The OFFICIAL Liverpool FC thread - Arne to Slot right in?

[RealSpiritof98]

cant help but feel its disgusting if Rodgers was sacked, holy f**k okay if you guys have a bad season, so f**k... Get it back together next and go again seriously football is fucked up if Rodgers gets the road.  the Boston lads although can be ruthless have shown faith and patience were needed and i think Rodgers deserves this. The majority of the PL was in transition last year which coupled with great form heightened the Liverpool challenge. If Liverpool had snuk in the top 4 last year the fans would be less expectant

[moysider]

cant help but feel its disgusting if Rodgers was sacked, holy f**k okay if you guys have a bad season, so f**k... Get it back together next and go again seriously football is fucked up if Rodgers gets the road.  the Boston lads although can be ruthless have shown faith and patience were needed and i think Rodgers deserves this. The majority of the PL was in transition last year which coupled with great form heightened the Liverpool challenge. If Liverpool had snuk in the top 4 last year the fans would be less expectant

Hold on. This is a manager who surfed in on Suarez last year. A player he inherited from Dalglish and sold for 5X was paid for him. I also suspect that Liverpool club/Rodgers sold on Suarez too soft and it has damaged morale in the club in general, most importantly among the squad. Those new recruits could be different if coming into a team with Suarez there.
Look, I remember 'pool since Shankley's time and I don t think we had a player that could do what Suarez did for the team. To move him on as we did and replace him with Southampton players is risible.

[J70]

cant help but feel its disgusting if Rodgers was sacked, holy f**k okay if you guys have a bad season, so f**k... Get it back together next and go again seriously football is fucked up if Rodgers gets the road.  the Boston lads although can be ruthless have shown faith and patience were needed and i think Rodgers deserves this. The majority of the PL was in transition last year which coupled with great form heightened the Liverpool challenge. If Liverpool had snuk in the top 4 last year the fans would be less expectant

Hold on. This is a manager who surfed in on Suarez last year. A player he inherited from Dalglish and sold for 5X was paid for him. I also suspect that Liverpool club/Rodgers sold on Suarez too soft and it has damaged morale in the club in general, most importantly among the squad. Those new recruits could be different if coming into a team with Suarez there.
Look, I remember 'pool since Shankley's time and I don t think we had a player that could do what Suarez did for the team. To move him on as we did and replace him with Southampton players is risible.

I doubt if any other Liverpool player ever had a season like Suarez did last year. It's arguable that it was the best performance of any player on any team, at least in the Premier League era. Outside of possibly Dalglish,  he is, for me, their best player ever ( didn't say greatest -King Kenny Holds that title).

It's hard to see how this is going to change. Awful defending from front to back, zero creativity.

[AZOffaly]

Can't see how Rodgers is going to turn this around. There's too many fires all over the pitch to put out. Like Moyes last season he seems to be struggling to come up with answers to the problems he's facing and as the weeks go by with poor result after poor result, it gets harder to explain away.  One of the most damning things is the lack of any sort of defensive organisation in his 2-3 years at the club. Why believe that it's going to suddenly get much better?  Too many dud buys and too many players underperforming this season. The loss of Suarez and Sturridge has been huge and out of his control but that shouldn't excuse the rest.  Throwing another bucketload of cash at this in January or next summer isn't going to be the answer either unless he starts buying genuinely top players.

And we re not talking about Balotelli here either. Southampton must be pissing themselves laughing. Rodgers appears to be an awful nice fella but hard to have sympathy.
If BR was paying attention then he would know that buying players from other clubs in England does not work. Sturridge aside (and Chelsea may have known he was crocked ) top teams do not sell top players to Liverpool. Southampton do sell players though and Swansea as well, and Rodgers spent good money on them.
Top players have not been bought locally since around Barnes, Aldridge, Beardsley. Houghton. About 30 yrs ago!
Tired of the settling in excuse either from cheerleader fans. These are million euro pros. They can either play or they cant. Unfortunately they cant. Said it already. Anybody that thought Balotelli was a good idea under any circumstances is going to get a lot of other stuff wrong as well.
For 25 years our best players have started as kids in the club - Fowler, McMannamon, Gerrard, Owen, Carragher, or signed in from abroad already top players - Torres, Suarez, Alonso, Macherano.
Rodgers bought poorly and only himself to blame.

Not sure if that's aimed at me, but I'm going to assume it it I think there's a big difference between adding one or two players to a strong side, and adding 7 players, as many as 5 or 6 starting on any given day. I would expect the team, and those players, in the former situation to play well quite quickly if they are good enough. (Fabregas, Costa at Chelsea for example). In the latter case though, it has to be unsettling and it has to take time. Add in the fact that the team you are coming to has lost Suarez and basically Sturridge as well, and it is not surprising they would struggle early on. However, and this is where I agree with you, the time for that explanation is now running short. At some point it ceases to be a 'reason' and becomes an 'excuse'. I think we are at that point now.

