3 Dec 2014

Aldo blasts: €6m Liverpool star 'struggled badly' against Leicester. BR to blame?

Last week, ex-Red Jamie Redknapp raised questions about Javi Manquillo's ability, and basically blamed him for Liverpool's poor 3-1 defeat to Crystal Palace. In my view, Redknapp's criticism was well off the mark (and I argued as much), but LFC legend John Aldridge is similarly unimpressed with Manquillo, and he's criticised the youngster's performance this evening against Leicester City.

Reacting to Liverpool's 3-1 victory, Aldo tweeted:

"Good decision to take Manquillo off and put Moreno on. He struggled badly"

On this occasion, I agree - Manquillo didn't really get to grips with the game, and being removed after 45 minutes doesn't bode well for his immediate first-team chances.

Manquillo's form clearly dipped over the last few weeks, but the question is, why? Is it possible that he's lost a bit of confidence?

* In the first two months of the season, Manquillo played regularly, and started nine games in a row.

* Over the last six weeks, he's been dropped four times, including being dumped from the match-day squad on two separate occasions.

In this regard, Rodgers' man-management of Manquillo is (IMO) questionable:

* Dropped him after LFC's 2-1 victory over West Brom.
* Dropped him again after LFC's 2-1 win over Swansea.

* Dropped again after the 1-0 away defeat to Real Madrid, a performance widely recognised praised for its defensive solidity.

The same man-management questions apply to other players, too. Adam Lallana, for example, who was dropped for two games in a row after grabbing an assist against Crystal Palace.

In Manquillo's case, what is the point in dropping defensive players after good Liverpool victories? I'd understand it if the youngster made mistakes, but he was solid in all three of the above games, yet still ended up getting dumped.

As such, it wouldn't surprise me if Manquillo has lost confidence after being repeatedly dropped for no good reason. being dumped at half-time against the bottom club in the league is only going to exacerbate the situation.

Like Moreno, €6m-rated Manquillo will now probably face an extended spell on the bench, which is a shame as in the first part of the season, the Spaniard was (statistically) one of Liverpool's most effective defensive players.

Author:


40 comments:

  1. We have to remember that Manquillo is still a loaned player and it should be an imperative to accommodate the players that we own (if they play good enough, of course). Thus, Manquillo need to show that he can be adaptable when needed, as was the case with both Cissokho and Moses (test which both of them failed).


    There is no need to try to mould Manquillo into perfect player by accommodating his needs if we have still trust in our loaned/injured sidebacks: Wisdom and Flanagan. There is also the case what will happen to the more experienced sidebacks: Johnson and Enrique?


    I do agree that it is mismanagement of Manquillo by BR, but it can be viewed as justified if the decisions help players actually owned by Liverpool to develop and if he is not sure whether to invest in Manquillo in long term. The mismanagement of Lallana is of course much less acceptable case as he is now one of our own.

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  2. manquillo bad game -rodgers bad man management-lfc future bleak -we should support some other team......critical realism ??????????????????????????

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  3. maybe he got an injury.As for Rodgers been bad at man management....he won manager of the year

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  4. Rodgers slowly turning it round still not brilliant but on the mend and once again your criticising over nothing

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  5. I agree with your logic but which player that we own is being hampered by playing Manquillo ? Wisdom is out on loan and Flanagan is still injured. Therefore it makes no sense to mess the boy around, dropping him after good performaces to accomodate the liability that Johnson has become. For some reason the same is happening to Moreno. There seems to be a lack of clarity in the long-term vision of the make up of the team. Long term the full-backs will probably be Flanagan and Moreno, so they should be played whenever possible, injuries and extended loss of form permitting.

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  6. He didn't have a great 45 minutes. But it was hardly terrible.
    But he is young, and he will get better. I've been pretty impressed with him overall this season. He is no frills, and does what he needs to do pretty well.

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  7. For the most part, the starting 11 for any fixture has been a bit of a guessing game lately. Moreno has been out of favour, Enrique started out of no where the other day, Lallana in and out, Can and Markovic currently out...


    Regarding Manquillo, he's young and any 'dropping' probably won't negatively effect him. Might be a bit harsh but I don't think he's been that great and I think it's a bit premature to largely rely on a young player who has spent most of his time in the Spanish lower tiers. If Rodgers didn't have a fancy for young Spanish players, Manquillo probably wouldn't be at any PL club right now. So, if Johnson leaves a senior signing would be required.

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  8. It does look like he's been worse after every game he missed. Hope Flanno can return on the same level in defence- for attacking full back we have Moreno.

