20 Jul 2015

Anfield Exit: 'Excellent' Liverpool attacker to leave LFC after massive £67m transfer splurge on attackers this summer

In May, Liverpool legend John Aldridge claimed that Rickie Lambert 'will be leaving Liverpool this summer', and new reports over the weekend suggest that the striker will leave Anfield sooner rather than later.

In a column for Sunday World, Aldo appeared to reveal a snippet of inside information. He noted:

"Mario Balotelli, Fabio Borini and Rickie Lambert [Combined cost: £30m] are among the...high earning...players who will be leaving Liverpool this summer"

According to The Mirror on Sunday:

* West Brom will sign Lambert 'this week', after Liverpool complete the transfer of Christian Benteke.

* Tony Pulis is desperate for attacking reinforcements, and Lambert is one his top targets.

Lambert - hailed by Adam Lallana as an 'excellent' striker - was also recently linked with a shock move to Chelsea, but I just can't see Mourinho being interested in the ageing striker, who barely featured for Liverpool since the turn of the year.

Whatever happens, Lambert's days at Liverpool are surely numbered:

* He had plenty of chances to make a difference in the first half of last season, but an inability to score regularly contributed to Liverpool's poor pre-Christmas form.

* In the second half of the season, Lambert barely played, and even if he'd been a regular, it's doubtful he would've weighed in with the goals needed to propel the Reds into the top four.

* Now, new arrivals Roberto Firmino, Danny Ings, Divock Origi (signed last year), and the imminent signing of Benteke (Combined cost: £67m*), Lambert will be so far down the pecking order that he'll rarely make the match-day squad, let alone the bench.

Lambert's exit seems to be inevitable, but the truth is he just hasn't been given a consistent chance in the team, and like Mario Balotelli, Brendan Rodgers has utterly failed to get the best out of him.

Granted, some of the blame lies with the man himself, as as he often failed to take the opportunities that arose last season. However, in the season prior to signing for Liverpool, Lambert smashed in 25 goals/assists in 39 games for Southampton, which proves that he can be a very productive striker.

At Liverpool, however, Lambert contributed a measly 3 goals/2 assists in 36 appearances, which is a massive 80% reduction in creative output in the space of one season. That - along with his superb performance at Southampton (183 goals/assists 229 games) - strongly suggests that Rodgers is culpable for the striker's stunning fall from grace.


How can a striker grab 183 goals/assists in 229 games (which is a goal/assist every 1.2 games), and then suddenly struggle to score 4 goals in an entire season? It doesn't compute, and given Lambert's prolific history, Rodgers should've got a hell of lot more out of him.

The same applies to Mario Balotelli, who grabbed 26 goals/assists in 41 games in his final season for Milan, before crashing and burning under Rodgers' fabled tutelage.

All of which doesn't bode well for Christian Benteke, and if he fails to hit the heights, Rodgers will (IMO) be to blame.

* Firmino: £29m  | Ings: £6m (probable compensation fee) | Benteke: £32.5m (release clause)

Author: Jaimie K


84 comments:

  1. I think he suffered through a combination of regular game time. In addition the pressure of playing for his dream club. Perhaps he tried to force things a bit. Similarly, adapting to a new style of play wouldn't have helped- especially at his age where is physical attributes are on the wane. I think the cards were stacked against him to be honest. He is sadly over the hill, but, well it's not all bad news for him- he is massively rich compared to the majority- well certainly compared to me... anybody got any spare change?

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  2. Rodgers (IYO) has been to blame in almost every article you write.

    * Good-natured banter is fine, but posts containing personal insults, belittlement, sniping, deliberate antagonism etc (directed at fellow posters, players, managers, rival fans etc) will be deleted.

    * Attack the argument, not the person. Repeat offenders will be banned.

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  3. I would love to see how many games Borini, Balo and Lambert played in a row, or how many 'appearances' were for 90 minutes. I think all three have been unfortunate and have been set up to fail. When Borini played he wasn't CF most times. Their stats look a lot worse with 'appearances' counted.

