21 Sept 2013

'Imbalanced & disjointed': LFC hero slams 'very disappointing' Saints fiasco

Well, Liverpool's great start to the season is officially over. The first defeat had to come sooner or later, but very few fans - myself included - expected the club's unbeaten run to end today. Brendan Rodgers got it totally wrong at Anfield this afternoon, and after the game, Reds legend John Aldridge vented his frustration at the exceedingly poor result.

Reacting to the defeat, Aldo said:

"Very disappointing performance. Imbalanced and disjointed compared to the last nine months. Hopefully a one-off"

In my view, the blame for this defeat lies squarely at the feet of Brendan Rodgers.

* Why start with FOUR central defenders?! Where was the pressing need to make this radical change? Why dismantle an effective defensive unit? Instead of trying to accommodate big money signings, and managerial favourites (i.e. Daniel Agger), just keep it simple and stick to what works! In my view, Agger and Sakho should've been on the bench, with Toure and Skrtel in the centre of defence, and Enrique and Wisdom/Kelly at full-back. i.e. aces in their places.

* Why did Enrique deserve to be dropped? Ridiculous decision, and a surefire way to demotivate him. What happened to Rodgers's spiel about playing well and keeping the shirt? Enrique is playing well at the moment, but more important than that, he is a DEDICATED LEFT BACK. Sakho is not, and that change meant the team seriously lacked width on the left.

* Sterling should've started the game. Liverpool's midfield is painfully immobile, and with Sakho and Toure at full-back, the team lacked width. Aspas did nothing against Swansea to warrant a start, and Sterling put in a great performance midweek for the U21s. He came on for the second half, so why not just start him?

* The Lucas/Gerrard partnership is a serious problem for LFC, but given the seemingly untouchable status of those two, it's something that will blight the team for the whole season. No pace, no real mobility, no consistent creativity, and Gerrard clearly doesn't have the legs to really make an impact.

* Also, with Coutinho out, why not play Gerrard in the number ten role?! Surely, he is the best option there right now, and he wouldn't have to run around so much in that position. Hendo and Lucas could've played together in midfield, with Gerrard free to create behind Sturridge. It's so freakin' obvious, so why did Rodgers ignore that possibility? It's not as if Gerrard has made any significant impact this season as a deep-lying central midfielder. In fact, the opposite is true, with LFC's midfield being overrun in every game.

* Rodgers described the defending for LFC's goal as 'criminal', and he's right, but his golden boy, Daniel Agger is to blame for the goal, not Martin Skrtel. Agger lost his marker, and then fell over right at the crucial moment, which allowed Dejan Lovren a free header on goal.

There are other points to raise, but I don't see the point. Rodgers handicapped the team from the start with his bizarre team-selection and kowtowing to big price tags. Yes, Sakho played out of position, but it still smacks of trying to fit him in at the expense of the team's balance.

There will inevitably be doom and gloom, but in the grand scheme of things, the defeat is not (IMO) a major disaster. Man United, Chelsea, Man City, Spurs and Arsenal have all lost league games already; why should LFC be any different? A defeat was always going to happen, so what difference does it make if it came today, or in three weeks?

Fans will inevitably argue that Luis Suarez is missed, and he would've made the difference etc, but it should be remembered that he played in dozens of defeats/draws for LFC over the past two seasons. Last season, for example, Liverpool failed to win 21 of the 33 league games Suarez started, so there's no guarantee he would've made the difference.

Hopefully this will be a wake-up call for Rodgers. With one game, he's undone all the hard-work that led Liverpool to the top of the table, but this is by no means a fatal blow.

There's still plenty of time to regain the initiative, and I have faith that Rodgers will get it right this season.



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110 comments:

  1. :( Wanyama + Eriksen would have looked very good in red today.. But hopefully there will be a lot of disgruntled players come the january transfer window to help with the mess of a midfield. I thought henderson played very well besides the set pieces, he's becoming my favorite liverpool player, if everyone played with his tenacity liverpool would be way better.

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  2. Yeah, about right. Is Suso better than Alberto? Is Fabio Borini better than Aspas? Not a fan of Sterling either.

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  3. It still sickens me that LFC missed out on Wanyama and Eriksen. Why the hell would you not want these players in your squad? The worst thing is both were comparatively cheap. Eriksen is a massive loss, I don't care what anyone says.

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  4. Unbeaten in twelve, we are not the invincibles, and it was always going to happen. But the prem league is hard enough without handicapping ourselves.
    This is one of the strangest defeats i have ever witnessed as a liverpool fan. Square pegs in every round hole out on the pitch. How he looked at that team sheet and it made sense in his head?
    Naievity? Cockiness? Or just simply stupidity? Whatever the reason these mistakes CANNOT ever be repeated, or my faith in Rodgers, which to this point has been solid, will be completely shaken.
    A big result will be needed again against utd and sund to get over this disappointment.
    Maybe i am over reacting because its still so fresh in my head, but again that was one of the most ridiculous team selections i have ever seen.
    Dont know what more to say.

