20 Jul 2015

Finally! After 3-years of irresponsible claptrap, Rodgers gets it right with his public praise of players

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers is (in)famous for his damaging and counter-productive overpraise of players (especially youngsters), and this pre-season is no exception, with the Reds boss continuing to regale the media with his trademark hyperbole and fawning magniloquence. I've long called for Rodgers to moderate his needless public ego-massage of players, and there are signs today that he may finally be taking a different approach.

In my view, if a manager must publicly praises a player, the praise should be:

* Specific, i.e. highlighting a discernible aspect of a player's performance, with an explanation as to why said player excelled in this area.

* Tempered with the rhetoric of continuous improvement, with the underlying message being that no matter how good the performance, there is always a higher level to be reached.

Well, to paraphrase Professor Henry Higgins: 'By George Jove, I think he's got it!'

When asked today about Jordon Ibe - previously (and irresponsibly) described by the manager as 'absolutely sensational; 'absolutely outstanding'; 'brilliant'; 'wonderful', and 'fantastic - Rodgers offered the following understated response:

"He [Ibe] is still very young, but I think you see the potential. It's just [about] him continually working hard at his game; he's still got a way to go for that consistency but I think everyone sees that potential.

"All our young players at the club know that if they demonstrate the right personality, they have a chance to play. They know they'll get a chance if they co-ordinate their game and work to the plan of the collective, then there'll be a chance".


How refreshing. Gone is the bombastic bootlicking, and cloying emotive language, and in its place? A simple, low-key appraisal of a young player's potential, which makes clear the need for hard work, and continuous improvement.


I'm constantly on Rodgers' case for his gross overpraise of players, but I'll also give credit where it's due, and in this case, he delivered a pitch-perfect assessment.

I call that progress.

This type of restrained response should be the rule, rather than the exception, though, and hopefully Rodgers will continue along this path, and leave the servile sycophancy behind.

Author: Jaimie K


69 comments:

  1. I was reading Rodgers' comments earlier and I knew that Jaimie would be over the moon with the more specific comments. Maybe one of the new back room staff told him to stop with the general praise and be more specific.

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  2. Plaudits :) This is an article I didn't expect to see.

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  3. Firmino= £29m (21m up front)
    Clyne= £12.5m (10.5m up front)
    Gomez= £3.5m
    Milner= Free
    Bogdan= Free
    Ings= Free (Probably £6m compensation fee)
    Benteke= £32.5m (£16m up front)
    Total= £83.5m
    Total paid up front= £51.5m

    For £51.5m all of those transfers are really great business! A proven Premier League goals scorer, THE most creative Brazilian player in Europe's top 5 leagues since 2012, a good squad player with 11 goals from a lower team, a good backup 'keeper, a young talented squad player who can play anywhere in defense and a quality midfielder stolen from under City's nose!

    If you think about it, we've only just about spent our "Sterling" money and have our entire budget left to spend (technically). Hopefully we can spend £14m on Illaramendi and then we have £16m left on a back up Left Back/ Centre Back.

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  4. Lets hope that this season sees Brendon Rogers reach "his" full potential.

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  5. The moment I read his comments I was hoping you'd notice them too! He clearly has learnt that massaging Sterlings ego did him a fat lot of good, about time.

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  6. Don't give Jamie ideas about using this as proof of something it isn't, IMO. Please ;-)

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  7. I agree mate we should go and pinched Yarmolenko of Stoke and we do need a solid DM there is no getting away from it! Frank Rijkaard or Lothar Matthaus 25 years ago would be my ideal signing (Haha! What players they where) failing that Illaramendi looks a good player! Although it is not a reflection of my sexual orientation I also like the Benders! James McCarthy isn't a bad player either.

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  8. Obviously B.R reads your comments JK,may he continue to learn & improve.

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  9. Who told you benteke was 16 mill up front ( any reoprts? Etc?) . However this maybe good on papers but we have the season to test how wellnthe transfers really worked out. Plus no marquee transfer thia season.

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  10. You left out the eye roll.

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  11. Also, this is unrelated to the article but I've been thinking about this summers signings compared to previous ones and it got me thinking.

