Good thread this. And to answer the question, yes, without a doubt it will need time to gel however, I still expect the side to have a better season in the league this season as the process takes shape.
I guess the biggest questions for me are.
1/ Can this group of players play in the manner and style of play Rodgers has set out?
2/ And if not, how long will it take him to bring in the right players to make it work?
- I don't think it will be easy based purely on the players he has at his disposal at the moment as quite a few of them (many of them only recently purchased) look like square pegs for round holes in this system. Starting in defence I'm wondering how both Carra and young Coates fit Rodgers philosophy? Rodgers has talked very highly of Carra (and rightly so) and funnily enough, you can already see Carra playing differently (I haven't seen him do anything other than find feet so far this pre-season) BUT if we're going to press the ball and play a high line with Carra in the side it will get messy. As well as he still anticipates things, he is in all sorts of trouble once he gets turned. And I think the same applies to young Coates. I thought he did ok when he got in the game last season (albeit a bit shaky), but for the same reasons as Carra I think he's a disaster waiting to happen if we lose possession and he sitting on the halfway line with a speedster on his shoulder. In the middle of the park I don't think things are so bad but it's clear we need a pure passer in there and all the coverage linking the club to Joe Allen would suggest that Rodgers sees this. I'm really struggling to see where young Henderson fits in and watching him the other night reminded me what a limited player he is right now but he is fit and mobile and can certainly be a force in the pressing game. But on the flip side, Charlie Adam is the opposite, he's a better passer and he sees things BUT he doesn't have the engine or mobility to press it for 60 (let alone 90) minutes.
Wide areas are still a big concern. Rodgers has indicated that Borini can do a job on the left but early looks at the player suggest to me that he is a bit like Kuyt (ie. hard working, good movement, great attitude + potentially a better finisher) and not the player who will run at full-backs, beat his man, pull players out of position etc. As for the right hand side I haven't got a clue who will play there. Is Downing the man? I think he can contribute but I'd be worried if he is our best option. Sterling is VERY raw and has a year or two of learning ahead of him and I don't think it would be fair to ask too much of the lad so clearly another face needs to come in for the wings. I would argue that Swansea are currently stronger in wide areas than we are.
Up front I think Suarez will play as the number 9 and then we've got the £35 million elephant in the room that is Andy Carroll. I know lots of you think he can be a player in Rodgers system but I believe he will struggle, and because he doesn't appear to have the confidence of the gaffer, his confidence will suffer. I actually think he will be back at Newcastle come the 1st September. He may get a few opportunites early on but he will have to impress very quickly I think.
I think the biggest challenges facing the players in terms of playing Rodgers way are:
- Being brave enough to keep the ball in dangerous areas. There will be times where they need to hold onto the ball for a little longer in order for someone to show feet and have the confidence to give it to a teamate even when they are tighly marked. Rodgers will encourage and empower them to do this BUT I expect it to cost us a few goals along the way. You know how Enrique plays, he never wants to hoof the ball and will try and play passes in dangerous areas when you're screaming for him to lump it? Well I think we will see this from a lot of our players this season and there are bound to be some teething problems.
- The final 3rd. If Rodgers can take a newly promoted side and have them 2nd (or 3rd) in the league in possession stats then I suspect (and expect) that LFC will be top (or thereabouts) in the same category next season. The biggest challenge I think (much like last season) will breaking down the well organised defences that we will come up against next season. Based on the players at the club at the moment I'm not filled with the confidence that we will be prolific scorers and it's clear that at least a couple of new faces need to come in.
In terms of the challenges facing individual players in this system i've got a few question marks.
- Stevie Gerrard loves to play the ball into space for others to run onto. Growing up with Michael Owen and then Torres up front it is hardly suprising BUT Rodgers preaches retaining possession over risking possession of the ball so can Stevie make the adjustment?
- Jose Enrique seemed to have licence to get as far forward as he wanted the other night but as much as I like him, he is incredibly one-footed and quite one-dimensional as an attacking player. I worry he will lose the ball and leave the rest of the team exposed this season.
- Can Henderson make better use of the ball and take some responsibility this season? I don't buy it myself but I know some of you rate the lad and to be fair, he does occasionally show a little something. LFC are gonna have a lot of the ball this year so young Jordan needs to show he has more than his usual 5-10 yard side-ways pass in his locker.
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