12 Feb 2013

Catastrophic Decisions: 5 reasons why BR got it wrong against West Brom

After six games without a win, West Brom finally ended their barren run with a 2-0 victory at Anfield last night, and almost certainly condemned Liverpool to yet another year in the Champions League wilderness. The defeat is arguably the Reds most damaging league result of the season, and in my view, the blame for the defeat lies squarely on the shoulders of Brendan Rodgers.

I've supported Rodgers all season, and I still believe in his overall strategy to move the club forward, but that doesn't mean he's above criticism, and last night, his decisions arguably handed the initiative to West Brom and ultimately cost Liverpool the game.

1. Starting Shelvey in an advanced role

I just can't see the logic in starting Shelvey in an advanced attacking role and leaving dedicated attackers like Fabio Borini and Raheem Sterling on the bench. It makes no sense whatsoever. Shelvey is not a striker or a number 10, and he rarely plays that role for Liverpool. Why not just go with aces in their places? Why change the shape of an effective team?

With Sturridge out, the lack of pace in attack needed to be addressed, and Sterling would've been the obvious option. Indeed, given his lack of playing time recently, he's fresh and rested, and would've been the ideal option. Having Shelvey on the field meant Liverpool started with four central midfielders. AT HOME. Why is this necessary? It affects the balance of the team, especially with the 20-year old roaming around the pitch unsure of his role.

On top of everything else, it can't make Borini feel too good to see a central midfielder preferred to him up front. What kind of man-management is this? How is this conducive to building morale in the ranks? Why spend £12m on a a striker if you're going to play a central midfielder in his place?!

Granted, Borini has flattered to deceive since arriving at Anfield, but playing a dedicated attacking player in the front three is surely a better option than putting a square peg in a round hole. To be clear, I'm not attacking Shelvey here - it's not his fault Rodgers played him out of position.

2. Taking off Jordan Henderson

This has to go down as one of the most catastrophic decisions of the season. The mind boggles as to why Rodgers made this choice. West Brom are a physically imposing team, and along with Lucas, Henderson did a great job of blocking the baggies off in midfield. With Liverpool - and Gerrard - pushing forward, the extra insurance and physical presence was necessary, and taking off Henderson basically handed the game to West Brom. Space opened up in midfield, and West Brom exploited this on several occasions, most notably in the build up to Lukaku's killer goal.

3. Taking off Stewart Downing

Another inexplicable decision. I'm not the biggest fan of Downing but he's playing well at the moment, and he was arguably Liverpool's best player on the night. Like Henderson, Downing is a physical presence on the field, and replacing him with the lightweight, inexperienced Coutinho was (IMO) the wrong choice. While it's great to see the Brazilian get his debut, why take off the team's most effective player on the night to accommodate him? Ultimately, the proof is in the pudding: West Brom scored twice when Henderson, Downing and Shelvey went off. Coincidence? Perhaps, but then again, maybe not.

4. Making the team lightweight

Rodgers' substitutions achieved nothing except handing West Brom the physical initiative. Out went three physically strong players (Henderson, Downing and Shelvey), and in came three physically lightweight players (Coutinho, Borini and Sterling). In my view, this weakened the team significantly, and inexorably led to West Brom gaining the upper hand.

5. Praising the players in defeat

After the game, Rodgers once again praised the players for losing. He stated that he 'can't fault' them; that they were 'outstanding' etc. How can he not fault the players?! LIVERPOOL LOST 2-0 AT ANFIELD to West Brom (!). Irrespective of the merits of the performance, that is an unacceptable result for a team supposedly challenging for the top four. Shots on goals and possession stats don't matter: the team lost, and to add insult to injury, Rodgers once again sent the clear message that losing at Anfield is okay.

I've been highlighting Rodgers' gross overpraise of the team all season, and I'm sure many of the fans who castigated me for doing so are now beginning to tire of his post-match press conferences. Praising players after such an abject defeat is an insult to the fans, especially those who paid £50+ for match tickets.

Additionally, the constant overpraise breeds complacency. Why would players bust a gut to improve/play better when they know that they'll be given a pass for losing? The likes of Agger, Enrique and Johnson put in shockingly bad performances, yet Rodgers can't fault them?! Conversely, he's more than happy to excoriate the club's young players in public.

Disgraceful double-standards. With his constant gross overpraise, Rodgers has dulled the team's winning mentality, and created a situation where senior players are perpetually in the comfort zone.

I support Rodgers, but he is his own worst enemy, and if his reign at Anfield comes to an abrupt end in the summer, he'll only have himself to blame.



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227 comments:

  1. I'm not happy that we lost but i have to look at the big picture here. We had enough chances to win that game and if i'm not mistaken it took wba   80 minutes to have a shot on target. 
    Shelvey was picked by the manager because he hoped the player would have the bit between his teeth having not played(and having a moan about it). I see nothing wrong in giving the player(at home) his chance to show the manager that he was wrong to drop him. 
    The manager wanted more attacking options so made changes. If Stevie G puts that penalty away then do you think this topic would of been up today? No amount of tactics could of made Gerrard put that penalty away. I'm not happy about this result one little bit but i seriously can't fault the performance........................ Just the ability(yet again) to take your chances.

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  2. Another poor decision was playing agger again, its the third succesive time hes costing us the game, arsenal city and wba, if you watch the replays all the goals were his fault and reina of course but agger must be dropped, but no skrtel is being the one, and everybody else was just awful last night, such a shameful performance and bye bye top 4 AGAIN

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  3. I can't understand his post match comments, all he had to say was we were poor, it didn't work on the night etc. Why overpraise them. That in my opinion was the worst match we have played all season. So many misplaced simple passes. On to the next game I guess!

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  4. I think the loss yesterday was dictated more by Steve Clarke than BR. He set his team up to frustrate and harangue the defence and midfield denying the space and time for the usual passing game, Hence the misplaced passes. He further manipulated the crowd, deliberately time wasting on every throw in and every goal kick not just to run down the clock but to wind the crowd up, so by the middle of the second half the crowd was clearly nervy and this passed on to the crowd. His team were well organised and took no risks, not pushing forward and conserving energy. His substitutions were timed to perfection and totally predictable. greater physical presence and pace to bully us of the ball and round behind. His tactics show that he knows Liverpool well and that the psychological fragility of the team at Anfield has not changed and this is what he played on.

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  5. Lucas is a complete passenger.

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  6. Once again you twist words to make them fit your agenda. Rodgers did not say that he couldn't fault the players, he said he couldn't fault their effort. Different things. I agree with him that the effort was fine, all the players tried hard, there was just not enough quality on the night

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  7. You're spot on Jamie and its a pity but Im not sure if Rodgers will get another year,I hope he does but unless the results pick up I dont think he will

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  8. No, you are wrong.  In his post match press conference Rodgers said:

    "I can't fault the players. I thought they gave everything tonight - it was just one of those games where we needed that first goal"

    This is on the official LFC website. Perhaps you should get your facts straight, eh?

