After his poor first-half performance against Aston Villa yesterday, I think it's safe to say that the short-lived 'Steven Gerrard as holding midfielder' experiment is officially over. Quite way Brendan Rodgers believes that LFC's captain can fulfil the defensive midfielder role is anyone's guess, and ex-Red Jamie Redknapp certainly wasn't impressed with Gerrard's efforts.
Prior to the Villa game, it was clear that someone would have to make way for the return of Daniel Sturridge.
I suggested Lucas, but only because there's no way Rodgers would leave out Gerrard. The manager will do anything to accommodate the Reds captain, even if it means weakening the team, but given his obvious talents, though, I can certainly appreciate that allegiance.
Some may argue that Gerrard deserves such treatment after all he's given LFC over the years, and I can totally understand that view, but we've known for almost NINE YEARS that Gerrard struggles to operate effectively as a defensive midfielder (Istanbul, anyone?)
At half-time on Sky Sports*, Redknapp delivered a withering assessment of Gerrard's first half performance. He observed:
"It's the worst 45 minutes I've ever seen from Gerrard at Anfield. It was tactical masterstroke from Lambert; mark Gerrard when Liverpool have the ball, then move off him when Villa are on the attack. It's as poor as I've seen them [Liverpool] play"
Liverpool were completely overrun in the first half, and Villa scythed through midfield as if it wasn't there. It was AC Milan all over again, and like that night, Rodgers had to bring on a more defensive-minded midfielder to shore things up and allow Gerrard to play further forward.
I just can't understand why Rodgers refuses to consistently play Gerrard as an attacking midfielder. He has the passing ability, shooting power, and game intelligence to make a difference there, and he'd be relieved of some of the stamina-intensive defensive work required of a central midfielder.
Just look at Liverpool's amazing performance against Spurs without Gerrard in the team: fluid, exciting, confident, full of purpose, and most important of all, *effective*. Perhaps it was just a one-off, which is entirely possible, but it could also be the template for the future.
Failing to beat Villa is a massive blow. Everton can now move above Liverpool in the table; Spurs can draw level, and if the Reds slip up in the upcoming Merseyside derby, Everton could pull away in the race for a top four place. Of course, we all hope that won't happen, and with the game being at Anfield, Liverpool have the advantage.
But that's what we thought about the Villa game today, too...
* Comments made during half-time analysis. No link available.
Author: Jaimie K
Prior to the Villa game, it was clear that someone would have to make way for the return of Daniel Sturridge.
I suggested Lucas, but only because there's no way Rodgers would leave out Gerrard. The manager will do anything to accommodate the Reds captain, even if it means weakening the team, but given his obvious talents, though, I can certainly appreciate that allegiance.
Some may argue that Gerrard deserves such treatment after all he's given LFC over the years, and I can totally understand that view, but we've known for almost NINE YEARS that Gerrard struggles to operate effectively as a defensive midfielder (Istanbul, anyone?)
At half-time on Sky Sports*, Redknapp delivered a withering assessment of Gerrard's first half performance. He observed:
"It's the worst 45 minutes I've ever seen from Gerrard at Anfield. It was tactical masterstroke from Lambert; mark Gerrard when Liverpool have the ball, then move off him when Villa are on the attack. It's as poor as I've seen them [Liverpool] play"
Liverpool were completely overrun in the first half, and Villa scythed through midfield as if it wasn't there. It was AC Milan all over again, and like that night, Rodgers had to bring on a more defensive-minded midfielder to shore things up and allow Gerrard to play further forward.
I just can't understand why Rodgers refuses to consistently play Gerrard as an attacking midfielder. He has the passing ability, shooting power, and game intelligence to make a difference there, and he'd be relieved of some of the stamina-intensive defensive work required of a central midfielder.
Just look at Liverpool's amazing performance against Spurs without Gerrard in the team: fluid, exciting, confident, full of purpose, and most important of all, *effective*. Perhaps it was just a one-off, which is entirely possible, but it could also be the template for the future.
