SUNDAY 20th, 1646: Three quick peeps from the referee call time on a first half Liverpool have shaded. The sort of first half where, if a team has been playing well for a few weeks, you settle down for half time expecting the job to be done second half.
Liverpool haven’t been playing well. And so therefore you don’t settle down. You worry.
The fluency hadn’t quite been there. Back threes mean your players need to think more. Towards the end of the half James Milner picks the ball up left wing, right in front of where I was in the ground. Alberto Moreno has tucked in and Milner needs Mamadou Sakho to overlap. That run stretches Norwich. Sakho, completely understandably, doesn’t. He’s a centre half for the love of god. Liverpool go back and start again, unable to do the final bit of stretching of Norwich that could have elicited a chance.
Christian Benteke and Daniel Sturridge show signs throughout the half but can’t quite fashion a chance for one another — Lucas Leiva setting up Sturridge with a good ball for the half’s best chance.
Other than that, with the clear exception of the abject Milner, Liverpool’s 11 are all playing quite well. No-one punching the turf, no-one touching the sky. Norwich are a tidy outfit who look the sort of side who will win the games they should, draw the games they should and lose the games they should on the road to a creditable 14th-placed finish.
Obviously you tend to think every game comes down to what Liverpool do. But this one even more so. Should they continue to probe, calmly, they’ll find the quality they need – two players doing something very good – to score the opening goal and the game should remain theirs from that point. Should they continue to defend responsibly they’ll keep Norwich at bay.
There hasn’t been enough of either across 90 minutes this season to rest easy. Quite the opposite. And so you don’t. You worry.
Sunday 20th, 1752: You were right to worry. Liverpool played well on balance. They created enough to win the game and were good enough on the whole. But they didn’t win the game, and in the key moments they weren’t quite good enough. Watching this Liverpool side, even when they play well, they manage to fail in key moments.
They got ahead in the game. This here is the issue. Better than the opposition, they were 1-0 up. That is the point at which failure shouldn’t be an option. The bottom 10 home and away are the purpose of the enterprise and yet Liverpool allow pressure to fall onto them in a quietly daft way and concede with the inevitable corner of doom.
Heads go down but they are then picked back up. These lads aren’t letting anyone down in terms of effort or application. But they are in terms of hope. The goal from the corner felt inevitable. The fruitless banging on the door repetitive. The toiling exhausting.
The ground was broadly supportive, as they will be of footballers playing well and having a go. The crowd want to see Liverpool win and there was little of the toxicity there has been in the ground in 2004 and 2010 x2.
If you watch a football match and some aspects of it are positive then they need pointing out. Liverpool demonstrated fluency at times in the second half and fashioned the chances to win the game. Sakho, Moreno and Can all very much impressed. Sturridge will get back to himself. Danny Ings looks “a Liverpool player” — hosanna to the highest for that.
However, football matches never take place in a vacuum. Had there been a managerial change in the summer and these exact performances and results were coming from a new incumbent then you would be intrigued as to where it goes next. Intrigued to see what we do against Villa, intrigued to see what this manager gets from some of those young lads against Carlisle after the Bordeaux result and performance.
You aren’t intrigued though.
The manager has been here for coming on for four years and while his players are sometimes bright and playing well, which they weren’t at the end of Houllier, and while he’s looking for new ideas and probing, unlike the end of Dalglish, he hangs above the same abyss they fell through. Because of key moments. There is only so much a manager can do about key moments but an aggregate of them going against a manager can only lead to the abyss.
In the 20 months or so this column has existed it has often been stated that all plots lead to death. Very few managers at the highest level set their own terms of departure. Liverpool managers always used to. Since Abramovich arrived in England only Ferguson has, though you have to believe Wenger will. This is modern football — all plots lead to death.
When they sang and wrote and said Houllier was getting sacked in the morning, it was sad because the man had nearly died for the club. When they sang and wrote and said Dalglish was getting sacked in the morning it was sad because more than anyone else living he was the club. When they sang and wrote and said Benitez was getting sacked in the morning it was infuriating because he had fought for the soul of the club and I will see you dead with my fists and my feet and never ever really forgive you for singing, writing and saying it.
And now for Brendan Rodgers it is sad because he tried to high wire the club to where it needs to be with youth and exuberance. But there is little less attractive than the prematurely aged. The 21-year-old past their peak. Husk like. Dance moves just off. Perpetually hungover from the glorious nights out; the best night out of their life had. It’s as sad for what it says about us as what it says about him. It’s as sad because it is the latest proof that this could just be too hard. The hardest job in club football vampirically drains another victim, leaving them bloodless, husk like.