    It seems to me that a lot of the previous signings fit in line with FSG's moneyball approach, and it is plausible that they were identified not by Rodgers, but by someone else behind the scenes who was told to to so by FSG. However, clearly this approach doesn't work in football the same way it does in MLB, especially as no two leagues in Europe are the same.

    Perhaps now that Rodgers might have more of a say on transfers we're seeing those that fit more to his ideology, we could see an upturn in results (in regards to the new boys actually performing)

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  12. You don't need a Marquee signing to perform well, you need players with ability, not just a name.

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  13. Glad Ings broke through today. Superb through pass from Clyne. Ings was calm and clinical...comfortable. Good sign.

    Friggin' Milner scored again...and even though he was offside I take heart that Origi was ready to tap it in also.

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  14. Hey why not try and get behind your team for once

    It's always negative articles

    Yes he may not always be everyone's cup of tea Rogers but he's our manager so what about trying to show him some support .... For once !!

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  15. Illaremendi for certain, I rate him highly. I watch a lot of Spanish football and he is just solid in every department. Top class and for the price worth every penny

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  16. I've watched all the pre-season games, Gomez IS the real deal and if he keeps this up will be THE best buy of the lot. We don't need another centre back, we have Tiago Ilori (who by the way was excellent in the European U21 finals and has been excellent on loan last season) to come back after the tour along with Can, Coutinho, Firmino and hopefully Benteke if his deal finally comes off for us. Would like to see Illaramendi but if he does come then something in the midfield will have to give, either Lucas or Allen. With Man Utd, Arsenal, City and Chelsea already so strong and all improving this transfer window we have to hope our squad is strong enough for the EPL and the Europa League. The Europa League might be our best chance of getting back into the Champions League (witness Sevilla this season just finished). To top it all we might just if we are lucky get a fit Daniel Sturridge back for most of the season and that would be amazing.

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  17. There was a lot of signings that looked like the Comitee's one but there were quite a few that were obviously Rodgers' choice imo, especially last year.

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  18. It's really more simple than that. We've got more money so we can sign better players.

    Also I think last summer's signings were not as bad as they've been made out to be -- aside from the strikers.

    It's also too soon to announce that this window has been a roaring success. The season hasn't started yet!

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  19. Against the same kind of team Aspas scored in every single match in pre-season 2 years ago, so let's wait until we play a few competitive matches against decent team before passing a jugdement on any player.

    It has been done last season with Lovren and Moreno too and we saw what they were about during the season

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  20. my thoughts exactly... i have observed that players who always shine on pre season vanish into oblivion in the premier league (voronin.. anyone ?).. lets reserve judgement and keep our unmentionables clean till the player gets cracking over at least one complete season...

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  21. hmm.. something tells me that this new found restraint wont last for long.. i'll bet he went back in after giving that interview and was bursting out at the seams to praise Ibe for all his outstanding qualities.. :)

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  22. That's right I do read JK's comments.

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  23. I thought Ibe was very impressive, he looks like he will be the main attacking threat in this Liverpool team this season.

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  24. i'll give it a go..

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  25. ...cool man...cool...


    ...good luck...

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  26. Ghost of Suarez1:26 am, July 21, 2015

    We have 2 players at DM (well we have 4 actually but 2 I would say are best suited) Can and Lucas. Don't think need this guy. As for Yarmolenko....beware players who have never played outside Ukraine/Russia league's..they are rarely all they seem to be.

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  27. ....what an outstanding article from an outstanding young man...I believe he will go on and become one of the great writers in europe, if not the world...
    ...I do not mean to use grandiloquence in my appraisal of the piece this young man Jaimie has written but I truly believe the bombastic stance I have taken is truly justified...very rarely have I seen such carved eloquence on page, the movement, the pacing, the balance, the awareness of the gestalt...truly genius.....


    ...my heart was thumping at the absolutely sensational word-play and wonderfully fantastic prose; the tome was amazing....


    ...it is truly not over-praise when a young man such as this shows his prodigious talent for what it is....


    .....hey Jaimie....we gonna crash and burn as a forum now...? :)

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  28. Congrats on the win JK... I'll certainly be waiting for round 2 ;D

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  29. PAVLYUCHENKO!

    I probably butchered the spelling on that, but yeah I get VERY hesitant when looking at players who have exclusively played in the eastern european leagues. Thats why I never got too excited about Luiz Adriano, Kono, Yarmo, et al. Probably great players, but they may have gotten slightly complacent if nothing else.

