Rodgers isn’t useless nor has he been useless, and the progress made since Christmas proves as such. That’s not an opinion, either – see the results for proof.
That’s not to say he hasn’t made mistakes, and yes there needs to be improvement next season. If he fails, then he will go but I don’t believe he will fail.
He already has failed
says a lot about your post if you have never been so worried about lfc as you are now. not even when we could have gone down the same route as leeds.
fsg need to wake up and sack rodgers cause he does not learn from his mistakes and we have finished below everton in the league for the last 2 seasons.
throw out a bunch of these mistakes that rodgers keeps making will ye, you know the ones that fergi, jose, rafa, arsen, pep, or pulis dont keep making.
Pulis? Yep, you completely lost all credibility there.
Rodgers doesn’t learn from his mistakes? Any proof to support this baseless assertion? Our results over the season have gradually improved if you look closely. Also, Rafa hasn’t exactly set the world on fire since guiding us to 5th – has he learned from his mistakes?
Finally, you can only blame Rodgers for Everton finishing above us this season (we had a different manager last season in case you need reminding).
‘no were’? You’ll get nowhere with spelling like that, you no mark!
to say rogers doesn’t kw his trade is ludicrous really. He’s made a couple of mistakes in summer acquisitions in borini, assaidi n’ Allen perhaps but he’s learned since which is evident in Jan acquisitions in coutinho n’ Sturridge. ManCITY wouldn’t be looking at him if he ws a joke…..
Rodgers didn’t sign coutinho and sturridge . the transfer committee did . Rodgers is clueless
Who would you have
give the kid a chance we have have nothing 2 lose,
The same old know it alls with absolutely no experience thinking they know better than the club.
Football is a simple game complicated by idiots, and bluffers.
My deaf gran knows better than Rodgers. He is a total pot plant
B R knows what he is doing – JUDGE HIM AS FROM AUGUST – half the names put forward as his better are absolute failures. B R WILL COME GOOD. Not sure about Robinson – some scouse bias in this article – same applies to Morgan – he seems way off the pace at present but with time ????????????
Morgan isn’t even close to being good enough. The comparisons with him to Fowler and Owen are a million miles wide of the mark Robinson might well be though, looks a good athlete just needs to get some experience. I’d certainly give him at least 60 mins in one of the remaining games.
Agree ray spot on
We judge him from last august – verdict TOTAL FAILURE
Even Brenda himself said “Judge us with 2 months of season to go ”
Brenda will never ‘come good ‘ _ championship is his level
Yes……you can say Enrique is an average player and I won’t argue with you. That means we need another left back better than Enrique,not another young player like Jack Robinson for Liverpool fans to keep hoping he will play better than Enrique someday. Jack may eventually grow with time and be better than Enrique but to say Jack is better than Enrique at the moment carries a lot of sentiment. We need top players!!!!! Ain’t you guys tired of Top Two below the Top Five already. Jack can keep coming in as a sub in games to get him learning more but,to stick with Jack for a season,bliv me that could be disastrous. And please don’t you ever say Rodgers is senseless, to me I see him as someone who is learning to be sensible,his first set of buys were poor yes!!!! But,his second set of buys has been better,wait for the third set of his buys it may turn out to be the best. Why are you willing to give Jack a chance and not give Brendan a chance. Come on!!!!don’t be partial,be fair enough.
Ok . Rodgers has had over 50 games ..he has failed miserably
Robinson has had only 10 games. Sack Rodgers and give Robinson 40 more
Fair ??
Lol…..Benny,I see ur comment as been funny, so I will reply you with a joke… We both know that Rodgers and Robinson were mates in high school,Rodgers once borrowed Robinson 50marks in a maths exam which was just sufficient for Robinson to move to the next session(season). So,Robinson owes Rodgers,now Robinson has to pay back by giving Rodgers a chance of 50 more matches before contemplating sacking him…….Fair Enough.
Jack was poor against Oldham! Anyone can shine in a poor team like Wolves!!!!!
As for Sacking BR hahahaha! Give him time.Finishing above Everton is not a measurement of success but a victory of passion and bragging rights.The team is on the right track.Ever since Rafa we have always found it difficult to breakdown teams outside the top 5. Nothing new.
Patience and sense are required during this transitional period. Let’s judge him in May 2014!
YNWA
Right track ? dream on
Another season of Brenda will finish us
Spot on. Finally a fa who isn’t drowning in his own vitriol.
*fan* I’d hate to say anything positive about the fa. lol.
Some idiots on here judging s manager after a season of transition. Dont you idiots remember how bad we were last season and the season before and the one before that we now play better football and are progressively getting better all the time. Can one of you idiots tell me what manager (realisticly now were not playing football manager now idiots) you would pick and were do you think we should have finished this season ( again now idiots realistic with the squad we have )
what a load of childish idiotic nonsense
grow up soft lad
Not gonna answer the question idiot
Only one idiot here Paul…and that’s you
Is that all your goin to say explain your problem with rodgers and answer the question or havent either of you got a clue
Why would they waste their time with a kid like you ? all you do is insult people . ‘idiot this ‘ and ‘idiot that ‘
its even more silly when your own opinions are so lacking any intelligence
Ha ha . What a deluded comment . Rafa win the champions league in his transitional season. Kenny won the league cup in his . Houillier finish 4th in his
Crack on you clown !
