NEIL ATKINSON is at the top of the tower and joined by John Gibbons, Mike Girling and Phil Blundell to pick up the pieces after Hull and have a heated debate about the rest of the season.
CITYTALK – TO HULL AND BACK
by The Anfield Wrap | May 2, 2015 | Podcast | 5 comments
Rodgers has to go, and I will detail clear proofs.
Firstly – he overestimates himself and makes foolish remarks. To name a few – ‘I have no sympathy with Southampton for selling their best players, they were looking at top 4 but it seems they’ve given up on that’ 34 games later and they’re a point behind us. ‘100m you should be winning the league.’ in reference to Spurs. ‘We were great, fantastic, outstanding!’ after a 1-0 defeat to Real Madrid, playing a weakened side, following a 0-3 home humiliation. The reporter actually had to remind him we lost that game, and something that riles me but people don’t pick up on. ‘This club is about this, this club is about that.’ Brendan Rodgers is Liverpool manager yes, but how often did the two most recent successful managers (Houllier/Benitez) turn up to every presser saying ‘this club is about this/this club is about that.’ How does Rogers know when he hasn’t even won a trophy at Liverpool, nor did he grow up supporting Liverpool? He also over praises his players trying to do a Mourinho. Apparently Jon Flanagan was the best fullback in the league last season for six months – Pablo Zabaleta? Sterling, the guy who won’t sign a contract – best young player in Europe. Rodgers ties himself up in knots often.
2. Tactics. – You would think with all of this chopping and changing Rodgers has done with his formation, and playing players out of position, that he didn’t have a 300 page footballing dossier to consult, courtesy of a 20 year education across Europe. Where has all this gone? 7th 2nd 6th/7th – We’re no closer to winning the league now then at the beginning of his tenure. Shouldn’t we be in year 3 of the great Rodgers plan? Last year had nothing to do with Rodgers plan, we had the best player in the world, and other players who raised their game. A host of other managers would have actually won the league with 90 plus points with our fortunate situation (No Europe, SAS, Gerrard’s best season in years, immense support from supporters, etc). Rodgers got us 84 points. There’s not much difference between this season and Rodger’s first season. I don’t see how the next season will be any better. Rodgers philosophy is not so much attacking football as it is possession based football. We dropped that last season because of our strikers. We’ve reverted to it this season. In the last few games we’ve have 70 odd percent possession and it’s got us nowhere.
3. Signings – most have been rubbish, those who haven’t been rubbish have been average, and a few have been good. Lallana/Lovren were his main targets this season when he should have been shopping at the top table. Not going to go much further into it – clear for all to see we’ve failed in the transfer market.
4. He moves the goalposts to suit himself – At the start of the season ‘Luis is a friend of Liverpool now. We move on. We’re going to have a really brilliant year. It’s time to win a trophy. That’s the aim.’ A little way into the season (dismal run time) – ‘We lost one of the best players in the world. We always knew this year was going to be difficult.’ Go on a good league run – catch up to the top 4 race. ‘4th you say? 2nd is in sight! Who needs a defensive coach?’ KO’d from the top 4 race and FA Cup – ‘Couldn’t hack it mentally. Young players. Process. Outstanding. 5th is par.’
5. Cannot hack it in Europe. Rodgers has had 3 European campaigns as Liverpool manager. It reads as follows. Knocked out in last 32 to Zenit (Europa League – 2012/13). 3rd place in CL group winning one game via last min penalty- 2014/15. Knocked out in last 32 of Europa League to Besiktas 2014/15. Is this a fitting record? The Europa League is a tough comp which requires endurance, but also great managerial skill. No bad team wins it. Rafa, incidentally, got us to the semis in his final season, where we only lost on away goals. (He has also won it, and may win it again this year, Napoli are in the semis.) How Rodgers has done so poorly in Europe is beyond me, and speak volumes about his managerial level.