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  4. Lambert worked well in Southampton's pressing system. It can only be that Rodgers had no idea how to get the best out of Lambert. Saying that it has been proven time and time again that players who come from (no disrespect) smaller clubs cannot get to grips with big club mentality. Now Ings has been added and just cannot see a different outcome for him either.


    Rodgers failed to get the best out of all his strikers last season, Borini, Balo and Lambert. With Benteke being a target man which we do not need costing £32.5m, it is either going to surprise many including myself or end in tears for those who believe he is a good signing.

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  5. Harsh to blame Rodgers for this. I think it's more likely that time has caught up with Lambert. He's 33, and if (the infinitely superior athlete) Gerrard was starting to look heavy legged, it shouldn't come as any surprise the heavy set Lambert would be too. Gerrard came second in the Player of the Season vote last year, but this year he was a big factor in us losing so many games, so players form can dip off quite radically as they age without it being the managers fault. I do however believe Rodgers to be largely to blame for the global rise of IS.

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  6. To me the only mistake BR did was not to sell Borini last summer and let Lambert leave in Jan . No need for them .
    Balotelli MUST do what Falco has done take a massive pay cut and prove to LFC that he is still a good player .

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  7. Are you not capable of writing s report without complaining about Rodgers or Liverpool?
    Lambert failed at Liverpool, simple. When he was given the opportunity he simply didn't step up to the plate.
    Baloteli was also given ample opportunities to prove himself and I'm sorry, but he proved time and time again what a lazy player he is. That's why the fans turned on him in the end. If abolished works hard but it doesn't possess bags of skill then the fans will get behind him (just look at Kuyt).
    Before you say anything Jamie, no I'm not a 'rose tinted glasses fan' or 'a blinkered Rodgers fanboy' or whatever you want to call anyone who doesn't agree with you, I just happen to think that nearly all your posts are negative. Tell me, who do you want as manager? You slate Rodgers, you slated Dalglish and you slated Benitez. The one manager you didn't slate was Hodgson who was the worse Liverpool manager in living memory imo.

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  8. Would of loved to see Lambert make it at his boyhood dream club in Liverpool,but there the breaks unfortunately.I also agree that B.R was Lambert's problem,as he (Lambert) didn't know whether he was coming or going,due to the mastery of B.R coaching skills.With all the decent transfers made this time around B.R couldn't stuff it up again could he?

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  9. Borini, Balo, Lambert, bear no responsibility in this, they are excellent players,
    it is ?Rodgers fault,
    i'm very surprised you in particular Logan feel that way.

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  10. Haha, definitely all Rodgers' fault. I believe he once labelled one of their terrorist attacks as outstanding and since then their attitude has been terrible.

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  11. Bravo Steve, I posted the same, or something similar and as usual my post was deleted,

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  12. I'm sure mine will be too, that's what usually happens when someone doesn't agree!
    I personally don't think Rodgers wanted Balotelli in the first place but he did give him ample opportunities. I've never seen a player wander round the pitch looking less interested than him. That's why it didn't work for him and I'll be glad to see him go!

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  13. Its a permanent ban for me, he he he,
    there is censorship, and dictatorship, its hard to define between them, on here.

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  14. EPL minutes 14/15
    Borini - 398
    Balo - 939
    Lambert - 839


    Lambert played less minutes than Balotelli who's head is not right. Maybe if more faith was shown in these three player then surely we would have got more goals on the pitch as all 3 of them are strikers? Yet all the weight was left on a player who went to City for £50m.


    Rodgers is the manager. Who made the decision to play Borini for a measly 398 minutes?

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  15. Would have loved for him to make it also, but he proved he was just not good enough, live with it.