Failing to beat Villa is a massive blow. Everton can now move above Liverpool in the table; Spurs can draw level, and if the Reds slip up in the upcoming Merseyside derby, Everton could pull away in the race for a top four place. Of course, we all hope that won't happen, and with the game being at Anfield, Liverpool have the advantage.
But that's what we thought about the Villa game today, too...
* Comments made during half-time analysis. No link available.
Author: Jaimie K
Think it was pretty obvious that he should have changed the formation at the 20 min mark or even before. We needed 3 in the middle from the start and it cost us the points
ReplyDeletei was screaming at 70 over min take 1 cb out replace aspas in hehehe no luck
ReplyDeleteOK this is all very well and good clarifying your stance on Gerrard now, Jaimie, but why seemingly laud Gerrard's inclusion in the holding role by proclaiming 'Bravo Brendan' before the match? The two views don't tally to me.
ReplyDeleteI think the true question that should be getting asked here is: Gerrard or Coutinho to provide the spice behind Sturridge and Suarez? I think the experiment yeterday vindicated Lucas' role in the team beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Correct me if i'm wrong didn't we perform better too with Lucas,Allen and Hendo in the absence of Stevie G.I don't want to ever see Stevie in that role again.
ReplyDeleteThe pace of the Villa team was too much for us in the first and even second half. The Villa players were jogging past Lucas too. He did not manage to win one tackle for the time he was on the pitch.
ReplyDeleteNo doubt Gerrard was out of his depth in the first half but he did well against Stoke who are a far more rough and tough team than Villa. He might need a few games to settle in that position but against teams who are loaded with pace, it would not be advisable to use him as the pivot. Lucas is just as big of a problem against teams with pace and power.
The solution? Let's go find another Mascherano type player and then maybe all of us will be happy :-)
as much as i love gerrard im with jamie on this 1 in the first half he was not himself i think he should be used off the bench sometimes as an impact player hes not the player he used to be and needs a rest every now and then.
ReplyDeleteI think it is more of a case of not playing both Lucas and Gerrard in the same team.
ReplyDeleteWe have played well with Gerrrad, Hendo and Allen too.
Please don't twist my words. The 'Bravo Brendan' part was praise for Rodgers dropping Lucas and going with attacking intent. This is specifically stated in the article. It had nothing to do with Gerrard. In earlier articles, I posted about how it would be better to drop Gerrard, but that it would never happen.
ReplyDeleteI doubt there are many who would disagree with that assessment. To be fair to both Gerrard and Rodgers, both admitted individual culpability after the game; Rodger's said he got it wrong tactically and needed to make changes, Gerrard said he had a very poor first half. The honesty was there, so hopefully we will never have to see that shambles again.
ReplyDeleteI agree with JK Stevie still has the talent to pick out a special pass and can still make a difference in a game. I would like to see MVilla signed as a DM to assist in this area, he strong and quick for his size, there is to much on Lucas at the moment cause he is really the only holding midfielder we have.
ReplyDeleteI would like to see Tiago replace Johnson because for me he is just going through the motions now and when Sakho is ready we need him to start every game.
Agger should have played at LB.
I still think Stevie should have been eased into the match after the game against Stoke it's embarrassing watching him play in that alien position although he has played for England in that position, Club football is more competitive than National team football i say.
ReplyDeleteHe was off his game during the first 45, but in the 2nd half his passing was just superb. I know this is not nice to say, but it is a good thing Agbonlahor left early, or it would have been a worse night for Gerrard and friends.
ReplyDeleteRodgers: I would rather have a manager who wants to attack rather than defend but we were a bit too Harlem Globetrotterish yesterday. You have to have someone in midfield who is going to protect. Even so, we are disappointed in a 2-2 draw after being 2-0 down. That is progress my friends.... Hope we learn from this. and quickly.
