So now that he’s here, I’ve been trying to figure out why we got him. I’m over the fact that I didn’t really want him I guess, have endured the post-signing glow you get, and s’pose I’m trying to analyse what Rodgers thinks he brings.
A dangerous thought given this is the guy who felt Alberto, Aspas, Rickie Lambert, etc would fit into our ‘style of play’.
Anyway, here’s my uneducated guesses I guess…
- Sturridge is never fit.
Easy one. He just fucking isn't. I like the fact that his dribbling-round-in-circles video the other day got like zero fucking interest. Everyone’s over that shit seemingly. Love you and all, but dude just get fucking fit. So yeah, he had to buy *someone* I suppose. You can’t rely on Sturridge, and the rest of the options – Borini, Balotelli, Lambert – have proven themselves to be useless, so he’s recognised that last season’s charade of having strikers either injured or producing fuck all couldn’t go on.
- Brodge is all about the 4-3-3.
He is. Up and down 4-3-3 man. It worked for him at Swansea, he rolled it out for us straight up in his first season, and only deviated from it 2 years ago when he had to find a way to get Suarez and Sturridge into the same side. He went straight back to it at the start of last season again, only to end up shifting it again when he decided to go with 3 at the back.It’s been the focus all this pre-season too; 4-3-3 with solid hardworking midfielders in Milner, Hendo, and probably Lucas doing the graft and then yer 3 up front to win the game. Who those 3 are is up for debate at this stage, but you can be certain he’s bought Benteke to play the pivotal central point of that 3. If you look at the 4-3-3’s that have worked well over the years, they’ve all had a quality target man up top in the 9 role stretching the defence, occupying the centre backs, and opening space in the hole. Eto’o for Barca with Ronaldinho/Messi alongside him; Van Persie for Holland, with Robben/Kuyt to the sides; even Rodgers' own Swansea sides that rocketed up the leagues had it with Michu/Bony up top and Sinclair and Dyer to the sides.
It does work, you’ve just got to have the personnel.
- Sturridge doesn’t run the channels.
So the personnel^^ have to do certain basic things, and in a 4-3-3 if your front man doesn’t run in behind the full-backs, doesn’t look for one over the top, doesn’t want to stretch then you’re easy to defend against. Sturridge doesn’t run in behind. He just doesn’t. He’s fucking brilliant n all, but it’s not his go, he always wants to come and receive, always shows short, and likes to be involved from deep in the build up. I think he actually see’s himself as a number 10 but anyway. So the problem with that is that it’s easy to defend against. He just ends up running into the space that Coutinho, Lallana, Firminho are all trying to find space in, the opposing centre backs push up and the whole thing’s congested. We’re trying to do one-two’s in a phone box 50 yards from goal. It happened so many times last year. So… You off-set that by finding somebody who will run into the space behind a full-back. Case in point, the FA Cup Semi-Final; for some reason (tactical or selfish) Emre Can, one of our 3 centre-backs, decided to play the first half at right-wing. Good sides would have figured that out after about 2 minutes and exploited it. It took Tim Sheroowd a touch longer than that, but anyway. Twice in a row Benteke moved to the space occupied by Can, the second-time leading to the goal. He dragged Skrtel wide leaving Sakho on his own, you get Delph, Grealish and Cleverley running from deep cos Gerrard couldn’t be fucked tracking them and they’re queuing up to score. And as if to hammer home the point, they did it for the second too. Benteke drifts wide, Delph runs free. 2 up, lights out. Benteke makes those runs - willingly too, he pulls centre backs wide, and sometimes it is about using the width of the pitch as much as the length. And if you can drag a centre back out wide, then that’s space for the Coutinho, Firmino, Milner, Hendo’s of the world to run into.
- He lengthens the pitch.
Sterling, Lallana, Coutinho. That was our front 3 for the majority of last season, and they all play in front of you if you're an oppsing centre back. Centre backs just puched up and closed the gap to their defensive midfielders. It was as basic as it got. The John Terry's of the world, who can get done for leg speed, want nothing more than a bunch of players in front of them. You've got to make Terry turn. Tighten the gap, restrict the space for them to play, force them back, job done. It even got to the point where opposing centre-backs could leave their defensive line to pressure us too. How fucking bad is that? They’re so unworried (?) about you going in behind that they’re shoving their centre back forward to win it back off you. Benteke occupies at least one centre back. He’s been bought for the space he provides to our 3 or 4 attacking mids just as much as he has for his goals.
- Counter attack. Especially away from home.
I think it was the Arsenal away game where it was most obvious. We couldn’t even get out of our half. We made Per Mertesacker look like fucking Beckenbaeur. Even the best sides need an ‘out’ ball at times. 99% of sides get dominated at the Emirates. Same goes for Stamford Bridge, the Britannia, Old Trafford, fuck even Everton at times. To relieve the defence, especially one as shit as ours, and to allow your midfielders time to get forward you’ve just got to have someone who can receive and hold it up. Costa, Giroud, Dzeko, Bony, Benzema… Sure they score goals, but they hold it up too. Watch Benzema in Europe away from home, he spends half his time just receiving and dishing off to Modric, Ronaldo, etc. It’s priceless. Plus, he becomes the focal point of the attack, and means our small attacking mids can run off him.
