Just found this on the BBC I've seen posts from other members saying that this Ben Smith fella is ok. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18971650 Brendan Rodgers had been Liverpool manager for little more than a month when he first decided to leave the anonymity of his car for a "walk about" in the city. The man from Carnlough, on the Antrim coast, was swamped. It took him the next 45 minutes to walk 30 yards back to his hotel. If the 39-year-old's arrival at Anfield was met with an initial air of scepticism, that has given way to a quiet sense of optimism, of hope. Rodgers represents a clean slate, a new start, a fresh chapter in Liverpool's inescapable history. On the wall of Rodgers's office at Liverpool's Melwood training ground, above his widescreen computer and a colour-coded desk filing system, hang black and white images of Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley and the great sides of yesteryear. The past is always on your shoulder at Anfield, a reminder of what has gone before and the expectation of what will come again, but the man from Northern Ireland is well-versed in that heritage. "It has been a smooth transition and that is down to the people at the football club and the people of this great city," he told BBC Sport. "You have to have a sense of the past, a sense of the present and a sense of the future. I'll do whatever it takes to make Liverpool successful, my life is devoted. The people have been great. I live my life for football and the passion around this city is incredible." Rodgers has been a breath of fresh air since he breezed into the club and spoke his first words as Liverpool manager on 1 June. There have been the casual and complimentary references to Kenny Dalglish, the recalling of childhood memories when he watched the great sides of the 1970s and 1980s with his Liverpool-supporting father and grandfather and clear links between his own footballing principles and those of the club's great managers. The question now is can Rodgers walk the walk? "I'm under no illusion, there's a lot to be done," he said. "You can't hide away from the nuts and bolts, which is about hard work and honesty. It will take a wee bit of time to get it how we want it. "I know where we want to end up. The energy we can draw from the unity between the players, the club and the supporters is the key. Together we can go far." But the scale of the task is daunting. Liverpool have not finished in the top five of the Premier League since Rafael Benitez's side came within four points of the title in May 2009. Last season, the club finished 37 points behind champions Manchester City, 17 points outside the top four. "I'm here to make this club competitive again," Rodgers said. "The last three years we've finished seventh, sixth and eighth. This is a massive job." The former Swansea manager sees parallels with his previous job and believes minor tweaks, rather than a major overhaul, can transform the club's fortunes. "When I arrived at Swansea they'd only scored 40 goals in the previous season, one of the lowest in any league," Rodgers said. "With a slight structural change, a more offensive game and a few new players, it totally changed our fortunes. "Sometimes it is just a little change, working on people's minds, giving them confidence and the belief that wherever we go in the world, we are good enough to win the game." Now he must lift a squad short of confidence, short on depth and short on talent, by Rodgers's own admission. "You've got some of the world's best supporters here and the playing group is not quite at that level yet," he said. He has already begun to impose his distinctly Spanish vision on the squad. His Liverpool team will press to win the ball high up the field and aim to retain it so relentlessly that the opposition feel it is "the longest 90 minutes of their life". In pre-season the squad have been challenged to win the ball back within seven seconds of losing it. His 4-3-3 will take time to bed in though. Much will depend on the impact made by new signing Fabio Borini. Last season the then Roma forward averaged a goal every 194 minutes, compared to one every 232 minutes for Luis Suarez and one every 516 minutes for Andy Carroll. Liverpool's problem last season was wastefulness in front of goal, so Rodgers must find a solution, and better still, some luck. His style will inevitably bring more fluidity to the midfield and, with that, much-needed width. Swansea's wide forwards stretched teams by maintaining width, in turn allowing the likes of Joe Allen more time and space to pull the strings in midfield. His arrival at Anfield was inevitable, he will be a vital cog in the midfield machine. "When people look at teams like Spain they just see this great flowing team," Rodgers added. "There is lots of teaching, lots of hard work, many hours on the training ground to get there. There is a lot of courage by the players and a lot of bravery. "There are many things that make you play with that fluidity, to be that effective. That is going to take time but when you have the ball up to 60 or 70% of possession, you have to be in condition because you're pressing at every opportunity and resting with the ball. "I like my team to dominate and control the opponent but in order to do that you need to have the ball. When you don't have it, you are working very, very hard and very quickly in short spaces to get the ball back. When we haven't got the ball I want to see that hunger to get it back." The first five weeks will test Rodgers and his squad to the limit. The futures of Andy Carroll and Daniel Agger remain unclear and home matches against Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United will provide the sternest of tests. But, according to the Liverpool manager, those are challenges that should be welcomed, rather than feared. "It is a magnificent opportunity," he said. "It's something I'm really looking forward to. "You have to play every team, whether that is at the beginning, the middle or the end. What we have is a great opportunity to really get the vibrancy back into Anfield. Sometimes that takes the big games. "Every game is going to be vital, home and away, and there is no better way to start than the big games that we have. We will be on fire by then." A top-four finish is the target, but Liverpool fans want to see improvement and progress. More than anything they want to be given hope. The time for talking is over.
The most important part of the piece is the last line, "The time for talking is over." I truly hope that we can add to the dominating style of last season that little bit of luck in front of goal that changes defeats and draws into wins.
No matter what we need to stick with him, we don't want this revolving door of managers and starting over every season.
