Yes - the substance is in our attack. Nowhere else. It's not sustainable - cannot keep relying on our attackers.
in the end what we need to look at is this; who do we think can take most points in the last 14 games. everton? injuries right now but very good back 5, good midfield, lacking up fornt with lukaku out. they shuold be our biggest danger Spurs? inconsistent, not that good away from home, good base team, a lot of money wasted. good defense, keeper, midfield, not that impressed up front utd? front 3 from the stars, midfield form the toilet, no defense. in short... LFc have issues and so do all our rivals. I stated a while back the gap to the top would start to grow and the top 3 would gap us... it is happening... albeit still with some hope. if we beat arsenal for example suddenly we are close.... but we are fighting for 4th I would back us right now to pick up as many points as everton as when everton played without lukaku.. they drew 3 at the start. I think they could drop a few points til he's back. he could be back shortly or not.. its weeks not months apparently but you just don't know. Therefore dropping points while he is out is sinful whatever our issues our rivals have as many. which is why i put forth the roadmap of beating the 9 teams i nthe bootm half... match one we draw... idiocy.
I can't scratch it off so easily. I can't forget that... We fielded 3 CBs, with Gerrard venturing forward less than Kolo, against the likes of Vydra, Gera and Berahino. We failed to score after their goal and we had a good 25 minutes to try. Actually, we failed to conceive a proper attempt on goal in that second half. The subbings were strange, especially as they were intended to be made before the goal. And yes, the midfield melted away. Despite all that, I'm optimistic that even with the squad we have, better tactics from Brendan would make us play more confidently and cohesively in defence and midfield. Henderson for a start should attach to his tendency of closing down some f***ing tackles, and to his hobby of running forward, taking the ball and running WITH it. These would go some way in helping taking pressure off Coutinho.
I don't blame Rodgers for bringing on Allen. We had no control in the midfield whatsoever, which was embarrassing considering we played WBA. But to be honest, we didn't really regain control and we subbed off a creative player in Coutinho. Strange game.
that is fair. fans should turn up hoping for the best, staff should turn up to deliver. However i just think the likes of G&H think fans will accept too much and thats why we ended up where we did so i think we need to demand more.
No, Gerrard rather, who as I said was pegged back more than Kolo and more than Lucas ever was. At least Kolo tried a few wobbly rushes forward.
ps. if we can hold fsg to account on a stadium.. we can hold rodgers and players to account for rank performance... that even eventually goes to booing your own side at half time if they fail to improve time after time. IMO thats fine... once everyone kind of agrees its not good enough, fan power... unrealistic ****e excepted
That's the system we play. Brod has previously said the DM role is more in liking to a quarter back in that, they sit in the whole, collect the ball and pick the passes, they control the game. Labeling Gerrard a CB is a bit harsh IMO but I do understand what you're getting at. On another note, you said "better tactics from Brendan". Out of curiosity, what was your reaction after the Everton game when he got the tactics spot on?
JS, that's rubbish and you know it! I'm not saying that we cannot be improved - every side can. However this wholesale condemnation is both incorrect and tiresome. Both our midfield and our defence have suffered greatly this season. Neither has truly had a clear run of games to establish themselves or their personnel. When BR looks at the possibilities that he has in his existing squad I don't blame him for not going all out to buy even more players for those areas. Yes we can and must learn from what happened against Villa and WBA and add it to what we learnt against Everton and move on from there to get the best result that we can against Arsenal. Just calling those players dross isn't going to help that process one little bit.
Even with a fully fit squad, I still feel the same. Maybe 'dross' was a little harsh. Enrique and Johnson are not intelligent footballers nor are they good defenders. However Enrique would still make good cover/competition. Johnson needs to go. Sakho needs a partner. Lucas is not the same player pre-injury but I maintain he is a good squad player to have. Allen is another good squad player but again, we should be looking at better. That's 5 players in our starting line up that need upgrading if we want to stand a chance of progressing. And I definitely mean it when I say our attack (and Migs) are the only reason why we are here in this position today. We have dropped 12 points from winning positions (this is from last season as well) which is a huge number - positions created by our attackers by scoring the goals.
well dross is a bit strong. we are looking at average to good prem players... barring cissokho who looks championship. avergae is allen, good is henderson, skertl and some others... for example. the game we play has to play to the strengths and stop the opposition. how do we stop arsenal playing? 4-5-1
We have to play Allen else our midfield will be overpowered. We could risk it and play on the counter like we did against Everton but I fear inviting that much pressure (from this Arsenal side) is suicidal.
I think Enrique is one of the best LB's in the league. Baines and possibly Cole is better, Shaw will become better but I'd put him on par right now. I wouldn't have anyone else in the league ahead of him. Johnson I agree with and I want to see him leave in the summer. Sakho needs a partner? Our second/third (can't decide between him and Henderson) best player this season can partner him; Skrtel. Coming from me, that's means he is playing well!!!! Allen (you can add Lucas here too) I agree with.