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  30. The 16Mil up front is all over the media today...

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  31. None except lucas really stays back and puts defence first. Can milner and hendo not forgetting allen like to run forward with the ball leaving huge chunks of space when they do. That leaves the back 3 panicking. We need a destroyer like macherano, matic et medel who will not be bullied and will put defence first. Allowing the other players to do their jobs. I'm sure there are better players than lucas who have the size and tenacity we need to complete our defence. Lucas is not enough and allen is just not good enough to give us that presence we need. That's what scouts are for. But there's still that hole in the team left by masherano that still hasn't been filled and until then I don't think we ever really have a good defence something we desperately need.

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  32. He called Ibe 'young'. The guy is 19, thats not young at all! It's going to go straight to his head and destroy his career. Egregious and damaging praise to be sure.

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  33. I think he would have to be pretty damn amazing to be the 'best buy of the lot'. Milner has scored twice and was free, Firmino (despite not having seen much of him) is looking very promising, and SHOULD be the best buy, despite his fairly big pricetag.
    Having said that, I was very, very impressed by his work, especially on his debut against the Roar, he looked incredibly calm, like a seasoned pro. Great distribution, big, strong, quick, can play defensively or offensively and has very good positional awareness for a kid of his age. Very exciting to see how he turns out. If he comes through and breaks into the first team at Lovren's expense, and Ilori keeps developing, we may see the Croat take off at the end of the season (assuming that Lovren doesnt get any better).
    But yeah, stay positive mate, it's nice to see positivity about the players, rather than getting upset at buzz-words from the manager :)

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  34. Let's hope you find your 'D' key so that you can spell Rodgers correctly. He's only been manager since 2012!

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  35. I agree to a point, I think we'll be able to judge most of last seasons buys a bit more accurately by mid-season. Marko, Lallana, Lovren and Balo are all better than they have showed for us. I'm hoping at least Lallana and Markovic prove it to us, and I'm still - against my better judgement - holding out hope for Balo. A Balo-Teke front line would be pretty damn intimidating!
    And re: the transfer window being a roaring success, I think it's more that it's given us something to be excited about. Paying £20m for Marko, £25m for Lallana, £20m for Lovren, money for Balo, all deflated everyone and certainly didnt get us excited for Game 1 last season. Getting in a quality, experienced CM, a promising young CF, one of the premier leagues best RBs, a very promising young CB, a proven PL quality CF and a high profile brazilian AM gives us alot more to look forward to.
    We are going to pump Stoke. Absolutely batter them, I'm very confident of this.
    If not, I shall weep.

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  36. Nuke Allen at the very earliest opportunity. Send him to the next level down where here is far better suited...............

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  37. Saw this coming.

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  38. Yokohama Liverpool Fan5:10 am, July 21, 2015

    Arrivals
    Transfer fee


    Roberto Firmino
    28.7


    Nathaniel Clyne
    12.39


    Joe Gomez
    3.43


    Danny Ings
    Free transfer


    Adam Bogdan
    Free transfer


    James Milner
    Free transfer


    Danny Ward
    End of loan


    Lloyd Jones
    End of loan


    Jordan Williams
    End of loan


    Kevin Stewart
    End of loan


    Luis Alberto
    End of loan


    Tiago Ilori
    End of loan


    Divock Origi
    End of loan


    Expenditure
    44.52






    Departures
    Transfer fee


    Raheem Sterling
    43.75


    Iago Aspas
    4.2


    Sebastian Coates
    1.96


    Kevin Stewart
    Loan


    Steven Gerrard
    Free transfer


    Jordan Lussey
    Free transfer


    Luis Alberto
    Loan


    Glen Johnson
    Free transfer


    Brad Jones
    Free transfer


    Lloyd Jones
    Loan


    Jordan Williams
    Loan


    Danny Ward
    Loan


    Sales
    49.91






    Earnings
    5.39

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  39. After release out Borini,Balotelli and Lambert i hope LFC can get sign Marco Reus or Mario Gotze.Both this player can make big impact and good contribution for the clubs.Don't worry about the fee because big profit will comeback

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  40. I wondered if you'd spot the deliberate mistake. WELL DONE. Now you can go through all of the other writings to see how many mistakes there are in spelling. You will be there a long time Smart Ass.