And 4-3-3 sides counter attack. Especially Brodge’s 4-3-3.
- The start to the season.
Away to Stoke, and then away to every one of the top sides in the first 2-3 months. Two reasons why that’s crucial; 1 – we’ve got no Sturridge or Sterling, two of our other threats are unproven – Firmino & Ibe, and 2 – Brodge is out of a job if he fucks it up. We’ve simply got to start well, so I’d say he pushed for this as much as any signing in his time here. He’s not dumb, just fucking nauseating, but even he would know that a strong start – or one that doesn’t see us unnecessarily lose ground will keep him here. We can beat the cannon fodder; we saw that last year when we went 12 or 13 games unbeaten when we put away the fucking shite, so if he can get through the first 2 months relatively unscathed, then we’ll have a chance to make ground. Plus, he’s gone and bought ‘premiership proven’. Loathe it or loathe it, he’s bought in Milner, Benteke, Clyne and Ings – who all cut it in this league last year. If Benteke can’t hold it up away to Stoke on opening day, then who the fuck can he’ll be thinking.
- There aren’t any other Suarezes.
I, as much as anyone else, have been championing the fact that our best form came when we didn’t have yer archetypal target man there, we had this diminutive Uruguayan all-rounder. I guess he was a one-off, so admitting that you can’t replace like-for-like is probably the wise thing to do about now. I’m no global scout, but even I know there aren’t many other out there like him… Aguero? No chance. Sanchez? Sailed ship. Tevez? Too old. Rooney? Too cunt. Who else is there really? There haven’t been too many big name strikers available and drifting around this summer - especially not many who can replace a Suarez, and thinking back to my first point above – we had to get someone. Not in a Balotelli-desperation way either.
And I don’t actually think Brodge wanted to try and re-create the manufactured 4-4-2 diamond we had then anyway. He’s a 4-3-3 man by default, and I guess (actually I’m hoping) he knows that having two centre-mids in a flat 4 – especially when one of them is Gerrard – leaves you horribly exposed going the other way.
Plus there's all the standard stuff about the fact he can score goals, is a threat at set-pieces, is largely fit and injury-free, is young, knows the league, etc etc.
I’m still not totally for it, I think I’d have preferred us to wait until someone who does fit the mould better became available in 6 months or wherever, but I guess Brodge figured he won’t have another 6 months in the job if he doesn’t produce from the get-go this season, so we are where we are.
It’s his job if this one fails.
A dangerous thought given this is the guy who felt Alberto, Aspas, Rickie Lambert, etc would fit into our ‘style of play’.
Anyway, here’s my uneducated guesses I guess…
- Sturridge is never fit.
Easy one. He just fucking isn't. I like the fact that his dribbling-round-in-circles video the other day got like zero fucking interest. Everyone’s over that shit seemingly. Love you and all, but dude just get fucking fit. So yeah, he had to buy *someone* I suppose. You can’t rely on Sturridge, and the rest of the options – Borini, Balotelli, Lambert – have proven themselves to be useless, so he’s recognised that last season’s charade of having strikers either injured or producing fuck all couldn’t go on.
- Brodge is all about the 4-3-3.
He is. Up and down 4-3-3 man. It worked for him at Swansea, he rolled it out for us straight up in his first season, and only deviated from it 2 years ago when he had to find a way to get Suarez and Sturridge into the same side. He went straight back to it at the start of last season again, only to end up shifting it again when he decided to go with 3 at the back.It’s been the focus all this pre-season too; 4-3-3 with solid hardworking midfielders in Milner, Hendo, and probably Lucas doing the graft and then yer 3 up front to win the game. Who those 3 are is up for debate at this stage, but you can be certain he’s bought Benteke to play the pivotal central point of that 3. If you look at the 4-3-3’s that have worked well over the years, they’ve all had a quality target man up top in the 9 role stretching the defence, occupying the centre backs, and opening space in the hole. Eto’o for Barca with Ronaldinho/Messi alongside him; Van Persie for Holland, with Robben/Kuyt to the sides; even Rodgers' own Swansea sides that rocketed up the leagues had it with Michu/Bony up top and Sinclair and Dyer to the sides.
It does work, you’ve just got to have the personnel.
- Sturridge doesn’t run the channels.
