IT has been a year since Brendan Rodgers has been appointed Manager of Liverpool Football Club, and needless to say the opinions amongst fellow Liverpool supporters and critics alike have been as mixed now as they were back then.
In a look back at Brendan Rodgers’ first year as Liverpool boss, it’s hard to say if we have made any progress.
In my opinion we haven’t made any progress at all.
In fact we have neither moved forward nor backward, we are in the same position as we’ve been for the last few years; average and mostly disappointing.
This primarily is due to no fault of Brendan Rodgers, but is the consequence of the practices of his predecessors; in fact, majority of the squad predates Rodgers. And most of the issues that were of concern then still exist.
The first and indeed underlying concern must be with the inconsistencies which has gotten us in this position in the first place. Liverpool F.C continues to drop points from winning positions as was the case in their games against Manchester City, Arsenal, and Everton, in addition we continued to lose games against relegation threatened teams. In these areas Brendan Rodgers has not managed to correct those issues and consistency is paramount if we are to consider ourselves a top four contender.
There are also the issues of attracting the right players that complement our style of play and also who adapts well to the conditions and physical nature of the Premier League. In this regard, there are signs that Rodgers is beginning to right those wrongs, not only with the purchases that have been made in Janurary, but also with the quality of players linked with a move to Liverpool F.C.
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Gone were the days when names like Paul Konchesky, Carlton Cole etc. were being regularly linked to Liverpool F.C, to the bitter frustration of the supporters of this great club.
However, on a positive front, Brendan Rodgers has laid down his desire of playing positive attacking football, which we have been seeing of late and he has reiterated his commitment to bringing in top quality players worthy to be called a Liverpool FC player.
Recently, we have been linked with some players of real quality, players such as Armenian International attacking midfielder, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, in addition to the potential purchase of Celta Vigo Spanish Striker, Iago Aspas. Certainly if Liverpool F.C can manage to hold on to top players such Luis Suarez and Daniel Agger, then we can say Brendan Rodgers has a side that should finish in the top four in the Premier League and indeed challenge for silverware.
Brendan Rodgers is still a young manager and one that has been learning fast from his mistakes. In the meantime as he desperately tries to hold on to his prized possession Luis Suarez, he more than anyone will know that his future at Liverpool FC rests on this season and his ability to right the many wrongs of previous seasons.
As avid supporters of Liverpool FC we are left to wonder, besides Brendan Rodgers who were the other candidates willing to take over at Liverpool F.C and would they have done better with the players we have?
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We clearly have not improved and I think most managers including Kenny and Rafa would have done a lot better.
i dont think that rafa or benitez wouldhave done any better
??? Rafa is Benitez..and anyway my aunt betty would have done better than brenda
LOL!! Rafa or Benitez. Oahhh….super!
Yes . Rafa with his 10 major trophies. Kenny with his 4 league titles and several cups
And then no mark Rodgers with his 0 trophies
Lol .it’s a joke to compare two top managers to a trainee waffle merchant.
You don’t think rafa or benitez would have done better. Where was rafa last season? I thought he won a European trophy and finished third? And is now in charge of another CL club? Or was I in a bad dream?
Rafa and Rogers shouldn’t be seen in the same sentence ! Fact is, the guy is light years better than BR right now. Some of you have seen the light with BR . I have seen an average manager who can work wonders in the media and escape all criticism . Redknapp? Nah, an amateur by comparison to BR.
No excuses next year
ERIN, THE FACT! IS YOU ARE KOP ON POINT
I want to see a push on top 4 next season. A real push, not one that starts in August and is over by October. Oh and the answer to the question, secret to success? Learn from the mistakes. By his own admission, he has learned a lot this season-bless him. Lets hope he has learned enough to take himself to a new level as a manager. Even is the media throws excuses, the fans won’t be so forgiving.
YNWA
I also agree erin. I really cant understand why Rodgers has avoided criticism
I will not agree with the premise of this article as I feel it’s been unfair to the new manager. There is an element of truth in blaming BRs predecessors but that can’t be the entire explanatory point I feel.
I don’t know what progress is measured by but it should not be based merely on us not winning cups. Were we really progressing last season despite getting to two domestic finals? Had the team improved technically compared to Hodgson’s time? We continued to regress tactically since Rafa’s departure, but are now heading back to such times now under Rodgers I feel.