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  5. Ridiculous is exactly the right word. As you say, how could he look at the teamsheet and think it made any kind of logical sense?

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  6. Many important players out and an unexperienced coach that have much to learn... It's not easy to be at the top of the table... Brendan Rodgers was dazed and confused... The "4 CBs formula", was a disaster and I think that Rodgers could try something else (maybe a 3-5-2 formation with Enrique and Henderson as wing backs). Gerrard and Lucas need help they cannot hold the midfield without a third companion (maybe Allen - as long Henderson has to play at right and Coutinho is out). Suarez can give something fresh, but I don't know if we have to play with all we got against Man U for league cup. Maybe it is wise to protect players for premier league. Top four it's a massive task for us...

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  7. I agree today was completely on Rogers. There was zero width because of it; Toure actually put a shift at right back but I'd rather he was Central. The big one for me is ... I think Gerrard has been completely missing the opening games or is it just me? I mean normally he just gets stuck in but a lot of his passes in the opening games seem a bit wayward.

    But how on earth could we drop our captain? Who knows. Especially one who's stuck by us. But I felt he was terrible today and everything poor he did seemed to be really detremental - e.g. he dawdled on the ball in the middle of the park and lost the ball which set southampton on a counter attack on a couple of occassions. I personally - as unthinkable as it is - would like to see Henderson next to Lucas (who I think has been solid and consistent this season); with Alberto sitting in front of them for Sunderland.

    Imagine if we'd just put the money up for Eriksen; we could have our new Gerrard right now.

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  8. Completely agree about Eriksen. He has always looked a plyer to me, not just at club level, but internationally he always impresses me in an average enough team. Think over the next few weeks he'll show his doubters he's one of the signings of the summer, cheap as chips too.
    Which puzzles me more, his age, price and class should have made him FSGs wet dream of a player.

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  9. I mean we all look at starting line ups and have our own opinions, none of which are as informed as the manager attending training every day, and so you complain, but in the end accept the choice of say one CB over another, or one striker instead of two. But this was way out there. Mourhino benching Mata puzzles most people, but he has valud reasons for his style of play, he's not starting Mikel behind Eto....
    I really want to see him come out and expkain this one, its that much of a mistake i think he has to. But i wont hold my breath.

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  10. I think Sterling deserves more praise than you're giving him. He stepped up last season from the acadamy when he was needed, and played with a lot of passion, and more than a lot of talent. He's still developing.

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  11. I saw my first Liverpool game for ages ( I don't watch them because I find them very dull ) and was astounded by how bad they were. Really dreadful. Not only inept but absolutely spineless. I expect United to walk over them. I'd say a finish of seventh again would be about right. Maybe not even that. Suarez should have got away - he deserves so much better.

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  12. This is why I still don't understand what our transfer commitee really does.alberto 7m 18m for sakho 7m for ilori and they all aren't guaranteed a start.and rodgers keeps complaining about how we can't compete???that's nonsense we are not spending on the right players that's the truth
    They are all rodgers yes men to me.

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  13. The only thing i disagree with there is an inexperienced manager. I watched the game with my 12 year old nephew and his first question was why are we playing with four centre backs?
    He has been managing for how many years 5/6? Jamie might be able to answer that. But inexperience has absolutely nothing to do with it.

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  14. If he really was willing to join us heads should roll. Then again how much was done to persuade him? Its hard to say, he didnt really sound interested in his last comments about LFC. "I'm not considering various transfers at all right now" and three or four days later in response to spurs interest "Tottenham are a great club, I know because i spoke to vertonghen" or something to that effect.
    So it does sound like he preferred spurs, but that could be through a lack of action and effort on our side.

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  15. This is the first time that Rodgers managing a big team, that is at the top of the table, so this is the reason that he is unexperienced, but this is not an excuse for the unacceptable mistakes that he did today. Four CBs from eleven players it is maybe a Guiness record!!!

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  16. Its not just you. Gerrard has been anonymous for every game. . But i'm still of the opinion the captain starts every game he's fit for. I've played (in my very much younger years:)) with captains like him. And IMO the team loses something that cant be measured when your leader isnt on the pitch. . Even when he is not performing. I think Gerrard needs to start, but in the right position.

