Forget Suarez. This thread isn't about him though of course his influence last season can not be ignored. It's about how the team is playing, how it's set up and how the change in personnel has affected it. It's about the drastic change in our playing style and a question as to whether this been brought about by the new players lack of adaptation or to Rodgers' instructions, or both ?
Did Rodgers 'do a Spurs' ? Looking at the new players vs. those they replaced, there is no way this accusation can be levelled at BR.
Statistically we are defensively no better or worse than last season, so however the goals are being scored against us it's not a decline per se.
GK - no change there. I've no doubt we are working on Ming's short-comings but he has't contributed to our decline.
LB - Flanno/Cissokho vs Moreno/Enrique. I was initially very impressed with Moreno. However the comments of the Sevilla fans prior to his transfer are starting to ring true, great going forward (though doesn't often produce a result - I think the stat was '1 assist' whilst at Sevilla) whilst a defensive liability. Although it's not easy to pin down specific goals as his responsibility it seems more and more we are relying on other players to fill in at LB because he is out of position. Is this because BR is instructing him to play as a pseudo Wing-Back to the detriment of his defensive responsibilities ?
CBs - Lovren & Skrtel may not be an improvement over Skrtel/Sakho/Agger/Toure yet but as Lovren is also a ball-playing CB I don't see this as a fundamental reason for our team's decline.
RB - I really like Manquillo and he seems better going forward and less mistake ridden at the back than the Johnson of 2013/14. Though he is prone to find himself out of position and I'm not certain (so would like to see stats) but he also seems less capable of keeping possession under pressure than Johnson.
DM - No Change. Recent stats seem to suggest he is not defending as well as last season. This however is not a factor in how we are playing going forward.
CM - Hendo, Allen, Lucas vs Hendo, Allen, Can, Lucas. We've strengthened and Can looks like a player. He doesn't give up possession easily and is a fine passer.
WM - Hendo/Sterling/Aspas/Moses/Alberto vs Hendo/Lallana/Sterling/Markovic/Suso. We've strengthened considerably here (even allowing that Markovic is 'one for the future').
Forwards - Suarez/Sturridge vs Sturridge/Balotelli/Lambert/Borini. On the face of it we've strengthened in depth even though Luis is a massive loss on the starting sheet.
I have to admit that I'm at a loss to see why the rest of the team's deterioration, in the quality of our passing, movement and pressing, can simply be put down to the loss of one man. Obviously it can't ... so what the hell has gone wrong with our passing and pressing game ? Why do we no longer have anyone playing on the shoulders of defenders and making runs in the channels ?
Is all of this down to Rodgers and a possible tinkering with a new style to supplant the old, hugely entertaining and successful, one ? Is it a result of tiredness brought on by the shortened Summer break (due to the World Cup) ? What the hell is going on ? We don't look 50% of last season's team.
Did Rodgers 'do a Spurs' ? Looking at the new players vs. those they replaced, there is no way this accusation can be levelled at BR.
Statistically we are defensively no better or worse than last season, so however the goals are being scored against us it's not a decline per se.
GK - no change there. I've no doubt we are working on Ming's short-comings but he has't contributed to our decline.
LB - Flanno/Cissokho vs Moreno/Enrique. I was initially very impressed with Moreno. However the comments of the Sevilla fans prior to his transfer are starting to ring true, great going forward (though doesn't often produce a result - I think the stat was '1 assist' whilst at Sevilla) whilst a defensive liability. Although it's not easy to pin down specific goals as his responsibility it seems more and more we are relying on other players to fill in at LB because he is out of position. Is this because BR is instructing him to play as a pseudo Wing-Back to the detriment of his defensive responsibilities ?
CBs - Lovren & Skrtel may not be an improvement over Skrtel/Sakho/Agger/Toure yet but as Lovren is also a ball-playing CB I don't see this as a fundamental reason for our team's decline.
RB - I really like Manquillo and he seems better going forward and less mistake ridden at the back than the Johnson of 2013/14. Though he is prone to find himself out of position and I'm not certain (so would like to see stats) but he also seems less capable of keeping possession under pressure than Johnson.
DM - No Change. Recent stats seem to suggest he is not defending as well as last season. This however is not a factor in how we are playing going forward.
CM - Hendo, Allen, Lucas vs Hendo, Allen, Can, Lucas. We've strengthened and Can looks like a player. He doesn't give up possession easily and is a fine passer.
WM - Hendo/Sterling/Aspas/Moses/Alberto vs Hendo/Lallana/Sterling/Markovic/Suso. We've strengthened considerably here (even allowing that Markovic is 'one for the future').
Forwards - Suarez/Sturridge vs Sturridge/Balotelli/Lambert/Borini. On the face of it we've strengthened in depth even though Luis is a massive loss on the starting sheet.
I have to admit that I'm at a loss to see why the rest of the team's deterioration, in the quality of our passing, movement and pressing, can simply be put down to the loss of one man. Obviously it can't ... so what the hell has gone wrong with our passing and pressing game ? Why do we no longer have anyone playing on the shoulders of defenders and making runs in the channels ?
Is all of this down to Rodgers and a possible tinkering with a new style to supplant the old, hugely entertaining and successful, one ? Is it a result of tiredness brought on by the shortened Summer break (due to the World Cup) ? What the hell is going on ? We don't look 50% of last season's team.