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  16. Ghost of Suarez8:13 am, July 20, 2015

    Your assessment ignores several important factors with Lambert ...first pressure... ..it clearly isn't as simple to say well his output at previous club was this so it should translate here....the pressure of playing for Liverpool was too much for Lambert and is completely different to playing at Southampton were he was a cult hero after rising through the lower leagues with them. Secondly is his style of play...Rodgers bought Lambert to do a specific job....plan b from the bench, he was never intended to start load of premiership games and his lack of mobility blunted our pressing game and ability to counter attack.

    That brings us on to Balo....clearly he didn't apply himself the way Rodgers wanted but again he was bought to partner Studge when we used the diamond formation, he has never been effective as a lone striker during his career. Now looking at him and his attributes I think he should be able to have success in that role, and in contrast to popular belief his opta stats for yards show he did work hard when he played but to be a lone striker in our system there has to correct decision making in when to press the ball which I am guessing is what he wasn't getting right. I still think he could be effective with the right strike partner.

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  17. I'm inclined to agree with Logan ,Rodgers buys specific strikers that suit a specific style or system and doesn't play either if benteke is utilized correct he will flop and to be honest he hasn't the fottwork to play intricate one twos with Gino and firmino or even lallan so I he may well struggle

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  18. 398 mins, i'm surprised he was thought worthy to get that amount of time in an LFC shirt,
    The only mistake BR made with Borini was buying him in the first place,
    while BR's head was still at a mid table team like Swansea.
    Another mercenary, worse than Sterling by a distance, had a chance to move, but said no, just send me the salary every month.

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  19. Its isn't playtime at school Steve ,managers get players they don't want all the time ,the key is having the skill and tactics to utilize any player you have at your disposal ,Rodgers adopted its my ball and your not playing attitude with balo ( real professional ) by playing him up front on his own ,he was in effect sticking to fingers up at fsg ...he should have gone the whole hog and played him in goal

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  20. Let's not forget that Liverpol have a transfer committee so the blame doesn't fall just at Rodgers feet, I'm pretty sure he didn't want Balotelli in the first place.
    Also, the manager sees his players in training every day and if they're not putting the effort in, they won't get playing time, simple.
    Lambert was always going to be a squad player, ageing and hardly cost anything.
    Rodgers clearly didn't have faith in the players (some of which he clearly didn't want) so went in another direction.

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  21. Why should Borini downgrade to a club which may have been relegated? And where exactly has Borini actually been given a proper chance to prove himself? Lambert? Balo should never have been signed in the first place either but if it was agreed for him to join, knowing his history then who is to blame? The player?

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  22. I'm on the fence regarding Benteke, like most I would have preferred Lacazette, etc,
    But thats the cards we have been dealt, a bit of optimism might help.

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  23. Benteke is 24, I suppose its too late, to learn how we play, its a disaster so.

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  24. Rodgers has time and time again said that no players will join without his approval. So we can now confirm that he is a liar.


    Rodgers has wasted million after million on players that have made no impact whatsoever but I am sure you are going to argue that it is not so.

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  25. Optimism has little to do with it its logic at the highest level if yoiu sign players that don't match your system they tend to flop

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  26. In the right system benteke will score a hat full for any club but canyiu see him doing one twos on the edge of the box with tino when we are trying to walk the ball in the net

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  27. That is the problem ain't it. Benteke is not about pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass,pass, pass = goal.

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  28. You put your foot to the floor on the accelerator,
    and you get 25mph, but we needed 50mph,
    Balo was going to be a failure before he even arrived, just look at his history, look at the Managers that have dumped him, I suppose they are all wrong.

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  29. Gerrard was a disaster at DM but Rodgers didn't say anything critical even when we leaked like a sieve ,I watched every Liverpool game last year in some format or another and balo tried as much as anyone on the pitch but he isnt a lone striker who will run channels all day he's a no 10 ,Gino is a great player but player him as a lone striker runningchannels and he would look like a park player

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  30. Why did we sign him then and is that Balo's fault?