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  17. I think the persuasion issue is the key point. A few months ago, Ryan Babel tweeted the following:

    For the LFC fans who have questions about Eriksen, I've gave [sic] him enough information about the club, so he understands LFC. In my opinion, it's LFC who have to make the real effort to get him, then I'm confident for a good ending

    Eriksen must've been asking him questions, which means he was probably interested. Why would Babel just unilaterally approach Babel and give him advice?

    Eriksen was definitely interested in a move to LFC. At the end of May, he said:

    "Liverpool is definitely an option. It is also one of the clubs that is a step-up from Ajax, and it's a different league and a different caliber.

    Then, a few days ago, Eriksen said:

    "There were not that many clubs to choose from in the end and no-one were closer than Tottenham. The club followed me for a long time and really showed intent"

    Reading between the lines, it is blindingly obvious what happened here: LFC, in its infinite negligence, just didn't pursue Eriksen aggressively enough. They didn't show enough intent, and that left Spurs in pole position.

    Five seconds after Eriksen said 'Liverpool is definitely an option', the club should've dropped everything and made him the number one transfer priority of the summer. Instead, the club did nothing, and he ended up strengthening our major rivals for 4th place.

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  18. Gerrard needs to get his finger out, Sturridge needs to stop thinking he's suddenly become Thierry Henry, and Rodger's needs to pucker up good and kiss Suarez's derriere and hope he plays for us and not drift waiting for his inevitable transfer in january.


    PS £18m for Sakho??? And Spurs bag Eriksen for £11m.

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  19. He's been managing a top team for nearly 18 months now, if it takes that long to get to grips with the pressure of the job, then i'm afraid its not inexperience, its inadequacy. That ship has sailed.
    And if it's a reaction to being top of the league? We were only four games in, not four games left. Our league position shouldnt even come into consideration. If thats the way he reacts to the situation he should go now, what will happen on the last day of the season if we need a win against Newcastle to guarentee CL? Will we see Brad Jones up front and Suarez in goal?
    No to me there are no excuses for the debaucle today, the only explaination is the simplest one. Rodgers got it completely and utterly wrong through no fault but his own misjudgement.

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  20. Heads must roll,cos only spurs showed serious interest. And we saw alberto as a better option.
    Those in charge of transfers think they are smart,and keep saying we wont overpay for players 7m for ilori,18m for sakho???yet they won't pay more cash for willian when he was clearly willing??if we want top 4 we must overpay at some point,but not for average players
    This our transfer policy of signing low risk high potential signings won't help us in the long run
    I wish I was in the room when brendan talks about his transfer targets with fsg

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  21. I think the plan was presumably to reverse the tendency of recent games by keeping things tight locked up in the first half and opening it up in the second with tactical changes and substitutions.



    I also think people are getting very carried away here. We know the shortcomings of the squad, so uneven form and shaky performances shouldn't surprise us, whether from our fading veterans or our raw youngsters. We are also trying to integrate several new players into the side which is always destabilising.



    It was a disappointing result but could easily have gone the other way, particularly with the penalty decision, and a couple of chances that might have been put away.



    Be patient.

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  22. As Jaimie hinted, our midfield is a problem. In fact, I think it's our biggest problem. Gerrard and Lucas are almost certain starters, but with them there is not enough pace, physicality or creativity. Worse yet, when you look to the bench, what are the options? Allen and Alberto. Alberto may yet turn out to be a good find, but obviously, Rodgers doesn't rate him highly enough to start an EPL game. Can you imagine Allen vs Wanyama?

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  23. Eriksen is totally unproven. Fans of Ajax and Denmark say he has a tendency to disappear from games, especially when the going gets tough. I don't see any reason why it should be different at Spurs; in fact I expect he'll find it very difficult to adapt and make a lasting impression.

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  24. We were playing Soton at home though. We should be going out to put these teams to the sword in the first half if we are serious about doing anything this season. Score early, score more than one. Finish the game off before it gets started.
    Playing four CBs at home against Southampton so we can tighten things up is not a philosephy i want to see at LFC

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  25. Sorry, but this is just not true at all. Eriksen may only be 21, but he has massive experience:


    * 39 appearances already for the Danish national team.


    * Playing in the Champions League every year with Ajax (over 30 apps in the CL)

    * League title winner three years in a row with Ajax.

    * One goal and one assist in first two games for Spurs.


    Sorry, but saying Eriksen is 'unproven' is one of the most inaccurate statements I've read in a long time.

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  26. I think you're being too extreme. Toure was pretty good at RB I thought, nothing came down his side. Sakho was less comfortable -- he was very impressive once Agger was off, though -- but still, I don't really see that as being the problem. We had the firepower to win the game, but couldn't build a consistent platform. That problem starts and finishes in midfield.

