He scored a great goal cutting in on his right foot (reminded me of Philipp Lahm's goal against Costa-Rica) and played a few good passes. Then he committed that awful pass across the penalty box that almost gifted them a goal. What was far more worrying is that during the whole Anzhi attack that resulted from his misplaced pass, Downing just stood in the penalty box, absolutely frozen, watching the ball and playing every Anzhi player onside. Rattled by that episode, he's given the ball away at least a couple more times after that.
I was the first poster here to suggest converting Downing to a full-back. However, at this point, I'm far from sure he can ever be good enough defensively to make it as a defender. And his comments about busting a gut in defense not being "a part of his game" (or something to that effect) show that he is probably not prepared to put his heart and soul into developing those qualities he would need to succeed as a LB. So it was a mixed bag today, on one hand the goal, on the other some shaky defensive play. But on the balance, after today I'm a bit less optimistic that Downing can make it in this team as a full-back - and that's the only role he has any chance of filling in Rodgers' tactical set-up.
I was the first poster here to suggest converting Downing to a full-back. However, at this point, I'm far from sure he can ever be good enough defensively to make it as a defender. And his comments about busting a gut in defense not being "a part of his game" (or something to that effect) show that he is probably not prepared to put his heart and soul into developing those qualities he would need to succeed as a LB. So it was a mixed bag today, on one hand the goal, on the other some shaky defensive play. But on the balance, after today I'm a bit less optimistic that Downing can make it in this team as a full-back - and that's the only role he has any chance of filling in Rodgers' tactical set-up.
