Glen Johnson.

[Gerry_A_Trick]

Yes, I know it was unlikely, lots of things are unlikely, but they still happen. And at 3-0, we looked like we could score at least another 3 which would make it slightly more possible.

I assume you were screaming defend when we went 3-0 up?

 

[Tal]

Yes, I know it was unlikely, lots of things are unlikely, but they still happen. And at 3-0, we looked like we could score at least another 3 which would make it slightly more possible.

I assume you were screaming defend when we went 3-0 up?

I was thinking that we'd got ourselves into trouble in other games when leading easily (and that was against far worse sides than Palace are right now), so whilst I wasn't overly worried about that happening again, at the same time I didn't want us throwing everything we had at mission impossible (GD catchup). I remember being pleased that "this win" would mean Chelsea were out of it. I also remember saying to my son that we needed to shut the game down to avoid any possible slipup that let them back into it

 

[Gerry_A_Trick]

I was thinking that we'd got ourselves into trouble in other games when leading easily (and that was against far worse sides than Palace are right now), so whilst I wasn't overly worried about that happening again, at the same time I didn't want us throwing everything we had at mission impossible (GD catchup). I remember being pleased that "this win" would mean Chelsea were out of it. I also remember saying to my son that we needed to shut the game down to avoid any possible slipup that let them back into it

Fair enough. I imagine you were one of very very few.

 

[Tal]

Very likely. I'm especially talented at pessimism and this season's near misses in certain matches have honed my skills even further.

 

[dmishra]

I can only blame the manager for this. If he had changed the tactics to shut up shop at 3-0 up with 15 mins to go, and stood there making sure our fullbacks tucked in and stayed solid, I'm sure we would have won. I think the players just kept doing what they'd been instructed to do, and it cost us.

Why did we need to shut shop? It was hardly a gung-ho attacking attitude that saw us punished. We were cruising and in complete control of the game. You can't factor in a collective mental breakdown of the entire team.

No one, I mean literally no one - had their heads screwed on in those last 15 mins. It was like watching a bunch of men suddenly turn into overawed schoolboys.

 

[Tal]

Why did we need to shut shop? It was hardly a gung-ho attacking attitude that saw us punished. We were cruising and in complete control of the game. You can't factor in a collective mental breakdown of the entire team.

No one, I mean literally no one - had their heads screwed on in those last 15 mins. It was like watching a bunch of men suddenly turn into overawed schoolboys.

Rodgers' said it was exactly that which cost us the game,

"Rodgers was frustrated by his side’s defensive performance in the latter stages, claiming also that his players went too “gung ho”, playing a “Roy of the Rovers” style of football in an attempt to reduce the goal difference on City when they were already three goals ahead.
“It’s hugely disappointing. For 78 minutes we were outstanding. We did everything we wanted to do; looked solid defensively, didn’t have many scares and controlled the ball and ended up getting three goals and looking like we could get one or two more. But I think we got carried away and lost the defensive structure to our game."

So there we have it, the manager sees it different to you.

We have to ask why he didn't immediately step forward and reign them in as soon as the first Palace goal went in, having learned from previous games we've nearly thrown away.

 

[Dirkus_Circus]

Hes a load of me hoop

Finnan & arbeloa are the type of full back we need. Can help in attack but can actually defend.

That's the priority.

I'm of the same mindset that I prefer fullbacks to defend first and be attackers second but let's be honest...anytime LFC has a limited offensive option in the XI at fullback they get slated mercilessly by fans for not providing enough in attack.

 

[dmishra]

Rodgers' said it was exactly that which cost us the game,

"Rodgers was frustrated by his side’s defensive performance in the latter stages, claiming also that his players went too “gung ho”, playing a “Roy of the Rovers” style of football in an attempt to reduce the goal difference on City when they were already three goals ahead.
“It’s hugely disappointing. For 78 minutes we were outstanding. We did everything we wanted to do; looked solid defensively, didn’t have many scares and controlled the ball and ended up getting three goals and looking like we could get one or two more. But I think we got carried away and lost the defensive structure to our game."

So there we have it, the manager sees it different to you.

We have to ask why he didn't immediately step forward and reign them in as soon as the first Palace goal went in, having learned from previous games we've nearly thrown away.

I have no idea if that means he's taking the blame for that in some contorted way, or is just simply refusing to publicly castigate his players' collective mental breakdown.

 

[Spionkop69]

I would have done the same if people were writing racial abuse.
He was at fault for two goals but obvs doesnt deserve that.