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  9. A great deal of more general responsibility lies on the shoulders of the official website propaganda (which spent the day before the match headlining the statement by Clarke about LFC 'probably playing the best football in the league') and the fans stating that players like Henderson, Shelvey and Downing have improved so much that they are now good enough. They simply can not be good enough for a team that wants to challenge for top 4 in a tournament as competitive as the Premier League.

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  10. Worst match all season? I`m guessing you didn`t watch the Villa game, or the first west brom game? Or the Mansfield game for that matter. We may not have won, but by no means was that anywhere close to the worst game we have played all season.

    We controlled the game, totally ripping them apart, just couldn`t find the net, not exactly a shocking performance is it. We shouldn`t have lost like we did, but I aint letting that cloud my judgment on how we actually played.

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  11. I thought he was one of our best players last night

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  12. Hold on, I thought you were in favour of Sterling in the article; then not so in your numbered points?

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  13. i just cannot see how much longer this can carry on agree with jaimie on all points,and the taking of of henderson was unbelievable,imo he has 3 games to save is job if we get knocked out of europe and do not win at swansea,hes had his chances and as to go,

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  14. You've got it wrong. The performance was not good as the balance was not right. From the outset the team had no pace plus the shape of the team was compromised to accommodate Shelvey. Poor Borini must be thinking "What the hell am I doing here" when Shelvey gets the nod when the team needs a striker.
    I think Rodger's head's gone due to the court case surrounding his son.

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  15. do you actually watch the games lucas did what he was there to do

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  16. BR has way too much still to learn to handle a job like LFC's. He has to deliver immediately next season - the club can't be a long term test bed for him. For a coach of 20 years it is unthinkable he would make decisions 1+2+3.

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  17. Fair enough. I saw a different version of what he said, didn't look at the official site. I still think you should look up inexorable in three dictionary. I don't think it means what you think it means. You maybe mean inevitable. Nevertheless you say in part 4 that the subs rodgers made meant we lost the game but in part 3 you say it could be coincidence. Which is it?

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  18. this is realy bad ;  jaimie when will you write article about rogers  naivety about press  always talking rubish we are going 2nd in the leugue, we will
    forth ,,all this non sense ,the answer should have   being we only looking next game ,

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  19. Right Rodgers gets sacked....Who replaces him? 

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  20. ok m8 lets keep him and not have any european football next season ,the people on here who were quick enough to calll for kenny and roys head want rodgers to be given more time well sorry m8 not if i was in charge one or two decent performances dose not make a season and this is the worst season in living memory ,i wonder if carras decission to retire was brought about by the fact he knows they mite be a certain job going at the end of the season,and lets face it hes got as much experience as rodgers had when he got the job

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  21. I said 'Coincidence? Perhaps. Then again, maybe not'. I was just posing both eventualities as a possibility. I personally believe Rodgers' decisions cost LFC the game, but that's not absolute. 

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  22. Henderson has been very good recently, and he started well last night. He faded out of the game the longer it went on though, ditto downing. Brilliant first half, didn't do a right lot in the second. Saying Rodgers has to go is ludicrous. Three quarters of a season is not "having his chance"

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  23. * In favour of Sterling starting the game ahead of Shelvey (i.e. playing Sterling in his natural position as opposed to playing a central mid out of position).

     * Not in favour of replacing Henderson with Sterling.

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  24. correct m8 he never had the experience in the 1st place why fsg hired him is beyond me unless there going to use it as an excuse for us being medioca for years till rodgers learns his trade

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  25. I predict final postion for this season for LFC is 7 th. Due to the managers and players problem(form).

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  26. Totally agree about poor decisions in team selection ,again poor defending at set pieces, and missed chances, not good saying team did everything they could, at times admit poor on the night

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  27. he faded he was still box to box hence he nearly scored just before he went off,why is it ludicrous roy got sacked at xmas and rodgers had the same record

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  28. Absolutely pitiful and shameful last night, an un-professional sloppy pile of crap, and then PRAISING the spineless chokers and cowards after the match????.

    Rodgers OUT!!!.

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  29. Fair enough they were awful too, but the reason I'm so unhappy with this one was we constantly gave the ball away or put it out under no pressure. West brom provided no threat throughout the whole game and the second and third attempt they have they score. Sorry but if we dominate a game against a team we should beat and fail to score there is something wrong. It's like every time we have a chance to make a proper move up the table we bottle it.

    I'm still behind Rodgers and the team though, Hopefully we will soon learn to see out matches. But look at it this way we should have took 9 points from the last 3 matches, it's the end of these games where we are falling apart. 

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  30. i dont know,give it to the tea lady she won,t want as much money,she would probabley have a better idea in the transfer market ,and lastly would not take the best players off as subs

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  31. Totally ripping them apart??? The penalty was achieved through cheating and yes you had slightly more possession and chances but "ripping apart" is at best an overzealous exaggeration and at worst blind faith. 

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  32. Somebody who can Manage would be a good start.

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  33. Jason the problem is you see a lot of people saying Rodgers out etc etc. but they have no solution for a replacement,Its simple saying get him out but the fact of the matter is the squad is not good enough,sure Rodgers signings could have been better but I think a lot of it comes down to FSG as well because of their 'youth policy'

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  34. I was not one calling for Kenny's head. For better or worse I believe it is always better to stand by a manager. If you look back years down the line and it didn't work out then that is just football; nothing is certain. What I do believe constantly changing the manager creates chaos; and that is certain.

    I wasn't especially happy with Rodgers appointment, but he is here now and at that point needs backing or he is certainly doomed to failure.

    We used to be a club of principles. Can't we leave the throw-away culture to Chelsea? 

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  35. But we are playing a lot better under Rodgers in comparison to Woy,plus he had a better squad then Rodgers inherited

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  36. agree m8 but there comes a time when enough is enough and the next three games could be that time

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  37. Get a job Jason

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  38. And who's his replacement?

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  39. Like i said.................. Enough chances to win the game. You use "accommodate" and i use the correct term in giving him his chance. The team had a striker in suarez............. If you mean a second striker then please state more clearly. As for poor Borini.................. He came on and should of scored, so yeah, that was poor by Borini.

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  40. i,ve said countless times fsg are not right for the club either,and ive already stated about carra on this thread

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  41. rodgers is a joke. he doesnt seem to be a good manager at all. he sees barcelona playing the best football in the world and he thinks he can do it also.lol the team doesnt have any balance with this 4-3-3 system and we always look vulnerable every time the opponent attacks us.. it seems like he just tells the players to pass the ball, keep possession and thats all.. thats y we lose so many balls in the middle of the park and the players do not know where to position themselves on the pitch.. he never has any plan B when we are losing either. how many wins we got this season?? he seems worse than hodgson! he just tells the players lets play lie barca, just keep possession, and pass the ball and we will be fine! lol. any idiot in the world can be a football manager if this is how it works! lol he got a team which went to wembley twice the previous season, so its not like he got a very poor team. he bought allen borini assaidi.. are they good buys? tiki tika tikaka i dont know hows that called and am not seeing it at all either. as long as he is here we wont make any progress. dalglish got the club in a worse condition, still managed to bring us to two finals. now dont star saying dalglish got the funds..rodgers got some fund also and till now all his transactions seem to be flops apart sturidge. borini assaidi allen lol.. dalglish did make the miskake with carroll fees, but this idiot let him go even though he didnt have any replacement! he is championship manager, and he cabt take it. he thinks he is playing playstation.. 'ok lets plat like barca, tiki tika tika tiki.. idiot! 