He’s never coached at this level too, which should be taken into cognizance. Above all, there was an entire overhaul to the playing system used at LFC, which slowed us down in the first half of the season. I won’t go into transfers, an area where the coach was also hamstrung in his quest at a much bigger club than anywhere he’s ever been.
The second half of the season served as a good reminder of where the club is headed. Previously ‘average’ players, at least in terms of classification (not necessarily ability) improved, as did addition of Coutinho and Sturridge. Our game has improved too, in terms of passing, possession and goals. That to me is significant progress.
I however note that some points I’ve put down have been noted by the author.
U ‘ve got a well thought out personal opinion on this. except where u said “our game too have improved in terms of passes, possession nd goals. that to me is (significant progress)” i dont know ur definition of progress with regards to the above quote. when a teams backward passes is greater than their forward passes, when they posses the ball for long periods in their own half not knowing what to do with it, when their whole play is boring nd lazy? if so what what would you say of kenny since his “major” problem was wastage of chances in front of goal. am not a fan of daglish neither am i trying to berate brenda but it hurts me when lfc fans live with that brendan rodgers syndrom of us being too small for the sucess we crave. our last few games are simply smoke screens nd i hope we would tell a better story next season.YNWA.
RAFA BENITEZ! WOULD HAVE DONE MUCH MORE THAN BETTER. YNWA
Not improved, admittedly we had a difficult start with a new manager trying to get his ideas across and a very very difficult league fixture list. But if you look at the signs after the January transfer window then surly anyone can see signs of real improvement.
Definitely no progress under BR . And judging by the players we are linked with , not much sign of forthcoming improvement either. We really need a top class manager to lure top players and install a good system
I don’t think we are as strong or as competitive as we were under Dalglish . A few points better off means nothing when compared to last seasons cup exploits. Rodgers doesnt have the tactical nous other managers have and his persistence in playing the likes of Allen shows me he doesnt learn . So all things considered I would say we have gone backwards under Rodgers
Some of the people commenting seem not able to grasp the reality facing LFC. The bitter truth is we are currently lagging behind in european football reckoning. As far as we don’t have a sugar daddy who is ready to play around with some quids, it will take a gradual but consistent rebuilding to restore our former glory. Jose Mourinho with the current financial and footballing situation at LFC will not be able to attract the best he may want. Slow and steady wins the race. YNWA.
Nonsense. While we are being slow , the others are racing ahead. The gap is getting bigger
u ve got a well thought out personal opinion on this. except where u said “our game too have improved in terms of passes, possession nd goals. that to me is (significant progress)” i dont know ur definition of progress with regards to the above quote. when a teams backward passes is greater than their forward passes, when they posses the ball for long periods in their own half not knowing what to do with it, when their whole play is boring nd lazy? if so what what would you say of kenny since his “major” problem was wastage of chances in front of goal. am not a fan of daglish neither am i trying to berate brenda but it hurts me when lfc fans live with that brendan rodgers syndrom of us being too small for the sucess we crave. our last few games are simply smoke screens nd i hope we would tell a better story next season.YNWA.
If the club do not spend good money by that i mean lots of on good players we will again not be good but the same .br is the one give him time i think he will get the best out of the players remember fergie took more than 5 years to get man to where they are now liverpool for life
But fergie was a proven manager , Brenda is not , so you can’t compare.
Br has a big plan 4 lfc jst get behind him nd support. If u don’t, den u are already walking alone
What’s the big plan ? Build a team of weak midgets and bullsh*t everyone into submission ?
no improvement in my opinion,1 win against the sides above us ,humiliated in the cups bo european football and bullied the lesser teams sometimes (except if they wer up for it then they hammered us wba twice ,aston villa southampton terrible
Correct . I agree with this assessment. The secret to success is having a good manager and buying good players. We don’t have a good manager and more often than not we have bought poor players
Lets see BR from another perspective he is a young coach tryin to lure young players to lfc but i don’t think he’s approch will work all we need at lfc is a gud coach wit enough xperience be it young or old players all we need is quality FSG shuld provide enough funds for BR to shop for quality players but if he BR fails dis season,no option than to send him parking…ynwa
BR is doin a good job with the limited resources he’s got
daglish wz hell with due respect to him as a legend
BR has got no such money to spend i would prefer time be given him to prove why he was appointed to lead the team
if you feel he is not doing a better job go get a coachin badge then you apply for the manager of the team
Blah blah . Get your facts straight. Rodgers was given 56 million to spend .