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  27. Aspas, is looking further out of his depth, with each match. How BR can justify him playing is beyond me, I mean just which of his games has impressed BR enough to include him in the team. Thats just one player, I could mention 4 or 5. An awful display, lucky we only conceded 1 goal.

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  28. I too agree about Eriksen. he was there for the asking & would have been ideal in Coutinho's position today. Aspas is a lightweight & Alberto not the finished article. The squad lacks balance & was found out today.

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  29. Ridiculous is right, it was downright bizarre. Playing all those centre backs, wtf!! & badly structured throughout. Very poor managerial decisions. Rodgers has had his learning curve last year & shouldn't be making such crass mistakes still.

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  30. Why drop Enrique? Sahko looked completely lost to me. Full backs should be contributing to our attacking threat, especially at home against a team of southamptons calibre. He is not an offensive player in any way. Enrique woyld have guven us some extra width and more pace.
    Why not start Kelly at RB and Toure in the centre for th injured Agger? Again for the same offensive reasons as Enrique.
    We should not be debating whether the result would have been different IF we got a penalty decision. What we should be lookibg at is the fact that we could easily have taken three points with the players available to us if the team was set up in a manner that made sense to anyone outside of BRs head. You're comment on integtating young players, and fading talent has merit. But there is no mistaking the fact that the Liverpool team available for selection today is more talented, and better equiped to win than the players availanle to Soton. And with home advantage.
    You might think i'm being overly negative, but my response is you're being overly generous. This was a major tactical cock up by our manager today, and we should not be trying to justify it as anything else. Our shaky performances have resulted in just one defeat in 16 games previous to this. So what do we do in response to this excellent consistancy? Play an injured CB and completely overhaul a defence that has been working pretty well? Madness.
    Look i'm not writing off the season or anything, and there will always be blips, but when we go out of our way to create problems for ourselves then its extremely frustrating. This is probably our easiest run of games for the entire season, a time we need to pick up points, because they will be needed when the truely difficult games cone round.
    You're right about the negativity though. On a positive note, Mignolet was superb. It could have been three or four nil without him.... wait is that positive?

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  31. We badly need a creative midfielder & tried to get one, but not hard enough. Eriksen was clearly available all summer. Instead we get 3 centre backs to add to the 3 we have & Rodgers crazily played 4 of them today. What will his next big idea be? Playing 6 centre backs? Just because he has them & can't decide who to leave out? Mad bad managing. It disrupted continuity in the defence & played ppl out of position. Agger wasn't really ready anyway & we were left with no width or attacking support. Also, Aspas is a lightweight & out of his depth. He came from a lowly placed small club & was bought cos he fits the 'profile.' Ie young(ish) & cheap. Alberto also fits the 'profile' but is one for the future being not yet near the finished article. We need a fully fledged, quality midfielder & should pay the price, & we need the manager to stop making crass decisions or move him out at the end of the season.

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  32. Jamie I think you were wrong in saying coutinho's absence wouldn't affect our performance in your previous article. Of course you could argue with the back 4 selection but we were painfully short of creativity. Also I think we should analyse the games with Suarez Sturridge and coutinho on the field together and see the stats, cos most of the games with Suarez we didn't win last season was in the first half without those 2 so everything was reliant on him. Stevie was really horrendous today with so many mistakes and losing the ball. I do agree he should play in that no 10 and I don't understand why BR is not doing that. You are totally right all the top teams have lost games so its not a big deal.

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  33. Rodgers is no Mourinho or Fergie. And even they made/make mistakes sometimes. But he's a relatively inexperienced manager, and is therefore more prone to these errors of judgement. He's usually reacted quickly to poor team selections the following week, so I have faith we'll be back to normal next match. I'm very confident of beating the scum.

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  34. Mate just wanted to say the points about Gerrard/Lucas partnership I 100% agree with. The whole stem of all these poor second halfI would argue it's nearly 10:30 lol. It is a Saturday. Nah all good. Prolly to late. s and poor performances comes from virtually forfeiting the midfield! I also really like the idea of pushing Gerrard further forward. We have not created a real goal scoring opportunity in 2 games now. They just seem to be defending to deep and Gerrard/Lucas have some kind of comp with one another to collect the ball deeper (you could argue their both playing CB)

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  35. I am going to put it out there. Stevie is not playing well. At all. He is offering nothing to the team at the moment. He needs to play in a different position or be on the bench.

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  36. Ajax haven't been out of the group stage in that time, and the only teams they've beaten are Zagreb, Kiev -- and Man City of course! The Dutch league is a really low standard of intensity these days, and this is the worst Danish team for a long time, beaten 4-0 by Armenia in a WC qualifier this year. For some perspective, Niklas Bendtner has 55 caps for Denmark.