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  31. Rodgers is to blame, Rodgers will be to blame, others will be blamed

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  32. My point isn't about players johnny its about use of players Rodgers or the ''comitte'' sign players with out seeming to know anything about the player in regards character or suitability

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  33. No the transfer committee, seems now BR has the call.

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  34. He wanted to go into a different direction which was his reason for getting rid of Pascoe and Marsh. Scapegoats.

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  35. Call on what? The transfer committee is still here.

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  36. It's not about arguing who's right and wrong, it's about opinions and having a discussion.
    Managers lie all the time, fact. Do you remember on transfer deadline day when King Kenny said that Torres wasn't going to be sold at any price? Hmm we all know how that ended up.
    I agree Rodgers has wasted money, as do all managers. Somebody once said that if you get something like 40% of your transfers right then you're doing ok. I think Rodgers was like a kid in a sweet shop tbh at the start. I think that he has also done some good business. We all know the obvious Sturridge, Coutinho etc but IMO Lallana will prove a very good signing if he can stay injury free and I think it will be a big season for Marcovic too. Can looks very good and I think this transfer windows signings have looked good too.
    I'm still not sure about Benteke but we'll see

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  37. Dont get me wrong Logan, I am not a fierce BR apologist, if he does not do the business by Jan, he is gone, but while he is here with us, I will try to defend our Manager and hope he takes us forward,
    if/when he is gone, then I will gladly trade insults with you.

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  38. But it looks like they dont have the influence they had for the last 2 years, seems like BR has the final call now, before he could have been outvoted, Ayre admitted that was the case.

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  39. Lallana at £25m cannot be classified as a good signing especially when we got Firmino at £29m (including add ons etc.).


    For Rodgers to lie about him not having the last say quite honestly is bordering on ridiculous. The intention of FSG clearly is to just piss LFC's money down the drain if that is the case. If Benteke does not work out then it will also be said that it was not the managers choice. Just like the many players he has signed who have failed.

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  40. An expert like you should be able to enlighten us with what exactly they contributed, and why their loss will weaken us.

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  41. P.S., who told you BR got rid of them, ???????????????

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  42. Harsh to call him a disaster, I think the defenders as a whole just didn't work.
    I also watched every game last season as a season ticket holder and he certainly did not put a shift in. He'd occasionally do something but nowhere near enough. Rodgers even said that he was doing the same in training too.
    I fully agree that he would work better with another striker up there but considering Sturridge was injured nearly all season, there wasn't anyone else. To change the formation it would mean dropping one or two players who were playing well, to effectively put in Lambert/Ballotelli for example. Trouble is if he did that, everyone would be complaint that wasn't right either!

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  43. Did live with it ,will live with it,and over it,moved on.

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  44. Ian ayre said "NO ONE MAN DECIDES WHO COMES OR GOES", Liverpool Echo amongst many other publications will confirm that.

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  45. Clubs will tell supporters what they want to hear. Every club spills out lies all the time.
    I don't believe for one second that Rodgers had 'final word' on transfers in recent years. Ex players have said that over and over.
    I believe this year he has final say and I think that's what he stipulated when he had his end of season review. I think this year, to me the players look a different 'type' than what's been bought before.
    Obviously I might be completely wrong but it's just my opinion.

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  46. He was given his chance at Sunderland, succeeded but refused to play there, just sits out his contract like all mercenaries like him.

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  47. No reply, oh I see its Logan, didnt notice at first.

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  48. Borini was offered out last season ,he declined .
    Surely if he was any good a BIG club would have made him a offer ? His agent says there are clubs lining up for him so why has he not left ?

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  49. Because like Ballo, Sterling, he is a money driven mercenary.