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  41. Well that's just rude, just doing my bit for the community buddy. Just curious, why would you deliberately misspell Rodgers? I mean I've seen things like Bodgers (because apparently he 'bodges' everything up, or Dodgers (because apparently he 'dodged' the blame and left his mates, Marsh and Big Pas under the bus, but such a damningly obvious misspelling, if indeed deliberate, confounds to say the least. If an explanation of such disregard for the English language could be offered, it would be met with joyous intrigue at this end.
    Actually, don't worry about it, I'm probably just being a Smart Ass.

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  42. Sorry mate! I was just using a bit of the Australian
    hubris and vernacular. You are dead right, it was a spelling mistake on my part. Hope you can forgive.

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  43. Forgiveness isn't necessary buddy. Us Aussies are well known for our sense of humour. That and dangerous animals... Seriously though, what the hell!? Britain gets foxes and rabbits, we get taipans, tiger snakes, dingos, scorpions, funnel webs, red backs, white tails, sharks, stingrays, box jellyfish, stonefish, bees, crocodiles, bluerings, sea snakes, bluebottles and Collingwood supporters. But I digress, no harm done, just watch yourself next time.

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  44. So we'll still be stuck with Borini and Balo

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  45. Yes you are SOOOOO right mate in this outstanding and mega brilliant article = and to think they make a fuss about Einstein ?? VICE CAPTAIN - Obvious choice - no argument JAMES MILLER

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  46. Did not read this prior to my comment - yours vastly superior - brilliant

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  47. Have we been assimilated by the Borg and become part of The Collective?

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  48. Fair play to you JK, in fact, if I were to sum up your article in one word.....outstanding

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  49. You set them up then you knock them down

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  50. Not sure Rodgers sees it that way, Ash. Just my hunch.

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  51. Yeah, I'm sure we're on more-or-less the same page. I don't agree with you about Balotelli -- as I see it he's a park footballer at heart and doesn't belong in the elite, though I don't say that with any malice and I like watching him. Just rather it wasn't for Liverpool ;)

    Lallana had a decent season despite the bad press, Can was an important acquisition, and Markovic and Moreno... well, we'll see. They've both made a contribution, at least, and with the new players coming in they might be able to start to feel a little more comfortable.

    I'm very excited by Gomez; Ings, Clyne and Firmino were on my personal shortlist, so I'm very happy to see them come in. Milner is a smart piece of business. With Lallana, Ibe, Coutinho, Henderson, Can, Allen, Moreno, Sakho, Mignolet all likely to show improvement because of their age and attitude, I'm confident we're going to have an exciting season. But still... let's play it down... ;)

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  52. I like your tache!

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  53. Or in this case... you knock them down... then you set them up?

    ....so we can have a characteristic "Rodgers back to his old ways" in the future. It's a unique moral twist on the traditional news cycle. I'm all for it ;)

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  54. I just dont get it. I see Benteke's quality, transfer fee not considering, but I dont see him add anything we dont already have with Sturridge, Origi and Ings. Or really, just Origi on his own.

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  55. Great to see some optimism.

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  56. Lars Bender Of Bayer Leverkusen should be brought to club this summer for £16-£20M


    A Mobile tough tackling Enforcer is desperately needed at club, Lucas does not have the energy, legs, mobility or pace and is regularly injured.


    Allen lacks mobility and pace, and is clueless and useless at protecting back four and should be shipped out of club, but until B Rodgers leaves that will not happen.


    A Makelele, Mascherano, Matic, Momo Sissoko Type DM is desperately needed at club or B Rodgers will not last past January


    As Can, Henderson and Milner are all average midfielders, but they are all better offensively than defensively.

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  57. Along with the seemingly new found reticence to talk so much about transfers, did this come out of the season review maybe ? Anyway, it's good to acknowledge a positive. Let's look forward, settle on a formation, give Gomez and Ilori chances in defence and get on with the season !

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  58. If Jaimie doesn't post for a few weeks we'll know it's because he's living off the proceeds of his PR consultancy work with LFC.