The manager has done the Lazarus act before. But the issue around last season’s Lazarus act is what do you do when Lazarus mooches back to the walk-in centre complaining of having a bit of a temperature, before being rushed to triage and slapped back on life support.
If Lazarus then, yet again, pulls out his catheter, leaps off the bed and starts playing mustard five-a-side then you’d be reluctant to give the bed away. You’d keep an eye on him. That Lazarus, you’d say, always on his last legs.
It is to this backdrop that the players play and work, stinting here and there. One of the reason all plots lead to death is that there has to be a resolution and right now.
Liverpool can’t become a ghost story.
[rpfc_recent_posts_from_category meta=”true”]
Pics: David Rawcliffe-Propaganda-Photo
Brendan is trying his best, talks a great game. Did a great job with us two seasons back, i thank him for that. The guy wants to keep his job, fair enough.
I cannot be convinced by anybody that he can take the club forward, where lfc belong, fighting and winning titles.
I am worried by the overall picture of ownership and fsg’s direction for the club.
We need a new manager to come in and give him three years to get us back to glory.
Brendan has run his race for me, we are no better off now than when he took over.
Sounds all too familiar like…..haven’t we been there before
That’s exactly how I feel David. I’ll always be grateful for 2013/14 but it feels as though he’s run his race and I’d like to see him leave with some dignity. The way things are going I fear he’ll be hounded out, and no-one wants that, surely.
Great piece. A part of me wonders if this would be so torturous and so grindingly inevitable if Klopp and Ancelotti were off the market. We all know they’re out there, without a gig; so do FSG, so, presumably, does Rodgers. We’re all in a relationship that we desperately hope will work out (apart from those who’ve already had enough) and the whole thing is misfiring and it all feels like a matter of time…
Great piece again Neil.
The most depressing thing about yesterday was that nobody leaving the ground was angry. Ok we didn’t play badly, but since when did a home draw with Norwich become par? The juxtaposition between what we saw on the pitch, and what we see off it in the shape of the new stand is stark. Clear and rapid progress on one and slow decline on the other.
On the contrary, the lack of anger in the crowd was one of the the best things about the weekend. Since when did crowd anger ever actually improve a teams performance? It is not like if only the crowd at Sunderland were just a bit more angry then they wouldn’t be abject.
I said this at the start of the season, but whenever we as a club feel like we should be kicking on and challenging for the league it never happens, in fact it the team falls apart. However, when there is a feeling of nothing to lose and the ground just gets about enjoying themselves and supporting the team then the magic happens like 04/05 and 13/14.
If Rodgers doesn’t get the team performing this season he will be sacked, I’m sure of that, there is no need to worry. So why don’t we just sit back and treat whatever we achieve like a bonus this year. I mean what do you have to lose by just going to the match and trying to enjoy yourself?
Poetry in pixels, Neill. Oh for poety in motion on the field again.
At this stage Rodgers isn’t really deserving of more bile from supporters. He shouldn’t be there anymore because the relationship with the supporters ended after the Stoke humiliation last season. But he remains there because of …..
Mike Gordon and Ian Ayre. These football masterminds running LFC. Supporters should focus their ire towards these men, not Rodgers.
Great article, as usual Neil. I can’t see Rodgers getting sacked any time soon. We played quite well yesterday, in parts, and, because we actually took the lead, the ground didn’t turn against him. I’m very much afraid that there are months left to go before FSG will make a change and it is more than likely that there will be some ugly scenes at Anfield before the inevitable happens. I would like to see FSG be decisive and intervene to prevent that. If they fired BR now, he’d still be able to leave with some dignity.
I suppose that we should admire FSG in that they’ve given BR a fair crack of the whip. However, after the surrender at the end of last season, BR’s only hope was for the team to start well. We haven’t and now the vultures are circling.
The most frustrating thing is that we don’t seem to have any hope that things will improve.
I’m pretty sure they will give him until the end of the season. If they tried to persevere with Hodgson until the end of the season I’m pretty sure they will do for Rodgers. I reckon that would be a fair too. If we aren’t playing well by then, then I don’t think he could have any complaints.
Even if you don’t think Rodgers is the man to take us forward, the fact that FSG have backed him for a few seasons amount of time has given the club some stability and it will make it easier for them to attract a replacement if they know they are going to be backed.
