I think it is has come to the point that Brendan Rodgers needs to make seriously difficult decisions and stamp his authority on the team - before its too late. I think he is a very good manager but if things do not improve then our main January signing may be a new manager.
So what needs to be done (and of course this will differ between each poster)...
- Understand that Simon Mignolet needs to be proved upon (although there are more pressing issues)
- Never play Glen Johnson again (offload him in January if possible)
- Bite his lip and get Mamadou Sakho straight back into the back four as soon as humanly possible
- Drop Gerrard! Probably the hardest thing to do but he should be nothing more than an impact sub and played further forward
- Utilise Lucas Leiva as a shield in front of the defence (perhaps the only defensive midfielder we really have on our books)
Thankfully more constructive than your last debacle of a post. I doubt very much they'll get rid of him mid-season and to be honest I doubt very much they will get rid of him at the end of the season, especially after he signed a contract extension last Summer. They will probably accept that players taking time to settle in is part and parcel of their strategy for the club, even if every man and his dog can see that strategy is killing us.
- We need a better keeper than Mignolet. I was against his signing in the first place, saying he wasn't good enough to be our first choice keeper. He'll do fine as a replacement for Jones though.
- Johnson gets slaughtered even when he plays reasonably well. He's not the best of fullbacks and does need replacing but he's not half as bad as he's made out to be.
- Lovren needs to be rested for a while because his head is in pieces. Take him out of the limelight, build up his confidence in training before bringing him back in to the team.
- I wouldn't drop him but I wouldn't play him at the base of the diamond. Playing him further forward with his range of passing might bring the best out of Balotelli.
- Without two strikers there's no pressing need to play a diamond formation so we should play with two holding midfielders. Throw Allen or Chan in next to Lucas.
In January we need to spend a decent amount of money on two highly experienced, established players. One goal keeper to be our first choice, one striker who can operate alongside or instead of Sturridge. In the Summer Lambert and Borini are moved on and Origi arrives. That's our four strikers sorted. Our biggest problem right now is the lack of any movement up front in the absence of a striker who operates like Suarez or Sturridge. Without that movement Gerrard's weaknesses are exposed whilst his talents are unable to be brought to bear. Players like Sterling and Lallana have no spaces to run in to because no one is dragging defenders out of position. Having Gerrard further forward could mean he's able to play these guys in because the balls he's playing are going to be shorter; and if we want to play two strikers play Borini up front with one of the other two. Above all I want to see the Brendan of last season, the one that outwitted opponents on multiple occasions with his tactical changes and adaptation to their tactics, something he's not shown any of this season. Let's get a bit of belief back in this side and we can turn this season around.
« Last Edit: Nov 24, 2014 01:23:45 am by 5timesacharm »
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