Liverpool 1:2 Chelsea. In game and post match déjà vu.

Apart from sack him? F**k all I s'pose.

what can Brendan say. The signings will come good next season or the lack of a striker is killing me.
More likely "I recommend the Duck"

Can?

Yep, he's not fully fit.
Looked like he was wading through treacle for the 10 or so minutes before he came off, and he's clearly carrying a bit of weight.
Still did pretty well until he faded though.
Probably the best of the central 3 midfielders.

Thank you
 Yes fully agree and definate improvement being made by him . Think next season will more upto speed.Coming from a lower slower league to prem league can take some adapting to but think he will.

Fanboy adoration? Name me a player in the team that has the range of passing that Gerrard has? That's not fanboy adoration, it's a f**king fact sir.

What is more worrying is that we have still to find an adequate replacement for Gerrard as he approaches his final Seasons with us. That is worrying.

My eyes are open, nobody makes the movement like we did last Season. That movement is gone and we haven't adapted or adjusted to compensate for it.

Spot on Hardcore.

Agreed.

I just posted in the BR thread that it was sad to see players going past him as if he wasn't there.

Usually, by this stage of the season, he's picked up after a slow start but I'm just not seeing it.

Swab, do you not think it is possible that our inability to keep hold of the ball up top is one of the reasons? It's not just Gerrard that has to defend, there are 2 other midfielders out there and when our full backs are not quick enough to recover from possession loss at the top end of the pitch our shape is twisted. A lot of blame has to be apportioned to the defence also, when a full back attacks then the defence has to adjust formation to compensate. We are not seeing that this Season.

what can Brendan say. The signings will come good next season or the lack of a striker is killing me.
More likely "I recommend the Duck"

The ducks a bit stringy at Anfield.

I'm not saying he'll sack him at all mate but I'd like to be there to hear BR explain in layman's terms what he thinks the issues are.

Personally I think he needs till the end of the 2016 season and deffo can't begin to be judged until after Xmas and his players have had a chance to bed in. I'd rather leave all that sh*t to robbie savage et al till then.

The ducks a bit stringy at Anfield.

I'm not saying he'll sack him at all mate but I'd like to be there to hear BR explain in layman's terms what he thinks the issues are.

Personally I think he needs till the end of the 2016 season and deffo can't begin to be judged until after Xmas and his players have had a chance to bed in. I'd rather leave all that sh*t to robbie savage et al till then.

Would you trust FSG to find his replacement hell NO.
Just get him to go back to basics and get himself a proper Assist mgr.Pick the best X1 you cant go too far wrong then

15 points behind them now, 11 behind Saints....Jesus F***ing christ, we aren't even half way through yet.

Swab, do you not think it is possible that our inability to keep hold of the ball up top is one of the reasons? It's not just Gerrard that has to defend, there are 2 other midfielders out there and when our full backs are not quick enough to recover from possession loss at the top end of the pitch our shape is twisted. A lot of blame has to be apportioned to the defence also, when a full back attacks then the defence has to adjust formation to compensate. We are not seeing that this Season.

I think there are multiple reasons.
The FB's are far too quick to get forwards, and not nearly quick enough to get back.
When the CB's split, it leaves Gerrard far too isolated in the centre and his recovery is not there. Whether he can get it back remains to be seen.
Too many players are making bad decisions, including Gerrard about when to pass it safe, or when to take a risk.
We are predictable in all area's of the pitch.
We seem to overthink things, and players are trying to be too clever at times which just means we give the ball away.
Our crossing is piss poor.
Our interplay in tight areas is just not there.
Shooting chances open up, but players elect to try and thread it through a packed area.
Our line is either too high or too deep, and we rarely get it right.
Set piece defending is a nightmare.
Last season we saw the defense drift and one fullback at a time going forwards (mostly), which always left 4 men at the back and even then we had problems.
Gerrard is playing at the bottom point of an inverted midfield triangle, if that makes sense.
For me, it is his job to screen in front of the back four, and he's not doing that very well, and to be honest, he never has.
He is a hugely talented footballer, but defending has never been his strongest point.


I said in the BR thread that the manager, his staff and the players need to get back to basics.
The best managers I have seen in 50 years watching the game have always built their teams from the back.
BR doesn't seem to want to do that, and sometimes, I get the feeling that he is trying to be too clever for his own good.