ReplyDeletefor me its BR mistake .. we dont have yaya and fernandinho in mid to play 4-4-2 and they even concede goals but they score more because the firepower in there attack ...
ReplyDeleteand he said he wanted gerrard to be like pirlo .. do we have pogba and vidal ?
for me its not gerrard mistake .. if there is somebody to blame he will be BR IMO
gerrard wasnt good ? yes .. but BR should knew that gerrard isnt good in that place .. for god sake 1 and half year he didnt knew that ?
i hope it would be lesson for BR and now we should sign players
dont say we didnt find quality .. there is ALOT quality .. but they need a move
Playing Gerrard as DM looked awkward against stoke, but we got away with it there, and could easily have lost that game. So Rodgers tried it again and we were awful for it. Why did Rodgers leave it until half time, when he should have realized it was'nt working after ten? You just cant 'find' a place for a player, just because of who he is, or how great a player he has been for us, EVERY Liverpool fan loves Stevie G, and Rodgers is making a chump out of him. It's been quite obvious for ages we need a central DM, imo, it's not Gerrard. Big problem in defense too, Johnson, Toure and Sissokho absolutely awful and should be shown the door asap.
ReplyDeleteTrue, Rodgers made Gerrard look like a chump, and made Liverpool look like chumps. It's not the first time, remember the four center backs debacle?
ReplyDeleteRodgers, like most Liverpool fans who think about these things, clearly felt that Villa were going to sit deep and look for counters, and that we were going to dominate possession. In that case Gerrard would have been under little pressure and could have distributed the ball at will.
ReplyDeleteBut instead Villa cleverly and effectively pressurised us and kept us pinned in with possession, along with high balls from back to front from the half-way line, rather than from deep positions, making the game a war in our own half, to steal a phrase from Mr. Klopp. This meant that we were constantly short in midfield. Coutinho and Gerrard couldn't link play, and our strikers were isolated. Sturridge tried to drop in to midfield to influence things but this meant effectively our threat on the counter was neutralised because Sturridge is our main runner behind.
Having Lucas in the holding role would have helped because he takes up better positions with his back to goal and has a better understanding of how to deal with pressure when he's in possession than Gerrard does. But even so Villa would still have bossed the first half. The problems went throughout the team. Sterling needed to drop in to help Henderson and Coutinho, and one of the strikers needed to sacrifice himself too, so that we could have played more compactly and covered Villa's passing options, or pressed the defenders. This didn't happen. But *even then* I think we'd have been in trouble because Henderson, Coutinho, and Sterling, doesn't sound like an adequate cover screen to me.
Allen was the big miss in my view. I'd have played him for Sterling, gone narrow and compact, with Coutinho as an orthodox 10, Suarez and Sterling free to drift wide. Rodgers did move Coutinho inside toward the end of the first half, but the damage had already been done and with Coutinho's confidence where it is right now, he was always going to struggle to play with the calmness needed in the middle.
Bad day at the office all round, in other words. We should be thankful for a point. Villa anticipated our approach, set up to counter it, and executed their game-plan nearly to perfection. When that happens, you're going to have to be either brilliant, clever, or lucky to get something from the game. In the end we had a bit of brilliance, for the first goal, and it was enough. But only just. I don't think this performance was about bad individual mistakes or even poor individual form, so much as over-confidence. I hope we don't make that mistake again.
Yep, we have been crying out for a DM for ages. Pity Rodgers cant see it.
ReplyDeleteYes, it was'nt rocket science by Villa, they knew Rodgers would play Gerrard there and took full advantage.
ReplyDeleteBR got it wrong playing Stevie G as a DM,that just shows how important Lucas is to Liverpool,next game against Everton i dont expect that crap we saw in the first half last nyt,countinho is not really up to his level this season,moses should get some game time also
ReplyDeleteyeah i remember it was against southampton ...
ReplyDeletehe shouldnt change formations and tatctics specially in this time .. he should stick with 4-3-3
he shouldnt fix the un broken !