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  42. jaimie great thread one thing thou
    i predict a riot;-)

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  43. Last night was shit no doubt but Rodgers out? Frying pan / fire springs to mind.  If we had have took our chances we would have been out of sight long before Gerrard missed the penalty.  This was our problem last season and this.  Rodgers has made mistakes for sure but if he is sacked then what? Erickson? Martinez? Dion Dublin?! 

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  44. Recently been praise of how Rodgers drops players when not in form such as Sterling, Allen, Downing, etc, well I'd like to see Agger dropped. I don't care who for, whether it be the cleaning lady or Rodgers' picture in his living room. Far far too sloppy. Skrtel has not been great either this season but would like Agger to get a wake up call, a big one. Having a nightmare at set pieces.

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  45. But Carra does not really have management experience either,Now I would love to see him manage us in a few years but not yet...And regards FSG I wouldnt go as far to say they're bad for the club as they want us self sufficient which can only be a good thing but their transfer policy is wrong

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  46. some people will excuse rodgers for anything thats fine thats there opinion but please do not try and make me see how hes moving us forward,because i,am sick to death of listening to his voice coming out with the same tired excuses game after game

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  47. That comes down to squad depth AGAIN....we dont have it,who replaces Agger? Apart from Skrtel the only players we could put in Aggers place are youth players,Wisdom could have a shot there I suppose but we dont have ample replacements and thats the underlying issue here

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  48. carragher player manager till end of the season then see how he goes i,am sure kenny would help him if cara wanted him to

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  49. I agree the only two real chances in my opinion were the back heel incident and a shot that was directly at the keeper.

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  50. At last a plan - not to bad either!

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  51. Im not excusing anyone,Rogers made big mistakes last night,and yes I dont really like his interviews with the press but lets hold Judgement till the end of the season at least.

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  52. carragher as more top flight football experience than rodger as 1season in the top flight rodgers as got,and it would be on a trial run till the end of the season so it would only cost us the money that we have to pay rodgers off

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  53. how do wba sunderland,southampton and reading cope

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  54. But you have to look at it from a FSG point of view...what if is does not work out? Where would we be then? And being honest I doubt FSG have even considered getting rid of Rodgers yet.Id say let carra get his badges get used to management in say a lower league then see if he can hack it,and then let him come into LFC

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  55. it is neither of the two things, but if it keeps you happy keep thinking that

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  56. why rodgers got the job with lets be honest not a lot of experience i,am sru carra years at anfield will give as much as rodgers 1 season in the prem

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  57. Shelvey is a little boy lost when he plays advanced.  Someone really needs to tell him that he doesn't ALWAYS have to be flat footed when receiving the ball.  If a pass aimed at him is 1cm away from him he tends to lock his feet in the turf and then bend over and put his hands on his knees.  As if to say "play it to my feet" Usually this is a sign the player isn't fit. 

    He did get goals playing in this position for Blackpool lets not forget, and grabbed a goal for the under 21's as well.  The problem is in the prem you need a trick, a stepover, SOMETHING! Shelvey will only ever be a standard def mid in the prem.

    I've noticed that Daniel Agger always seems to be walking away from the crime scene of late smelling of Roses even though pretty much all season he has been constantly losing his man in the box resulting in the opposition scoring.  Agger has looked decent enough on the ball this season, nothing special though, but is now proving to be more of a liability in defensive positions than skrtel or carra.  Skrtel makes the odd howler but he does his bread and butter stuff in the box.  Agger is the opposite.

    I would seriously consider getting top money for both Agger and skrtel now and bring my own defensive pairing in.  Let's get some pace and power in at center half.  Twice now Lukuka has come on and our defensive spine has gone week at the knees.  on one occasion last night west brom took a goal kick , the camera followed the ball to where we would normally have defended the long kick only to have to scroll left quickly where we had shit ourselves and decided to defend the 18 yard box with no defensive midfielder to be seen.  Even Lucas and Gerrard were shocked that our back four had dropped of that deep. 

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  58. why the season ended last night if fsg are going to do anything about it why wait

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  59. Must of been watching a different game to you.  Who got man of the match??????

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  60. Rodgers has been in management for nearly 20 years,I know he has ony 3 or 4 years first team experience but I still think Carra would need to gain some management experience first,I know he has plenty of player experience but management is different would you not agree?

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  61. I think its a bit unfair to say this season is completely over yet,we still have the europa league to play for and improve our league position.I just dont want to see LFC turn into a Chelsea esque club,'If you dont give me instant success you're out' type of mentality.What we need now is stability and Rodgers has given us that to a certain extent if he was to get sacked,I think it would end up ore costly then you'd first think,players leaving etc.

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  62. But thats the difference between a top club and a mid table one,the three clubs you mentioned are mid to lower table clubs.United are the perfect example,they have 4 quality strikers at any given time

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  63. i think that FSG will give him another year as its a different situation to kenny.
    Kenny was given money to spend plus kept a lot of the top earners on the books. This meant that LFC needed top 4 to balance the books.
    Now i think FSG have gone a different way by getting a lot of money off the wage bill and investing in youth.
    If i was a LFC fan i would now like FSG to say there future plans. Will LFC become a mid table team buying and selling players for a profit (newcastle) or do they want to keep pushing on build a team and hope to get back into the top 4 and keep investing to stay there and push on to try to win the league.

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  64. I do partly agree That Brendan Rodgers from time to time get things awfully wrong. Shelvey off late has been the weakest chink in our armour. Starting of with him was the biggest mistake when Raheem Sterling named option was available. Henderson cannot be replaced by Borini/ Sterling if at all needs to be replaced. It should have been Joe Allen,who i believe was in good health. 
    So we lost yesterday and the other days lost the leads. The stories are same. Off late I have a feeling that we feel that LFC team and Mgmt. is happy to brag that they have given a good account of themselves playing well against a TOP side.A dangerous trend pushing us to be another mid table team. Hope B.R. rectifies the errors.Saying this I am at no point saying that LFC hasn't improved. But my concern is that the club is becoming hopeful a bit too soon.

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  65. Who would have 'thunk' that Jamie would say taking off Henderson and Downing were mistakes huh? ( I agree 100% by the way). Oh and on a side note wasn't that last shot by Coutinho a hand ball? Lucas had the best outing so far after coming back and Downing was the best player of the night...that far far distance shot was traveling.

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  66. It was shocking to see Shelvey starting up front with all the other options Rodgers has at his disposal. LFC dominated in the first half and moved the ball forward nicely until things fell apart when it got to Shelvey. A school boy could figure out that he is not a striker but not Rodgers. Borini has been given no chance and so he can't be judged yet but he couldn't be worse up front than Shelvey.

    Meanwhile Sterling is over rated and in five years everyone will wonder why someone with so much promise never developed. It is because his promise is significantly overstated. Whenever he hits the pitch there is no creativity and no scoring. Check the record.

