Last season, I was quick to bemoan our defensive frailties....I got shot down for criticising BR and his approach to the basics of the game, probably rightly so given our season. In the end, our inability to defend arguably cost us the title imo. That said, finishing second was much more than I had anticipated and was something amazing to build on. We were after all, building a team of fast incisive passing that could score at will.....right? What does it matter if our defence conceded the odd daft goal? Fast forward a few months. Our defence is worse. Arguably much worse. Moreover, we are no longer a team that cut's through an oppositions defence. We're relatively static when compared to last year. We can't keep a clean sheet and we can't score. What are we? We clearly shouldn't be playing Ballo up front on his own but BR persists.....is this some kind of statement? If Studge is so critical to us, why not find a suitable back up for him that isn't on loan to Lille? Seems a bit short sighted to me. Any LFC fan would have told you that DS would be injured for a chunk of the season....although this is clearly worse than anticipated! In short, I'm a bit lost. No, I'm very lost. What type of team are we today?? Last season we started without Suarez but were still top of the league after his ban had elapsed. We're not even a shadow of that team today. Not even close. We've spunked £120m on players that don't fit the system that we play?? Markovic looks like dog ****e....although a friend in Portugal insists that he's a very good player....I'm sure he was, in Portugal!! Lallana - Has he had a chance really? Ballo, needs a strike partner but BR won't do it. Lovren?? This was the leader to finally replace Carra?? To think of the players that we could have bought with that type of money!! We've not done a Spurs?? As for BR himself. He looks lost, maybe last season took its toll on him more than most. He looks tired and distressed. Are we witnessing a man under massive pressure. I think so. Surely Suarez was not at the heart of everything good we did last year? I hope he gets it right soon, for all of our sakes.
You could say the defence cost us the title. Or you could it was poor, but our attack managed to get us up to second (i.e. higher than we deserved). Our attack from last season has, with the exception of Sterling, not been there this season and the players briught in have, for whatever reason, not done the job. Hence the poor defence, which was important but compensated for last season, is now much more of an issue. One thing that seems apparent is that the Palace result back in May seems to have taken it out of the players. The confidence and mentality has gone. If we could somehow get it back, then I'm sure things would "click" much better than they are now. I'm not sayingthat we'd back to last season by any stretch, but better. Look at the difference confidence has made to Newcastle. We haven't just lost Suarez and Sturridge injured; are there any players in our team playing as well as they did last year? The question is how to get the confidence back. The fist couple of games it was lower but looked like it could be built upon; now it just looks low, and even getting a couple fo results against didn't seem to raise it. That must be one of BR's biggest concerns right now.
it's simple.. we are whtever term you care to pick from all the ****e on this site. alsorans in transition "almost" for uir that one.... "flukers" "mid table" ake your pick. its easier say what we are not. we are not top 4 nor seriosu contenders for silverware.
Agree with this but will add that having a name like Suarez on your team sheet gives the other players a boost. Having someone elses name on there (said I wouldn't mention him ) could possibly have a negative impact judging by the body language (of the other ten) we see on the pitch at times.
To answer the OP question directly, your a team thats ****ting themselves about getting humiliated on the big stage tonight
In the light cold of day, Suarez was the catalyst and the player who brought us second place last season. Of course he couldn't have done it on his own but without him we wouldn't have been anywhere near that position. If Rodgers cannot see that then we are in big trouble. For me it is not about lack of confidence caused by our loss at the Palace. Simple truth: our current squad and first team are not as good as the squad and first team last season. Even if we remove Suarez from consideration. Are our new defenders better than last seasons? Are our new midfielders better - lallana, Can, markovic ? Are our new attackers Balo, lambert, better? All we need to do is to look at the Saints. They are supposed to have been pillaged by a bigger club and lost all their so called "stars". What did they do? they went on to buy good replacements and some would argue better than the previous ones. And they got Koeman when they were supposed to have lost their brillant manager MoPo. An old principle that we followed over the years was: "We don't bring in players unless they are better than what we've got" Can we honestly say that of our summer purchases?
Good point - Youngsters - Moreno is better than Flanno and Enrique - Manquillo is better than Johnson, Flanno - Can is better than Lucas with more potential - Markovic is definitely struggling but with immense potential The players named above aren't the ones who should be taking us to the next level. They are bought for the future and to improve the squad depth. With the exception of Markovic, all have done pretty well. The established players - Lovren is significantly worse than Sakho - Lallana is half the player Coutinho is - Mario is not as good as Suarez (obviously) and is a different type of striker to Sturridge - Lambert is an oaf but not much was expected of him In conclusion - the players for 'tomorrow' have done well. The players who brought in to improve our first XI are the biggest let downs and cost a fortune, and all were Rodgers's targets with the exception of Mario.
Eh... in the semis of the league cup, still in the champions league (just, let's see what tonight brings ), potential FA cup run, Prem league's a write off at this point obviously. I agree with most of the vitriol being ****ted out of people's face arses right now, but can we get some balance on everything.
I would say enrique looked ****ed. so ok moreno is better, manquillo is for sure, can is decent but is not fit, lucas is ****ed so not hard. Markovic i don't agree on. I have not seen a scrap of 20mil talent yet.... lovern... worse than sahko... nah, better... no... lallana i agree. Badontely and lambert... pointless and goalless. The thing is a very mixed bag and the first 11 isn not improved for THREE windows in a row as a result.
Hmm you may have a case of Flanno being better than Moreno from a defensive aspect but even then it's marginal. Moreno is a far better footballer and more intelligent. Manqulllo is DEFINITELY better than Flanno in every aspect