Damn, wish I'd thought of putting it like that instead of wasting all those words ;)
ReplyDeleteMartinez was in the crowd and couldn't have had a better lesson in how to play us at Anfield. Villa could easily have scored another with one shot hitting the post with Mignolet beaten yet again . Also the pen decision could have gone the other way with another ref.
ReplyDeleteIt could have been a lot worse ! Lets put this behind us -Onwards and upwards . Lets go and show the Toffees what we are really about .......
Last night was proof that Gerrard has had his day! He looked two yards off the pace,it was a horror show. To play a high tempo pressing game,everyone needs to be on the same page.We can,t play that way with Gerrard in the team,his legs have gone!
ReplyDeleteWhy can some get away with murder and other innocents get hanged - ok a bit OTT but Mingolet has given 3 goals away in 3 games he gets no stick and Sissoko (ive seen them all and) is the probably the best attacking left back we have had for 15 years and gets made a scapegoat. Brad Jones is better than Mingolet and Reina in the area we are weakest CROSSES.
ReplyDeleteThe Villa game is a blessing in disguise if the manager has any bottle. it showed up Toure and Lucas's injury will allow the player who should be in his position to plat Joe Allen, these changes must surely happen and imrove us greatly, the one other change needed will be bottled Mingolet out Jones in - it happened to hart why should Mingolet be different, Pelligrini took the big decision.
ReplyDeleteFor all the games he has played for Rodgers Stevie G has not truly fitted into his style of play. Id rather see him as a 20-30 super sub than what I saw in the first half last night.
ReplyDeleteBR got it wrong again as he has several times, the first half was terrible. Gerrard can't play the holding role that much is clear, we NEED a DM right now Yann M'Vila or Diame are there and willing to come....................what are we waiting for???
ReplyDeleteHe should have changed it after 20 mins!!!
ReplyDeleteThe positive is that away to Stoke and home to Villa last season we lost both, yet we have taken 4pts from them this season.
ReplyDeleteB Rodgers needs to priortise in bringing in these two DM Players to sure up defence and stop team leaking goals for fun:
ReplyDeleteM'Vila(23) Of Rubin Kazan should be brought for 10-12M
and Fernando(26) Of Porto should be brought for 1-3M as his contract is up in the summer, both these players would cost club 15M
3.6M less than what club spent on J Mascherano in Febuary 2008 after being at club for loan, but at end of August 2010 he was became traitor and was sold. Three years and a half on his fight, mobility, way he covered ground, way he put fear in teams attacking players has still not been replaced at club. M'Vila(23) and Fernando(26) would replace that hole Mascherano has left
Where do you want me to start rodgers? I think hes going to play gerrard as a gk soon, wouldnt be bad though because mignolet is pure sht atm. Toure wants more game time? Surely not after that one and the one at stoke. Johnson simply needs to be sold. And the outstanding cissokho. What a legend, just how he managed to even see anfield live in his life? When he had the ball I didnt know whether to laugh or cry. The whole team was trying to go forward he was trying to stop it, just amazing like he was a villa player. Did you see bertrand performance? Another target gone eh rodgers? Sure we are lfc. Just watch now someone steals salah as well and the rest of the targets. What kind of managemant is that? Glad henrys was on the stands, hopefully he doesnt save his pocket anymore! From first to eight points off the top in like a month, are ya kidding me? Got so much more to say but I end this here because I could go on for days, telling how sht we are.
ReplyDeleteI think rodgers feels that his attacking players need to b pacy and press alot so he actually doesnt believe that stevie can do that cos hes slower and unable to continually press the defenders. So he actually believes that defensive midfielder can help him conserve stamina which proved catastrophic. I agree with u we still should use him as attacking midfielder and just sub him when he runs out of steam. We dont see giggs playing as defensive midfielder right? Rodgers, please play to the strength of your players and stop forcing them to play out of position! Look at borini he is playing much better as a central striker at sunderland!! Argh frustrating, now i know why FSG wanted to go for martinez who i feel is much better at utilizing players in the right position. Of course im still supportive of rodgers on the work he has done for liverpool..
