Brendan Rodgers (Liverpool -> Celtic -> Leicester)

More to it than that.
Last year, the midfielders were pressing when we didn't have the ball.
This is what I'm talking about.
Not the ball sticking or nothing to hit up front.
Last season we were very effective at playing without the ball.

It took time to build up to that level, but I'm nearly sure we were there by this stage of the season, and had really started to blitz teams.
The midfield and attacking players look knackered after 20 minutes pressing, that's what I'm getting at.

The reason why you press quickly is to make the opposition play the ball before they have control, once they have proper control of the ball they will pass through you with ease if you try to press. (5 seconds rule) Because we can't hold the ball up front and it is coming straight back our midfields job is to fight for the second ball rather than actually press.

I also feel this is one of the reasons we look knackered in games. We are spending too much time running about like headless chickens up and down rather than being given the time to organize and press. Which again is why we spend half our time passing the ball aimlessly about at the back.... trying to give the chickens a bit of a breather.

When was the last time you seen a Liverpool side really control the midfield in a game and when I say control, I mean Dominant in the center of the pitch ?

I can't really see him going before the end of the season, nor can I see us spending much in January.

The team selections don't bother me too much, mostly because BR has more information and sees the players in training every day.

I do wonder what has happened to our pressing game though, not to mention our confidence.
I'm also old school in that I think teams should be built from the back, and for me that should be the first priority of any manager coming in, but BR failed to do this.
He tinkered around the edges a bit, and bought some players in, but to me it was always with an eye on what they offered in an attacking sense rather than defensive stability.
There's a reason why so many managers take Rinus Michels as their blueprint, along with Arrigo Sacchi who was also a "disciple" of the Michels method.
I know one man who could improve us, I know he's not everyones cup of tea, and I still want BR to at least see out the season and see if he can turn things around, but I'm sure you all know who I mean.

Don't forget your press starts at the front, it's your forward players who pull the trigger and then the others follow. But it doesn't work so well with Balotelli or Lambert up there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZUzc_MdKQo#t=61

Brendan today

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZUzc_MdKQo#t=61

Brendan today

Blimey, he's nicking Gerrards lines now.
"We go again".

I like his ideas, but they are not translating into points, or even decent performances.
I may have to face the possibility that he is more about style than substance.

I know not everyone is going to agree with me and I may get slated for it but does Rosgers really deserve "time" when he is having a worse season that Woy did? When his signings have been worse, a lot worse when you consider the money he has spent on the rubbish and when his interviews are now very similar to Woys...

His interviews are not similar to Roy's. Roy was just talking just non-sense.
To be honest I believe Brendan's interviews are good. I know many people will disagree with me but what he does is simply trying to build confidence in the squad. I am sure he understands the things he says are not true and that we are not playing well but he has to say such things.

However, I think the problem is not entirely the lack of confidence. I think the main problem is lack of desire which could mean that the players are not happy with the manager. I hope I am wrong but to be honest I believe Brendan has lost part of the dressing room and I think he will be gone before next season.
That is just my opinion. Time will show if I am right.

Blimey, he's nicking Gerrards lines now.
"We go again".

I like his ideas, but they are not translating into points, or even decent performances.
I may have to face the possibility that he is more about style than substance.

I think most of us are experiencing similar doubts mate. Hard times all round, I am holding on till after the transfer window but after that we need to see a big improvement (if not before!)

Think the bloke has run out of ideas & does not know how to pull us out of this slump.

I think most of us are experiencing similar doubts mate. Hard times all round, I am holding on till after the transfer window but after that we need to see a big improvement (if not before!)

I know I keep banging on about building from the back, and I had been wondering if BR would prove the old saying wrong, but even if we suddenly start scoring a lot of goals, I can't see the back 5 improving to the required standard, and that tells me that this is a coaching problem, and not necessarily the fault of the players.
Lovren was excellent last season, and Sakho was very good at the WC.
They didn't become bad defenders just by pulling on a Liverpool shirt, so it's a problem that urgently needs addressing.

Come on gaffer get it right tomorrow and build from there

The persistence with Gerrard is going to kill his Liverpool career I fear.

Gerrard is the antithesis to what Rodgers wants from the team, he cannot be in the team simply for personality. We should be keen to give lads like Rossiter a look in over Gerrard, because (lo and behold) he's the next defensive midfielder in the squad behind Can. How ridiculous is that (Lucas, Allen, Gerrard are NOT natural holding midfielders)?

His interviews are not similar to Roy's. Roy was just talking just non-sense.

Because saying we have played very well when in fact we have played utter sh*te is talking sense?