So the personnel^^ have to do certain basic things, and in a 4-3-3 if your front man doesn’t run in behind the full-backs, doesn’t look for one over the top, doesn’t want to stretch then you’re easy to defend against. Sturridge doesn’t run in behind. He just doesn’t. He’s fucking brilliant n all, but it’s not his go, he always wants to come and receive, always shows short, and likes to be involved from deep in the build up. I think he actually see’s himself as a number 10 but anyway. So the problem with that is that it’s easy to defend against. He just ends up running into the space that Coutinho, Lallana, Firminho are all trying to find space in, the opposing centre backs push up and the whole thing’s congested. We’re trying to do one-two’s in a phone box 50 yards from goal. It happened so many times last year. So… You off-set that by finding somebody who will run into the space behind a full-back. Case in point, the FA Cup Semi-Final; for some reason (tactical or selfish) Emre Can, one of our 3 centre-backs, decided to play the first half at right-wing. Good sides would have figured that out after about 2 minutes and exploited it. It took Tim Sheroowd a touch longer than that, but anyway. Twice in a row Benteke moved to the space occupied by Can, the second-time leading to the goal. He dragged Skrtel wide leaving Sakho on his own, you get Delph, Grealish and Cleverley running from deep cos Gerrard couldn’t be fucked tracking them and they’re queuing up to score. And as if to hammer home the point, they did it for the second too. Benteke drifts wide, Delph runs free. 2 up, lights out. Benteke makes those runs - willingly too, he pulls centre backs wide, and sometimes it is about using the width of the pitch as much as the length. And if you can drag a centre back out wide, then that’s space for the Coutinho, Firmino, Milner, Hendo’s of the world to run into.
- He lengthens the pitch.
Sterling, Lallana, Coutinho. That was our front 3 for the majority of last season, and they all play in front of you if you're an oppsing centre back. Centre backs just puched up and closed the gap to their defensive midfielders. It was as basic as it got. The John Terry's of the world, who can get done for leg speed, want nothing more than a bunch of players in front of them. You've got to make Terry turn. Tighten the gap, restrict the space for them to play, force them back, job done. It even got to the point where opposing centre-backs could leave their defensive line to pressure us too. How fucking bad is that? They’re so unworried (?) about you going in behind that they’re shoving their centre back forward to win it back off you. Benteke occupies at least one centre back. He’s been bought for the space he provides to our 3 or 4 attacking mids just as much as he has for his goals.
- Counter attack. Especially away from home.
I think it was the Arsenal away game where it was most obvious. We couldn’t even get out of our half. We made Per Mertesacker look like fucking Beckenbaeur. Even the best sides need an ‘out’ ball at times. 99% of sides get dominated at the Emirates. Same goes for Stamford Bridge, the Britannia, Old Trafford, fuck even Everton at times. To relieve the defence, especially one as shit as ours, and to allow your midfielders time to get forward you’ve just got to have someone who can receive and hold it up. Costa, Giroud, Dzeko, Bony, Benzema… Sure they score goals, but they hold it up too. Watch Benzema in Europe away from home, he spends half his time just receiving and dishing off to Modric, Ronaldo, etc. It’s priceless. Plus, he becomes the focal point of the attack, and means our small attacking mids can run off him.
And 4-3-3 sides counter attack. Especially Brodge’s 4-3-3.
- The start to the season.
Away to Stoke, and then away to every one of the top sides in the first 2-3 months. Two reasons why that’s crucial; 1 – we’ve got no Sturridge or Sterling, two of our other threats are unproven – Firmino & Ibe, and 2 – Brodge is out of a job if he fucks it up. We’ve simply got to start well, so I’d say he pushed for this as much as any signing in his time here. He’s not dumb, just fucking nauseating, but even he would know that a strong start – or one that doesn’t see us unnecessarily lose ground will keep him here. We can beat the cannon fodder; we saw that last year when we went 12 or 13 games unbeaten when we put away the fucking shite, so if he can get through the first 2 months relatively unscathed, then we’ll have a chance to make ground. Plus, he’s gone and bought ‘premiership proven’. Loathe it or loathe it, he’s bought in Milner, Benteke, Clyne and Ings – who all cut it in this league last year. If Benteke can’t hold it up away to Stoke on opening day, then who the fuck can he’ll be thinking.
- There aren’t any other Suarezes.
I, as much as anyone else, have been championing the fact that our best form came when we didn’t have yer archetypal target man there, we had this diminutive Uruguayan all-rounder. I guess he was a one-off, so admitting that you can’t replace like-for-like is probably the wise thing to do about now. I’m no global scout, but even I know there aren’t many other out there like him… Aguero? No chance. Sanchez? Sailed ship. Tevez? Too old. Rooney? Too cunt. Who else is there really? There haven’t been too many big name strikers available and drifting around this summer - especially not many who can replace a Suarez, and thinking back to my first point above – we had to get someone. Not in a Balotelli-desperation way either.
And I don’t actually think Brodge wanted to try and re-create the manufactured 4-4-2 diamond we had then anyway. He’s a 4-3-3 man by default, and I guess (actually I’m hoping) he knows that having two centre-mids in a flat 4 – especially when one of them is Gerrard – leaves you horribly exposed going the other way.
Plus there's all the standard stuff about the fact he can score goals, is a threat at set-pieces, is largely fit and injury-free, is young, knows the league, etc etc.
I’m still not totally for it, I think I’d have preferred us to wait until someone who does fit the mould better became available in 6 months or wherever, but I guess Brodge figured he won’t have another 6 months in the job if he doesn’t produce from the get-go this season, so we are where we are.
It’s his job if this one fails.
