Poll Rodgers so far?

[Modo]

I'm honestly not trying to sound negative for the sake of it, but I've been alarmed at how the progress part seems to have faded in recent performances. We don't play out from the back with any great intelligence, the movement in midfield has declined and we rely on the inspired talent of Suarez and Raheem up front rather than any great discernible pattern of play. I did want Rodgers to allow a degree of pragmatism in matches, but I didn't want his style to slip away. I don't really see either progress or regression, on his terms, when we play now - it just seems a strangely impersonal, fairly incoherent, variation on the 'usual' style. As we're stuck with Rodgers I want to see a clearer pattern emerge, rather than disintegrate. Obviously once Lucas returns and signings are made this may happen.

We all want Rodgers to do well, but I feel like we need to give him time. 12 prem games is too early to start passing judgement on him. Especially after what we've been through these past few seasons.
However, there are flaws like you mentioned. We definitely need to strengthen the team.
Lucas is back and that's massive, we've missed him. But we clearly need more goals from midfield. You know if Sterling and Suso were 4 years older we'd be laughing.
They are imo exactly the type of players we need. A player with vision and great passing who can play behind the striker and a pacy winger with tricks up his sleeve and an eye for goals.

 

[Modo]

Fulham away in Kenny's first season. I'd be happy with that style any time.

Which one?


View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-QiUtIcfaM

 

[moron]

Modo

Your sick putting that youtube highlight of that Fullham game, with all the commentry on how well we were doing back then - makes me want to cry when I think of what then happened the following season. The heart fills with expectation, and promise only to go down in ashes !!!!

MORON

 

[Mors]

If we win tomorrow, and that's a big if after our last game against them, we'll be 3 points off 5th and unbeaten in 9, and then you people on his case aren't really going to have a leg to stand on considering the squad he's working with.
But if we lose, it'll be slit your wrists time in here as per.

 

[Hansern]

The Wigan game surley was a step in the right direction??!

 

[gkmacca]

Yep, that first half was one to treasure.

 

[mark1975]

Yes, at LAST LFC try to pass the ball! After all of these many decades of crap football!

I think it's fair to say over the last decade, our moments of eye catching football have been far too infrequent. The two seasons we came second and Kenny's first 6 months back in charge. That's probably being a bit harsh, but we were overly cautious and lacked cohesion too many times under our last 4 managers.

 

[mark1975]

Modo - I think what Macca menas is have you never heard of pass and move ? It makes me want to pluck my own eyeballs out everytime Rogers talks about possession football as if it it some new magic ITS BULLSHIT

People getting all high and mighty about him wanting to instill that in us seem to be missing the point. I don't think he's acting like it's something brand spanking new AT ALL. He's trying to reimplement it again, it's not like we've been doing it consistently in recent years, we've had more spells of head scratching uncertainty, playing like strangers and putting 8 men behind the ball. I don't think it's too unreasonable to be talking about as though it's something that needs to be drummed back into us, because it does.

The only people acting like it's new magic are the posters trying to (once again) grasp at something to beat him with. So he wants us to get back to what we're already renowned for AND we're actually walking the walk and doing it on the pitch. Fuck me, crucify him.

 

[Hansern]

Yep, that first half was one to treasure.

Right, games are only 45 mins

 

[gkmacca]

People getting all high and mighty about him wanting to instill that in us seem to be missing the point. I don't think he's acting like it's something brand spanking new AT ALL. .

He DID start off like that (and was backed up on here by the blessed Ryan's pronouncements from the Mount - have a search for them). Since he spent time at the former players' evening he's made a noticeable effort to backtrack and preach continuity, but it really didn't start out like that, and we can surely all remember that.

 

[gkmacca]

Right, games are only 45 mins

So the second 45 minutes gets you excited about the future and confident enough to discern real progress? That's not the most measured of judgements.

 

[mark1975]

He DID start off like that. Since he spent time at the former players' evening he's made a noticeable effort to backtrack and preach continuity, but it really didn't start out like that, and we can surely all remember that.

Yeah ok, I think he tried too hard to compare us to Barca, as though they were the breeders of pass and move, I get that, but I don't think he was deliberately disrespecting or playing down our past. I do think it's something that wasn't particularly there, like I said, we've shown it fleetingly, but nowhere near enough in the last 10 years or so. So in that sense, it was something that needed training into us and personally I'm pleased with the progress on that note.

 

[gkmacca]

I don't think he was deliberately disrespecting or playing down our past. I

I didn't say he was.

 

[mark1975]

I didn't say he was.

Heh, I'm not saying you were, it just seems like people are miffed that he was acting as though pass and move was something HE was bringing to Liverpool, despite the fact we'd been the masters of it in the past. I don't think he meant to play down any of that, I thought you were taking offense to that, which amounts to more or less the same thing anyway.

 

[dmishra]

We played better football in those 6 months under Kenny than we have under Rodgers. I criticised Kenny a lot last year, but I have no qualms pointing this out. There was a reason for that. Our front 6 during that period was the most balanced we'd had since 2008-09.

This was it:

---------Spearing----Lucas
--------------Meireles
-----Kuyt----Suarez----Maxi

It's amazing how playing players in the right positions reaps rewards. Look at that: (1) holding player playing in holding position; (2) enforcer/ball-winner playing in 2nd position; (3) box-to-box midfield playing in third position; (4) quality fulcrum player playing in central position; (5) intelligent and hard working (though nothing exceptional) wing-forwards playing in their right positions.

That's the reason we had that terrific run of 10-15 games towards the end of 2010-11. It's what made me hope that Kenny could deliver. Why he followed that up with the worst transfer window of the decade, and completely shapeless football for the next 12 months is somewhat of a head-scratcher. Makes me wonder how someone who had got it right the previous season could get it so wrong the very next. Was it just the honeymoon period, or the fact that managers are probably best when they don't have too much thinking to do (if you look at the line-up towards the end of 2010-11, it really picked itself because we hardly had any other personnel and fit and available)?

Largely, I agree with the larger point Macca is making. For all the talk of a new philosophy, I don't see any substantial change in the kind of football we're playing. It's almost always dictated by the personnel you have, and the balance you put to your line-ups. I can cut Rodgers some slack because he frankly has a pretty poor set of personnel to work with, and he's been here a very short time, but he needs to start getting that balance right asap. If he doesn't over the next one year or so start showing that ability (along with the most important ability of being prudent in the transfer window), I'm going to start doubting his long term prospects here.