    It is tiring to hear the same old excuses game after game. Rodgers appears to be in over his head at this level and by the way when os the last time Reina made a save that wasn't right at him.

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  67. i,ve beenin football for 35 years i.am not getting the job iam i

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  68. The top and bottom of it is, for all the possession, all the chances, we came away with nothing. Quote stats all you want, but the ONLY stat that matters is -

    Liverpool 0
    WBA 2

    We lost again to a team built by a manager who was 'not good enough for us' being managed by our last number two. They, and our current manager's previous team, are above us in the league, we're out of the cups (other than Eurodisney) and we have less points than we had at this point last season. We haven't beaten a club in the top 12, FFS.
    How is this progress???

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  69. sorry m8fsg changed that this season 

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  70. Jaimie, I agree with you good post !

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  71. no why would i be joking how could it be any funnier that the mess were in now

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  72. wb have took 6 points of us this season ad are above us in the league so if they are a mid to lower table club so are we,which sadly under rodgers we are

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  73. To be fair, Lampard has been a very productive attacking mid in his time in PL and he is rather a simple player. You need a football brain, economical and good movement on-and-off the ball, if you are a simple player. Question marks over Shelvey, as to whether he has this or not but early days.

    Agree to an extent about Agger. Only until recently has the spotlight been on his average-at-best performances this season.

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  74. if he took his signings with him even better

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  75. Well we'll see what happens soon enough eh?

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  76. But we've been like that for the last 3 years,and lets be honest wba this season have been a flash in the pan,but yeah we are nothing more then a mid table club atm

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  77. Rodgers will not be sacked, get over it and back him !!!

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  78. Carragher can't, but you have been in football for 35 years and you would know that already!

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  79. To me i see a lot of dejection in the attitude of the players, something needs to be done to motivate these players otherwise its not as if they are incapable but they dont look happy at all.

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  80. i will back him when he earns it quote from rodgers we have been on a terrific run ,,when last 6 games all comps 1 win 2 draws 3 loses if this is what he calls a terrific run i would hate to see us on a bad run

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  81. why can,t he uefa badgers he can get them at the end of the season

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  82. flash in the pan is one game two games is no flash its a fire

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  83. Just like that!!. Can he just go to the club shop and buy them? You obviously don't know how long it takes to get an UEFA badge or a licence to coach, surprising really seeing as you have been in football for 35 years

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  84. that is one of the managers main jobs and he gets that through earning or having respect,maybe the players have lost respect for him

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  85. our system is not based on Barca. This was started by the media and became fact. 

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  86. only one thing to blame and that is the players. maybe i was naive to think that with the run of games coming up we really could make the top 4 but now the season is over, on a domestic front anyway. enrique and johnson were absolutely abysmal, borini should learn to use his left foot from a yard out, and shelvey needs to stop sulking because its affecting his game. if the players played anything like they did against man city they would have won but they just looked pathetic out there. only lucas and downing could say they played well. how can rodgers be blamed when it was the same team that did so well against city bar one change which was forced. surely one player (sturridge) isnt the difference between playing well and not. he made attacking changes to try and win the game and we got caught out but thats not really rodgers' fault. if gerrard scored the penalty and borini the tap in we would have won, which we would have deserved depsite too many poor individual displays. imo, we need to get rid of most of the old regime. they dont seem to want to play for rodgers. best to get players who will fight for the manager against teams no matter how prestigious they are. im just appauled by (most of) the players attitudes to be honest because i actually think they are all good players.

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  87. not just like that don,t try and twist my words but there are ways and means of sorting these things out were not talking about some sunday league manager.all though who,s to say carragher would touch the job with a barge pole after the way they treet kenny

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  88. Jaimie, Rodgers lambasted the younger players after we lost to Oldham and were rightfully beaten because we didn't play well.

    Rodgers did not "praise" (I think you're exaggerating that word) the vets yesterday.
    He said that he "can't fault the players", but that they "weren't at their best", that he's "disappointed for them because they've been on a terrific run especially at home".  In fact, he even admitted that he thought the penalty was a harsh call that should not have been given!

    He credited West Brom and particularly Ben Foster for their efforts and lamented the fact that by not scoring we gave them an opportunity, which they took full advantage of.

    You're making it out as though he is letting the players off the hook, whereas I see him telling it exactly as it is.  We played well at times, could have played better, needed to score, and didn't, now must move on to the next game.  Could he have said something along the lines of "this is unacceptable"? Sure, and I wouldn't have had an issue with it.
    The issue I have is that you took one line from his entire post-match press conference and portrayed it as though he was "praising" the players.  Was he admonishing them for the result? No.  But he wasn't "praising" them.  

    In fact he used the word "outstanding" twice, once to credit Ben Foster, and the second to credit Stevie for his efforts throughout the season.  He never said the "players were outstanding".

    I'm going off the LFC website's post-match BR transcript.  If there's something that I am missing, please let me know.

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  89. I wasn`t quoting stats cause I like them, you seem to have missed why I posted. The person above me stated we only had a few more chances, thus I was showing him we had more.

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  90.  The reason we are in this situation is that we now accept mediocre standards and managers like BR, Its all very well saying we played well v Arsenal , Man City and created loads of chances V West Brom but we did not win any of these games,  Things need to change in the next few games or we get shot of this mid table manager. Some of his decision making and selections this season have been baffling and we have paid the price. In case you disagree please take a look at the table it does not lie and look at the number of goals conceded

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  91. Controlled the game totally ripping them apart ?
    What game were you watching.?
    We didn't touch the ball AT HOME for the 1st 10 mins.
    Running around like headless chickens coz BR messed about with the team.
    BRENDEN A word of advice.
    When you get a player like Henderson suddelny putting in MOTM performances IN THE MIDDLE OF MIDFIELD, DONT MESS AROUND PUTTING SHELVEY IN AND THROWING HIM OUT ON THE LEFT !!

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  92. ANOTHER YEAR !!
    KD 1 throphy in the bag, lost in the other final & got binned, & you want to give this inexperienced man another year.?

    We are already turning into the laughing stock of the so called big teams

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  93. Jose Mourionho
    He'd love the challange

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  94. I agree with Dapper, Shelvey's lack of pace causes the team's "pressing" to become more like wild running after the ball. Too many times did I see West Brom get away with an errant pass since Sturridge/Sterling/Coutinho weren't there to capitalize. I believe if Borini was on the pitch from the start, the game would have been a whole lot different. Borini causes confusion in the other team's defenses and gives space, hence why after he came on a flurry of actual shots occurred. But also, the poorest game I have ever seen by Johnson.

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  95. They'll be an even bigger joke if they don't realize that a great team takes more than a couple of years to build. Rodgers has to be given a fair chance, although I do agree that King Kenny should have been another year.

