Well having only been back a few days from holiday I only yesterday had the chance to watch the City game. I plopped my sunburned arse on the sofa and was shocked by the absolutely dreadful performance from nearly everyone involved. Could that game possibly have gone any worse?
Some comments I wanted to get off my chest before the Spurs game:
I mentioned this in a post not too long ago and was immediately shot down: the problem in the defense is NOT just a personnel issue. I think that it has become abundantly clear now that the defence is either not being coached at all, or at the very least not being coached correctly. This was already quite clear last season when Rodgers actually SAID "you can't coach the defense, they just have to make the right decisions." I mean... does that really make sense? you can coach midfielders and attackers but you can't turn defenders into better players? really?
So the solution apparently was to just.... buy "better" defenders. And just substitute the sh*te ones for the new "better" ones and everything will be okay. Right? right??? wrong. They are still not on the same page, they don't talk to each other, they can't hold a line, I mean how much more obvious could it be that they're not being coached properly??
Ask yourself this: does it truly make sense that players like Agger, Skrtel etc, who were all solid defenders under both Rafa and Kenny, suddenly became poor once Rodgers came in, at random? does it make sense that our defense suddenly started leaking goals, and it had nothing to do with Rodgers's coaching and/or the lack thereof? Of course not. We had a dedicated defensive coach in Steve Clarke. He left. And now we have none, and our manager believes defenders "can't be coached."
Ask yourself one more question: is it truly an issue of just.... buying better players?
If that's the case, then how is it possible that the bottom feeders and relegation fodder can go away to such big clubs and park the bus and hold the line for 90 minutes plus? is the back four of the likes of QPR, Hull, Stoke etc, are their defenders just "better" than ours?? of course not!!! but they're coached the hell out of, to where they are so F***ing disciplined that they don't need to be "better." We have 4 individuals who are not on the same page. How can QPR and Hull do it, but we can't? It's so shocking and frustrating that it's clear that we don't have a defensive coaching approach whatsoever. We should offer Steve Clarke his old job back and have him work on the defense.
Now to the individual performances.
Sturridge had a poor game. He takes way too much time on the ball and it's getting tiresome. Seen a few comments back in the thread that he needs a partner to play with otherwise he doesn't do well. You know what, I'm getting pretty sick and tired of hearing that such and such player can't play unless paired with someone else. Stevie can't play unless Henderson is protecting him. Sturridge can't play unless he has a partner. Here's an idea: how about everyone pull their weight? Last time I checked, Suarez was absolutely brilliant both as a partner AND on his own. So if Sturridge can't cut it without having someone else play next to him then he can sit the bench and give Balotelli a try. Because Sterling sure as hell isn't going to be dropped. And I can guarantee you that Markovic would be better on the wing than Sturridge.
And here's another unpopular truth: of that shower of sh*te defensive display, the only one who could come out with his head held high was Skrtel. The man didn't put a foot wrong and has been since last season and continuing into this one our most consistent CB. And yet, the calls from so many so-called supporters are for Sakho to come in in his place. Why? what did Skrtel do to deserve to be dropped? Sakho didn't exactly cover himself in glory last year. And yet you people want Sakho. I'll tell you why: because Sakho cost 17m. That's pretty much the only reason. And yet he has done nothing, absolutely nothing to suggest he's better than Skrtel.
Henderson also had a poor game. I wonder if those brilliant six months last season were a flash in the pan. Only time will tell. Stevie was also anonymous. I was excited to see Can come on but he was well off the pace and that dive was just shocking and cringeworthy. We need another top class CM before the window shuts.
I actually thought Moreno didn't do too poorly. He made mistakes that led to the goals, no doubt about that, but overall I don't think he had a bad debut. Him getting injured there near the end just made the game go from bad to worse; we had no luck in that game at all.
And now we come to one Simon Mignolet.
Honestly, what the hell is it going to take for people to see that he is NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!!! Nothing he could have done about the second goal, but the first goal, F***ing hell, close your F***ing legs son. And the third goal was the worst positioning I've seen from any keeper since Pepe made that stupid mistake away at City two seasons ago. I mean F***ing hell Mignolet, where the hell was he, taking a nap in the middle of the pitch?? he practically gave Aguero an open goal!!! Everyone wants Skrtel dropped despite doing NOTHING wrong and yet they refuse to consider dropping Mignolet despite the fact that he is afraid of his own shadow, is as quiet as a mouse when talking to the back four, and he makes idiotic mistakes that give away goals. No no no. Can't drop Simon! Why? umm.... we just can't. Skrtel! he's the one who needs to be dropped! yea! drop Skrtel! But Mignolet just made two mistakes that cost us goals. "Yea but he saved some worldies against Saints!" What a generation we live in now. Mignolet is shaky, nervous, poor positioning, but he makes one incredible save and suddenly all is forgiven. I thought we were supposed to have the most intelligent supporters around. Well it's really daft to think that a keeper can play so awfully and be so shaky but all is forgiven if he makes a few worldie saves. I really don't get what the issue is with this lad. It can't be confidence---he had the entire city of Liverpool in his hand from Day 1 when he saved that penalty against Stoke last season. He has no real competition, so he can't fear losing his place. And yet he still acts like he is afraid of his own shadow. Dear Simon Mignolet: you are not good enough to be the starting goalkeeper of a team aiming to win the league. You're just not.
Anyway. Roll on Spurs. Let's hope we've learned our lessons and let's cross our fingers SOMEONE worked with the back four this week so that they're not left to their own devices.
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