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  9. It doesn't seem too bad a move to me tbh. Its important for us to gain some momentum, so I can understand why tried and tested Johnson would play ahead of Manquillo for a while when fit. Remember last year Flanagan and sterling only got into the team regularly at around the new year. same year before for sterling. Also, We have an important decision to make as regards Johnson at the end of the season, so he has to be given a good chance to prove himself. as much criticism as he gets, he has got us out of a hole numerous times, I wonder if any of his critics noticed the 3 times at least that the ball was played over the CB and Ulloa/Vardy were in behind, but Johnson covered well and made a clearing header/tackle? Manquillo is here for 2 years, he will get plenty of opportunities to prove himself. If anybody has seen wisdom this season, you'd be able to see he isn't going to play RB for us. He's a CB, and will likely take the place of Toure next season as he naturally moves on. Additionally, its a critical stage of the season for us. over the next 2 weeks we have got a KO match in the CL, a KO match in the league cup, and games v man utd and arsenal, which we'll need to win if we are to get into top 4. It's not the time to be "giving players confidence". A win, and the subsequent momentum, is much more important right now.
    I agree on lallana though, cannot understand why he is being rested at times. Needs to be a regular in the side over the next month, only rested at boxing day fixtures. Gerrard also has to stay further forward now, thankfully BR has worked out that much. Play sakho when he gets back and jobs a good 'un!

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  10. I think Manquillo's dip in form has come as a result off Rodgers' fluctuating and unpredictable lineups. Normally, good performers stay in the team and bad performers go out but it is the opposite in the case of Liverpool. For a young player like Manquillo, confidence and assurance is very important and at the moment, he does not have that.

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  11. Agree with this. key stats to me for a keeper are error leading to goals and shot to save ratio. Goals conceded are generally down to others than the goal keeper.


    A goalkeeper who makes 20 saves in the game but concedes 1 will have had a great game yet somebody who has made just 1 save and gets a clean sheet as his team is dominant would be judged as having the best game just looking at clean sheets as the metric.

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  12. So do you honestly believe Frazer Forster has been the best keeper in the premier league this season so far? As he leads the way in terms of clean sheets and goals conceded.

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  13. I hope this is not true. If we are going to get another keeper we either needed to spend big or pick up an experienced keeper such a valdes, Casillas. Personally despite not thinking Chelsea will sanction a deal i think we should put in a big offer to try and get Cech. He would be by far my first choice.

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  14. The answer is Glen Johnson. If Rodgers thinks Manquillo does not deserve to play then Johnson is at RB. If BR thinks Moreno does not deserve to play then Johnson will be at LB.



    Johnson has been much better over the last couple of games but if Manquillo is dropped when playing well then yes it could effect his mentality/confidence. Even Emre Can is probably wondering why he is getting a sub appearance.

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  15. He has been doing o k - Glad to see B R FINALLY DITCHED GERARDSS DEFENSIVE ROLE and we looked a lot better for it - Stevir G was good - not brilliant but certainly 7 out of 10 - Well Done B R and Well done Stevie G

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  16. It came as a shock to me but Mignolet has one of the highest distribution accuracy of the premier league keepers this season (better than Courtois, Hart, De Gea) and has a longer average distribution length that most.


    I like you thought his distribution was poor before looking in to it.

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  17. I did some research and apparently Manquillo is always accommodated for Johnson. It seems that Johnson-Moreno is the preferred pairing for BR at least until recently. Although I would like to disagree with BR about his preferred choices. The only long stretch that Manquillo was able to get in the starting XI was due to Johnson's injury in the second EPL game against Man City.


    Moreno on the other hand has only rested in cup and UCL games during heavy match schedule or after international brakes (during which he played at Spain U21). In the case of Johnson, he has only been benched after apparently bad displays against Madrid (1st encounter) and Newcastle apart from his injury lay-off. Enrique's performances seem to be restricted to cameos in starting XI against not-so-top-class opponents (Middlesbrough, Basel, QPR and Stoke). On those games Moreno was naturally rested.

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  18. A decent player but bad performance. I wouldn't guess what's going on in his head though. He is young and will have bad games.

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  19. And Gerrard said he is the best man manager he has ever worked with.

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  20. One site saying we are offering Neto £125k a week! Tabloids hey! Oh and we are after Joel Campbell off Arsenal.... Apparently.

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  21. Which is all the more shocking that he's making so many bad decisions.