If that is the case we might as well all content ourselves and stop our whingeing. It would be comforting, in a way, if we knew that FSG would make a change at the end of the season if, as seems likely, we do not make the top 4.
Going to have one last half full glass in the last chance saloon.
We look far better with 3 at the back and think he will stick with it till Hendersons back. Why not after all we dont concede as many and it seems to suite Sakho,Cân, Skrtel and Moreno aswell as everybody being clear on their role.
Last season 3 at the back was most effective with Sterling up front this time round we’ve got actual strikers so I’m intrigued to see where it goes.Fully expect us to beat Villa now when we’ve been working on the system a bit longer.
All the time we’ve been waiting for Sturridge to be fit and just as he gets back Henderson gets injured who in my opinion is equally as important in the way we try and play. No coincidence that since Hendos been out we’ve been getting over run in midfield. Now with the change of system the wing backs are supporting the midfield instead of the attacking players in wide areas having to drop too deep and leaving an isolated lone striker.
Last throw of the dice for Rodgers glad hes going out swinging.
fully agreed. let’s stay w 3 at the back. and 2 strikers. Bentake does not have to start all the matches. Sturridge and Ings/Orgi may work even better because of their nonstop movement, it would ve a nightmare for the defenders.
if our right sided defender does not do well for wing back role, we have Ibe to step in and may perform even better for home games especially.
Yep. 3-5-2 is ok. 3-4-3 or 3-4-2-1 less so. There’s no point in playing 3 at the back unless you play 2 up top.
Why is 3-5-2 better than 3-4-3? I thought it worked pretty well on the weekend, Moreno and Clyne both got pretty high (Moreno more so) and we didn’t seem to need the extra body in the middle.
“Fully expect us to beat Villa now when we’ve been working on the system a bit longer”
Much like Dr. Johnson and marriage, fully expecting us to beat Villa sounds more like a triumph of hope over experience…
So right, so fitting.
Thanks Brendan, we nearly made it eh? 13-14 was your flawed masterpiece. I hope you recover your reputation and if, somehow, things turn around immediately and you and Liverpool shine again, then so much the better.
I can’t see the manager being changed too soon, and maybe it’s for the best, they’re his players now, let him live or die with them.
Next season, or at the most in the new year, we’ll start again. With hope in our hearts.
Good piece which would allow any non Liverpool fan to understand how a lot of us are feeling. Truth be told many of us are numb to this now. I know I am and my LFC supporting mates are. The anger is definitley dissapating, which is never a good thing given the state of play.
“We drew 1-1 at home to a promoted team”
“Yea but Rodgers is still the manager, what did you expect?”
“Yea I suppose. And we were better at home to Norwich than we were away to United.”
“Isn’t that expected?”
“Yea but I’m tired of being annoyed.”
The lack of reaction from the crowd and absence of anger tells you everything. I predicted in the summer Rodgers would be sacked in November, Xmas at the latest. Had plenty of snide comments thrown at me as a result. At least for those people it looks like I was wrong – FSG are going to give him the entire season aren’t they?
Managers simply never turn around seasons like 14/15, especially after clearly losing the players in the final few months. This start was oh so predictable. The change of formations after a few defeats was predictable – what manager, who has achieved any success in the modern game, does that? The style was predictable when he went after Benteke.
The style. Deary me. Yesterday in a nutshell encapsulated what so many of us felt when Rodgers was making sure we splashed £32.5m on a big striker. Nothing against Benteke – it’s clear, like with Balotelli (to those who watched him win leagues and european cups anyway), that Christian is a very talented footballer. It’s also clear that the group of footballers we have are simply much better suited to having 2 mobile, pacy strikers other than a target man.
You can be bad tactically & awful stylewise and still be ok as a head coach if you are a good man manager. Moreno was bombed out (committee signing) and is now back in, playing well but still below what he should be if with a manager who coached him well, developed him and showed him some confidence. Markovic (committe signing) was regularly made the scapegoat last season on the pitch – Mario was the scapegoat off it – and he was shipped to Turkey. Fenerbache fans can’t believe their luck, after he assisted one and made 2 other chances on his full debut. If only Rodgers had shown the same amount of patience with this 21 year old kid as he has done with 27 year old Lallana. How about Lucas? Constantly wanting to move him on yet it takes one injury to having him play every game. Milner? I said when he signed for a ridiculous sign on fee and wage that his last 2 years, when he’ll be 34 and earning £150k per week, are going to be an albatross around the club’s neck. It might be all 4 years, not just the final 2, because he’s been little above average twice, poor twice and brutal once in 5 league games in a position he himself has cried to play. This is Rodgers doing a Hodgson, only this time not with ridiculous comments, but hamstringing the finances of the club all over again. Two years running now he has went with Lovren over Sakho. Two years running he’s had to put Sakho back in the team in place of Lovren.