I never thought Balotelli was a good signing, but I think a lot of the criticism he's getting is over the top, and led by the ex-pros in the media who just don't like the way he is. I've seen him try hard for Liverpool. He's mad as a bag of ferrets, but the creativity around him is the big problem I think, along with the fact that he's been used up top on his own a lot of the time.

I still believe it will come right eventually, but I do think they need to buy a striker in January at least, and I think Rodgers needs to stop playing Stevie G in that role, and needs to stop playing Johnson full stop. It will come right, but it will be too late. Not much point in a great last 2 months to see you clinch 7th.

[deiseach]

Who guessed last season's run was all down to one man? Jon Flanagan can't get fit fast enough.

[AZOffaly]

That's what annoys me actually. I think it's a cop out for the rest of them. Suarez was unreal, but when he missed games early in the season, the rest of them kept winning games. Sturridge and Suarez out together is a massive loss, but in fairness Rodgers had to know Sturridge was liable for injuries.

I'm most disappointed with Coutinho, Sterling and Lallana in terms of creativity. I also think Gerrard has to be moved further up the pitch, or off it.

[Bingo]

Who guessed last season's run was all down to one man? Jon Flanagan can't get fit fast enough.

Haha. I like that.

Liverpool in a very bad place at the minute. Its the manner of the defeats and its not only down to the uncertainity in the defence. They look poor all over the place.

They say every manager is stubborn but at this stage, I fear its more than that from Rodgers. The system or formation hasn't looked like it suits the players at all. One game it changed and it got a decent result 3-0 to spurs. Is Rodgers blinded to some players? Gerard clearly not working while a natural player in that role is benched - Lucas. Has his knockers but has played that role as it needs to be when given the chance this year ie protecting the back four, making tackles, breaking up play and supporting the midfielders. Someone posted a tweet yesterday that Gerard didn't win one tackle yesterday?

Johnson? No more needs to be said. Think Rodgers is the only one seeing anything.

Can and Moreno. Two players going well, didn't have massive trips away on international break and both are benched on first game back.

Hard to know or see where improvement is going to come from. Can't keep clean sheets and can't create chances.

Carra got it right after the game yesterday!

[blewuporstuffed]

Who guessed last season's run was all down to one man? Jon Flanagan can't get fit fast enough.

Haha. I like that.

Liverpool in a very bad place at the minute. Its the manner of the defeats and its not only down to the uncertainity in the defence. They look poor all over the place.

They say every manager is stubborn but at this stage, I fear its more than that from Rodgers. The system or formation hasn't looked like it suits the players at all. One game it changed and it got a decent result 3-0 to spurs. Is Rodgers blinded to some players? Gerard clearly not working while a natural player in that role is benched - Lucas. Has his knockers but has played that role as it needs to be when given the chance this year ie protecting the back four, making tackles, breaking up play and supporting the midfielders. Someone posted a tweet yesterday that Gerard didn't win one tackle yesterday?

Johnson? No more needs to be said. Think Rodgers is the only one seeing anything.

Can and Moreno. Two players going well, didn't have massive trips away on international break and both are benched on first game back.

Hard to know or see where improvement is going to come from. Can't keep clean sheets and can't create chances.

Carra got it right after the game yesterday!

I said the same thing too, thought Carra was spot on after the game.

Not starting Can and Moreno yesterday was a very strange one.
Out of all his signings, those two look the most likely to have a postive impact at the moment, but cant get a  run of games.

[johnneycool]

What happened Kolo Toure? He'd a stormer in the Bernabéu then no sign of him?

[Hereiam]

What did Carra say?

[Bingo]

What did Carra say?

Basically, that something isn't right. Physically and mentally the team are very weak.

Its online if you look it up.

[seafoid]

The 2 Irish teams are going through a tough time in the Premier League

[Rossie11]

Incredible that PP still have pool at 1000/1 to be relegated.
Obviously a long shot but that is a value price. They are a third of the price with every other bookie
Southampton who are 11 pts ahead of them with a game in hand are only 500s!!
Palace who destroyed them yesterday and are only 2 behind them are 7/4!!!
Spurs  66/1
West Ham 40/1

10/1 for a bottom 10 finish.. PP must see a monumental turn around on the horizon..

[Tony Baloney]

Like for like comparison with this time last season (12 matches):

Won: 7 v 4
Drew: 3 v 2
Lost: 2 v 6
GF: 24 v 15
GA: 13 v 18
GD: 11 v -3


Hardly surprising that a serious dent in the GF column has had a knock-on in other areas. Sturridge's injury management should have been even more critical after selling Suarez. Without him it is hard to see much improvement this side of Christmas.