Not commented for a while,to much negativity,and i just did not want to add to that,i will say this, Bob paisley picked his teams on merit not names,i have read that Sturridge, Suarez was the best partnership in Europe,from what i saw last season they were the best in the world,we conceded a lot but we knew we would score more than them,so take them 2 out of the reckoning,and we are still a team that will concede 50+ league goals a season,but obviously without their goals,so we are going to struggle,BR's lack of tough decision making,when he can see it's not working, but sends out the same players,who are clearly not performing,is baffling to me,super nice guy but i am starting to feel he is out of his depth.

Because saying we have played very well when in fact we have played utter sh*te is talking sense?

Yes it is. I explained above why I think so:

what he does is simply trying to build confidence in the squad. I am sure he understands the things he says are not true and that we are not playing well but he has to say such things.

You do not have to agree with me.

Not one person on here would have called for his head least season! He deserves time, he is a decent manager, he had us playing like F***ing champs last year unfortunately we weren't but we were so f***in close it wasnt funny. I dont think he should be sacked this season but something has to change regards transfers/wages IMO! Saint posted a video above and Rodgers looks like he hasnt slept in days, he is clearly feeling the heat and rightly so.

The team know they are playing sh*te. Rodgers knows he has made mistakes all season, he also made a good few mistakes last season as did a lot of the players. They are clearly suffering a crisis of confidence being blown out of proportion by the media (And some fans)!  We are 5 points off fourth, its not that bad. Unfortunately we are out of the title race but so are probably 18 other teams.

We lost our fear factor we need it back!

Yes it is. I explained above why I think so:

You do not have to agree with me.

Well it's not building confidence though is it, it's denial and not wanting to accept responsibility as far as I am concerned.

Well it's not building confidence though is it, it's denial and not wanting to accept responsibility as far as I am concerned.

It is. I am surprised you cannot see it. Just try to look behind the obvious

Let's be honest there's a clutch of a Lpool fans who never accepted the fact BR replaced KK and will always be waiting to pounce on him

He's a young manager who has made mistakes but he showed me enough last season to suggest he's not a flash in the pan and will come good, there's a golden sky at the end of the storm lads

I'm not saying I am entirely at that point yet but should we fail to win our next couple of games then I think he will have sealed his fate.

We also have to ask ourselves, none of us were happy with Woy, far from it and couldn't believe he even got the job. From the off he was making terrible signings and having us play an abysmal standard of football and it wasn't long at all that we wanted him out.

In all honesty there is no difference between the Woys time with us and this season under Rodgers. Before when there were a few doubts about Rodgers he had the fact that he had a good philosophy in mind for us to play and we were showing signs of playing some good football and we had made good signings in Coutinho and Sturridge. We obviously then went on to have a very good season results wise, some of our play was still pretty poor and our defending was shoddy but we were getting the wins which mattered and made some of the bad play and just how bad our defending go abit in-noticed.

Another season in and now we have lost the main reason for our good season last time round, our defending has gotten so much worse and our signings bar the odd one have been shocking since the day Rodgers was handed his first penny. We may have had so miserable signings in Poulsen and Konchesky but given the money paid and their roles within the team are The signings of Migs and Lovren for example any better when you consider we basically got rid of Pepe and Agger to make space for them. Or maybe the signings of Aspas and Luis Alberto....shocking from the off!

The only difference this season and Woys time is that this is our worst start to the league for 22 years and we are letting in even more goals than under Woy.

I know not everyone is going to agree with me and I may get slated for it but does Rosgers really deserve "time" when he is having a worse season that Woy did? When his signings have been worse, a lot worse when you consider the money he has spent on the rubbish and when his interviews are now very similar to Woys...

I think that regardless of how well you done the season before you have to completely forget that when you consider the amount a manager has spent and just how shocking the current season is going.

When it gets to the point that when you go into games like Palace and Ludogorets thinking there is more chance of a defeat than a win, that is when things need to change and anybody thinking other wise are burying their heads in the sand.

It's a results business and he isn't getting the results and it's not even like we are just unlucky, we are playing horrific football, we are getting played off the park with ease and it's painful to watch.

Obviously going to continue to give my full support to the team but if things don't change then I won't have any disappointment seeing Rodgers given the boot.

He needs to cut the bullshit in the interviews, give the team the bollocking they need, expect responsibility for getting the playing style wrong and start us building from the back and hopefully results will follow.

When did Woy ever look like winning us the league playing the most exciting football in Europe?