ReplyDeleteStevie can play the role as long as there are two mobile defenders in front of him.
ReplyDeleteIt is the same with Lucas. As long as Hendo and Allen are playing ahead of him then he is also fine.
But stick both Lucas and Gerrard in the same midfield and then it then the third midfielder suffers.
Is Borini going to keep Suarez and Sturridge on the bench? So to suggest that he should be playing as the central striker at the expense of Sturridge or Suarez???
ReplyDeleteNow you know what happens when Lucas is dropped in favour of 'attacking threat'
ReplyDeleteMigno has certainly gone off the boil from his performance when first arrived . He lacks authority in his area and is quite content to punch it out ..... anywhere or palm it way for a corner which we have REAL probs. defending as he is not good in the air ! Also his ball distribution is weak . Could be complacency has crept in similar to Rainer when he knows his place is assured . Need to get a good second goalkeeper in urgently to keep him on his toes and to share games when we make Europe ! Meanwhile give Brad a game
ReplyDeleteto be fair i dont think even pirlo could play in a holding role with the lineup we had out there yesterday. two very attacking players on the wings, two forwards, two central midfielders and four at the back (a back four including the ever unreliable toure and johnson). it doesnt work. we were basically playing 4-4-2 and gerrard cannot handle it without a third midfielder. i cannot believe the stupidity of rodgers to be honest not playing lucas and now it looks like hes going to be out for a while. the only way we can accomodate all those attacking players is to play with a back three, otherwise one of either sterling, coutinho, sturridge or suarez has to be dropped. even then a lucas type player should play instead of gerrard
ReplyDeleteYou have written way instead of why Jaimie. Third line.
ReplyDeleteI am loathe to agree with Jaimie "they wouldn't have beat united without Alonso" (When he wasn't playing) Redknapp but I do kind of agree with this. Having said that I was not all that impressed with Gerard when he was further up the field.What does this say about Gerard's role going forward?
In fairness Lambert guessed right that we would play two up front and two in midfield and used the numerical advantage to close Gerard down all first half. It was as much if not more a case of being tactically out thought as it was about Gerard not doing well in that position.
ReplyDeleteBut it was our lack of numbers in midfield as well as generally poor performances from every individual that lead to such a poor showing.
ReplyDeleteToure was especially bad and was caught out of position numerous times. I think the CB experiment is also something that needs addressing. The most assured partnership of Sakho and Skrtel needs to return.
I agree 100%. I have been saying this about Gerrard for over a year. Henderson is peripheral when he plays and we are a weaker side with him in it. If he continues to start we won't get top 4.
ReplyDeleteThat is a good point. Did Lucas coming on change the game or Agbonlahor going off? That lack of pace (Holt) meant we were less under threat.
ReplyDeletePersonally I think Villa are currently one of the dirtiest teams in the prem. I think they are as rough as Stoke presently. They were constantly fouling layers rather than letting them turn. It seemed clear to me they were taking turns on players like Sterling.
thats not what i meant, this is just an example of rodgers playing players out of position. if borini is good as a central striker, just play him in that position even if it is for cup games or as a backup. so it is a good idea to loan him out for more playing time. the same thing goes with aspas and gerrard. if aspas strength is to play central, don't shove him to the wings. why buy him in the first place? even if rodgers wants to buy players that can operate in different positions, he should get someone that is strong in the wings but can play central, not the other way round and trying to train them to play in the wings. gerrard has already proved to be able to play on the right wing but rodgers is just trying to placate him put insisting on putting him in central midfield when he doesn't have the pace anymore. I'm saying don't waste stevie's strength which is passing, vision, and shooting. he is too far away to score any goals!
ReplyDeleteAs poor as Pantilimon might be he is much better than Jones.