15 points behind them now, 11 behind Saints....Jesus f**king christ, we aren't even half way through yet.

Chelsea, Man City and Arsenal are guaranteed to finish top 4 this season ahead of us as they are all better sides. That leaves us scrapping for 4th place and the longer we progress in the cups the less chance I see us winning the scrap.

So forfeit the cups or miss 4th place?

Chelsea, Man City and Arsenal are guaranteed to finish top 4 this season ahead of us as they are all better sides. That leaves us scrapping for 4th place and the longer we progress in the cups the less chance I see us winning the scrap.

So forfeit the cups or miss 4th place?

4th place is seriously in doubt now mate. 5 losses already (avg 7 to get 4th) with Chelsea (A), UTD (A), Arsenal (H), City (H), Utd (H), Arsenal (A) all on top of Champs league or worse Uefa.... on top of that we are miles of getting this sh*t play sorted.

There is no chance.

Eight defeats in all competitions last season. Eight defeats already this season.

That statistic can't all be down to one player being sold and another being injured (BTW isn't it ironic that we bought so many players so we'd have a squad big enough to cope with injuries, yet we get one injury and we self-destruct).

Can't believe we signed Southampton's three best players and we're 11 points behind them!


Now we have a run of games against Palace, Ludogorets, Stoke, Leicester, Sunderland and Basel. That should be six wins in a row that would get some momentum going and rescue a dismal season - but I don't have confidence in us beating anyone ATM.

Back from the game.  One of the worst performances I have witnessed at Anfield in recent years.

Loud boos from the Kop when Emre Can and Coutinho were taken off - Can was by far the best player on the pitch.  Hugely disappointed that Balotelli et al were brought back - proves that Rodgers midweek statements about not resting players was complete bullshit.

Looks pretty simple to me - if Rodgers continues to play one target man up front - continues to play Gerrard in a position that does nothing for us - and continues to play the members of the squad that are underperforming - Liverpool will finish about 7th or 8th and Rodgers will get the sack.  Don't want that to happen but he is continuing to sign his own death warrant at LFC.

I agree with you there Walton. In Balotelli's defence though i will say that this persistence with playing him up top on his own is pointless. I understand that he is a lazy player but if Brendan is going to select him then we need a partner to help him. I know we shouldn't have to do this in an ideal world but if Balotelli is the focal point of our attack then Brendan should have the tactical acumen to identify the best way to utilise him.

The difference today was simple, yet stark. One coach identified a problem and went out  to buy Costa. The other one identified a problem and went out to buy Balotelli. Hence why one has wrapped up his third league title, and the other has lost to him for the third time in a row. With three league games remaining, we face him again. It's likely to be another difficult afternoon.

Back from the game.  One of the worst performances I have witnessed at Anfield in recent years.

Loud boos from the Kop when Emre Can and Coutinho were taken off - Can was by far the best player on the pitch. 
Hugely disappointed that Balotelli et al were brought back - proves that Rodgers midweek statements about not resting players was complete bullshit.

Looks pretty simple to me - if Rodgers continues to play one target man up front - continues to play Gerrard in a position that does nothing for us - and continues to play the members of the squad that are underperforming - Liverpool will finish about 7th or 8th and Rodgers will get the sack.  Don't want that to happen but he is continuing to sign his own death warrant at LFC.

+1

Fifteen points off the top, seven points off the bottom.

That is F***ing depressing.

https://vine.co/v/Oe2YvaAzWX3

Indefensible on every level.

Back from the game.  One of the worst performances I have witnessed at Anfield in recent years.

Loud boos from the Kop when Emre Can and Coutinho were taken off - Can was by far the best player on the pitch.  Hugely disappointed that Balotelli et al were brought back - proves that Rodgers midweek statements about not resting players was complete bullshit.

Looks pretty simple to me - if Rodgers continues to play one target man up front - continues to play Gerrard in a position that does nothing for us - and continues to play the members of the squad that are underperforming - Liverpool will finish about 7th or 8th and Rodgers will get the sack.  Don't want that to happen but he is continuing to sign his own death warrant at LFC.

I didn't think it was that bad mate. We were outplayed, but if you ignore our poor defending, forget about our toothless attacking and just concentrate on Coutinho and Can.... we weren't too bad.

