Well I went away on holiday guessing that either Liverpool would still have Carroll or Carroll would be out and Dempsey and at a push one other would be in. I never imagined that Carroll would be allowed to leave and that no one would come in to fill the void. However that is the situation facing Liverpool and it is without doubt our most presing short term issue. For the record I still have complete faith in BR and I think that he was let down badly the the board. Personally I dont think FSG are the perfect owners but despite the mistakes that have been made I believe they have the right ideas; as shown by the Red Sox, about how to make a sporting club successful. All the same refusing to pay the extra 1-2 million to get Dempsey when we desperatly needed a striker to make a crucial difference to our season was a big mistake. I am not saying that like last season we should of overspent on players, but in exceptional cases like the deadline day last week if the manager needs an extra million or two to get a player he desperatly needs and wants then he should be backed and FSG failed to do this.
Moving on the solution to this is difficult to work out. Its hard to see any current free agents who would either be realistic options or who would be worth it. As a result its definetly a good idea giving the likes of Adam Morgan a go at least in cup games or from the bench. Rodgers in his first interview said that maybe a change in the playing system would help and maybe it shall but I doubt it. Finally on this topic i worry that Gerrard does not have the tatical disipline to be one of out midfield 3. On the other hand he is a versatile player, who can drive past players and knows how to find the back of the net. So maybe having Gerrard as one of out attacking 3 would help matters?
Meanwhile at the other end of the pitch defensive errors such as giving the ball away needlessly have cost us dear. This however I hope and expect will become less of an issue as Agger and Skrtel find the form of last season, and as the team as a whole gradually adapts to Rodgers playing style. The final problem is Reina. No one doubts his ability but despite being at a peak age for a keeper his form has been on the slide for the past year. I hate to say it but at this rate he is a weak link in our side. Hopefully the solution will be that he can find his form of old. However failing that maybe the threat of losing his place to Doni or Jones both or whom probably could do a solid if unspectacular job will kickstart things for him.
Sorry if I rambled but so much has happened while I was away and i need a good debate about Liverpool. So thoughts and opinions are most welcome. Cheers
Problems and Solutions
posted on 6/9/12
cheers mate
posted on 6/9/12
I think he was wrong to say he didn't want Andy Carroll so early on in his reign. Then when things went pear shaped Carroll had to go or if he had stayed BR would have had soured relationship. And need he, need he?
posted on 6/9/12
I think thats a fair point Shelveyville but I suppose he felt that Carroll was not going to fit into his system and that there were better alternatives for Liverpool out there. Unfortunatly he was not given the chance to bring in the strikers he wanted so its not really fair atm to judge wether he was right about Carroll or not.
posted on 6/9/12
I think it is fair to judge him on Carroll, as Carroll was never given a chance. This is the only criticism I have of Brendan and the problems relating from this error.
posted on 6/9/12
I would of liked to of seen AC be given a chance and I hope that come January the possibilty of a recall comes a reality and he gets it. We shall see but I also think that BR has to be allowed to bring in the striker or two which he wants and really needs in January too. Even if that does mean the big man staying at West Ham.
posted on 6/9/12
BR really painted himself into a corner here. He left himself with no room to manouevere, thereby displaying a lack of judgement. The impression I got, and still hold, was that Andy Carroll would batter down the walls of Jerico to prove his worth, but wasn't given the chance. While I support our manager in his efforts, he could do worse than coming clean, and admit he got it wrong. JimmyTheRed
posted on 7/9/12
Jimmy, If BR thought the owners would let him buy Dempsey but they didn't, is it BRs fault?
posted on 7/9/12
I see a worrying trend here. Everyone is happy to point the finger at anyone and everyone for making mistakes. The only people who seem exempt from this are the owners. I've seen people calling for BR to apologise while other have called for Ian Ayre to be sacked.
An echo Journo suggests that BR wanted Dempsey and thought that the owners would allow him to get him. But, apparently the owners refused to pay more than 3 Mill for him, a decision that had noting to do with Ayre. The issue was compounded by the fact that Fulham were not best pleased that the FSG media empire had declared weeks ago that we had signed Dempsey.
If we apportion blame to the wrong people we are likely to see lots more sackings and subsequent changes of direction with the instability that that causes. The media will be piling the pressure on BR very soon if we don't move up the table PDQ, Fans blaming him for other people's failures isn't going to help
posted on 7/9/12
FSB - actually there are many who want to blame the owners for everything, like you, for example. This is highlighted by the fact that Fulham weren't happy that Brendan spoke about Dempsey, which they complained about but you choose to blame the owners for it. Furthermore a sports website posted about Dempsey, not FSG.
Dempsey is 29 and goes against everything the owners have set in place. £3m is what they deemed him worth and they didn't want to pay over that, that should be applauded especially with the extortionate prices paid for players last season.
posted on 11/9/12
TOOR, do you know anything about the sports website NESN) that posted that we'd bought Dempsey? Guess who owns it. Are you seriously trying to absolve the owners of any blame over that story?
If the article by Random username is accurate NESN is at the centre of FSGs business empire. Their interest in LFC is simply to turn our huge global fanbase into NESN consumers.
You really believe that they should be applauded for leaving a gaping hole in our squad? They let a player leave on Thursday and failed to replace him. Why would you applaud that? I agree with your point about extortionate fees (that they sanctioned) but.3 mill is not extortionate