    We should reserve our judgement for when Eriksen has played in the Premier League for a season. At the moment he is unproven, still only promising. Lots of good players don't make it past that level as you know.

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  37. yeah agree gerrard went missing in a game when you need him to step up , rogers plays him way to deep , he could of quite easily thrown him as the number 10 role , and put henderson next to lucas , rogers philosphy is to press you opponent high on the pitch and keep possession ,well i have hardly seen that this year , playing 4 centre backs was a ridiculous decision , moses every time he gets the ball tries to take on the world , we look so lethargic this year specially in second halves of games , simply because we are chasing our opponent , when they should be chasing us ,rogers says some times you have to win games ugly , yes thats true , but you dont have to win games ugly if your good enough and you are controlling a game , liverpool should be on a high , full of confidence , and going into a game like this at home , should of been in total control and made southhampton to defend deep , didint help with the referee not giving a penalty , but still we should of done alot more in that game than we did

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  38. I had us down to finish 6th and still stand by that but I didn't see the defensive selection yesterday as one of the reasons why we would finish outside the top 4. That was just baffling yesterday. One of the reasons that I did see coming and will still continue to rear its ugly head, in my view, is the central midfield dynamic, whether it be the deep two/three and/or the Coutinho role (I'm content with Coutinho but we need other options too). We didn't improve on it (central midfield) over the summer and we didn't provide a alternative to Coutinho who could also play wide. Just not a fan of Lucas and I'm just not that big a fan of Stevie's play in that deep role, despite last season.


    But never mind, we have a truckload of defenders that will make up for it(!)

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  39. We can't expect a cf to do a cam or rw role as long as aspas is kept away from the strikers role he is not gonna do anything..... I think sturridge should come from the bench he is clearly affected by that thigh strain of his and coming off in the last half hour and giving it his all may be better...... anyway suarez will be back next match and Hopefully he can fill the void left by coutinho...... ideally I want aspas to start as striker see how he does in his natural position before condemning him to the bench......

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  40. Dejan Lovren who cost 8.5 million thank you very much. So in stead of 25 million on three defenders, we could have had two for 8.5. To be honest I'm not surprised we got beat by Southampton, again. They had a decent team the second half of last season and it got better in the summer. You know how many transfers in they made? Three. But each one an improvement on their first eleven. What did we do, with arguably a better first 11 already? We bought 7 or 8 or 9 I can't even be bothered counting. BR's summer transfer failings are becoming painfully obvious already. He's doing at Anfield what he did at Swansea. Nice football to watch but inconsistent results. We really are turning into Arsenal...three years ago.

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  41. The three of them cost just over 30 million together. Considering the players we sold that would have given us a net spend of around five million quid and you could argue that they would have all improved our first team. Rodgers is making the same mistake we've been making since Houllier. I've said it a million times last summer.

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  42. Agree with Robo completely. Liverpool supporters have to be patient. Sakho in the past has already played on the left defence and I was not surprised that Enrique was dropped. Enrique plays more with intuition than reason and is often caught when attacking on the left. He would have had a tough game with Lallana on his side. Rodgers tried to address that situation and it did not work out completely. Nothing to make a big story. My guess is that if Cissokho proves himself, Enrique will be out next season.

    By playing Toure instead of Wisdom, Rodgers may have been protecting Wisdom. Remember that Wisdom was at fault at Swansea with one of the goals. He also got sent off with U/21. Rodgers may have decided to releive pressure from Wisdom.

    I would pin down the bad result to 2 factors:
    Sturridge was completely off form and this may be a sign of burn out from over involvement in early games despite being not 100% fit.

    2nd Factor: Unfortunately I think that with Gerrad in CM position, Liverpool midfield is not balanced. Lucas is tiring out doing a lot of running covering Gerrard and due to this Liverpool are losing midfield battles in 2nd half. I remember Benitez predicting that Gerrard would play closer to striker towards end of career, as his 'forte' has always been the finishing. I think he was right.

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  43. Where are the YOUNG STRIKERS - Morgan etc - HAVE WE GIVEN UP ON ALL OF THEM ? Why keep them then ??????

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  44. Jesus, what a mess! Our performance has been degrading since second half vs Stoke City. I don't see consistency in the team and lets be honest, on paper we are not that good. We wasted quite a few millions under BR administration as well, Aspas, Allen, Borini, Alberto, Sakho are not the top 4 quality players IMO and since we have bought them, we will have to play them and stay in mediocrity for a long long time. I said before that none of our wins were comprehensive, we just don't have that quality. I see us fighting for 6-7-8 position for few years to come before going further down. Time to dream about top 4 is over. We just don't have the money, quality players or manager. Game over.

