http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/latest-news/tomkins-culture-bright-futures Go back just 4 years, to September 2008, and you will find that every Liverpool manager who has faced a home fixture against Stoke City has experienced a 0-0 draw. The Reds drew Rafa BeniÃtez's penultimate home game against the Potters 0-0. Kenny Dalglish's final Anfield encounter with Tony Pulis' men ended 0-0. And now Brendan Rodgers has continued that pattern. While it's fair to say that Stoke can play some decent football in fits and starts, with some reasonable wingers, their undoubted effectiveness is based on route-one. They don't make many passes - half as many as Rodgers' Swansea last season (10,817 vs 20,791) - but those they do make tend to be forward (highest percentage of forward passes out of any Premier League team in 2011/12 - 54 per cent). They attempt a through-ball roughly once every full moon. Not clever, not cultured. Direct. Their game plan at Anfield seemed to be to persistently foul and disrupt Liverpool's rhythm. There weren't many serious fouls - although there did appear to be an early stamp on Suarez - but there were lots of infringements and aspects of time wasting. Liverpool have to learn to overcome such stubborn opponents. I don't think that the Reds were at their best in the final third, but some of the build-up play was superb. Things kept breaking down at the vital moment. A failure to win is always disappointing, but there are plenty of positives. The main issue right now is one of balance, and Lucas Leiva is a one-man fulcrum. Once he's back in the side things will knit together more seamlessly. Attacks will be easier to mount because he will be there to cover when it breaks down. Full-backs can overlap at will with such a brilliant reader of the game to screen the defence. Obviously there are people who moan about "pretty football" when results disappoint. It's funny how the word 'pretty' is only used when a team shows great technical proficiency and fails to win. No-one said when Liverpool beat Nottingham Forest 5-0 in 1988 that it was 'pretty'; it was glorious, or sensational. Barcelona wowed the world for three years, then last season suddenly they were accused of playing pretty football. On their bad nights, people deride them for trying to "walk the ball into the net", when in the previous 10 games, they'll have 'walked' in 25-30 goals. Barcelona don't turn into Stoke when it's not going their way. But it's not easy. It's much simpler to hit the channels, knock it into the mixer, play the percentages. Short-term it's a quicker fix. Believe me, there's substance to this Liverpool side. There are a lot of brave players who won't shirk a tackle, but vitally, won't shirk a pass. Finishing remains a problem, and up until the Stoke game, gaps in front of the back four were being heavily punished. But if the general aspects of Rodgers' team's play is good - and I believe it is - then the reintroduction of Lucas helps solve one problem. Instantly he can add a further 10 per cent to the team. Then you're arguably looking at adding just one reliable finisher to complement the genius of Suarez and the attacking quality of Gerrard. Fabio Borini could yet be that man, given how prolific he was at Swansea and Roma, although he also had a very slow start to last season in Italy. His work-rate, movement and penalty box instincts are first class, but he hasn't quite found the finish. Like Sterling, he needs to get a goal or two to relax; right now, both are tense in the act of shooting. The Reds are looking like a good team, and results will surely follow. When Lucas is fit, it won't look like there's much need of major surgery to the strongest XI. Reina's form wasn't at its best, but he's picking up, and remains one of the world's best 'keepers. He's a brilliant footballer and an incredible character. Many neutrals said that Skrtel and Agger were the top flight's best defensive partnership last season, and both are tough cookies who are also good on the ball. Indeed, to my mind, Agger is the best all-round centre-back in English football, and I'm delighted that both he and the club are equally committed to one another. To my mind, Glen Johnson is the most underrated player in the country. Like Agger, he's a quite brilliant footballer, and although he's not really a specialist defender, he is quick and strong, and reads the game better than he's given credit for. Of course he'll get caught out of position at times, but if you want your full-backs to play like quasi-wingers, you expect that. He's clearly two-footed when it comes to passing and shooting, although he's stronger in the tackle on his right. Right now he's doing a job for the team on the left. Joe Allen has been an inspired addition. He's such a wonderful footballer, with a little bit of everything. The manager knows sitting deep isn't his best position, but like Johnson he's doing his part. Allen won't play hopeful long balls, preferring to find a red shirt, but when a striker shows for the ball he drills in some brilliant zipped passes to feet. Nuri Sahin looks a real thoroughbred, although he'll probably never have faced a team like Stoke before; it's all part of his 'welcome to England' education. He was better in the recent away games, when he excelled, but this is a player who was voted the best in Germany in 2011. So I make that nine very special players. One of the issues is that four of them are central midfielders, but that's a bridge to cross when all four are fit. I hope I'm not doing the others a disservice by excluding them, but many of them are young, and have plenty of time to become indispensable. Some of the remainder have either yet to prove their levels of consistency, or in the case of Assaidi and Borini, are too new to have had a chance to yet do so. Some, like Henderson, are competing within the strongest area of the squad, and that's a challenge. Some have been blighted by injuries. And ultimately, as is always the case within any squad of 25+, some will prove not good enough and move on. But the aforementioned core of players are there to build around. Excluding Reina the average age of the other eight is 26.2. But around them right now are mostly youngsters. I think it's fair to say that if Sterling, Suso, Robinson and Wisdom were all two years older - with the