Balance. The holy grail for every coach and manager in the game of football. When you break it down to its core it is as simple as it gets: Score goals. Don’t concede goals. Entertain, but make sure you remain rock solid in the process. Even some of the best teams in Europe struggle to get it right.
Barcelona, Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund, Atletico Madrid, Juventus and Real Madrid all have that in common to a various degree: issues with the balancing act. Not big issues, but big enough to be visible. Only a tiny little handful of teams are close to what you could call perfection.
LFC under Brendan Rodgers is still very much a work in progress in that matter. What strikes me the most about this Liverpool team is how different it is from his Swansea team in terms of its nature. Rodgers himself used the term ‘DNA’ to describe the core of the squad he had last season. You can put time and effort into altering it, but ultimately it will dictate your approach more than you can dictate it.
As a result I think we’re still seeing a Liverpool FC somewhat torn between the ideals of their manager and the evolution of the squad – maybe even the evolution of the manager himself.
Compared to the measured approach of the Swansea team he introduced to the Barclays Premier League, this Liverpool team is a beast of wilder proportions. Having players like Steven Gerrard, Jordan Henderson and Luis Suarez naturally means that the prospect of taming Liverpool and recreating a better version of Swansea – if that was his initial vision – was always going to be difficult.
The interesting part is that by adding the likes of Philippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge, he has – by choice or by consequence – further enhanced the underlying nature that dictates the Liverpool we now see week in week out: a team that looks capable of outscoring just about every team in the league, but conversely is capable of conceding a goal against any team at any given point.
From the outside it looks like a successful shotgun approach: throw everything you can and the odds of something sticking is in your favour, and then make sure you fire more than the opponent.
Is this then a conscious choice or is it a compromise based on the players at his disposal? The reason why I’m bringing this up now is because of the transfer window, and because the next couple of signings Liverpool make could be an indication about which direction Rodgers wants to take.
Personally I believe it’s the latter; I believe what Rodgers is aiming for is something similar to the game against Tottenham at White Hart Lane, which I think is the most balanced performance we have seen from a Liverpool team for many years.
Time will show if I’m right, but I think the next few transfers will include midfielders who can make Liverpool better at controlling games and dictate the events of a game rather than letting events dictate them, which I think is the weakness of the team right now and the underlying problem of what we perceive as defensive frailties.
We may have to wait until the next transfer window to get the answers due to the nature of the market in January, meaning we may have to live with the somewhat erratic Jekyll&Hyde performances – or perhaps moments is a better word – for the rest of the season, and hope we continue to hit more than we miss from now until the end of the season.
Rodgers has had long enough
Reality strikes again for us, at the highest level Rodgers out of his depth. On at least 4 occasions this season he has been shown up as tactically naive, we are fighting for 4th spot so he leaves Lucas out and goes all gung ho on us, what happened to making sure you don’t lose the game first. Lambert couldn’t believe his luck. He then has to bring Lucas on and now he will be out for weeks. And for you dreamers who go all gooey eyed at the lovely football, its a points business not performance business. Reality is that we have the top striker in the world, so top 4 should be guaranteed if the rest of your tactics are spot on, AVB at Spurs got away with it when he had Bale , then Bale goes and AVB was found wanting. Another reality check is that if we don’t get top 4 and CL , Luis Suarez is gone ad then we are in trouble.
Brendan rogers is very stupid pls sign a pay check and a 3 or more players 4 top 4 guarantee wat a useless coarch is DAT u re slow in the tempo of our game pls henry bring back benitez check out his signing at Napoli pls
Ya ryt man especially on da issue of Lucas Leiva…he should start
Spot on michael c.
Yes rodgers made a mistake with his selection. So did ferguson on more than one occasion. Rodgers will learn. Stick with him
No thanks
Rodgers stop buying players from 1st div
And from Premier League who r not worthy
For their teams, we need good professional players not free and Un professional
Tell FSG to spend, if they can spend for Red Sox why not Liverpool? ???