I reported one post which was from a Utd fan calling him the N word. It wasn't just *our* clueless bellends abusing him.

 

[Tal]

From the above, which isn't all he said, it sounds like he's gently laying the blame on the players for getting carried away. For that to be credible it would mean he'd already laid out guidelines about exactly what needed to be done during the match but the players did it wrong. It still doesn't go anywhere near answering why he didn't make rapid changes as it unravelled. My view is that he stood there still confident we'd counter their counters and score more, leaving himself as much to blame as the players.

 

[mark1975]

it could just as easily have been Flanno.

Except it wasn't and it generally isn't.

Watch the City game again. In the second half they came out intent on attacking the right side of defense. Palace did the same last night, and for how brilliant people are saying he did in the first half, once again that's focusing on his offensive play. He got into some good positions a few times, but as the game wore on, he reverted to the same old, indecisive both offensively and defensively. Worst still, his dithering offensively ended up putting us under pressure defensively.

He was one of the main culprits for taking a touch too many, taking on a man too many, losing possession and leaving us isolated on the break. On the few occasions he was back, they ran at him and he backed off and backed off and then watched them run past him with ease. He's been doing that all season, failing to keep up with players, failing to cut out crosses and generally looking a vulnerable position.

I've always maintained that when we have to ball, he's largely fine and he gives us good balance. When the chips are down or we're on the back foot, he's a liability. I wish people would stop making excuses for him. He's been great at times, and poor at others, he's never ever really found a long run of consistency. His game has always been held back by poor concentration and defensively, not quite being upto scratch. He's getting older now and is getting found out more and more.

People can lay the blame with Rodgers, I do think there are flaws in the system, but he's a player who's easily exposed at the best of times, putting him in this system brings his weaknesses to the fore, for however good people seem to think it promotes his attacking instincts. There's gonna come a time when we have to weigh up, whether the attacking pro's outweigh the defensive cons. Right now I'm fucked if I can see that he brings enough to the team.

Saying it could easily have been Flanno is largely ignoring the fact that as a defender, he's alot more balanced in his thinking, knowing when to go and when to stay, it's instinctive. Ask yourselves whether it's better to have a good defender who's starting to show promise as an attacker, or an attack minded defender who's never quite got fully to grips with the defensive side of his game.

 

[dmishra]

From the above, which isn't all he said, it sounds like he's gently laying the blame on the players for getting carried away. For that to be credible it would mean he'd already laid out guidelines about exactly what needed to be done during the match but the players did it wrong. It still doesn't go anywhere near answering why he didn't make rapid changes as it unravelled. My view is that he stood there still confident we'd counter their counters and score more, leaving himself as much to blame as the players.

We could point fingers at Rodgers for both Chelsea and yesterday - but I don't know to what extent. For the large part, he didn't do much wrong tactically. You could argue that he should have brought on Agger or Kolo instead of Coutinho or Moses yesterday. You could have argued that we should have set up completely cautiously against Chelsea.

What you can't do is legislate against mental fuck-ups - like Gerrard's against Chelsea, and the entire defence's against Palace last night.

That said, it's hard to be too harsh on the players. As Ryan said in his most excellent post earlier, they're running on virtually empty after having given it their all this season - some of them are kids, and even many of the more experienced ones have no idea what it means to play in such crunch games. As for some of them, and I include Agger, Skrtel, Lucas, Johnson, Agger in that - players who have some 6-7 years of top flight experience, it has always been a case of inconsistency and/or failure under extreme pressure.

It's early for Sakho and Mignolet, but they need to prove that they're in the mould of Henderson, Flanagan and Sterling than the ones I just listed above.

 

[Hansern]

I reported one post which was from a Utd fan calling him the N word. It wasn't just *our* clueless bellends abusing him.

Yeah, I saw that. You wonder what some people are thinking.

 

[RolandG]

Johnson is a bit of a liability. We need better. Sell him or simply use as a squad player.

 

[Glock21]

Sell Johnson, play Flanno at right back and get a proper left back. De Sciglio should be good.

 

[ILD]

Yes, I know it was unlikely, lots of things are unlikely, but they still happen. And at 3-0, we looked like we could score at least another 3 which would make it slightly more possible.

I assume you were screaming defend when we went 3-0 up?

Only seeing this now.

Yep, I was being greedy. I wanted six. Easy say it now but I was willing them on at 3-0.