Well, I suppose it's only fair to credit Rodgers in part for the win against Stoke. Given the fact he's had all sorts thrown at him (from LFC fans), from Landlord innuendos to possibly 'losing the dressing room,' so it's only fair to applaud the manager over a win against Stoke.
The gaffer did what many wanted; he dropped his
landlord captain for Lucas and Lovren (a 20 million signing of his) for the cheaper and older version of Kolo Toure. It paid off for him to some degree.
I don't expect the boss would have been too over the moon with the first half display but then again I don't think he would have been as unhappy as the first half performance warranted. It was dire, shabby and ineffective and even though we never looked liked scoring, we never looked like conceding either. We were deep and not very adventurous with it. Lucas, Allen, Henderson and Lambert even aren't the kind of midfielders
in the main (and attacker too) to get you goals deep from your own half. It wasn't until the gaffer clearly told the lads at half time to go out there and be more aggressive with their pressing, until said players carried more of a threat.
And Rodgers, clearly hadn't lost the dressing room because after HT the instructions were clear and this bolder tactic was adhered to by the lads. Make no bones about it, Rodgers and the team hadn't won for a while, the pressure & rumours were mounting around him and he could, quite have easily gone for the safe Hodgson-esque performance of the first half, and used it for the second half. But the press was on! We have been undone by this game-plan many times; as it can stretch-a-game, it only takes an opposing CB to lob one over your
in no mans land midfielders for a break down the other end. This is/was a bit of conundrum for the manager, should he stick or twist? And he twisted his team to go and hunt the ball and take the game by the scruff of the neck. Even Lucas found himself pressing around their 18 yard box! And this shift paid dividends for a manager who is under enormous pressure - it could have gone either way - had Stoke been more threatening in attack.
By no means, am I talking this up to be a masterclass performance by Rodgers or the team but it was a small yet effective improvement straight after HT.
I also saw Rodgers was criticised for bringing Lovren on to
. He really can't win. Anyway, had Stoke scored I would have still agreed with that change because we're a team at the moment who can't hold onto a lead with four defenders on the pitch, and we have a tendency to concede late to - see Ludogorets. He had to go back to the very simple principle of holding onto a lead (which we're not very good at, at the best of times) by throwing on an extra defender. Had he have not done that and Stoke had equalised I can guarantee the other quip of, 'tactical/in game management naivety' would have been trotted out on here right after that.