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  45. If we had not started with 4 center backs then the game would have never ended in a loss for LFC.

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  46. I don't know what supporting Liverpool means really? 3 wins were good but not comprehensive. We still need to do lot of work before even thinking about top 4. It wasn't about losing yesterday but about the manner in which we lost. Bad team selection, under performance by key players, badly organised, et al. You CANNOT AFFORD to do that when you are sitting at a top of the table.

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  47. We would not have lost if we had width in the team from the start, in fact, we would have probably won the match quite comfortably.


    We would have put Southampton under alot more pressure if we did not start the match with 4 center backs. That is a fact.

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  48. Lol, we never won a match comfortably this season. Stop dreaming.

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  49. How many of ManU's wins were comprehensive over the years and look how much the have won.


    Our first three wins of the season has shown that we can grind out results. That is the number one trait for a sides who win the EPL.

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  50. Since when does any manager get it completely right every time?

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  51. I think yesterday in the back we were poor. CB's should have taken it to their hands and make runs with the ball forward to invent attacks, or, Simon should have simply kicked the ball far each time. That's how you deal with high pressure.

    LFC are suppose to be dominant at home. It shouldn't matter that much who our players on the pitch are. They should be able to form attack and the managerial guidelines yesterday were so poor. And it's so frustrating to see Rodgers speaking at his leisure about Suarez coming back, and justifying. He doesn't even look like a person when he talks. Why is this keep happening to Liverpool. I had enough.

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  52. I watch every Ajax game. Fans who say that are stupid fans. He and Coutinho together, then Suarez and Sturridge up front, would have ripped the league apart.

    Where people mistake is, that they think that the BPL is so intense, so that a lot of players can't preform as well there, and it's kind of our teams problem. This combination would have led to game domination. Period. But how do we preform after games get intense so far? We can't make a pass! This boy Eriksen can pass, and he has great runs, and his imaginative and creative as hell. He ain't the same player as Coutinhio, Who would have done great coming for either Henderson or Gerrard.

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  53. He was theyre Suarez. I'm an Ajax fan. They are lost without him right now. You're being clueless.

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  54. No. You're not over reaching. You're being kind.
    That what happens when you get use to this nonesense such as Liverpool for the last couple years. You should not step back from this opinion even a tiny bit. Rodgers shape up or walk home. Enough embarrassments. It's depressing. But how he doesn't come forward, and doesn't even speak honest-like - that's what kills me.

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  55. Enough with 90 minutes CM Gerrard.

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  56. Of course he's not going to get it right every time.
    But does that mean we should ignore the glaringly obvious mistakes when he does?
    When a player has a terrible game does he get a free pass because he cant play well every time? No.
    I'm no Rodgers-basher, I like what he's doing with the team, and the place he has brought us to since he took over. But my admiration for the man doesnt detract from the fact that he didnt just get it wrong, he was so far past wrong this time that every fan/pundit/12year old looked at the teamsheet and thought, this is not going to work.
    And it didnt, not even close.
    Mistakes and misjudgements will be made of course, but this was such a glaring and obvious one that i wont look past it with a "sure everyone makes mistakes" attitude.
    I have no doubt we'll move past this and continue to improve, but 3pts dropped at home to Soton is a hefty price to pay to learn a lesson he should have known since day1 of coaching class, especially this year when there is so much competition at the top end.
    It was a R

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  57. there is far more to comment on if your team plays bad than plays good...thats the jist of it

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  58. The back four was the problem Can't see Rodgers playing 4 CB's again but he did say after the match that Enrique has a problem with his knee and that Kelly is not completely match fit yet. Wisdom could have played but would he have done any better than Toure?


    Guess Rodgers went with his gut and unfortunately it backfired. If he picks 4 CB's again then there should be a huge cause for concern.

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  59. we haven't played that well all season and have scraped results....if you believe otherwise thats up to you

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  60. if thats the case why compond there risk of injury and leave them out the squad...these are highly priced assets if they are unfit or injured they should be on the treatment table getting the correct treatment...what is it with these buffoons at liverpools medical centre...are they qualified or did they get there qualifications off the INTERNET...in what universe do you allow inured players to play if i was in charge i would sack them all they clearly dont know what they are doing

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  61. this isnt like picking Allen over Henderson....its like filling a car with water at the petrol station...it shows a complete lack of understanding of the game your players and the opposing team....but like i said we will be okay as rogers is a brilliant manager who plays brilliant tactics signs brilliant player and we will finish in the top 4

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  62. And that is why you are commenting on a Internet blog?


    What qualifications do you have in medical practice? Buffoons eh?

