BB you're assuming he doesn't include himself as part of that "recruitment team" which as manager I'll think it more likely he is part of said team. So hardly passing the buck, more like sharing it around. And why not? He got the stick in the summer when part of that "team" blocked his own pick so i hardly blamr him for reiterating that its a group responsiblilty: But yes if it goes wrong I know where you're coming from. As for the management speak, its modern garbage talk, we know he uses words like that, as usual I'll look at his actions & judge. Not the ****e he throws the papers. This summers window tells us what he and this "recruitment team" have learnt. If overall the players match those of winter transfer then I'll Nod & say yup, they've got it going now. If its a repeat of last summer quality, its back in the doubt zone. But that said, I'm really only judging the summer on the failure to replace a striker not the gambles that didn't pay off on loans & youngsters. That's what gambles are after all.....
Fair points Frank, it read to me like he was coating himself in Teflon, 'just in case'. I think the Carragher replacement will be interesting mate, as he's made no secret of the fact he rates Williams, but he's 29 this summer & Swansea will want a big fee to release him, so 'value' wise I would imagine a 'committee' might have other suggestions that offer a better financial option.
Do you think borini at 11mil was a gamble? I think thats a pretty massive one then... or allen at 15mil.. thats huge and all of his float! he got assaidi for 3mil, failed on dempsey for 3mil and got yesil in who was a gamble. shain's loan as well... The two big summer buys flopped IMO and i would have seen those as him playing safe with players he knew... The winter showed something but i think sturridge was on in the summer but for the fee so.... coutinho.... again rodgers keeps taking credit by talking how much he knew all about the lad etc. It will be interesting to see who's picked next. the profile judging by the winter is players of good experience but are young and hungry... that's what we've been told both men played lots of games but were not first picks at thier clubs so they wanted to succeed. Sahin if anything was the opposite in not being first pick but also not wanting to play here, only in a very certain role. I think we'll by 22-24 age bracket again, no one over 15mil and I would say each will have played quite a few games here and there. i.e. no Christian erikksen due to price and competition.
If it is a repeat of last summer then my defense of him will significantly drop. I stand up for him at the minute because he was pushed into a very difficult position (Euro's, Olympics, hard start to fixtures, wage cutting, etc) yet IMO he has come out of it with a better league position and more points than last season (minus a trophy mind). I'm looking at this situation with great interest. He has not bought a defensive player for us yet, never mind replacing one of the longest serving legends the club has ever had! I just hope he doesn't go for Williams (unless Swansea have a charity sale).
All you want from a young manager is for him/her to learn from their mistakes and try not to be make them again in the future. So, what I'd like to see (others can add to the list), is: Continue to identify the players we need and get them in early, I don't want to be part of Jim Whites Transfer Deadline Day crap! Don't drop players that are in form for your "favourites" who clearly aren't! Acknowledge our defence needs working on (esp. set pieces) and fix it! Don't fanny about with systems! Our 4-2-3-1 works far better than any other system we've played! I'll admit it, I'm glass half full when it comes to Rodgers, I like the football we're playing, we just need to add a bit more consistency to our play, we can't turn up against Spurs and then go fold like a cheap suit against Southampton, I don't want to see that next year!
I'm in the the glass is full... just 50% water, 50% air... camp... I do agree with all those points though. pick form, identify, move early and if required move on if the deals no there,fix the defense. but one point i would like to make is keep it simple. i noticed having read a few articles that he does tinker a lot, if things are not quite happening he'll swap guys round and make subs when in fact just doing one if enough. If for example you've a scenario where downing is chuffing useless on the right then do a direct swap but often we'll see guys switched wings, and a sub and the patterns of play break down. Is this not enough options off the bench or is it rodgers? If you have someone getting into a good position but just failing to get the shot on target all day then you replace the player and continue with the pattern you worked on all week... certain patterns we play are obvious, especially with suarez's runs. we've seen rodgers say take off coutinho then swap two players round to accommodate and suddenly the pattern has gone. I'm not saying just e straight jacketed, just that he tinkers around and it disrupts things as much as solves things.
Or, at the very least, swap the two players and make the change five or ten minutes later to take it in stages
yeah thats how to put it. swap it at half time or whenever give it time then make the sub. the game he plays has better patterns that hodgson ever did and he was apparently all about patterns. it does open teams up at times, the issue is when we do get behind teams nobody is making for the 6 yard box and that's one prime thing to change as well.
TBH, I've no issues about our attacking play bar the actually finishing but that's been better (with room for improvement) this season. What worries me is the defence or lack of it
Sorry Mito I was being lazy & lumped everyone in the gamble category. Borini; weirdly I still hold some hope for him. I'd like to see him injury free for a season (is it possible lol?) then I'll judge him. I think its harsh to call him a flop, unless you mean in the narrow sense of literally didn't make an impact this season when we needed him to? Allen, well I'm not so sure about that one...I think his gamble was the lad carrying his form over to us long enough to get Lucas back which didn't happen. I also think he was bought as much for having a player in the squad who knew the managers drill. We're told by Brendan that he was out of position & injured for most of the season (why was he played then blah etc) , well then; I expect a marked improvement next season. Not hopeful though. Others...Sahin, was a reasonable gamble but warning signs were there before he set a foot near us that he didn't want to come. Assaidi....pffffft. Still, under the circumstances I'll forgive the mistakes in the 1st window. He didn't repeat in the 2nd. Lets see if it continues in the third.
Our defence - I think it's a very funny one If nothing changes this is our starting back four next season: Johnson Agger Skrtel Enrique You wouldn't say any of these are **** would you? I'm just not quite sure what needs to change, prehaps it is to buy a top CB to compete with Agger and Skrtel and then a left back to compete with Enrique (or in some instances take LB so Enrique can move to LW) I think Johnson will get pushed when Kelly is fit and Wisdom is also class for his age so would leave that - I know people keep going on about moving these 2 into the centre but imo this won't be happening for another year at least.
please log in to view this image Seriously though, all four suffer from inconsistency which is worrying for a back four.
Bingo!! K.I.S.S - Keep It Simple Stupid... Footballers, bless them, aren't the smartest of soles so don't over complicate the "game plan" Many a time we've seen (not just Rodgers) managers make a so called "smart" change be it in formation or players and it takes all the momentum out of the game, players end up looking lost and game fizzles away into nothing, one example being the game against Zenit, no need to make those changes when he did, we had them on the ropes!