FSG has spent, Rodgers has bought, Allen £15 mill, Borini £12 mill, Aspas £7 mill, Alberto £6mill, Assaidi £3mill, Illori £6 mill, Sakho £18 mill, Coutinho £8 mill, Sturridge £12 mill. Plus money on loan deals (Mose and Sissokho), so around £90 million. Of that two are playing for another club four are not good enough and end up unused subs ever week, and the loan players are rubbish. So if you had paid out the money, would’nt you want some sort of return on it? I would for sure. FSG won’t bankrupt the club like previous owners, it’s unfortunate they picked a manager not up to the job.
Don’t think this time over the last few seasons we were sat in 4th place just after x-mas, to most that shows progress. Everyone wants the league but because it’s not happening fast enough some want him out and to destabilise the club again. Wise people. When was the last time this club has been this stable? How long did it take Benitez to mould his team? came close once and that was without excellent man city or improved Tottenham, the landscape has changed people, a little realism at where we are and where we have recently been will help us form a rational sense of perspective. Instead of just finger pointing where the blame lay.
Yawn. Aaron the troll boring everyone again
Complete idiot
I said b4 Stoke game that we were going to lose but somehow we won.I always say that Brendan is being too proud bcos we are cheering him why? Cos all my life I have never seen a coach who likes to talk about his game plan like talkative Brendan.Always driving himself with pride and trying some cynical things whenever Suarez wins him three matches in a row.Can somebody pls tell me what Moses and Aspas are still doing at lfc when our remaining one sub was crying 4 a match change.It shames me to see my great lfc being horribly managed by losers like Ayre and Brendan.I thought we should have signed Mvila or Fernando with Salah,that Brendan is aiming 4 top 4 so what,he has the world best striker yet Everton,Spurs will certainly push us down.STOP BEING DECEIVED BY BRENDAN THE STUBBORN,PRIDE B4 FALL LIKE RODGERS AND LOSERS LIKE AYRE
Said it all along m8 Rodgers is crap, take out Suarez and he’s shafted. cant stand listening to his blarney. Just look at his signings, around £40-£50 million wasted.
I agree , but he has spent 96 million incl money for loans and I would say about 70-75 has been wasted. After all we didn’t need to waste 29 m on sakho and mignolet
Trouble is we have no midfielders that can score and no midfielders that can protect the back four, which believe me needs protecting. Toure, Sissokho and Johnson are dire to say the least. Lucas is not a natural DM, Allen is a £5 million player at best, Gerrard has lost his pace, Coutinho and Sturridge could ‘nt hit a barn door with a banjo and our goalie has started giving away a goal a game. So if we’re very lucky we might get two midfielders in this month A DM and AM. Doubt it though, Rodgers might buy some more bench warmers.
Mf that can protect the back 4? Who are our back 4? We keep chopping and changing every game. Not good enough . Mignolet has become a calamity. Reina became one after a while. Coaching? Or bad keeper?
Unless we learn to win by not coinciding we are shafted . Too many points dropped from winning positions. I said after the last derby, how is Everton counter attaching when we are winning??? Shouldn’t it be us doing it? Swansea, city, Chelsea .. Too many points dropped.
sometimes i wonder what kind of coach is dis,d money is nt urs pls buys us good player u keep on braking our hrts with ur useless selection.
Every things need process. Just wait and see, 2-3 years from now we are the one!
That what people were saying 2/3 years ago. It’s getting a bit tired
That’s what we’ve been saying for over two decades. Rodgers can’t be blamed for 23 years of league failure, nor can FSG.
Yaaawwwnnnn . No one cares what the boring troll aaron says.