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  63. Been saying for weeks gerrard is playing too deep and having to bale out lucas who is not a solid DM for ages!! Its asking too much for him to run back and forwards. Drop lucas and try Sakho in that position and agger and toure as CB's. We can blame the system but we have enough quality to beat southampton at home!!

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  64. Toure and Agger as our CB pair? I wholeheartedly agree!

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  65. we have been overrun in every game we have played this season in the second half.....Rogers is full of it....one minute hes saying suarez wont get back into the team and will have to earn his place then he is saying we lost because he wasn't playing...make your mind pal...we lost yeaterday because because you picked the wrong team played the wrong tactics and you have signed in alberto and aspas two very average players

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  66. That performance yesterday was an absolute joke. I feel sorry for any fan that was at that game. I am still supporting Rodgers but why drop Toure from CB for the Swansea game. Surely if he wanted to give Sakho a start, it should have been as CB at home against the Saints instedad of away to Swansea. Couldn't understand that decision so wasn't best pleased. Then the Saints game, he plays 4 CBs which was obviously going to kill any attacking momentum on the wings so why the hell does he drop Enrique. Absolutely baffling. Many more displays like that, and he will be losing my support very quickly.

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  67. Yeah but he plays Agger who he knew was injured?

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  68. Another one who probably would have done a good job and would have been cheap was Huddlestone. Not everyones cup of tea maybe but I thought he was developing into a very good player until he had that long injury lay off and struggled to get back in. Our CM is a serious issue that is going to cost us.

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  69. The player normally will be asked the question of are you able to play?


    Gerrard has been played with injuries by every manager!

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  70. Rodgers is supposedly the kind of manager who likes his team to have the ball, to have possession but we've yet to have a game this season where we looked good in that department. We'll do alright when teams back off us but when they press, we struggle a lot. I guess this is one of the reasons why we go to a counter attacking style at times. But even with that, we got problems with.

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  71. it wont happen we have been crying out for a defensive midfielder for several seasons and non have appeared...that would mean he would have to drop either lucas or Gerrard ( wont happen ) as well as more or less admitting that Allen is not fit for purpose ......our midfield depth is the worst i have ever known it...plus dont bank on borini coming back he was shocking yesterday.....alberto,borini, aspas.allen, the very definition of mediocre

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  72. whats your point! i comment on this site because i support liverpool and like the site and the banter with others.....i have no medical qualifications but i know you shouldn't play injured players unless you are an idiot

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  73. well said chirag you have hit the nail on the head at every level

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  74. when your goalie saves a penalty its down to luck not grinding out the result

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  75. So why not play enrique and kelly then if thats your point?
    But no its not down to the player, he doesnt pick the team. The manager is there to protect the integrity of the team and the player. If that was the case every injured player would be up for selection. The buck stops with the manager not the player, any player or manager will admit that.

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  76. Enter Joe Allen. The player who will not only WIN you possession but also provide you with QUALITY possession.


    The proof of this? Go visit the EPL Index site. There are some really clued up people with footballing brains and have written some very good things about the player.


    I feel it is only a matter of time before Allen gets introduced to the starting eleven again..

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  77. Stats or no stats, I said earlier in my post stuck in filter, that Allen should get a run in the side, so I agree he should be brought back in.

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  78. Trust me mate, any passengers in the team will be found out and lucas will be dropped eventually. Lucas has had a fair crack and there will come a time soon i hope, when he's dropped and will be widely expected. Just like with downing.
    Its a good job we kept suarez hey....should give the team a lift.

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  79. Ive stated numerous times that rogers lack of options in tactics means teams can set there stall up on how to play us well in advance.....his system relies on a certain ilk of player in every position ....players we dont have and never will .....barca have these players because they spend mega bucks.....

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  80. Well then none of our manager, Houllier, Rafa, Hodgson, Dalglish and Rodgers have any integrity as each and every one of these managers have started matches with players who were carrying injuries.


    Being a football manager is not as simple as us fans make it out to be unless you want to prove me wrong?

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  81. i never thought id say it but why not...who would you drop though

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  82. Gerrard....which is impossible

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  83. We're not much different to Hodgson's England at times, in terms of tactics at times and inefficiency with possession and that is no compliment!

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  84. its an oxymoron .....rogers wont drop Gerrard thats why debating the midfield is pointless ...

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  85. Aye, somewhat futile.

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  86. they must have the chalk board out the week before ...and come match day know exactly what to do....i know exactly how rogers will set his stall out next game....and where our weakness lies

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  87. He picked up an injury against Notts in the Carling Cup so hopefully he has recovered. If there is one reason why Rodgers signed him is because Allen understand how Rodgers wants the team to play.


    The same cannot be said about Gerrard or Lucas.

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  88. Then Rafa got lucky winning the CL with Liverpool.