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  96. I'm sure he'd rather go to a club that actually will be in the champions league next year :(

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  97. Couldnt have put it better myself ;)

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  98. The game was 0-0 when the players you mentioned came on so there was time to change the game against tired legs. Borini had the chance to score but didn't take the chance. The pressing game worked all game for me and i fail to see the point you are making there................. They had there 1st shot on target after 80 mins. It could be argued that the game changed after the players mentioned come on the pitch but i don't believe that one little bit. You can give many reasons why we lost last night and throw all kinds of facts at it either defending the team or having a go at them. For me there is 1 constant that as been there all season.............. Errors! Set pieces,giving the ball away in dangerous areas or not taking the goal scoring chances have cost us all season. I do believe we have had the most shots on goal in the premier league(or we did). What is the point of having all those shots if they don't go in the back of the net? Would it really surprise you if we scored 4 or 5 goals in the next game?

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  99. Reina was worse than Johnson
    WBA had 4 shots and Reina saved let in 2 while the other went off target.

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  100. I respect your opinion but if you think Mourinho would come to Liverpool you're delusional 

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  101. I also have no issues with players being given a chance to prove people wrong. But Shelvey failed on this occasion and his introduction altered our shape too much. It was all too reminiscent of earlier mistakes made in the season.
    Even though Sturridge was out yesterday, he has still shown where our earlier weaknesses in the team lay.
    Suarez can play anywhere at the front so he is not the issue. With Sturridge being played through the middle, we needed to replace him like for like to keep a winning formula going.
    Okay, I know Borini is not Sturridge, but that is his position and it should have just been a straight swap. The remainder of the team would have been in comfortable positions, with Hendo and Gerrard able to help out in the box. 
    Moving Hendo out of position, where he has been great for us recently; was imo just stupid. Why weaken your side tactically? Top four, top four, top four! That's all I hear, not just from fans but the manager and players also. How is that possible if you see improvement, but then ignore it? For an alternative already proven that doesn't work as well....
     Our tactics were finally starting to look ok and we had a system that was starting to click. All this did was put us back to a formation that doesn't work for us or our desires for CL.
    If he wanted more attacking options he should have left well alone......

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  102. I'm so glad I'm not alone in believing that.
    The whole Shelvey thing was so wrong. Not meant as a slight to the player himself, but it caused too much disruption to a method that WAS WORKING!
    That one little thing ended up costing so much......

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  103. If we are playing the hypothetical game then it's got to be lois van gaal. We are already playing a system of football he knows all about, so why not have someone who wins trophies playing this brand of football? I have herd calls for Carragher and the tea lady but i don't think either have there coaching badges so it might not be possible.

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  104. On current form and played in the correct positions, not only are Henderson and Downing possibly our most consistently in form players,but they would surely get into the first eleven of quite a few PL teams.

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  105. That could be fun..........especially if Benitez kept the Chels... job..

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  106. Jason why are you all ways on here 24/7, you seriously need to get a life and job ye bum.....

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  107.  im getting sick of agreeing with you JK ..but everything in the article is spot on

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  108.  thats a great defence of rogers....calling JC A BUM

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  109. id second that ...id back carra to make the big decisions

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  110.  they have a game plan ..and can defend unlike us

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  111. We've missed the Van Gaal boat. He was desperate for the job and we turned him away.

    He is Netherlands manager now. He's won all of his competitive games so far.

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  112.  shelvey was played out of position ....

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  113. Albeano - post any more stuff like that and you'll be banned. Last warning.

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  114.  just a couple of points 1) it wasnt a penalty 2) we lost 2 nil at home 

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  115. Dear oh dear, what a load of utter tripe being written in this thread, only ONE poster has hit the nail on the head by saying it as it is....i.e. certain PLAYERS not BR brought that calamitous result on us last night....this is simply just another game that "we" have thrown.....

    I really don't know what is worse, seeing the team i have loved for so many years flip flop its way through yet another season...OR reading the post match comments which are so out of touch with what is actually going on at the Club it just beggars belief.

    Clearly last night we had more than enough opportunities to put the game to bed BUT certain players just let us down.

    Suarez was utter shite, Agger even worse....Enrique PATHETIC....and Johnson cowardly and lame as fcuk....i won't bother mentioning Reina because he had a foil of other fcuk up players protecting his arse from being exposed once again....

    How on earth ANYONE can possibly see things any different from that is beyond me.

    Jamie this article is pure and utter revisionism of the highest order, it literally stinks of anti BR agenda, boy it didn't take you very long to get the knives out for Brendan did it now? This article is just diverting the attention away from the real cause of our loss last night.....

    Seriously, anyone who after watching that game is still not convinced that we are being led a merry fcuking dance by certain individuals in this side need their heads examined. 


     

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  116. i think rogers will get his walking players in the summer .......

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  117. he would have had the brains not to fork out 25m on borini and allen

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  118. we came with a plan it worked, get over it

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  119. lol you are not worthy even thou i did not see your post it will be the same as usual

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  120. I can say I agree with you on the first three points. I am still upset about Jonjo starting over Borini or Sterlin. Those players needs game time after their injuries especially since they are attackers they should have been playing up front. You can't bash your team all the time in public sometimes yes most of the time you do it in the locker room.

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  121.  I'm all for that as well

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  122. Yes i watched it - i was there.lucas was dominated again in midfield, won 2 balls out of 15, constantly in wrong position on the wrong side of players,fouling,strolling around the centre circle.no pace or fight, cant play a threading pass or shoot or head the ball. Since he has become a regular we have collapsed.until a manager comes in who can see lucas & reina are liabilities we will continue to be mid table.open your eyes

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  123. Bang on, totally agree. Rodgers got it wrong ( again ) was going to give him to end of season, but no point, nothings going to change between now and then, he's just not up to it. Wasted cash on Borini and Allen, so he'll be judged on them too.

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  124. Im not sure Rodgers is even managment material, not at the top level. He may be a better coach than boss!

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  125. but agger can play the ball out from defence and looks really pretty on the ball, hes what every centre back in the modern game should be like !!!!! just still cant stop laughing.
    he is sh#te .....end of.
    well said

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  126. what you on about?? lucas intercepted numerous times in front of a soft defence, could of been 2 down a lot earlier.
    still not match fit, but one of 3 players to play well last night

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  127. brendon needed a lot more money to sort lfc out, regardless of 25 mill wasted on borini and allen. even though allen may come good more likely than weed borini.
    we need 3 defenders from centre to left.
    a like for like player for gerrard (hard I know)
    attacking mid.
    another top striker.
    maybe another winger.
    our defence is the biggest problem and were not gifted with choices, but stuck with a pair of clowns in agger and skrtel

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  128. another manager comes in with a budget like all our managers have had, and he has different ideas, but hes stuck with at least half a squad he probably doesn't want.
    what can he do??
    I like brendons theory on how to play, but hes making a lot of mistakes, and his players are letting him down which makes him look worse.
    no proven top manager will come to Liverpool especially with clueless tight ass yanks in charge.
    if I had a choice rafa would still be in charge, he would have put It right by now im sure, and good players from abroad wanted to play for him.
    we have no choice but to get behind brendon (and bugger him) joking, seriously hes probably one of our best choices, were a mid table team now, not even jose could get this lot to play consistently, to many light weights and lack of character  

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  129. Isn't it ironic that Steve Clarke who was the assistant coach at Anfield just last year has beaten his former club Liverpool in the last two fixtures this season. Don't think that the "pool" is capable of pressing for a fourth place finish this season or even the next. The spine of the team is made up of cheap future talented individuals. Cara is retiring with out winning the league, and Gerrard unfortunately might not achieve that one elusive victory either. 