Idiot
Who cares about the last 23 years, it’s now thats important. Rodgers + fsg are at fault for this team and the wasted money . Get a clue you eejit
Er, since the inception of the premier league we have been a cup team, mildly better than upper mid table team. This season we are playing to form. If you want to continue living in the 70’s/80’s good luck to you. Were it not for all our cup success we would be trophy-less in the PL era. Best we have had is second and we failed to push on from there. Last season we finished 7th, we are on form to better that this year and people crying it’s not happening fast enough. A few years ago almost bankrupt, could have ended up like Leeds, just think realism and patience is required, not a new manager/owner, putting our development further back and continuing our cup team status. If thinking that way makes me an eejit, so be it.
Yawn . Ignore the ignorant troll aaron . He bores everyone with his idiocy.
Don’t feed the troll please
Wow . Do you actually believe all the bullsh?t you wrote ? You haven’t got 1 brain cell. I think the troll hunter guy is right , you are one that should be ignored. Get better soon.
It’s quite difficult to not believe the truth, Sam, how have you managed to do it? End of season tables don’t lie. Take cup success away, how many times have we threatened to do better than finish top 4? Intrigued how your superior brain cell advantage answers that one.
p.s. I’m all better Sam, thanks. I guess a dose of realism helps, you should try it sometime instead of continuing to live in the past.
Aaron the troll still trolling
Ignore the troll Sam . He is a complete idiot
Ha ha ha ha . Good on yer trollhunter . Aaron talks total bolloxjs and everyone knows it.
Realist, ‘if’ your so real, explain what exactly is to be gained from removing owners and manager this season. We all want Suarez to stay but if you remove BR&FSG today, then you have just sold Suarez. He’s not going to hang around whilst we rebuild again!! Idiots.
We are fourth, all big games at home… What’s to cry about.
Just stick to your troll hunter orgy instead of wanting to worsen our current situation.
Aaron the troll just cant stop trolling.
Nobody cares what he says , nobody listens to him but he keeps trolling
Idiot
Ha ha ha ha
Sad little no mates aaron still wants to discuss football with me . You have never once said anything remotely intelligent about football , your just a troll . I shall continue to laugh at your immature comments but trollhunter deals with you as you deserve.
Ha ha hs ha . Funny as fluck .
Realist not being very ‘real’ again. Oh the irony.
Not desperate to discuss football with you, just asked a very simple question. If you answer great, if not, even better.
However this is a football forum no? People air their views, or follow mine (I feel like J Beiber being followed by paparazzi)
Furthermore, some support the set up as is and understand progression takes time, also prepared to wait, some want immediate change and destabilization again, a lively debate ensues, happy days all round.
Ha ha ha ha ha haaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaaaaa ha
The sad little fool aaron STILL wants to discuss football with a complete stranger who has no interest in talking to him.
Ha haha . How desperate and sad is that ? What a loser .
Once again aaron proves what a sad troll he is .
Idiot
Rodgers is great at attacking football but doesn’t have a clue at the other end. Villa pack the midfield we all know that and what does Rodgers do, he plays two midfielders and only one in holding role who’s 33. He couldn’t have set Liverpool team up more perfect for Villa manager and players if he tried. I’m so annoyed at Rodgers right for needlessly throwing away points like that, points we’ll bloody need to get CL football.
Rodgers has had nearly 2 seasons spent 95m , this is his squad , no one else to blame. He has the top striker in the world at his disposal , how could a top manager fail ? This is not just about defensive mistakes , this is about tactical awareness, Rodgers has got it wrong when it matters again, all those wins we had all against the bottom half teams and the poorest Utd team clouded over his lack of tactics. Top 4 , ” no chance ” = Luis Suarez
Only a blind man will continue to believe what this deceiver(BRENDAN)continue to boast about.For me even if he wins three straight matches in a row, he is out of his depth cos that is when the unexpected is around the corner.Doubt me check his winning record.This kind of manager is not what lfc need.All those believing we are going to UCL u are all dreaming why?cos we won’t even get 5th.Watch out 4 Brendan’s excuse in May.