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  89. Ridiculous comment. Easy? Who said it was easy? If it was easy i would do it. He doesnt get paid to do an easy job. He gets paid to do the hardest job in football. But thats why he gets paid. To use the excuse "Its a hard job" is a complete kop out.
    The day a manager comes out and says that is the day he should leave football and join Souness and co on the couch.

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  90. Look, I wanted us to sign him too, I think he's a promising player and have been following him since he was 15 or 16 and moved to Ajax, since friends in Denmark were raving about him.



    But there's no sense building him up into something he's not. There are flaws in him, he's not some perfect footballer from planet Pele. And plenty of creative players do well at first in England and then fade. The level of tactical, mental and physical challenge in the premier league is... well there's nothing like it in football. Every team poses a different challenge, and they all work hard on closing out the opposition's creative players.



    If Eriksen's still playing this effectively, this well, in a year's time, that will be time for regret -- or a £50m bid! But it's too soon to say that he would have solved all our problems.

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  91. Probably every team in the world has made use of players that have carried injuries. This is nothing new.

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  92. Why is it a ridiculous comment when most fans have opinioins about how a manager should do his job?

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  93. Sorry didnt mean that to sound so harsh. I just meant i in no way do i think football management is a simple job. But just because its a hard job is that an excuse?
    Of course fans have opinions. Thats because we're passionate about the sport. If there were no fans with their opinions then there would be no sport.

    No offence was intended with that last comment btw. Apologies.

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  94. Erikson came out and said he snubbed City i think they Ayre and co heard moneybags coming and ran for it.

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  95. I am just saying that it is easy for us to sit here and say Rodgers is doing this and that wrong etc. It just is not that simple.


    If it was that simple then most of us would be managers.

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  96. Martin Kakumirizi Lwanga12:29 pm, September 22, 2013

    The thing is simple really. Gerrard and Lucas are simply not putting in a useful shift. Replace them, and everything will change. My suggestion would be to put Sakho into central midfield. He's quick, skilful, driven, talented, powerful, qualities which neither Gerrard nor Lucas possesses at the moment.

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  97. Martin Kakumirizi Lwanga12:42 pm, September 22, 2013

    And please, Iago Aspas? Not now. Henderson? Maybe not ever. He's had enough time to turn decent, but... If Sterling is struggling, it' because Rodgers won't trust him with more responsibility. The kid's confidence is clearly low.
    If it wasn't for Mignolet's repeated saves, Pool could easily never have won any of the games they've won so far, or the draw at Swansea. BOTTOM LINE: RODGERS ISN'T REALLY DOING A GOOD JOB. IT'S ALL BEEN AN ILLUSION.

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  98. Didn't know Eriksen could play at center back.

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  99. I hope the next January transfer window , Liverpool should get a RB and LB.Central defensive midfielder , another no 10 and of course another striker. Aspas , Alberto and Sakho would need time to settle into our game.So please don't be too hard on them.

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  100. Couldnt agree more.. Mid table performance..! No more untouchable status with SG nor lucas.. Mediocore performance. LIV diserve to loose. But would BR & the players acknowledge thier mistakes.. ???

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  101. not when you have spent 25m on two players to cover that position

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  102. A major problem we had out there was getting muscled off the ball...repeatedly. Little Joe is not the solution to that.

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  103. Good points Robo;but i disagree as to the consistent platform,that problem starts and finishes on the training ground.We always seem to be scrambling trying to make something out of broken plays.It's painfully obvious that SG is having a tough time tryin to keep up with his commitments to team and country.Thats a lot of football.If SG is to be blamed for anything,(as some on here are suggesting)is the desire to give 100% and his unwaivering love for LFC.

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  104. Actually Mourinho made stacks of mistakes last season. That's why Madrid won nothing when they definitely should have done. The Real fans were very glad to see the back of him.

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  105. It's incredible the way people slate Gerrard. He's the only player in the side with any class, any style or any pedigree. At fifty he'll still be better than the truly dreadful Leiva and Henderson. Good God - Shankly would have kicked their bums into the Mersey.

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  106. Fair enough. Mourinho I guess is allowed to have one bad season. But that just means that Rodgers needs to be cut some slack, because all managers, great or shit, make mistakes. Mourinho had a bad season, but it doesn't mean he's a bad manager (I know you're not implying that). He's a wonderful manager. You'll see that Rodgers will progressively learn through these failures, and the mistakes will become more and more infrequent.

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  107. sack Rogers for missing out super Ericksen

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  108. need Arab buyer to replace clueless FSG

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  109. my kid cried when lfc lost at home... Rogers must explain his stupid decision with the whole line up and transfer needs... totally clueless

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