I think he does have a big job on his hands but I don't think it's as big as some people are making out. The way some of theese journos are going on its like Rodgers has inherited a bunch of terrible players at Liverpool and he will have to build a complete new squad.
I'd rather people make it out to be a bigger job than it is. It not only removes pressure and expectations but also buys the set up some more time to get things right
I agree with that, the way people are talking its as if he has a terrible job on his hands and he had better players at Swansea. The reverse is the case in reality.
I totally agree - I read that with mild incredulity... He has a decent squad with a fair number of world class players who seem (Suarez, Agger etc) 100% committed to the team. Expectations are low having finished eighth last year, and having been unable to score goals. I think Kenny had a much harder job last year with the hysteria that followed his appointment; and I also think due to the lack of unrealistic expectation and lack of key players wanting to leave (Modric) and over the hill overly powerful players (Chelsea) he potentially has an easier job than AVB and RDM...
Brendan Rodgers is in a catch 22 situation. If he succeeds immediately, all we will hear from our rivals is ''He inherited a good team'', He won x with Kenny's players''. However if he fails to do anything in his first year, all we will get is ''He's out of his depth', he's a poor manager. I'm a believer that Kenny's only flaw was that he's a traditionalist, and he believes in what I believe should be defunct 4-4-2. Good players don't become bad players overnight. Jordan Henderson was a very good player at Sunderland. Is he a bad player now? I don't think so. Stewart Downing was consistently one of Aston Villa's top performers in 10/11. Is he a bad player now? Again I don't think so. Did both players disappoint? Yes. Were both used in positions that didn't really suit them? The answer is yes to that too. Jordan Henderson is a good player that has boundless energy, but he doesn't have the burst of pace to play out wide. He's better used as a centre midfielder as his short passing is superb. Stewart Downing should be used in an attacking three, and just told to attack the full-back. If he feels Glen Johnson is capable of doing more damage by over-lapping on the outside, then SD will drop back and hold the right back position. The only player Kenny signed that looks out of his depth is Charlie Adam. However I cannot see him having a future and this is his fault and not Liverpools or Brendan Rodgers or Kenny Dalglishs' fault. Charlie Adam dawdles in posession, and in a fluid incisive system that Brendan Rodgers uses, there is no need for a player like that.
I agree with most of what you said apart from this; yes there are great players in the swuad that he didnt sign but it's not like he inherited a squad that had just won the premiership... We've had 3 consecutive awful seasons in the league!!! Pep inherited a talented squad at Barca, but people now accept that he gave them the missing link that made them great...
Good points. Here's a question out of the Chelsea team that won the title in 2005, How many did Jose Mourinho sign? It was four players. Ferreira, Carvalho, Essien and Drogba. Did Mourinho through good management provide the missing link? Yes he did. What about Arsenal in 1998, Arsene Wenger inherited a well drilled back 5 that was one of the best in England. He also inherited Dennis Bergkamp, he did make clever signings ie Overmars, Petit, Viera, Anelka, but most of the foundations were in place. Sometimes minor tweaks and a slight change in philosophy can do the trick and thats why I disagree with people that suggest ''x did it with x's team'
way off on the players. 20 DF Paulo Ferreira Porto £13.2 million[1] 23 June2004 1 GK Petr Čech Rennes £7.1 million[2] 01 July 2004 16 MF Arjen Robben PSV £12 million[3] 01 July 2004 9 FW Mateja Kežman PSV £5.3 million[4] 13 July 2004 15 FW Didier Drogba Marseille £24 million[5] 20 July 2004 30 MF Tiago Benfica £10 million[6] 21 July 2004 6 DF Ricardo Carvalho Porto £19.85 million[7] 28 July 2004 33 DF Nuno Morais Penafiel Undisclosed[8] 29 August 2004 27 MF Jiřà JarošÃk CSKA Moscow £3 million[9] 06 January 2005
Look how much they got rid of as well though! 7 MF Winston Bogarde Unattached Released 01 July 2004 20 MF Juan Sebastián Verón Internazionale Loan[10] 01 July 2004 6 DF Marcel Desailly Al-Gharafa Free[11] 06 July 2004 9 FW Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink Middlesbrough Free[12] 01 July 2004 32 FW Mikael Forssell Birmingham City Loan[13] 01 July 2004 15 DF Mario Melchiot Birmingham City Free[14] 09 July 2004 17 MF Emmanuel Petit Unattached Released July 2004 12 MF Mario Stanić N/A Retired[15] 09 July 2004 30 MF Jesper Grønkjær Birmingham City £2.2 million[16] 12 July 2004 39 FW Carlton Cole Aston Villa Loan[17] 14 July 2004 21 FW Hernán Crespo A.C. Milan Loan[18] July 2004 N/A MF Boudewijn Zenden Middlesbrough Free[19] July 2004 34 GK Neil Sullivan Leeds United Free[20] August 2004 31 GK Marco Ambrosio Grasshopper Free[21] 11 August 2004
Claudio Ranieri agreed deals to sign Petr Cech and Arjen Robben in January 2004, they didn't move to Chelsea until the summer. Its like suggesting that Rafa Benitez signed Djbrill Cisse, he didn't. Gerard Houllier sanctioned the Cisse deal before he was sacked.