It’s not a crime to make a mistake but it’s a crime not to learn from it. Not only has Rodgers refused to learn and continued to make the same mistakes, the actual amount he’s making marks him out as a lost cause.
I have no doubt at some stage we’ll go on a mini-run of 8-10 undefeated. The squad is worth hundreds of millions and we’ll seoon be playing teams not worth 10 million. But I doubt we’ll get people claiming he’s turned it all around as we did in February. Then that’ll go tits up and he’ll change formation again. Rinse and repeat.
If FSG were to sack him over the next few weeks and appoint Klopp I absolutely guarantee our odds of making top 4 gets slashed across the board by every bookmaker in the land. It’s not too late to rescue this season and not have yet another wasted year where we fall further behind our so called rivals. But only if they act. They won’t. That’s on them. At this stage we should be putting a lot more pressure on them for change but alas, so many LFC fans got sucked into thinking Rodgers was the man and backed him so rabidly that they now feel that doing so would make them hypocrites or bandwagon jumpers. So he’ll remain in situ and mediocrity will become more entrenched into a once great football club.
Looks like Sturridge and Brady are channeling their inner Les Gray:
That’s neat, that’s neat, that’s neat, that’s neat, I really love your tiger feet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQfidTOTsLo
Apparently the team was leaked but I honestly didn’t know what it was till I took me seat. Was pleasantly surprised and pleased with Rodgers. Sakho back in, Can where he’s played his best football, Moreno giving us real width, two upfront. Thought the idea was there, the performance didn’t turn up till the 2nd where Ings grabs the game by the bollocks but the result had to come and never did.
2nd half reminded me a bit of Kenny’s 1-1 at home to Norwich where a keeper gives a soft one away. Sturridge probably scores if he gets that chance in a weeks time. Coutinho not squaring it for the tap in was unprofessional. These are the moments where we just seem to lash points down the drain.
Think we’re best with three at the back and two upfront simply because I doubt we can do midfield particularly well in Henderson’s and even Allen’s absence. If Milner truly sees himself as a center mid he needs to be sorting that touch out. One of the reasons the 1st half was such a non event was because the move would break down every time the ball got to him.
“all plots lead to death”
Not a Jane Austen fan then, Neil?
Argh, the bleeding hearts and artists!
Truly excellent article Neil. Makes embarrassing reading for anyone with even the slightest trace of compassion. I despise my methods if I’m honest. I’ve held these men in the highest esteem I possibly can, yet, when times got rough and our unswerving vision of a brighter future kicked in, I tried to justify my back stabbing callousness with ‘I think it’s better for him. He looks ill and needs the break’, whilst pushing him towards the edge of the cliff just in case he says he’s well enough to continue. There’s a human being behind the position of ‘manager’ and one that’s put everything they’ve got into trying to make it work. It’s disgusting really. But if they can’t give us what we want they have to be slayed. What can you do. It’s a real shame.
What’s eating away at me is I feel we have the team to compete with the best but it’s never been possible to get them out on the park together because of injuries, and never will be because that’s football. Take 1 or 2 of those key players out and it seems we really miss them. A hole appears. I’ve always had an uneasy feeling our transfers don’t take into account key players being out. We’re told that x can play in 7 different positions but I think we’ve been blagged a fair bit.
The ground did feel a bit different yesterday up until about 1 second before the end. I think Sturridges return was the catalyst combined with having 2 up front. It was exciting to see how Benteke and Sturridge would do and a couple of moves that broke down between them were applauded by the Kop. It was like we’re so keen for it to happen that we were offering encouragement for the next time. We were almost sympathetic. But then, when the whistle went I was making my way down when Ings came over and I really applauded him. Then a few more came over and I carried on clapping out of respect. The lad next to me on the steps sneered ‘don’t be fuckun clappinum lad’, so I stopped.
“The bottom 10 home and away are the purpose of the enterprise and yet Liverpool allow pressure to fall onto them in a quietly daft way and concede with the inevitable corner of doom”
Well, yeah. That’s because we are, ourselves, at the moment a bottom 10 team also…
“Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all alike. No question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”
“No question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs.”
Did Cameron put his knob in them?
Ha Ha I wasn’t going to go there, but well said.