Yesterday wasn't necassarily all Rodgers fault. Rodgers can only choose what's in front of him and with the injuries we have at the moment, the back four almost made sense if Enrique wasn't fit. But I know his tactics were a bit all over the place but the sole aim cannot be directed at him.
Now the lack of players isn't just in defence, we lacked options for the number 10 role and wide positions. I think we don't need any more defenders if we can keep the ones which we have fit but if these injuries become more frequent then maybe a new full back should be brought in. A new versatile forward would also be welcome. Suarez can play the number ten role in Coutinhos absence but who plays on the right? Sterling? Moses? Aspas? Aspas for me isn't good enough yet and has a lot to prove. Sterlings natural position is on the left and so is Moses (I think). Sterling can play on the right but I feel that he should get his game time on the other side. We saw against County that he can be a genuine threat when cutting in and using his pace.
Article up for disussion.
Number 10 and Defenders
posted on 22/9/13
Alberto was bought to play that type of role but I don't think he's ready yet.
As for the wide right role it will probably still be Hendo.
posted on 22/9/13
The problem is greedy of our players. If Moses pass the ball to Aspas then will may have a different talk. Moses, Sturridge and Sterling are greedy players who would rather be wasteful than pass to a player who is in better position. This is mentality of small players and lower teams.
posted on 22/9/13
Bit harsh Truth. His strength is pressing when we're playing the big teams in which case he's very effective. But when we're at home against the lesser teams there's no point in him being there.
Alberto has looked good but he's not of Coutinhos class. I know few players are but is he an ideal replacement? Actual question.
posted on 22/9/13
How long until rodgers is blamed for a poor performance due to tactics?
Dont get me wrong, i like him and want him as our long term manager but surely after 3 transfer windows the players he has are the players he pretty much wants.
Anyoe could or should have seen that minus coutinho we dot have a player to do his work and despite eriksen being available for the vast majority of this transfer window we never (officially) went for him.
On the other hand, i agree that its not his fault that we had so many players have an off day at the same time- sturridge, hendo, gerrard, allen, skrtel and agger (although he isnt fully fit)- but to say he can only chose from who he has available when he has the players he must be happy with is removing any responsibility from him.
posted on 22/9/13
It's really not Couty,
It's realistic. Gerrard is losing his legs, and Lucas isn't back to his pre-injury form yet but to play a player to just roam about like a headless chicken isn't good enough for your ambitions.
Look at the other top club midfields, they all have runners who are technically sound. Henderson wouldn't make the bench in any of these sides. Heck, he won't make your bench once you get back to the Champions League.
He's an honest, hard-working player who gives his all, but ultimately has an empty locker skill wise.
posted on 22/9/13
Our problem is our midfield. Gerrard & Henderson don't cut it any more. Gerrard plays in a deep role yet doesn't have the stamina to track a player or to chase the game. Henderson does not make enough impact for all the offort he puts in. Lucas is left to cover two players most of the time which takes his concentration off his own game.
I said all summer we should not be signing strikers or defenders we need strong midfielders.
posted on 22/9/13
Yesterday I think was down to the lack of width normally created by our fullbacks. We have four to choose from in Cissoko, Enrique, Johnson and Wisdom and maybe Kelly but he never seems fit. Enrique was not fit, Johnson injured, Cissoko injured and Wisdom deemed not good enough and he doesn't add that much width anyway. Having four decent full backs all out of not fit is rare and a big head ache for any manager.
posted on 22/9/13
We sold Downing who played LB and we loaned out Jack Robinson. These were the managers decisions.
One of my pet hates is using injuries an an excuse. All teams suffer injuries and last season I felt we were relatively fortunate in terms of players we had out with injury.
Man Utd were down to the bare bones in terms of defensive cover at the start of last season and yet they won the league.
There is no point feeling sorry for ourselves because this is a squad game. Other teams have to cope and so we will we. Using it as an excuse is lame.
posted on 22/9/13
Could of possibly kept suso, hes playing very well in la liga
posted on 22/9/13
"Gerrard plays in a deep role yet doesn't have the stamina to track a player or to chase the game"
and
"Gerrard is losing his legs"
BS. Only 8 players ran further in the entire league last year I think. He may have lost a bit of acceleration but to say he is losing legs is based on nothing other than him being 32.
Anyway - I had no problem selling Downing if we brought in someone better. You could say he has done with Moses.
Liverpool struggle against power and energy and Southampton bring that to the table. It's a shame we lost and I'm not surprised he dropped Wisdom after he gone done for the equaliser against Swansea but are our injuries that bad? Not to my mind, certainly no worse than Arsenals.
I said to get where we wanted in this season we'd need everything to go our way and that includes the signings. We need all our best players playing and we didn't have 3 of them yesterday.
6th.