I think there are multiple reasons.
The FB's are far too quick to get forwards, and not nearly quick enough to get back.
When the CB's split, it leaves Gerrard far too isolated in the centre and his recovery is not there. Whether he can get it back remains to be seen.
Too many players are making bad decisions, including Gerrard about when to pass it safe, or when to take a risk.
We are predictable in all area's of the pitch.
We seem to overthink things, and players are trying to be too clever at times which just means we give the ball away.
Our crossing is piss poor.
Our interplay in tight areas is just not there.
Shooting chances open up, but players elect to try and thread it through a packed area.
Our line is either too high or too deep, and we rarely get it right.
Set piece defending is a nightmare.
Last season we saw the defense drift and one fullback at a time going forwards (mostly), which always left 4 men at the back and even then we had problems.
Gerrard is playing at the bottom point of an inverted midfield triangle, if that makes sense.
For me, it is his job to screen in front of the back four, and he's not doing that very well, and to be honest, he never has.
He is a hugely talented footballer, but defending has never been his strongest point.


I said in the BR thread that the manager, his staff and the players need to get back to basics.
The best managers I have seen in 50 years watching the game have always built their teams from the back.
BR doesn't seem to want to do that, and sometimes, I get the feeling that he is trying to be too clever for his own good.

The bolded bit is the key point in all of this. It's not any one player that's responsible for our season so far, it's all of them which then begs the question of whether it's tactics to blame, or more accurately, their understanding of what Brendan wants them to be doing because it sure as hell doesn't look like it. That pic posted earlier is a prime example. That's not down to the lack of a defensive coach, the players are simply in the wrong positions, positions no defender anywhere else in the world would be so is that down to a lack of understanding by them because by the same token, I sure as hell can't see any coach anywhere in the world coaching his players to be behind the attackers in the box. Something has changed at Liverpool since the Summer and it cannot simply be put down to the sale of Suarez, the lack of quality signings or the injury to Sturridge. It looks to me like Brendan is trying to reinvent the way they play again and the players are having a hard time adapting to it.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/revealed-liverpool-fc-still-nations-8072763


From The Echo .

Cheer up y' all.

We are still the nation's favourite second team          .......       for now.

Sorry to pick out just this part of your post but this is spot on. Gerrard is so intellectually superior to the majority of this team, yet it is Gerrard who takes the flak for players who haven't got the game intelligence to match his.

Gerrard does look lost this Season, but we can't blame him if players around him haven't got the brain to run into open spaces.

Last Season, Gerrard hits those passes and Suarez and Sturridge are onto them in a flash.

This Season, Gerrard hits the same passes but nobody has the intelligence to be in the space.

Agree. Said this months ago and was nearly lambasted for it. He has no confidence in his team mates. They either remain static, or run around like headless chickens. He knows himself he hasn't the same stamina as years ago, so why attempt to do it on his own? Still think SG should be playing further up too. Has always been an attacking player. He can still cause damage up there rather than being wasted in or around defence.

hmm, the calls for Rodgers to be sacked are a bit much for me.

Still, one poster gets called a wum, another poster saying exactly the same thing gets a free ride.

The wum you indicate has had stick previously, as you say he does seem to be sailing through here, although his comment is a little more subdued than the in-your-face sh*t by the other fella.

Chelsea, Man City and Arsenal are guaranteed to finish top 4 this season ahead of us as they are all better sides. That leaves us scrapping for 4th place and the longer we progress in the cups the less chance I see us winning the scrap.

So forfeit the cups or miss 4th place?

Given that we finished above Chelsea and Arsenal last season, came so close to City and spent £100mill this summer they should not be better sides than us and we should be guaranteed a place in the top 4.

This is Liverpool Football Club and we shouldn't be asking the question of whether we forfeit the cups or miss 4th place. You wont find City or Chelsea asking such questions.

Given that we finished above Chelsea and Arsenal last season, came so close to City and spent £100mill this summer they should not be better sides than us and we should be guaranteed a place in the top 4.

This is Liverpool Football Club and we shouldn't be asking the question of whether we forfeit the cups or miss 4th place. You wont find City or Chelsea asking such questions.

We need to start behaving like we are Liverpool Football Club. Right now we are a mid table team. Legacy or not, that is the hard fact.

Last season we nearly did something amazing! Letting Suarez before we solidified our place at the top will prove to be the biggest mistake of this era. Dont care whether he wanted to leave or not. Take the massive payout out of the equation and you can guarentee we wouldnt of sold him.