st john has hit the mark.... mean defenses and make damn sure teams come to anfield not wanting to be there. if you come thinking bad thoughts like teams who go to old trafford and such... big big thing that. We need to up our game, our intensity, need more height in the side, need to tighten up really on set piece.
Defenders that can spot a run might be a start. Ours get the deck chair out to watch what happens more often than not. Then I'll worry about if they're actually tall enough to compete with the player making the run lol.
...but also get some goals from set pieces too. We've gotten nothing from corners in the league this season just gone, for example. But its the defence that is key to improvement IMO.
The lack of aerially dominant players is a worry. When we attack headers, who can we aim for? Gerrard is our best header of the ball but he's usually taking them and Skrtel is pretty good as well. Agger might win a few but he can't direct them as well, Suarez is decent with the little glances but there isn't anyone who head the ball with pace and accuracy.
Fair enough fella I would like to think BR works hard, I still think that sometimes he may pinch himself, for me it was a big step up for him to take over us and get us back to glory days. A good but hard challenge and one where others have failed before him I like the look of us though and majority of his signings, when we were good last season we battered the opposition
I agree with you. I think he sometimes can't believe he got the gig tbh & he goes into blarney overdrive to try & sound clever & somehow justify himself. But I'd also agree that he did make you into a better side (of sorts) last season, as attacking wise you were much better & his second foray into the transfer market resulted in 2 astute purchases imo. However, I still maintain that he's too 1 dimensional in terms of his approach & your style of play will always leave you open to conceding counter attack goals. It's a big season for him come August, as you've been patient last season, but I think the expectation level will increase dramatically next time round, so it'll be interesting to see how he copes & reacts to that when things don't go to plan.
I agree and it's a reason why I don't feel that bringing in new personnel will instantly solve our problems at the back.
Is it his attempt at a high line do you think? Its risky without a smart quick defence & a midfield willing to get their arses back once the whole 7 second bollox doesn't regain possession. He abandoned it for Carragher & we improved at the back. But with Carra gone do you think he'll go back to his original plan or a hybrid?
It was no co-incidence that Carraghers return & the dropping off of your backline that inevitably resulted, made you stronger at the back imo. Personally I think he believes whole heartedly in his system & his system involves pressing high up the pitch & playing a high line. The problem comes when you don't play with the intensity (& no little skill) required to both win back the ball when it's lost, but more importantly keep it without making unforced errors. A high line can be undone with 1 quality ball & an intelligent strikers run, so %age wise it'll always carry a high risk of conceding.
I don't see why another 20 goals is so absurdly unrealistic a target. When you look at the huge number of chances we created and squandered this season, being more clinical infront of goal alone would make up those 20. I'm not even talking about 40yard pop shots which roll to the keeper, I'm talking one on one chances which we screwed up. Then look at our abysmal record from set pieces. There's at least 5-10 there if we get a decent CB who attacks the ball. Also conside the lack of goals from midfield (Lucas gets one once in a blue moon, Downing is **** and rarely contributes and Hendo only knocked in a few) meaning there's plenty of room to improve there - particuarly by replacing Downing. People taking his quote literally to attack him (expected, it's what all rival fans do), but honestly it's not that big a target. 5 from corners, 5 more from replacing Stewie, Hendo knocking in a few more (or playing more instead of Allen ) or Coutinho available for a whole season, plus taking more of the one on one chances. Alternatively, you could say that by adding another 20 goals, he's implying replacing Suarez with another 20+ goal player...or, you could say that he was misinterpreted and he simply meant adding another 20 goal player to the team to use in rotation, not literally adding 20goals to the tally. Who knows, who cares. Point is he's being positive and setting targets which, imo, aren't even unrealistic. 91 goals doesn't make us title contenders like the WUMs believe he's making us out to be; it could be scoring another 4/5/6 past weak opposition again but improving upon 1 goal scored against top 6 teams. I despair sometimes with people making leaps of faith from interviews...
You make some really good points. I thought on first reading he meant adding a 20+ goal scorer but on re-reading I'm not sure, but doesn't matter as you said. One worry is, if Suarez leaves who will be scoring his 20+ goals?
The number of goals you score is not always as important as the number of games you score in. I know your team won quite a few games last season by scoring 4, 5 or even 6 goals, what i don`t know ( many of you will though) is how many games you didn`t score in.
And just as importantly the games we lost/drew because we conceded 2 in a matter of minutes. Hence the debate about improving the defence either with personnel that can play BR's preferred system well or his abandonment of that system until he can get said players. But yes, there were games especially first half of the season when we were simply shut out and either lost or drew the game as a result.
Why is everyone attacking BR? So he wants 91 goals and title winning form, whats wrong with that? I'm glad we have an ambitious manager who seems to have made the PL title his ultimate goal. Lets also note that he didn't add a time scale to this target, maybe we won't get there next season but if in the future we want to challenge for the PL then we should be aiming for that every season. As long as we improve again next season then we are heading in the right direction and getting closer to challenging again.
91 goals is excessive however slamming in 80 and shoring up our wobbly defense would give us a genuine shout for 4th place. Remain optimistic and get behind the lads 110% and good things can happen. Who knows, Shelvey may pass it to the right player on a counter...
91 goals is unrealistic - If BR really means to add 20 goals, I have to say he's pretty much targetting the league, since only three teams have scored more than 90 goals in a season since the PL formed, and they were champions each time.
If you aim for 91 goals and fall short you still have a pretty good total. If you aim for 75 goals and fall short its a problem Bit like the 'aiming for fourth' argument. If you aim for fourth and fail then you have failed. Aim for first and fail, you may still get top four
Is it unrealistic as a target? I mean if he was to tack on "I'll resign if we don't get 91 goals next season" or ""we're failures if we don't" then yes. But as challenge thrown out to the team why not? I mean he could challenge them to get 75 goals next season Realistic? yes: but what good is that, how many places (going on this season) would that take us up the league? Not directed at you St J but it amazes me that opposition & MF sneer at everything BR is but yet eat up every word he utters as gospel. So they don't take the man seriously but take what he says seriously....go figure. Why do people view what BR says as if he's Tolstoy? It's a throw away comment. A gee up to his players, a declaration of attacking intent. Fluff.