    Something about Norwich City brings out the best in Liverpool. We for some weird  reason totally dominate games against the "Canaries" scoring multiple goals and then turn around and give up soft goals against teams even worse or further down the table than Norwich City.

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  130.  Agger just cant handle physical players......thats a real problem for a centre half ...because there getting bigger ...look at lukaku

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  131. correct and rogers subbed the other two.....the mind boggles

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  132. liverpool will never qualified chmp lig with rogers

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  133. we all like the way he wants to play ...but the reality is its not that simple....if barca where in the prem they would have to alter there tactics game from game ...this isnt a pet project this is the real deal 

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  134. Does anyone know what has happened to the stealth like aissaidi?!!!! He's not around at all! On the match, awful! Ball retention, finishing, composure around the penalty area, movement all poor. The defence now needs reconstructing like the attack did!!! Agger was poor. His marking has been shocking in many games. Enrique and Johnson gave the ball away too much. Johnson keeps cutting inside and looking clueless with his next move. Shelvey was lost but I don't blame him. He's hardly played since Boxing Day if at all. I don't know. I'm stopping now. Just disappointed as I'm sure the team are. I hope Brendan stops praising poor results. Stats are overrated. The only stat I care about is the one in the top left corner of my TV- the shoreline and that was sickening last night.

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  135. but dont you see Mitzsu thats rogers problem ...he wont dare sub agger or suarez even though there playing poor....he takes of hendo and downing ......he cant handle big players...hes terrified of upsetting gerrard or suarez ..yet .hell happily castigate lower caste members of the squad in public but wont others thats why hes doomed to failure thats why we have to get rid ...i admi i know nothing about football but i knew enough that taking hendo  downing and jonjo off and replacing them with 3 lightweights was doomed to failure.....that says to me he knows nothing about our team or the team we are facing ....

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  136.  hes a playstation coach ...he says all the right things to all the right people without knowing how to implement them

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  137. Jamie once again you said exactly what I was thinking.

    BR needs to keep quite on this praise business, he is becoming a joke. Agger himself admited on twitter that his performance on the last 10mins was not acceptable.

    Shelvey- Either play him in his natural position or don't play him at all. Apart from his natural position he does not add anything to the team.

    Like you said, taking off Downing and Hendo was appalling! I was screaming at BR on my TV when he did that.

    Gerrards missed pen summed up our 1st half.

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  138. Hate to see Agger benched but I think you're spot on. I think he's getting too comfortable knowing that he's an "automatic". Wisdom could do a job there and his speed and Jamie's organization can hopfully offset the inexperience and old legs respectively. Still think Skrtel should be on the bench but it's too clear that we need another CB because we can't afford to continue dropping players who get complacent, we need competition to keep them on their toes all the time or else we'll see more points dropped and no european football next season

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  139. Mate, you know i know EVERYBODY knows that Brendan Rodgers is facing an absolute nightmare regarding TEAM selection....
    Ask ANY Liverpool fan who should play the next game & you will see how at odd's the fan base is with regard to who should play or not....

    The fact is its become an ungoing conundrum because of one KEY factor, which is the complete and utter inconsistency of certain players who "we" consider our best 11.....

    Last season the talk about CHAD that got Kenny the sack.....was embraced by all & sundry as being something of a FACT....

    Both Downing and Hendo haved proved that to be something of a myth, both players were considered not worthy of being at the Club yet last night they were head and shoulders above Suarez Enrique Johnson and Shelvey who looked like they had stage fright against a fcuking out of form West Brom side AT HOME....who were there for the taking.....

    Now factor in Agger and Reina into that equation and you might begin to understand what a massive dilemma Brendan Rodgers has on his hands as to who to bench.....

    You see gilstrap ALL those players who played like shite last night causing us to lose that game have at times played very well this season.......

    So, i fail to see what the hell Brendan can do really apart from monitor the situation i.e. Skrtel....find the weak link and try to find someone who can step in.....

    But as we know, we don't have the luxury of having TWO decent prem quality GK's for instance...

    With Kelly injured we only have Wisdom for Johnson.....who can we bring in for Enrique...? Same problem AND as for Suarez....well it would be a very brave manager who benches him for any period of time....esp when we don't have another 20 odd million pound striker who can replace him.....

    Once again i reiterate that it IS the players who are at fault NOT Brendan Rodgers, im sure IF the owners back him....then he WILL deal with those players who have been letting us down....

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  140. It was a penalty because the ref gave it. I think everyone on here knows the score but what is your point????

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  141. Spot on article and exactly right,he has got to shoulder the blame and expect more from players who are paid millions to perform and basically didnt.Sick of hearing how he couldnt expect more,,,well to win would be nice for a change

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  142. Mitszu - with the greatest respect, the idea that my article is part of some revisionist anti-BR agenda is, quite frankly, nonsense.

    I've posted lots of stuff supporting Rodgers all season, but support doesn't mean blind faith. Rodgers shot himself in the foot with his team selection/tactics/subs last night, and that contributed to LFC's loss. Yes, the likes of Agger, Reina et al deserve criticism, but if Rodgers made the right decisions, we might be talking about a win now instead of a defeat.

    Additionally, my views on Johnson, Reina, Skrtel and other senior pros are well established: I've argued countless times that these players should be sold ASAP, but last night, Rodgers deserved more of the blame for the defeat (IMO)

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  143. I agree with Jamie's point's as well but who are you going to replace him with?,and who is going to want to take this job if he is fired?.I agree that I was as disappointed as everyone else, with what happened, but you have to give it some time,everyone knew it wasn't going to happen over night, and the last thing we need is more upheaval and turmoil,we need stability and it will come!

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  144. If he wants to keep his job rodgers would want to be ruthless.Clearly reina skertel agger lucas borini allen shelvey are not up to it while johnson is a winger not a full back.Unless you are an exceptional team playing one up gives you more possesion but little penetration.

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  145. There goalie was man of the match. They didn't have a shot on target till after 80 mins. This result is not about tactics or formation............... It's about errors. The constant errors that have cost us all season. I only mentioned these errors last week and already the same said errors come up yet again. That penalty goes in and it's a different game. The error of missing a penalty sums the whole season up for me. 

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  146. If Rodgers is facing a team selection nightmare then it is his own fault:

    * Clubs came in for both Agger and Skrtel last summer. He decided to keep them.

    * He could've sold Enrique. He decided to keep him.

    * Rodgers chose to pi$$ £30m+ up the wall on Borini, Allen and Sahin - he could've used that money to replace Agger, Skrtel and Enrique, or buy players the club actually needed.

    * Rodgers could've bought another quality goalkeeper in January. Instead he spent money on a lightweight winger.