benefits that brings - Liverpool would be much higher up the table. What we are now experiencing is part of an exciting learning curve, but not necessarily one that's conducive to immediate perfection. Now, there's no guarantee to say what can be built will end up coming together as a perfect edifice, but if it's well managed, it can all come together. If the vital components are locked into place that's a firm foundation. Perhaps the hardest thing, though, is dealing with the inevitable inconsistencies of teenage footballers, who won't have the knowledge of how to play themselves out of a sticky patch. One thing I will note about the youngsters who have played for the first team this season: they've looked cut-out for it for years. With that in mind, they shouldn't vanish into obscurity, although it can still happen. In the middle of the last decade, when Liverpool were winning back-to-back youth cups, the sides looked like a collection of honest, hard-working pros who fought for one another, but very few looked destined for greatness. I think four or five are now playing in the Championship, but none of them are established as top players. Given that so few youth players from any club go on to be Premier League stars, it's not particularly damning to note that roughly half of the 2006 Youth Cup side is in the Championship, and most of the others are still in professional football. But they weren't really players capable of becoming Liverpool regulars. However, when I looked at Liverpool's youth side about 18 months ago, I wrote that if it was somehow possible - as some kind of otherwise impossible experiment - to keep that XI together for five or six years, it was easy to imagine it become a strong Premier League team. There was a style and balance about Rodolfo Borrell's young Reds that made sense. The reality is that not everyone develops how you expect, and there will always be those who seem to have a bright future only to somehow fizzle out. But looking at Suso, Sterling and Wisdom, in particular, there was a sense of future greatness. There was something a bit better than what had gone before. They were part of a nicely-balanced team, but the XI also had some star quality. Fortunately, it wasn't like they were the only ones who looked cut out for careers at the highest level. Jack Robinson had already become Liverpool's youngest ever player, and Jon Flanagan had followed him into the first team. Conor Coady looked a strong all-rounder, and Adam Morgan appeared to be the most natural finisher the Academy had produced since the '90s. Stephen Sama was starting to make waves, and further up the pitch, Krisztian Adorjan had a real air of class about him. Meanwhile, Michael Ngoo was a unique kind of striker. If no-one beyond Suso, Sterling and Wisdom makes the grade in the long term, that will still be a phenomenal level of talent fulfilment from the Academy. And yet it's fair to say that a fair few more stand the chance of making names for themselves. The hardest thing for players aged between 18 and 20 is in getting competitive first-team football, to help them improve. Right now, three Liverpool teenagers are getting that experience in the first team. As such, they are surely increasing their chances of one day becoming the first names on the team sheet. Whether the Reds won, lost or drew against Stoke, that would remain equally true. As a result, in time, the rewards - in this instance, victories - should become more frequent.
It's a good read (I had to edit for it to fit) yes very glass half full but he does talk a lot of sense. Full article on the link.
Just read it, it is a good read. I often read Tomkins' stuff (when I can be arsed to weave through the 'subscription only' stuff that is) and always find it a good balanced (in terms of arguments) read but he is very definitely a red The only bit I really picked up on in that article is when he is talking about the eight core players. He includes Sahin in this group but goes on to say that Assaidi and Borini need time to settle in England. Not sure how he can say Sahin is part of that eight man group already and exclude these two (or vice-versa), IMO he has not really done anything yet other than against Young Boys and WBA in the cup, he struggled against Stoke.
Under Hodgson we beat Stoke so is he saying we should get Hodgson back? I understand why with his health Tomkins needs the regular cash but he lost all credibility and my respect when he went back to write for FSG. He's on the castle ramparts pouring oil out rather than firing arrows in. It's ironic he and FSG are such stats-based people but he hasn't bothered saying anything about all the poor statistics Rodgers has in his career - poor win %, high loss %, failure to turn possession into goals at Swansea, where the system was already set up for him. On the other hand Rodgers does talk a good game, doesn't he? And he loves the fans, just like he did at Swansea. It's almost as if he realises it helps tone down the criticism. He'll probably **** you off if you ask nicely.
Christ I hope Brendan is around for years to come, if only to cause MFG a complete psychotic breakdown. Since the article was almost entirely about players from the academy & pre-BR players it's hardly aFSG/BR fluff piece is it? Only compliments for a BR player is for Allen and if you are declaring him a **** player simply because BR says he's good then you're more Muppet than General. Have a thread in mind for later, you can come and cry DOOMED on before going back to masturbate over your Rafa videos. I've known United fans that have posted more constructive/complimentary Liverpool posts in the last 6 months than you.
I like Paul Tomkins - puts things into perspective without being overly critical (unlike Mark Lawrenson for example). Whilst it's easy to point out the negatives, there are positives and he's not afraid to talk about them but it seems as if you're having a go at him for that? We all knew Roy was the wrong choice before he came in but we gave him a chance. He didn't do himself any favours with his negativity both on and off the pitch. Rodgers has come in and seems a like a breath of fresh air - he certainly talks the talk. But he also has an aura of positivity around him and you can see what he is trying to achieve. For that - I will give him time and a chance to prove himself.