6. There are better managers available, both domestically and in Europe. Klopp and Benitez. I see there is an article saying brining back Benitez would be a mistake. Think again buddy. The mistake would be keeping Rodgers. Benitez only lost 6 premier league games between 2007-09. He had this league figured. 2009/10 was meant to be our season and it would have been if we didn’t get shafted by owners. The players were literally depressed all that season, lies, deception, it pervaded every game. It would have been our season if Rafa got the players he wanted. He twice got us over 80 points. He got us to two CL finals, another semi final, the quarters, EL semis, league cup final, FA Cup winners and brought to Anfield Torres, Alonso, Garcia, Reina, Agger, Skrtel, Sterling, Arbeloa, Aurelio, Lucas, Crouch, Bellamy, Fowler, Benayoun, Suso (big mistake letting this guy go), Morientes, and probably others I can’t think of. He can spot talent, has this league figured, and will come back with a fire in his belly. He also has the best record in world football against Mourinho, and beats him in the big games. He’s a winner, and went toe to toe with Ferguson (who he had figured in the last two seasons) and Mourinho. We need a man who can handle the big games, and is a winner, He has since won the Europa League, Coppa Italia, and may well win the EL again this season. Klopp also wins big games, has succeeded domestically and in Europe. If we can, we should bring in one of these two.
7. Agger, Reina, Sakho, Suso, Sahin and others – quality players who Rodgers has disrespected, disregarded and sent packing (he eventually saw the light with Sakho.) I believe he sold Agger for 2m, Suso for nothing. Bought Lovren for 20m and so on…
8. I find supporting THE MAN Brendan Rodgers difficult. People say ‘What’s it matter if he’s a winner?’ Well he hasn’t won us anything yet. Despite winning nothing he speaks like he knows LFC inside/out and has a right to use the club’s name as freely as salt and vinegar on chips. No other manager in world football expounds on ‘what their club is about’ as much as Rodgers, despite having no success, or right. Just because he’s manager doesn’t give him the right to start speaking like he’s the great Liverpool authority. Win a few trophies first buddy. Stop insulting rivals – Spurs/Southampton/Chelsea (we’d never park the bus ala Chelsea – last season – this season Chelsea score nearly two a game and coast their way to the league – ‘We’ll give them a guard of honour. That’s what this club’s about.’ Incidentally didn’t Chelsea struggle with their strikers last season? Sometimes they didn’t even play a striker. They had Ba/Torres but Mourinho didn’t trust either and sold both. Still finished on 80 plus points and nearly won title, plus CL semi-finals. Mourinho made excuses for not winning title and CL. ‘We have no striker’ Rodgers is making excuses for what? No, not not winning the league. But for not even finishing top 4, despite having loads of cash to spend, and not winning a trophy despite saying that’s the aim of the season!) I find THE MAN Rodgers difficult to support, and I’m not sure success (which isn’t around the corner) would change that. I don’t think THE MANAGER Rodgers is all that either. No trophies in 3 years. Failed to win the league last year when it was there for the taking, and other managers would have succeeded. His footballing philosophy/dossier of possession based football (NOT attacking football) is flawed and unsuccessful.
Next season will be no improvement on this season I fear. i.e We may get more points but we’ll be battling with Southampton and Spurs and maybe Everton again, not the Top 4 clubs. Our squad isn’t that bad. It has some good materials but needs to be properly moulded. Has Rodgers proved to be a good craftsman? At times he’s been drowning, but managed to learn a new stroke to save himself. He’s drowning again, and has even forgotten some previous strokes (Sterling upfront anyone?).
I don’t believe Rodgers has proved to be a top level manager, but instead an at times inspired middling manager – and he’s had plenty of inspiration Suarez/Sturridge/Gerrard/Supporters last season. This season not so much. Time for a change, or tell me where I’m wrong, I don’t see how anything I’ve written here is not borne out of reality.
Amen to that. The Rodgers’ myth as perpetrated by himself and bought into by some supporters is being systematically eroded. We might batter relegation fodder QPR today or we might struggle. After 3 years, hundreds of millions spent and we might struggle. That alone is a damning indictment of his tenure. I find his arrogance and tortuous media pronouncements irksome, but only that. It is results that matter most to me followed by style of play – both have simply been unacceptable for large swathes of his tenure.
Sorry, they’re “opinions”, not “proofs”.
No – you are expressing is your opinion – what he set out are facts. he only express his opinion in his pessimism over the possibility of another ‘outstanding’ season.
What the fuck’s wrong with you all? Marseille’s a great city to live in!