    * I'm not a fan of Suarez, but purely in footballing terms, to suggest he's dropped is ridiculous. He's scored 22 goals this season; you don't drop your top scorer because he has one bad game. If he hadn't scored for X amount of games then fair enough, but he has 4 goals in the last 7 games.

    * Enrique didn't have his best game, but that's the first dodgy performance he's put in for a while.

    What Rodgers CAN do is grow some balls, stop kissing ass and demand more the senior players. His constant fawning over Gerrard et al is sickening, and IMO, it has created a subconscious competitive malaise at the club.

    With regards to the immediate future, there is no dilemma:

    * Drop Agger and bring back Skrtel to partner Carra. Skrtel is also an accident waiting to happen, but he's been dropped for the last few games, so he knows the score. He'll come back more desperate than ever to put in good performances.

    * Drop Reina and bring in Brad Jones. He's not the ideal solution, but he's only really made one big error in all the games he's played.

    * Drop Johnson and play Wisdom at right back.

    * Keep Enrique at left back; he deserves another chance based on recent performances.

    * Keep Lucas, Hendo and Gerrard in midfield.

    * Keep Downing and Suarez in the team, and add in Sturridge again. If he's not fit for the next game, play Suso or Sterling.

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  147. Intelligent, thoughtful analysis.  Who would have thought Henderson and Downing would be receiving praise.  I did feel point 5 was harsh.  I think he's still feeling his way through and Brendan requires time and understanding.  He's keen to learn, has charm and persuasion and everyone has off days strategically.  It really felt like the Liverpool of Kenny Dalglish.  So glad we have Sturridge.

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  148. Yes, this feels strange. Please go back to disagreeing with me!

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  149. I completely and utterly disagree with you Jamie, i stand by my accusation that your article is just another in a series of articles of late which are revisionist re BR, you did the same thing with Kenny last season... the purpose of which IMO is/was to divert attention AWAY from the players who are really at fault and onto the manager of players YOU don't like....

    Naturally you will defend yourself & so you should because lets face it you are actively creating an argument which by its very nature is anti Brendan Rodgers which other's are taking onboard believing to be true and therefore beginning something of a witch hunt re the manager, which i think is out of order.

    Of course, you will counter that it is in fact your opinion, but if it is your opinion then why not show at least some sort of balance in your assesment of the game i.e a critique of Agger and how he was letting us down....Suarez who was criminally squandering the ball in good goal scoring situations....OR Enrique who gave sweet Fcuk All going forward OR Johnson who gave us even less than Enrique.....

    This article basically focused on Brendan Rodgers & his errors....BUT his errors would NOT have been errors had that little group of players played to the required standard....THEY LET US DOWN Jamie, & i really find it hard to accept that someone as intelligent as yourself cannot/will not accept that as being the root cause of our downfall not just in last nights game but for the last 3 seasons......

    Btw, i have nothing at all against anyone criticising BR, its up to them to back up there opinions is all....

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  150. Jamie, you know and i know that IF we drop all the players who are letting us down we will probably be quite near the relegation zone at the end of the season.....

    Our squad is not deep enough, simple as that, Rodgers needs time to sort this shit out, how can you blame him for not walking straight into the Club and rectifying problems that both Roy AND Kenny got slaughtered for also...?

    Jesus Christ, from being 100% behind Brendan you are now 100% against him.....

    And even that could have been just a put on to show some initial support.....

    I think you know what im talking about....

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  151. Exactly. A proper coach/manager would know that you set a team up using its strengths/weaknesses, not trying to put square pegs in round holes (i.e. playing like barcelona when you can't).

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  152. lol "Johnson is a winger...."did you actually watch the game last night???

    Seriously??

    Glen Johnson squandered every opportunity to get the ball into the box....

    And your saying he is a winger.....

    God help us all.

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  153. You're entitled to your view but you are totally wrong. Witch hunt? Don't be daft. You act as if I'm the only one who came up with the five points raised in the article - I'm sure most Liverpool fans thought exactly the same as me.

    This post is focused on Rodgers and his errors because, IMO, those errors cost Liverpool the game.

    If he'd made the right decisions to start with, Liverpool may not have lost the game.

    As for poor individual performances - I've already written something about Agger than I'll be posting tomorrow. And in the past, I've written many articles criticising Johnson, Reina, Enrique, Suarez et al.

    Also, this is the first time this season I've written an something purely focused on highlighting Rodgers' mistakes in a specific game, which further undermines your baseless point about an alleged anti-BR agenda.

    If I was pushing that agenda, why did I not write similar articles after the Villa and Stoke City games recently?

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  154. We didn't beat West Brom at home no one connected with LFC especially the manager should be happy with this let alone give praise for this effort!
    Shots on goals and missed penalties don't win premiership points if that was the case King Kenny would still be managing LFC!
    I haven't seen any real examples of Rodgers tactical acumen, people keep banging on about his philosophy's and ticka tacka football but Liverpool need points and champions league football!

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  155. "the points I made are obvious & self evident"...

    Really....

    No wonder you can't sleep at night....

    & yes you have criticised certain players but it is in isolation and not en masse as was the case last night....they were directly responsible for us losing the game NOT Rodgers....

    I still can't believe that you are trying to justify this article tbh, anyone who watched the game would have to admit that once again....it was the players (certain players...) who let the fans & the manager down....

    Re your anti BR agenda which is really a follow on of your anti Kenny agenda...all i can say is that you have been very subtle about it, sneaking in articles like this one which seem to fit nicely into the general mood of the fanbase....

    Had we won (assuming we missed the pen  but still won...)), you would probably have kept respectfully quiet and waited for your next opportunity to off load some more ammo onto BR.

    Anyway, as i said im only challenging what i see as an unfair critique of BR when in fact your article IMO should have headlined those players who let us down again costing us more points etc....

    But you have your opinion & i have mine & this is a forum for discussion/debate & it would be pointless if we all agreed with your p.o.v wouldn't it....

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  156. "Damn if you do and damn if you don't" is what i say..rodgers backing players does not necessary mean that he approves of their performance..he is just careful with what he say in public..the real barracking is always left behind closed doors..now, if he goes on about how bad individuals perform, than we will have fans and pundits around the world saying that he should not do that in public...so what the hell right?! It's a lose-lose situation for him i say..but i approve of BR so far..and really, i dont care about post match comments..just bunch of words..what i really care is, we have to put the ball in there somehow! Get RVP when he is 32 or 33 y.o n i dunt even mind.

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  157. This is a rebuilding phase teams take years not months to rebuild the trend has to stop of sacking managers.
    Rodgers is still inexperienced and hopefully will mature into the job as his young team matures.
    He could very well be our next top manager but must be given time yes he makes mistakes and will continue to do so but we should be getting behind him.
    Next season and maybe even the season after is going to be a massive struggle to make the top 4 with the team we have.
    So many of you expecting a miracle worker to bring the side into the top 4 give it up and try to enjoy the efforts of our younger players and what will come in the future.

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  158. ...which was nothing much.

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  159. The word is does, does, does, does... not dose. Don't you ever get it?

