The Brendan Rodgers Way Will Create Casualties

Among other things, football is largely about evaluation. About judging. After every game and after every season – and in between, for good measure. Often for good reasons and with genuine arguments, but sometimes the foundation consists of weird and highly subjective views that has little or nothing to with football. A player looks a bit funny, or has a strange voice or a tattoo you disapprove of. Or the manager’s teeth are too white…

Then there’s the judging of those who have opinions. Irrespective of how articulate, well informed and well presented their arguments are: It’s easy to knock them down. ‘That’s rubbish’ we say. ‘Clueless’. Because I say so. I don’t need a good reason or stats to back it up. That’s how easy it is.

I blame the internet and I blame you. Yes, you. And myself, of course. For the constant scrutiny, the questions, the know-it-all attitude; questioning and second guessing the decisions of people who actually know the stuff we think we know. However, that’s how it is. And there’s nothing wrong with it. It keeps the whole thing spinning. And we mean it well.

So here it is once more. Me, questioning, assuming and judging. Trying to be objective and sensible, without knowing whether I really am or not.

Martin Skrtel – The sacrificial lamb

I don’t think Martin Skrtel is good enough for Liverpool FC. Or rather, not good enough for the Liverpool I’m hoping is about to reveal itself for us the next couple of years. And I’m going to try to write something sensible to back it up.

The reason why I don’t think Skrtel has a future as a first choice centre back for Brendan Rodgers’ LFC has more to do with what I perceive as the manager’s approach and core principles rather than the player himself. Which in no way, shape or form is a dig aimed at Rodgers, by the way.

I see this Liverpool team as a unit, in every sense of the word. More so than ever before – and this is where it gets slightly philosophical. I see Brendan Rodgers’ approach as a holistic approach in terms of attacking and defending. I don’t see a separation of the two. Which is why I shake my head in disbelief every time someone suggests the need for a defensive coach to reduce the amount of goals conceded. To me, the people who suggest that simply don’t get it. Sounds arrogant, right? It probably is. But I honestly mean it.

There are strengths and weaknesses with every vision – with every philosophy. Every template dictates a certain set of skills and abilities. Rodgers’ template is an individually demanding one for the defensive players. It requires a great awareness of space and an ability to cover that space. It requires certain abilities on the ball, often under pressure; and it requires defenders who relish the one against one battle. Because of the way Liverpool attack, the defenders get exposed more now than under previous managers. It’s a system that lives by the ‘high risk, high reward’ mantra. This is something I assume will not change, meaning the need for individual quality at the back will be greater than what it has been in order to compensate for the eagerness to create and score goals – which in turn could lead to some unpopular decisions.

Then why single out poor Martin Skrtel? The answer is simple: I see him as a casualty, as an expendable for the purpose of the greater good. Nothing personal, I don’t have any irrelevant hang ups clouding my judgment. At least I don’t think so.