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  50. For a start Lallana is at least £5m - £10m overpriced because he's English, I'm sure we'd all agree with that (Sterling was worth nowhere near £49m and if he was Italian or Spanish or whatever, then you could shave off a good £10'+ for a start). Secondly, he was injured for a big part of last season, but I think he will be a good player for us.
    You completely ignored my point about Dalglish lying!
    It's called spin - all clubs do it. He's not going to come out and say "if this player is crap then it's not my fault" is he?!
    Again as I said; it's only my opinion that he has final say but the fact I do believe that, I will openly admit that if Benteke doesn't work out then I will blame Rodgers.
    I'm not exactly over excited about Benteke, believe me. I think there are better options out there

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  51. Jammie , Seriously ,
    Why is it that people can trash BR on this site and get away with it , yet when fans want to protect him they are deleted or asked to leave the site ?

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  52. So I can't have an opinion on your site then Jamie? I simply said that a lot of your articles are very negative - people have told you that before and you just ban them. Can you not have a discussion about it or can only people who agree with you have an opinion?
    I use this site a lot because you do also write some very good articles, I just find it frustrating that you seem to post mainly about complaining about the club/players/managers and you get defensive when wuestioned about it.

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  53. Exactly my point Glen, I would so like to know eh that is Jamie.

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  54. I thought he did,, ?

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  55. Ian Ayre did not say that. If he dis, post the link.


    Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE smartphone

    -------- Original message --------

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  56. Yes I will but, gotta work soon, but he DEFINITELY said that, I read it on the Liverpool Echo, do you really want me to do the research for you.

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  57. BR said himself that it was purely his decision.

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  58. He saved his job by getting rid of them. He has no more excuses left.

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  59. Where did Ayre admit it. You have no proof do you?

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  60. BR is an employee, he does not have permission or the authority to make decisions like that, his Employers do. but maybe I am wrong, so post the link to this admission.

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  61. And your source is, ?????????????????????

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  62. Yes I will do that, but my first class is in 12 mins, but I will come back to you.

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  63. Speaking as a psychopathic criminal mastermind, from my impregnable nuclear bunker deep beneath the Indian Ocean, I have absolutely no problem with it whatsoever.

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  64. Please dont tell me what I think,, get it.

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  65. Who signed him?

    "He's one of the few young players in the full Italian squad," said the Liverpool manager.

    "I'd anticipate that over the next two or three years he'll really progress and I'm sure do very well for Liverpool.

    "Fabio fits the model of what we're trying to do in building not only for now, but also for the future.

    "He's a big talent, 21 years of age, he scores goals, and his passion, focus and concentration is a very important part of his game - and a big part of what you want from a player."



    Foot in mouth disease.

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  66. Please show us where Ayre said what you have claimed. Off you go.

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  67. Off I go to work, 2mins, but I will show you later, you and JK have called me a liar, so I will make you both eat your words, (if my post is not deleted).

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  68. Their source is Brendan Rodgers himself who announced last week that he was responsible for the sacking of Pascoe and Marsh. If you google 'Rodgers Pascoe different direction' you'll get a whole host of newspaper reporting on the story.

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  69. Lambert is slow! There is no two ways to slice it. I remember last season in a game (I've forgotten who against) when Henderson played a perfect through ball and Lambert was so slow in getting to it. Southampton knew exactly what they were doing when they sold him to us, they knew his legs were gone. Also there seems to be some pervading myth that Rodgers is solely responsible for Balotelli failing Liverpool. We can talk about playing systems all day but Balotelli had his chances even in our supposedly unsuitable system. And I'm talking about clear cut chances to score, has anyone forgotten about his miss against Stoke. This is coming from a guy who has followed Mario's career since he was at Inter Milan. It's amazing how little he has developed since he was 19, he has entirely relied on his talent and reputation. He possesses no striker's instinct whatsoever, look at his movement within the penalty box to see what I'm talking about.

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  70. The Ancient Oracle.

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  71. Benjamin Ziege Chanda9:56 am, July 20, 2015

    He's a fighter he's work fate is on point despite having an injury filled season he was still better than most of our players

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  72. Benjamin Ziege Chanda9:56 am, July 20, 2015

    Meant work rate

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  73. As I say above if you google 'Rodgers Pascoe different direction' you'll get a range of newspapers reporting Rodgers' admission that he was behind the decision.