Net spend of roughly 50 million is the same net spend Kenny had !
So. How is thst ‘ limited resources’?
Your last paragraph is just stupid. Only a top experienced proven manager should get to manage a huge club like Liverpool – which is why we AND Rodgers are both unqualified
Disillusionment and deluded theories by fake fans really help us.
Kenny’s net spend was about 50mil, that is net, but the amount he had to build a team was in gross was about 100mil. Before Kenny, spent the 100mil, we lacked pace and width in the team (other than a few players providing those attributes), after he spent the 100mil, we still lacked pace and more crucially goal scoring ability (you may argue Suarez came good, but he scored most of his goal under Brenda)
Brenda spent 48.8mil, that is gross, and recouped about 10mil from transfers, also under his management the wage bill has been reduced by more than 20mil. That means his net spend is about 19mil. BR was given about 50mil, at the same time about 8 players were let go of.
From Roy Hodgson and Kenny, after all the money we spent we only really have 1 good player, Suarez. One may argue Meirales one of Hodgson’s better buys was pushed out by Kenny. Under Brenda, after the money he has spent so far we seem to have at least 2 good players Sturidge and Coutinho. That is evidence money has been better spent when compared to our previous 2 managers, though it we all may feel it could have been even better spent.
Brenda has done a decent job so far, he has not been terrific or even good just decent. Yes we had no decent cup runs, but he was relying on young un-tested players which was un-doing, in some of the matches, that with Brenda trying to enforce his style of play.
I totally agree with u Grant. Anyone that feels BR is not doing well should go get a coaching license and take up the Liverpool job. As for me, he’s good and he has shown that in d past one year. No business thrives without patience , so I blive he shld be given time. Man U did that with Ferguson wen he didn’t win anything in his first yrs and they have just done same with Moyes again by signing him for six yrs. So why should our own be different. UP LIVERPOOL! We’ll Never Walk Alone. I am Sabbathi, sports comedian of Nigeria.
Comedian is right. If you think Rodgers is good it must be a joke. Not funny though
No improvement for me , let’s hope BR has finished his learning period and starts actually producing some results
Brendan Rodgers is the man 2 take liverpool 4ward.Plz fans try 2 believe in rodger
No . He is not
Yes, you are correct!
We can’t believe in Rodgers I’m sorry to say , he simply isn’t good enough .
1 year of Rodgers = 1 year of being average
2 year of Rodgers = 2 year of being average
Liverpool can only dream of having managers of the quality of SIR Alex Ferguson and SIR Matt Busby. Liverpool will remain a midtable club because that’s simply where they were born to be. A couple of lucky years in the early eightes when there was no other compition around doesn’t make a great club…..If you want a defination of a great club just look up the east lancs road and you’ll see the icon that is Manchester Utd.
5 times
One word – Moyes!! Ahahhaha ha!!
This time last year we were looking a force. 2 cup finals , Carroll was starting to look good , we had poor run in league but we were dominating teams , just couldn’t score
Kenny would have fixed that , we just needed a finisher or Luis to finish better . Kenny was about to sign Diame on a free . Things were looking up
We have gone in reverse under Brendan. No longer able to beat the top sides , our star player wants out , and without the lureof a legend like Kenny, I dont see any top players wanting to come
It’s been a disaster , lets hope Brendan sorts it out , and quickly
True, Diame is the one who got away.
The secret to success is a good manager , so let’s go and get one
Ohh..!! By the way mr. M.U. Superior,SAF Tried to emulate our very own The Ever Great Bob Paisley.Yes,,admitedly he managed to overtake LFC but didnt and will never ever going to emulate the Great Red to win 3 UCL. Thats why he resigned. And one more thing, your Sir Matt Busby was our player and he was the one who contact LFC superiors to sign the legendary Billy Liddle while MB was managing MU. MU has just went 2 ahead of our 18 but still 2 behind our 5. So you are still chasing even when you’re in front. Who’s dreaming?