ReplyDeleteSissokho? Really? I must be watching a different player to you. The player I saw was ineffective in every part of his game, lethargic at tracking back and shouldn't get anywhere near our team if Enrique or Flannagan can play. I don't rate either of those other players all that highly but Sissokho other than about two games has been dreadful.
ReplyDeleteTo hammer that point home the cross that Mignolet did so badly on. Who was marking Benteke? No one. Why? Sissokho was cuaght way up the pitch, was jogging back, Toure got dragged over to put that fire out which dragged the whole defence over to that side leading to Benteke being able to pick up space unmarked back stick. Mignolet didn't cover himself in glory but that goal could have been dealt with much better much earlier.
This SG performance, and the loss of Lucas AGAIN has underlined why we keep asking for LFC to sign a bone fide DM like Jorginho, who has rocked up now at Napoli. or M'Villa or similar. we need pace and power.
ReplyDeleteOn a positive note, no way would Benteke have won 100% of his flick ons if we had been able to play Sakho instead of Toure. And no way will we play Gerrad in that role again. As a quarterback, in the Barnes role, yes. Asd an AM yes. But NEVER as a DM. Just watch how he loses the Villa player for the goal. Doesn't have a defender's nous at ALL.
Lets Keep Reina then. Tough if he doesn't like it, he's under contract. And price him high enough to get a replacement if he does go .£10-12m min.
ReplyDeleteChelsea, Villa, Stoke, West Ham, all do the same 'physical' stuff, as you say, taking turns hacking players down. I wouldn't mind Liverpool showing a bit of that kind of nastiness and nous to be honest.
ReplyDeleteAspas played central vs Oldham. Unfortunately he just is not at the same level as Sterling or Coutinho and nowhere near Sturridge or Suarez so will always find him on the bench. He clearly is and will only be backup.
ReplyDeleteSame with Borini but I can see Bornini taking Aspas' place next season which might see Aspas moved on.
Gerard hasn't been at in for a few seasons now. It beggars belief that he walks straight back into the team and dictates the role/position of every other player. We are now finding ways to accommodate a 33 year old man who can't bomb forward and can't track back. He constantly gives the ball away, was the cause of several goals last season and quite frankly should be dropped. Henderson has disappeared into Gerards shadow since he returned and the speed tempo and fluidity of our play has slowed. Apart from that, as I've been saying again for 2 seasons now, Johnson is dire he cannot defend in any capacity, We seen yesterday how Lucas provided a stable hub when he came on, but as soon as he went off again, we lost our shape, Allen can't play the Lucas role, and quite frankly isn't good enough, he rarely offers anything. Cissoko is absolutely useless and I have to ask who is working in our scouting department. Toure is a journey man who makes Carragher look fast. Our defense is shipping goals to teams like Villa and Stoke and worryingly look completely devoid of reading/positioning and roles, this is not a recent problem its been all season, but as Redknapp points out yesterday was by far the most obvious performance to see the flaws. We seriously need to look at a lot of changes in our backroom coaching staff. We also need to find out why we continually fail to sign players that we are reportedly are interested in. Lots of work to be done.
ReplyDeleteall these new players need time to settle and bed in so its not fair to judge them now. since rodgers wants to spend this money on them he has to play them. the fact he doesn't play them shows he made a mistake in judgment or he feels they need more time to improve. This is the biggest problem as he is spending too much money on players that cannot have an impact straight away which is very frustrating. look at luis alberto vs deulofeu at everton. deulofeu gets his chances but alberto doesn't although he has impressed when he played. it is really frustrating rodgers selection policy.
ReplyDeleteThe conversations comparing Gerard to Pirlo are ridiculous, Gerard isn't fit to lace Pirlos boots in a 'Pirlo' role.
ReplyDeleteGerard is finish, Migonlet bench for the next 4 games and our defence shocking slow they panic all the time when they have to defend at any giving time,also let get one thing right cissokeo was not at fault for the first goal it was Gerard and the second was our keeper again. Rodger is not good enough what has he won as a mangers nothing sweet nothing.....