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  59. Refreshing, but a fluke. I dont think that will see that being the standard from now on, and fully expect the nonsense to continue. however, I don't think the players really listen to it anyway... (imo)

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  60. ....thanks bro...very kind.... :)

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  61. ...hey Jaimie, thanks for letting my comment about your post go through..... :-)

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  62. Ghost of Suarez3:27 pm, July 21, 2015

    I don't think we can afford to have that type of player if we are to play 3-4-3 with only 2 central midfield positions we need a more rounded player and I see that as Can in the long term. I take your point about him getting forward but we only really saw him in an attacking midfield or WB role in a few games last season...he was never asked to play DM, and he certainly proved he can defend whilst playing mainly at CB. If we are to play 4-3-3 then we could have a Mascherano but the game has moved on from the Makelele type really..(hence why Masch only gets a game for Barca at CB now - the only real out and out defensive position in their team) I think Can, flanked by Milner and Hendo have enough physicality and tactical nous to cover one another without sacrificing the creative side.

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  63. I'm not saying this for his games in a liverpool shirt. I'm saying this from his tym in Germany especially leverkusen and more recently the u21 tournament. He plays like Yaya and as u know just like yaya leaves space. And your point about barca is not relevant not many teams have the fire power of barca. Most teams sit back against them so they don't really need a cdm. Teams actually attack us because we don't have that kind of firepower anymore. Take city for example. They have thought enough to get in Fernando who just sits back when Yaya and Fernandinho go forward. Chelsea have matic. Milan has de Jong. Southampton have wanyama and Chile who had a very successful copa America have medel. It's very important in the Morden game.
    Take Lovren for example .
    When he had wayama and Schneiderlin infront of him and fonte they looked pretty solid. Now he looks lost and Southampton still have a mean defence. It is still very important in today's game.

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  64. Ghost of Suarez8:27 pm, July 21, 2015

    Well let's take the analogy about City first.....I would point out that city did better in 2013/14 without Fernando. They won the title that year and didn't this year. Shall we move on?

    If Can played 'like Yaya' for Germany U21, first that makes me very happy, second that means he was given license to do that by his coach. The Germans, as I am sure YOU know, have one of the most meticulously prepared and well coached international setups in football, hence their current position as world champions. If Can was asked to play as defensive shielding midfield player and kept going of the reservation he would not be in their team. Further the notion that a player can be disciplined enough to play CB yet not holding midfield is a bit silly.

    Yes Milan have de Jong and they can keep him, they finished about tenth this season. What does that prove? Juve have Marchisio in their midfield and while he can tackle there is much more to his game, which is what I am trying to say. Real Madrid, Barca, Bayern Munich, Sevilla.....none of them employ a Makelele type in the mould you suggest. The one exception being Chelsea where Matic is a bit more towards that type, he is still a bit more creative than Mascherano, but that is because of how Chelsea play (like all Mourinho teams) very safety first not trying to be too expansive and that necessitates that type of player. We are simply never going to play like that under Rodger and we never will....that approach this will take you so far but, while it won them the league this season they only did so because all of City's signings failed and we lost Suarez & Studge....they won as a result of other teams getting worse as well as them improving

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  65. Well u can make excuses about it but it is an effective tactic. Chelsea had one and they won the league. Argentina have masherano and have been to two major finals in two tries. Chile the champions of south America have medel. Juve have machisio but he's given less of a licence to go forward than both vidal and pogba so it's almost the same thing and they got in khedira. Madrid have brought back casemiro whos another number 6 .Germany for all their greatness have imploded after the world cup and I could argue they had bastien play the number six role alternating with lahm during the world cup. Maybe Milan didn't do well last season and I will make no excuses for them but u can't refute the fact that de Jong pre last season's start was a much sorted man for the job he did. He was also a key member of the city team that won the league 4 seasons ago.
    Brendan is just being stubborn but even he admits defeat sometimes by playing lucas and I'm suggesting we get an upgrade for lucas for those times or at least competition.
    Barca also have busquets when they need a number six. Almost Every team has one. Bayer also play lahm there to do the same screening job. No matter how u put it they all have one. Mention a top team and there's a player who's primary job is to clean up the middle, screen the defence and do the job of a traditional #6.
    And I'm afraid if we don't consistently deploy one as well we might never be competing on the top again on a regular.

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