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  160. What is with everyone crucifying Agger? Have you not watched him for the past 5 seasons (when not injured, obviously)? Or did you just turn on for this game? This just seems ridiculous, people calling for a new back line because of a few errors. I'm glad I don't work at any of our companies, I'd be scared to staple paper diagonally instead of the preferred horizontal method for fear of 'getting carted off'.
    Agger and Skrtel, in form, represent two of the top Centre Backs in England today. GJ and Jose, in form are Englands 1st choice RB and an inexplicable oversight for the Spanish NT (capped, but not regular, thanks to a certain chipmunk lookin feller at Barcelona). Instead of saying Shelvey is rubbish or (and I shudder when people say this) "Not Liverpool Quality", why not look at his playing style and physical attributes? Big strong boy, not shy of a tackle, likes to have a ping from range, good with interceptions and is learning a very Gerrard-esque long throughball style. Maybe he should be anchoring, playing a deep lying playmaker type role? Borini has a lovely touch and can place a ball for onrushing attackers, but isn't strong enough to lead a line or tricky enough to play wing, why not play him together with Suarez in the centre or just behind?
    Naaaaaaah raffle them off! Wasted Money!
    Jaimie, great article and Im finding it hard to disagree with you on any of your points lately, but your fanbase is lacking. Sounds like fans of some blue cockney team to me. Get behind your team and try to think from the managers point of view, which is difficult, because he knows a hell of a lot more about the sport than you or I, but just try and you'll realise it aint all as easy as you think.

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  161. how many times did he break up west broms play 

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  162. a side that got to two cup finals last season can not be that bad add another 50odd million that rodgers has spent,and the results do not add up

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  163. so we just carry on with rodgers and fall further behind,i also think fsg,s honeymoon is well and truely over no wonder our owner as not been seen at anfield since he sacked kenny

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  164. I concur, well put. Lets not him the panic button yet!

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  165. anything is possible if you believe in it hard enough,who knows you may even see rodgers turn out to be a decent manager when he as gained more experience (just don,t learn your trade at anfield)

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  166. i think he try to be to clever for his own good eg shelvey yesterday and it always backfires on him

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  167. You should get in touch with the LFC sports psychologist, you obviously know something about Rodger's methods of dealing with players in the media that you don't. 

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  168. totaly agree m8 to say your on a witch hunt for rodgers is ludicrouse i would go as far as to say you have been one of his staunchest supporters

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  169. Le parisien is reporting that Carlo Ancelotti was approached by 3 premier league clubs in November/December, one of those clubs was apparently Liverpool. Read in to that what you will!!!

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  170. http://www.leparisien.fr/psg-foot-paris-saint-germain/le-real-madrid-a-contacte-ancelotti-12-02-2013-2561003.php

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  171. Get over it SCOUSERS.....U LOST!

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  172. The Penalty was 'achieved' as the ref adjudged that there was a foul on Suarez, write a letter to the FA if you think the ref if as a cheat.

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  173. I tweeted before the game that i didnt like the fact that the whole system had seemed to be changed just because Sturridge was not fit and that Henderson had been moved from the position where he has been playing so well of late.

    I am behind Rogers and dont think any knee jerk reaction would help the club as any new manager needs time and would want his own players so getting rid of Rodgers would just set the club back further. Hopefully he will soon know what works and what doesn't, he has to learn from that game so onwards and upwards. Lets hope Coutinho settles and gives us more options in attack.

     

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  174. the moment i saw Brendan starting Shelvey it was well understood that its going to be again a disappointing night at Anfield..its something a simple analyst can understand that playing a team with no pace in attack isnt going to do any good..plus substitutions were horrible n post match comments..jus when i start trusting Brendan Rodgers he shows sign of being just a very very average manager..

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  175. Perhapss BR's biggest mistake IMO is that he played a starting line up full of ALL of the players that played under Steve Clarke last year. Steve Clarke knows all of the players that started the game VERY WELL He knew all of their weaknesses and set his strategy up accordingly. Sure WBA had a bit of luck in not conceding, not to mention a few demon saves by Foster, but the past has come back to bite us. Steve Clarke, having been on the inside, exploited all of our weaknesses and applied all of his sides strengths.

    We should have and could have won that game, but as its' been said, 4 midfielders at home, playing all players that previously played under the oppositions' manager is too clinical a mistake. They looked like the liverpool of last season - pointless passing with no bite up front, the wrong mix of players on the pitch, not to mention some who have not earned their place... (Downing & Shelvey)
    BR would have done better to field Wisdom, push Enrique up front and play Johnson on the left, or start Sterling... 

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  176. Would have been okay had SG scored the penalty, then we wouldnt be sat here moaning.

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  177. You seem very angry Vicky! its quite sexy really.

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  178. play that game again and we would win, SG takes that penalty again he scores. Its one of those things.  Anyone remember Chelsea doing the same to Barcelona and Munich in last years CL?

    Congrats to West Brom, they hung in there and took their two chances when presented with them. 

    Losing games at home is becoming quite a common theme, Losing games full stop is quite a common theme.

    But Win, Lose or draw, I still love my beloved LFC.

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  179. Rodgers bigged himself and his methods up too much a la david brent.  Then he mis used transfer monies.
    as for selection , we dont see training every day so its hard for us to comment. However, we are no better than under roy and kenny.

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  180. LFC are in a mess and have been for years. Bringing in a rookie manager, surrounding him with inexperienced executives and letting most of our experienced attacking players leave was just footballing suicide. Add to that a policy of mainly buying unproven inexperienced player and you end up fighting to stay in the top half for many seasons to come.

    Some of the young players will go on to be legends, but they'll be snapped up by teams offering CL football. At the end of the day if our transfer policy is to buy young players with a high sell-on value, then its clear that we're intending to sell them on once they come good. A truly sorry state of affairs for a once great club. RIP LFC. YNWA

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  181. I never try to go against LFC managers, and I really hope for Rodgers that he can get it right but:


    EVERY single game this season, when we've had the opportunity to gain ground on the people ahead of us... we've messed up. The team has no bottle, and often I find that Rodgers doesn't know what to do in a game where we are more than expected to win and our opposition isn't making it easy for us. These particular substitutions are an example of that.

    Also, we've not beaten anyone in the top 10... I'm sorry but this isn't good enough for any LFC manager.. it's unreal. 

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  182. I fully agree with you George T....from owners to manager to Ayre and his crew, to most of our players they all seem to be totally out of their depth and learning "as they go along".....unless there is a dramatic change at LFC next season we will be having these same autopsies and no doubt coming to similar conclusions. 
    And Jaime.....another great article, I think its important that these issues are put on the table instead of everyone pretending everything is ok.

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  183. Buck has his defensive system wrong. zonal marking does not work in PL. 

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  184. It makes no difference. It was not a penalty. Suarez went down easily. But yes it could have changed the bearing of the end result. 

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  185. The point is we suck. we should have won without a dubious penalty decision.

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  186. I assume this is a joke.

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  187. Consistent yes. Effective to the end result? We need result oriented players. Consistency without effect on the end result is absolutely useless. It is the end result that counts. SC did his homework and we did not. 

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  188. I will double second that motion.

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  189. How did it become a fact if it was started by the media? 

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