ReplyDeletePirlo is a free agent and on his way to England according to Italian press he put in a transfer request and it was accepted by Juventus
ReplyDeletecheck it out, I hope its Liverpool fc.
we have always set up the team to accomodate stevie...and have never
ReplyDeletecome close to winning the league. Rafa got it right. You have to keep
Gerrard away from that central midfield because he is so tactically
weak. Sweeper? could stevie play centre half? hmmmmmmm because he
hasn't the flair to build a side around him in an offensive position.
It'd be interesting, for the sake of accomodating him, to see if Gerrard
could adjust to sweeper the same way lothar matthaus sort of adjusted
to it. He'd have all the time in the world to pick out his passes and
would be able to step out when he wants. sweeping in behind is so much
easier than sweeping up in front. The tactical discipline for a
holding mid is far more complex and above SG's capabilites.
How many times do I need to point out that Aspas will not be keeping players ahead of him in the pecking order on the bench?
ReplyDeleteDo you honestly think Rodgers would have gone for a player like Aspas if he had things like Champions League to offer? If we did not sign Aspas then swansea would have.
Fans make the whole singing of players sound far to simple.
Diego Costa, Mkhitaryan and Willian all rejected us. I can guarantee you that at least one of those would have joined us if we were better placed in the EPL and offered Champions league football.
Unfortunately real transfers are not like that of what you will find in fantasy football.
A blessing in disguise - showed our weakness Toure out - Mingolet out - Kelly in Gerrard moved forward, Allen in for Lucas will improve us. Mingolet for some reason is beyond dropping ?.
ReplyDeleteWorst he's ever seen, surely he's forgetting some of his own "performances" in a red shirt. If he was fit to play in the first place.
ReplyDeletewe were dire and that is being kind. while we start with 9 players, we will never get anywhere. what i mean by that is, starting with toure and cissokho. awful, awful, awful, players who are worth at least a goal a game for the opposition. brendan must dump them as soon as agger, flanagan and sakho are anywhere near fit. where is kelly??? why dont we play our 7m pound man iloris????? coutinho has been sh*te for the last 3 games, drop him. get rid of moses....pointless player. for the loan fee we have played, i would rather have signed the biblical prophet and his tablets. we are well short and we won;t make the top four. the only bright side is manure won;t do it either. at the moment we have regressed to 1990-91. having to outscore what we let in every week. treading water at the moment, just wait until we play the big lads again, it won;t matter that we are at home, we will get smashed. 6th place at best, yet another crap season. thank you very much. cheers luis good luck in spain next year.
ReplyDeletebrendan tries to be too clever rather than doing the simple things, the basics, right in the first place. like our great forefathers pointed out. football is a simple game complicated by others.
ReplyDeleteIs it Rodgers fault Chelsea didn't want to loan us Bertrand? Rodgers doesn't do the deals someone else does. My guess is that Rodger would pay whatever for the players he wants (Allen?!). The haggling is done by the money men.
ReplyDeleteArmchair...
ReplyDeleteGiggs has played DM. Wasn't great from what I remember.Borini is playing on the left hand side. Fletcher and Altidore tend tend to get the central nod.
ReplyDeleteSimply because Jones is much worse.
ReplyDelete44 years a season ticket holder, so i think i have paid my dues over the decades to have a moan.
ReplyDeleteand maybe not, as we won't be paying stupid money anymore. champs lge, or top 4.
ReplyDeleteThere was two things rogers could have done when picking a starting 11 that would have been far superior in that first half. If rogers want to bend over backwards and always accommodate Gerrard then playing Lucas alongside him is a no brainer, especially as Coutinho was always coming in to play in the attacking role (who shouldn't have started in the first place) or play Henderson Lucas and Gerrard in those 3 midfield slots. Tactically, rogers had a blunder that first half, which is why he changed it. Coutinho shouldn't have started and Gerrard shouldn't have been playing holding mid. It's as bad as playing 3 at the back if not worse. I just hope, now that Lucas is injured we purchase a decent DM because neither Gerrard Henderson or Allen can play that role efficiently
ReplyDeleteIt had little to do with numbers. It had all to do with the absence of Lucas. Any one with half a brain knows that when Lucas was out injured we were pathetic. Now he is injured again and we are going to struggle again.