guys im not sure we watch the same team.our team is lacking midfield,which should be our top proirity,we dont have the anchorman type of alonso or mascherano.lucas is up there but is playing alone couz when we lose the position you find lucas out muscled by three midfielders.we need to the game we a playing we should buy hard tackling anchorman who has no nonsese this are the names cheik tiote ,ymvilla ,matuidi of psg ,cabaye, we need hard tackling midfielders.after that then you play with henderson as a play playing central .gerrard is getting old then let coutinho to complete three man midfield.we play with two man anchorman you will find we wil be able to play with full back attacking.my problem is johnson who is playing like championship player he has no flair at all.mignolet is starting to relax couz is just being scored silly goal like in mancuty game he should have punched tht ball away.my defence i will want to see sakho and skrtel at the centre then agger as left if enrique is out still injured.players are just not putting one hundred percent effort .if u check suarez he is putting all his heart when he gets into the pitch.br needs to be given chance and funds to buy the players he wants.
marshal ,you are spot on Johnson is like a lazy schoolboy ,not bothering his arse sulking most of the time,he knows he has no competition,Lucas is a quality player but has suffered a lot of injuries lately,we never replaced our best player in Mascherano,& a physical team like Villa must love playing us,then add in probably the two worst right & left full back displays in years,we need a decent d/m to give Lucas a chance to recover.get Jose/ Kelly/Agger/Sakho back & let Stevie compete/battle further up the pitch .Its a genuine w.i.p with a manager with limited resources im afraid.Lets support the team & B.R to try & attain a 4th spot.y.n.w.a.
Someone explain to me the purpose, value, contribution of the following players to the team;
Aspas, Alberto, cissokho, Moses, Llori, Sahin, Borrini?
Someone explain to me after signing so many defenders and a better (haha) keeper….why do we concede 2 goals per game? Our defence has to be bottom of the league.
Who works on them? Pascoe ? Rogers? Who is responsible for the shambles?
Finally, Rogers, you have a shot at top 4 with united being terrible. Grasp the chance and go back to Swansea.
Reading all the posts on here I have to say they all hit the spot. I know we’re doing better than in recent seasons and I have to be grateful for that, but I can’t help wondering that the relatively slow start to the season by City, United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs have contributed to a false sense of optimism regarding the Reds’ chances of success this season.
I’m being brutally honest, when I heard Rodgers praise the team’s character and Mignolet I could not believe what I was hearing. I’ve been a Liverpool supporter since 1964 and this current team are one of the most fragile of all the eras throughout that time. We are being carried by an ageing Gerrard, Suarez (who will leave if we once again fail to secure Champions League football) and the in-form Sturridge. Take those three out of the team and we are fit to finish anywhere from 8th to 20th…….sorry, but this back four is worst I have ever seen represent LFC, they are simply awful and need to be urgently replaced. Maybe I am the only one who does not see Mignolet through rose-tinted spectacles but to me he is somewhat less than Liverpool require. Okay, he’s made some great saves, but come on. isn’t that what goalkeepers are very highly paid to do? I’m afraid some of the crucial errors he continues to make are not satisfactory.
The tragic thing is, my Rogers says ‘I went with my gut feeling’
Way to go Brent . Way to go. Don’t worry about how the opposition lines up , tactics etc. Just go with the gut feeling.
How many points have we dropped from winning position?
I said after the derby. Why was Everton counter attacking when we were ahead twice? Surely the onus was on them to attack… Us to counter. Why can’t we hold on to a lead?
This is a golden opportunity to get top 4. It won’t be repeated again….
Good comment,,
Work experience manager continues to show his lack of tactical ability . Only the magnificence of Suarez has us in contention for top 4 . If we fail Suarez won’t be here next season.
Brendan has spent enough to win the league. He is just not good enough. Poor signings!!! Cissokho, aspas, moses, no squad depth.