Agree Tobes, but I would say it's the next four games till the end of the month that will influence how it all pans out. All four fixtures should be winnable for us, and if we don't win them (given money lavished on squad) massive questions should be asked - on current form though we're liable to **** a few of them up. Three are away fixtures, the CL game is must win so goes without saying there. Leicester away, no disrespect to the crisp munchers but we should be getting 3 points. Palace, after what happened there at the end of last season who the hell knows Got to win it or at least a point I feel.
maybe he has added Skrtles goals, and sterling contributed more as well, they havent done that this season, yet hopefully.
Because he dropped the 'big players' against Real Madrid and brought the majority of them back for Chelsea he had implied the Chelsea game was a must win or at the very least a do not lose game. The fact we did lose unfortunately could spell the end for him. He's got some time until our next game, he really needs to sit himself down and look long and hard with what is needed for us to progress. Gerrard will start against Palace, but really needs to be rotated now. Allen should be a bench player with Can looking to start now. Either Lovren improves now or drop him and show him he place isn't safe, personally I think he won't imporve. Sterling needs to be rotated with Markovic, Mark needs to play games to actually improve and Sterling needs the weight lifted on him. Play Sturridge and Balo when he's fully fit, which I hope is when the international break is over. Johnson needs to be dropped Asap. Flanagan needs to be put in as soon as he's fit.
John Henry said that Rodgers will be in his job for atleast 4 years, unless some thing really catastrophic happens. I believe he is a man of his word. He also said that we are ahead of schedule and that he knows things will be more difficult this season (said at the end of last season). Personally I dont think Rodgers job is on the line. But I do think our recruitment policy may be up for a serious review.
Nope, but it's worked for Bayern, Barcelona, Dortmund, the great Milan and Juventus of the 90's/00's teams, City, Chelsea, Real Madrid. Pretty much every great side has followed that structure apart from Wenger's Arsenal and Fergie's United.
This is how I see it, albeit from a United fan, although I like to think I'm more neutral/realistic than most when it comes to opinions on rival clubs: Last season, you guys achieved CL qualification and challenged for the title, however for many years before that you have not been one of the regular CL clubs. Having one good season does not guarantee that you'll be challenging for the title the following year, especially in light of the fact that you had no European competition the previous year, so the demands on your squad would change drastically this season. Because of those factors alone I would have said that CL places would be a realistic aim for a club in that position, but the changes in your squad would determine whether you're aiming for a title push as best case and CL places as worst case scenario, or if CL is your best case and Europa worst case scenario. If you had kept your squad intact and bought some big name additions, a title push with CL places as a minimum would be expected. However, losing the standout player in the league (Suarez) and purchasing mostly squad players and players for the future with no real big name players, essentially means you've improved your squad (mainly aimed at coping with the added workload) but have failed to significantly improve your 1st XI (and actually weakened it at this stage). Bearing this in mind I would expect CL to be the best case scenario, and Europa places to be the worst case. That logic applies before the season even starts. If you factor in Sturridge's injury then I really can't see how Rodgers can be blamed for not fighting it out for the title, and yes it's early days but realistically LFC don't look like they can raise their game to the level of last year. I'm not saying BR is blameless, I think the fact that Balotelli was never going to fit into your style of play and that you have serious deficiencies in defense (Def Mid especially, Right Back and Centre Back) are all things he should have seen coming. But as far as your league position goes, you are well on track to achieve a league position (once Sturridge is back) that I think is reasonable given your squad changes since last year, which would be somewhere between 4th and 7th place.
yeah, let's sack the manager that took us from nowhere to 2nd place, playing the best football at Anfield for years, and go back another four years. We knew we'd struggle this season as we both overachieved last season and, in the one season we hadn't really planned for it, lost one of the top three players on the planet. True, we were hoping it wouldn't be this bad, but at the start of the season many of us were hoping for top four and the knockout stages of the CL. Both look increasingly unlikely now, which is a bind because, Chelsea apart, the Prem is ****ing awful this season and we got - Madrid apart - a really friendly CL draw. So, we'll do well to get top six now, and we blew our CL chances at Basle when couldn't score against a worse defence than even ours. We can't buy our way out of this, and even if we did get Berahino and a CB in Jan (can't believe WBA would sell nor FSG give Brendan another £40/50m after Markovic and Lovren, tbh) we'll be out of the CL and possibly lingering @ 10th by then. But we endure. This isn't the same shambles as Woy, yet. Disappointing, but don't panic yet.
Is Rodgers under pressure? Most certainly. Is that likely to result in the sack? I doubt it until the end of the season. When Suarez left there will have been many caveats regarding this seasons objectives. Not only were we faced with trying to replace an irreplaceable player but we were also faced with trying to strengthen the many 'weak' areas that we had in last season's side. Even if Suarez had stayed we knew that the squad had to be strengthened to meet the demands this season would impose whilst still trying to meet fans expectations. As I saw it, with or without Suarez that meant a complete tactical change, a target of 4th place in the league, qualifying out of the group CL stage, and a good run in the cups. I believe that they made the right decision in not trying to replace Suarez like for like. On paper, it also looked the right decision to buy young better quality players to fill the squad. The purchase of Balotelli and Lambert looked strange and really haven't worked for us so far. However we have been blighted by a number of significant injuries which has not helped with either the development of a settled side and the results that we have achieved. None of us here are privileged to know the internal machinations within the club or what is happening at Melwood but it appears that last season's exertions have taken a toll on some of our players (Sterling and Henderson are still scratching for form), Gerrard's last season appears to be dying in front of our eyes and Sturridge and Flannigan are both long term injuries. When that is put alongside the loss of goals, it is a wonder that we have achieved the little that we have. Many lay the responsibility solely at Rodgers door. Yes, he has made mistakes and is struggling to try and find a formula that works with the resources that he presently has. But the lack of resilience and often courage shown by some players is not really down to the manager. Some criticise his post-match comments - but really what else could he have said? I still believe that the young player strategy is the best for Liverpool in the longer term. I still believe that we are well capable as a squad of finishing the season in the top 4. Therefore, if YNWA truly means anything then it has to be clung to during this bleak period. If I'm wrong then Rodgers goes and FSG have to re-think their strategy for the club but for now I'll continue to walk with them and share the pain.
So the answer is no, you haven't any record of us saying such twaddle, just a Google link to various journalists and pundits pontificating on the subject.
You severely underestimate Ludo. I don't think any English team should go there considering they have 3 automatic points. They have an unfamiliar, and silly sounding name, but they're actually a decent team. We need three points to qualify for knockouts- but under ordinary circumstances a draw there would be respectable.
I don't think its a case of underestimating Ludogorets, we simply have to beat them and Brod as put pressure on himself after the team he picked to face Real.
And not getting three points puts serious doubt on qualification for the next round, which there would be pressure on to do.