ReplyDeleteI have banged that drum numerous times. The stats ted to back it up. We do simply win more games with Lucas involved. Having said that you would still hope that we could win games such as that without him. Plus it was not Lucas being missing that meant that nearly every player had a below par performance.
ReplyDeleteWe were found out yesterday.. Ged is not mobile enough to play that defensive mid role, Wieman was all over him.
ReplyDeleteI've questioned Lucas on occasions but yesterday just seemed that kind of game that suited his abilities in reading the game...Still think GJ is a loose cannon in defense, he appears to lose the guy he should be picking up quite a lot.
I just think you are overreacting a bit. We are currently in the top 4, 12 points better off than last season after 22 matches and well on course for a top for finish at the end of the season.
ReplyDeleteWe have Everton at home next and beating them will be like six points.
1972 Aston Villa at home was my first game to see the reds play! Watching the game yesterday was like watching paint dry from a reds perspective. Brendan Rodgers along with his playing staff showed a complete lacklustre display in the first half, with Brendan Rodgers displaying a total lack of game intelligence, his team selection and 4-4-2 formation was so poor from as early as 5 mins you could see the balance and selection was not working, yet it took him until the second half to change things were our 3-5-2 formation and Lucas introduction salvaged us a point! Remember Southampton at home Brendan? Were you at least you put your hands up and took the blame, well here was another debacle you were responsible for which could now cost us dearly. S. J.
ReplyDeleterealistic. we will implode, simple as that. brendan will try to be too clever, out smart, over think and complicate, further down the line, like he did against southampton. he isn't a tactical innovating genius. granted, he has improved matters, no argument there. beating the tofu's is naturally always great, but if we play with those defenders AND johnson, who i should have included, we will get beaten. instead of using aspas, get ibe on for a bit of power, as he should have done against hull....oh yes, there is another example of not being quite good enough. then we have stoke and villa.....got away with it, but not for much longer. that is realism not overreaction.
ReplyDeletelucas leiva is our best central midfielder and anyone who denies that is a lemon. he always plays forward and hes the best defensive reader of the game in the premierleague at the moment.
ReplyDelete"No doubt Gerrard was out of his depth in the first half but he did well against Stoke"
ReplyDeleteExcept that he didn't.
If you're gonna invent new roles to keep Gerrard relevant, might aswell have given him Johnsons place. Would have done less damage.
ReplyDeleteRealism or pessimistic prediction based on the things we do badly rather than the things we do well?
ReplyDeleteI was watching Sissoho, shouting "Where the f**k are you going?" as he ran forward like a headless chicken as we lost the ball. He is a shorter more muscular Djimi Traore - totally useless. I would rather see Jack Robinson back at the club and in the starting lineup than Aly Sissohk-oh-no, he's messed up again. Johnson has been poor this season - how many goals have we conceded from crosses he has failed to block or stop? On a more positive note, at least United lost again - we can all have a good laugh at them
ReplyDeleteIts funny how cissoko is not even mentioned. The back line apart from skirtel were atrocious . Brandon wake up n buy a defensive midfield. Give gerrard a break use him like chelsea is using lampard
ReplyDeletedrop coutinho, gerrard in behind sas, hendo doing the box to box running, new dm instead of lucas. simple
ReplyDeleteour owners need to invest in some quality signings . stop wasting money on young players that are not ready yet and then loan them out all the time , invest the the millions you get for qualifying for the champions league before its to late , its pretty bad when everton have more depth than us , good article couldnt agree more we look so much better when gerrard was out the team , against villa it looked like someone had payed him to be useless lol
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