Paul u fool. We won cup and had more final.last year. U don’t know anything
So true…
@ Ryan Lim
You’re part right but Jack Robinson is not the choice,he is no where near good.
i had to put this up can’t stop laughing at this and there are posters that agree with this guy.
stevieG
5 hours ago
Totally totally agree , but Rodgers wont have the balls to give the youth a proper go . Since xmas he dropped them all
Report
stevieG
3 hours ago
Err… No I never said that
Rodgers only played the kids because he left our squad so horribly short last summer
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stevieG
3 hours ago
Spot on lad . If we dont sack Rodgers , it’s more mid table misery next season
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stevieG
5 hours ago
Wee brendan likes his little wimps to play tippy-tappy . Get used to this rubbish
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what a joker!
The joke is you K . I have seen the nonsense you put up . Total braindead nonsense
You need to grow up
and all of what Stevie said is spot on
ah another fine argument from you section of (so called)supporters. please go right a head and embarrass me with some of my top worst posts.
so you agree that rodgers does not have the balls to give the kids a proper go, only plays them because we did not do well in the summer window, if we dont sack rodgers now we will finish midtable next season and rodgers wants his wimps to play tippy tappy football.
bit of a contradiction. NO.
troll much ?
ah another idiotic comment from you section of (so called )fans .All your comments are uneducated
Kop on kid . Your making yourself look more and more silly with each mindless comment
you got me there i have to admit, oh no wait here is one for you.
I KNOW YOU ARE BUT WHAT AM I!
Shut up foth you tit
Is that all you say on ere foff or av you got a proper opinion in the braindead head of yours anyone you dont agree with needs to grow up haha tit
You must about 6 ‘paul’ . Get to bed kid and try not to wet the bed
No its not donut!
Thank you fotheringham. This k guy is just immature. He will grow up some day
Absolutely agree mate absolute tripe
Lol . Paul and k – what a pair of dumb bell ends
Agree about Enrique, but not Robinson. When Glen J played at left back he was excellent, and thats where he should play. We have plenty of options to cover the right back role.
To be honest, I didn’t read the full article. I would rather voice my support for my team. We have a very young team who are progressing. Like I try to explain, liverpool were a good te a few years ago. Our owners sold players rather than invest. My point is, see Alonso, Torres and old Masc and get a load money, but try replace th for half the cost is impossible. You all get my point, don’t blame anybody but HnG or did you forget???
Rodgers is completely to blame for this dreadful embarrassing season
We’ve improved a little bit in the league this season, mainly because of Suarez rather than anything Rodgers has done, but gone backwards in the cup competitions.
We’re on the verge of losing the only world class player we have, someone we won’t replace at anywhere near the same level, and our track record in the transfer market under FSG is very mixed.
The manager has issues in every areaof his role – transfers (2 out or 7look ok), playing system (totally flawed), man management (slight improvements in average players,he’s wrecked atop class defender), team selections and substitutions (some of which I can’t believe aprofessional would make), media performaces (embarrassing).
If anyone thinks this goon is going to take us anywhere near 4th they are seriously deluded, including those on here shouting down any dissent (some of whom are clearly somehow connected to the club).
LFC is amid table club with owners who only have mid table aspirations,mostly mid table players, a mid table MD and amid table manager.
This time next year we will not be any higher in the league than we are now, that is a certainty
If they wanted to, FSG could sack Rodgers and bring in Rafa this summer.
Rafa is the only manager of his level who would consider LFC, a manager who has just reached yet another European final.
If FSG think Rafa is not the right man to be Liverpool manager and Rafa goes to Real Madrid, then it will confirm that they either don’t know what they are doing, or that they don’t intend for us to compete at the highest level.
or indeed maybe it means you dont know what you are on about. it is another reason is it not?
they are the one’s with experts advising them, so unless you consider yourself an expert in all matters football the most likely answer is?
Excellent post David . This summer will tell us a lot about FSG . Personally i believe they are not much better than the last lot
Spot on mate!!! Thanks for writing many of my thoughts!!!
Top comment David Tobin
Any fans out there hoping for an improvement from BR next season are in for a disappointment . He does not have the ability to be a top manager , to be honest i dont think he even has the intelligence
Despite a few more premier points , this season has been a big step backward . We are no longer respected or feared by the top clubs and with a uninspiring trainee manager in place , we are not an attractive prospect for potential players
TERRIBLE ARTICLE JUST TERRIBLE.
ROBINSON WILL NEVER BE LIVERPOOLS FIRST CHOICE LB AND WILL SOON BE PLAYING IN LEAGUE 1
SAME FOR FLANAGAN
I think Robbo has potential – deserves a decent chance