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  22. why don't the british or english players get treated like this? johnson/gerrard/llalana/ lambert/henderson/sterling after a bad game is that racism or do the FA have something to do with this?

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  23. He is consistently asked to play the ball short to his centre backs, hence his high pass accuracy as even he, though he does try bless him, can't make a mess of playing the ball 10 yards. The other keepers you name, vary their distribution a hell of a lot more with far more long clearances which are effectively 50/50 balls.

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  24. Rodgers has not turned anything around. Not slowly either. Even if you're naive enough to think two lucky wins mean anything, there is still the small matter of 200 million in transfer money wasted. Lets assume that by some miracle we beat Basel and we finish inside the top four this season. Would you really trust Rodgers with another 50 million to spend?

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  25. If you look at the last part of my post i address this issue and his average distribution length is also longer than those other keepers hence your theory of his passing being mostly short is not correct.


    Both De Gea and Courtois have lower accuracy and lower average distribution length. Hart has slightly higher distribution length but much lower accuracy.


    I was surprised too but those are the facts. Doesn't change the fact we need to replace Mignolet just that his distribution is better that alot of us think.

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  26. No way would I trust Rodgers with another pound at this point.

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  27. Negative words towards English players draws every media outlets interest.They report like kids watching a fight in the playground.I think some foreigners are seen as easy targets.
    Pick on British players, they put on the gloves and get in the ring.TalkSPORT: Carragher phoned the radio station and had a war of words with Adrian Durham.
    I think Paul Merson said something negative about Johnson and they slugged it out.
    It's cowardly behaviour by most in the media.Being scared of confrontation.They want to be heard but not challenged.
    They generally pick on players who are unlikely to respond and don't draw box office numbers/attention.

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  28. Impressive research but do you agree with the choice ? At right-back my list would be Flanagan, Manquillo, Johnson. At left-back, it would be Moreno, Johnson, Enrique.
    Why Moreno has only appeared as a substitute last night in the last three games, I think I'm right in saying, is a mystrery to me.
    The two wins have more to do with the opposition and other changes (Gerrard, Lucas and the centre-backs) I'd say. It just seems that although Sturridge's injury was bound to cause some disruption due to the lack of a similar deputy, there doesn't seem a clear first team identified. With everyone fit, who would the starting XI be and in what formation ? I'd love to believe that it's known but it doesn't appear to be.

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  29. I don't know to be honest. I don't think he needs to fluent. The communication required of a 'keeper is more simple than that of a defender I'd say.

    "Mine", "yours". For marking and stuff and the placement of a wall he can just scream and point.

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  30. Well if you don't actually distribute the ball then you will be more accurate. e.g. gathering the ball and running like a mad man to the edge of the area and then hugging the ball tight. That is what Migs does. So the others will make more errors as they actual do distribute the ball.

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  31. I agree he is making bad decisions but in regard to man management it's only guess work from our part. We have absolutely no idea whatsoever what those playing under him now feel about him or the Jon he is doing. Presumption from our part would be arrogance.

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  32. We could have kept Reina, but our stubborn manager wouldn't give him a chance.

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  33. No, it's not arrogance in the slightest. This servile deference to managers is unwarranted, and a cop-out, as fans like you try and put the stoppers on constructive debate.

    Without the financial input of the fans, there is no club, so that gives supporters every right to question any aspect of the club, including the performance of the manager.

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  34. I tend to agree with your points, although I am undecided about Flanagan. Don't get me wrong, I love the kid but he has been hampered by very serious injuries early on his career and he was never on his way on challenging for the title of world's best side back. However, having him completely injury-free, he could very well be our first choice RB.


    Current situation is tricky though. Johnson and Enrique are not in it in the long term and both of them could be packing by the summer. Although, I must say that I have been happily surprised by Johnson's impact in the recent wins. On the other hand, the young ones are not finished articles and especially at the defensive end they could use some commanding presence and real leadership from the center of the pitch, something which Liverpool is currently lacking.

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  35. I'd kill for a keeper that let's in a goal per 10 games too

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  36. Unknown outside Australia, but he's always been a bit of a cult hero here. Moy-Lay Yeddy-Nack

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  37. As Tony Abbott called him Mike.

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  38. I know, good old t'abs. He does alright though, always seems to stick his foot right in his mouth though. Mile would be a decent addition, absolutely no nonsense, nothing frilly but doesn't tend to make silly mistakes.

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  39. Someone I know went to school with Mile. Apparently he used to call himself Michael back then. Perhaps that's why he was referred to as 'Mike'.

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