Let's be honest there's a clutch of a Lpool fans who never accepted the fact BR replaced KK and will always be waiting to pounce on him

He's a young manager who has made mistakes but he showed me enough last season to suggest he's not a flash in the pan and will come good, there's a golden sky at the end of the storm lads

They need to remember what Shankly said " if you can't support us when we draw or lose don't support us when we win".

Let's be honest there's a clutch of a Lpool fans who never accepted the fact BR replaced KK and will always be waiting to pounce on him

I don't think that's the case mate. I think it's more a case of him not doing the things he should be because he is almost too set in his ways. a few years in now and we are getting worse and worse at defending to the point where the goals we are letting in half the time are completely amateur. I'd have thought we were supposed to see improvement.

He really had the chance to take us to the next level this season and not just this season but others with us, he has had well over £200mill and just signed utter sh*te bar a few players. He is signing players on loan and if they aren't terminated then they are miserable deals, signing players that are meant to be for the first team and loaning them out the following season because they were useless.

This season hasn't been good enough, end of and it really makes you wonder where we would have actually come last season had Suarez left a year earlier.

The only saving grace for us this season so far is that the teams below the top 3 are looking just as bad and allowed it to only be a 5 point gap.

He still has my support for now believe it or not but he needs to cut the bullshit and persisting with payers that just aren't performing and build the team from the back because the way we are letting in goals has become completely embarrassing. 33 clean sheets (20 of which Agger played in) I think we have managed with him in charge and only two this season.

He's a young manager who has made mistakes but he showed me enough last season to suggest he's not a flash in the pan and will come good

He showed you or Suarez made him look better than he is? Genuine question.

Brendan Rodgers confident Liverpool can make Champions League spot

Brendan Rodgers has said he will “fight for his life” to remain Liverpool manager and insisted his team can overcome their wretched form to finish in the top four.

Liverpool stand 12th in the Premier League having lost as many games in the opening 12 fixtures – six – as they did throughout last season’s title challenge, and have not won a league game since beating Queens Park Rangers 3-2 at Loftus Road on 19 October. Yet, despite a subsequent run that has placed Rodgers’ job prospects under scrutiny, Liverpool are only five points behind fourth-placed Manchester United.

Recent performances undermine thoughts of another Champions League qualification more than the points deficit but Rodgers believes Liverpool have the quality to transform an alarming campaign. The Liverpool manager, who will again be without the injured Mario Balotelli against Stoke City on Saturday and may rest Steven Gerrard, said: “I have an inherent belief that we can still make the top four. I know what we are all capable of here.

“No matter how we have been we are still within touching distance of the initial aim, which was fourth and then moving forward. If we are only five points off that aim then that gives me the belief that we have every chance of doing it. I’m not saying it is going to be easy. We obviously have to pick up form but what I saw from the group against Ludogorets the other night gave me encouragement that we are going to move forward.

“The players have the experience from last season and I have every belief that we can do it. Sometimes things are never as bad as people say or write. They are not always as good as people say or write either. You just have to stay calm. We will improve but we need to show it through our actions on the field.”

Rodgers admitted he was not immune to dismissal by Liverpool’s owners, Fenway Sports Group, following last Sunday’s 3-1 defeat at Crystal Palace but believes it is symptomatic of “the short-termism of modern football” that he has veered from LMA manager of the year to favourite for the sack inside seven months.

“I will fight for my life to be here for as long as I can,” he added. “You never like seeing or hearing things like you are the bookies’ favourite to get the sack when six months ago I was manager of the year but that is modern football. All I can do is my best and I will continue to do my best.

“While I do that I can relax knowing that whenever that time comes from the owners, whether it is in one month or 10 years, I will walk out of here knowing I have given my absolute all to give the club what it wants. I am happy with that.”

Former players Jamie Carragher and Bruce Grobbelaar have both been highly critical of Rodgers’ team following the dreadful performance at Selhurst Park. But the manager responded: “I’ve read a little of what has been said. You don’t forget the support you get in difficult moments on and off the pitch. I’m thankful to the unequivocal support I’ve had from legends of the club like Ian Rush, Robbie Fowler, Kenny Dalglish and Steve McManaman. They know we are in a difficult moment but are 100% behind what we are doing.”

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/nov/28/brendan-rodgers-liverpool-champions-league

Let's be honest there's a clutch of a Lpool fans who never accepted the fact BR replaced KK and will always be waiting to pounce on him

He's a young manager who has made mistakes but he showed me enough last season to suggest he's not a flash in the pan and will come good, there's a golden sky at the end of the storm lads

Pretty much this, these fans need to broaden their horizons.