    He may be an employee but he is also in a leadership role and his employer can chose to delegate responsibility to him as an act of faith. Of course they get the final say about whether Rodgers's suggestion is acted upon but according to Rodgers they were responding to his wishes in changing his assistants. A football manager will often get a strong say in who is employed on the playing and coaching side- hence why a manager will often help identify the players the club signs and is often allowed to bring in his own coaching team to help run the football side of things.


    Just by way of comparison I'm sure the manager of the club's shop is also allowed to take some initiative in who he or she employs in the shop. Owners of a large company rarely seek to control all of the choice of employees at the subordinate level: they delegate.

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  74. I totally agree with everything you said there with Lambert and Balltelli, well said.

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  75. I've been thinking about it for a while now, and I don't think this is right. I think Rodgers wants his team to be able to control games, at that means being able to dominate in contact between the forwards and defenders. Suarez was a strong forward able to initiate contact with centre backs and full backs and to force them to retreat with his exceptional mixture of physical power in confrontation and clever movement. Rodgers was able to use him as an attacking pivot because of this and it's what enabled that team to be so effective.

    Aside from his flair and eye for goal, we've not been able to replace Suarez's understanding of classical centre-forward play, though we've brought in players who have been supposedly able to play that role.

    Balotelli showed no willingness to get into contact in effective areas and a lack of determination in contact itself. Lambert just lacked the movement and, unfortunately, the confidence to gel with the side. Borini like Balotelli goes looking for space. But Rodgers wants his teams to be able to attack the width of the goal in order to be able to dominate the opposition. This means that being willing and able to play close to or in contact with the central defenders is a *must*.

    So I think many fans have basically misunderstood the way we play and what it takes to play the way they imagine we play. Being able to compete with and to dominate the opposition center backs in contact is a crucial component of the way we want to do things.

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  76. Thirdly, on Lambert in particular, most of those games at Southampton would have been almost 90 minute matches. At Liverpool a lot of the matches in the statistics would have been either as an substitute or as a starter who was substituted!

    Balotelli was brought in to form an attacking partnership with Sturridge, as we saw in Tottenham 0- Liverpool 3. But when Sturridge got injured it all fell apart for him. especially since Rodgers was coming under pressure to get results and needed to find a system to achieve that in the absence of Sturridge. The change if system worked for Liverpool but not for Balotelli.

    I don't believe Rodgers actually wanted to sign Balotelli even though he was an admirer of his. Remember before his signing Rodgers triggered a load of speculation that he would sign Balotelli by praising him so publicly and so generously (he might even have said he was 'oustanding') but then appeared to back-track saying in unambiguous terms that it was out of the question that Liverpool sign him. Not long after that Liverpool signed him with time running out in the transfer window. It seemed that the transfer committee had probably decided that of the options available he was worth a punt, even though Rodgers always had reservations. By December he had decided that he definitely didn't fit his system and was saying so publicly.

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  77. Yeah I'd agree with that totally

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  78. Nowhere does he say that Rodgers does not have the last call.


    Unless I am blind?

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  79. did they win the champions league no , why are you on a liverpool fan page if you dont support them , liverpool are not a elite team but nor are juventus, they only have roma challenging them for the league in italy ,

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  80. then god must help us cos liverpool have not been a elite team since the 80s , juventus the old lady had they hay day in the 90s but now come on , what you pay to watch juventus week in week out

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  81. what success have juventus had lately that chelsea have not had , chelsea won the champions league in 2012 , the premier league 2015 , when did juventus last win anything in europe google it the 1990s , to say man utd are not elite is just dumb ,only two teams bigger than man utd barca and real , how the hell are man utd not elite , i guess you hate England lol its ok when youre at the top everyone hates you

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  82. They've won four titles in a row and just got to a European Cup final. They're an elite team.

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  83. true but I hopefully this guy would bring lots quality to benefit our youth as well.

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