[heganboy]

phil Neville hit the nail on the head here:
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/30172094

MOTD2 analysis: 'Liverpool results reflect their true level'

Former Everton and Manchester United player Phil Neville explains why he is not surprised to see Liverpool in mid-table following their defeat by Crystal Palace, rather than repeating their title challenge of last season.
Because of what Liverpool did last season, I think some people came into this campaign with unrealistic expectations of what they could achieve this time.
But they only went so close to winning the title last time out because they were inspired by their world-class front two of Daniel Sturridge and, in particular, Luis Suarez.

They were never going to repeat that kind of challenge after seeing Suarez leave for Barcelona in the summer.
Rather than underachieving, their current position is probably a more accurate reflection of this team's level at the moment, especially while Sturridge is injured.
Liverpool's 3-1 defeat by Crystal Palace on Sunday means they are 18 points behind leaders Chelsea after six defeats in their first 12 league games.
Yes, that is poor if you compare it to what happened in the Reds' previous campaign, in which they suffered the same number of defeats in total and the outcome of the title race was in their hands with only three games to go.
But that was a one-off. If you look further back, Liverpool have been a top-eight team playing in the Europa League, not title contenders.

So, although they are currently probably lower than expected in 12th place, I would not say I am hugely surprised how things have gone since Suarez's sale.
Liverpool are a good footballing team but, right from the start of the season, I did not look at their squad and see a group of players that I thought could go on and again challenge for the title.
What are Liverpool missing?

We saw against Palace how Liverpool have lost their intensity and drive, which I put down to the loss of one man - Suarez.
Liverpool starting line-up vs Crystal Palace
His performances also helped them build up a momentum that they just have not had since he left - their only back-to-back wins have come against West Brom and QPR in October.
A lot of people have criticised Mario Balotelli, who did not play against Palace, and I think he has become a bit of scapegoat for some of the poor performances that other Liverpool players have been putting in.
The biggest difference between this season and last is that, without Suarez and Sturridge to lead their attacks, Liverpool are not playing with the same intensity.
When Steven Gerrard gets the ball in deeper positions, he still looks up but does not have a front two who are running in behind teams for him to ping a pass to. He often went sideways against Palace.

Raheem Sterling is missing Suarez and Sturridge too.
They would occupy maybe two defenders each, which then left room for somebody else - usually Sterling - to exploit.
Without Suarez or Sturridge to keep them busy, defenders can stay tight to Sterling and stop him from running at them.
Against Palace, Liverpool lacked any sort of pace in their attacks and they have become predictable.

Everything is a lot slower and more measured. That allows the opposition to sit back, like Palace were doing on Sunday, and set up so there is no space left behind them.
It means Liverpool are not scoring lots of goals like last season, but the thing that has not changed is that you still get chances against them too.
Palace allowed Liverpool to play 50 or 60 passes in front of them at a time, knowing full well that when they made a mistake they could spring forward on the break and create chances.
We have seen that from a lot of teams playing Liverpool recently.
What can Liverpool do differently?

Brendan Rodgers has to go back to basics and find a way of grinding out results.

That might not be as wonderful to watch as when they were winning games by overwhelming the opposition, but that is just simply not going to happen with the players they have got.
It might be time to try to win ugly or, at the very least, start mixing things up a bit more.
Playing more direct at times would be a good start - it led to Rickie Lambert's goal at Selhurst Park on Sunday - and might be a better use of the strikers at their disposal.
But, whatever their approach, it is clear they do not have the quality to challenge Chelsea for the title and it is going to be a struggle for them to get into the top four.
From what I have seen, I don't think they will make it.
Summer signings did not secure superstar

If Liverpool do fall short, it will not only be down to Suarez's departure, but also because of the players Rodgers signed with the proceeds of his £75m sale.
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers
Rodgers spent £117m on nine players in the summer
Rodgers added depth to his squad with the players he brought in, or had one eye on the future when he signed some of them.
But what he did not do is bring in somebody to improve Liverpool's first team, which does not compare with some of their rivals for the Champions League spots.
I watched Manchester United's win over Arsenal on Saturday and, although both teams are not as strong as in the recent past, they still had several players on the pitch with the potential to be devastating.
United have Wayne Rooney and Angel Di Maria for example, or Alexis Sanchez and Danny Welbeck for the Gunners.
It is the same with Manchester City and Sergio Aguero at the moment - they are all players who, like Suarez, can perform some magic in the final third and decide a game on their own.
At the moment, I do not see that kind of ability in this Liverpool team and Sturridge's return cannot come quickly enough for them.