What's a bit odd though is that you've apparently got an awful / injury ravaged Defence but amazing attacking talent... yet you're not conceding many or scoring many. Presumably LVG is setting you up to be hard to beat and cautiously.
Are we really getting better?
- Thread starter joseshivers
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What's a bit odd though is that you've apparently got an awful / injury ravaged Defence but amazing attacking talent... yet you're not conceding many or scoring many. Presumably LVG is setting you up to be hard to beat and cautiously.
Right now yes. He learned alot from the leicester game that you cannot be gung ho over here. Arsenal should have known better but did much the same yesterday.
Right now its about results. We know that once the team is fully available we have great options but just now, with our injury crisis we need to be hard to beat.
I like how he is able to adapt.
Tbh I think that was always going to be the case - when a team is missing key defenders it will naturally try to compensate by defending in more depth. Against Arsenal we had three CBs, two WBs, and Carrick and Fellaini as two relatively destructive midfielders. With more defenders back we would play fewer defenders, push more players forwards and thus probably score and concede more.
As UIR says, right now he is doing what is necessary to get results. Same as SAF did back in 2011 when we played with Rafael and Fabio as wingers to cope with a similar set of injury problems. Again against Arsenal, again the tactics worked and we won comfortably despite them having plenty of the ball.
For the first few months it appeared that LVG wasn't prepared to listen to anyone apart from his own voice - hence the tanking at Leicester. Perhaps he has begun to heed the advice given by Giggs and the other assistants which has gradually helped you guys to a position of relative health ... that I think will result in 3rd place at the end of the season,(and the FA Cup as United are long overdue an FA Cup win!! How many seasons is it now??) 4th place is wide open and if my team Southampton can maintain their level there could well be a big surprise - didn't win at Villa tonight but in seasons past going 1-0 would have been curtains. Arsenal will probably improve now that they can ignore you for a few months at least.
- May 22, 2011
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No just luckier.... or does that only count to us last season
With the farcical number of key injuries United have had, I am surprised that we are in 4th place. So some luck but pragmatism too. I cannot believe that some here were complaining of the defensive formation put out by LVG at the Emirates. So we go there and attack them with a B team?? Doomed from the start then.
As for the RS last season, the Rat almost carried that team to the title. He even carried his own manager on his back.
The unbearable truth (for you) your GK, defenders, midfielders and attackers have been/are all worthy of a mid/low ranking team and your squad too. You had a a bit of luck but the Rat was exceptional. Never seen anything like it. Can only say this because he is a Barca player
PS: to you he was worth far more than £75m...
If he could keep his teeth to himself then yes but I think we were lucky to get shot of him for £75 million.
You mean "lose him" surely? I have never seen a player being missed so much by his previous team ...ever
It can't just be Suarez. One player can not make that much difference, surely. I think it's a combination of factors.
1. To many changes to the squad with the new players not performing to the required level. See also Spurs.
2. Suarez of course makes a difference as he was the stand out player.
3. Sturridge injury means Liverpool are without their 2 best forwards from last year
4. The 'slip' leading to the title being blown. This for me is the big one. Liverpool haven't been the same since Gerrard went ice skating. That game (plus the crazy end to the Palace game) seems to have dented the confidence and momentum Liverpool had last year. Had they had a decent season and finished 3rd or 4th but without challenging for the title. I think they'd have been better placed to have a good season this year i.e something solid to build on. Ironically though, coming so close but failing at the final seems to have put them into some sort of mourning period.
1. To many changes to the squad with the new players not performing to the required level. See also Spurs.
2. Suarez of course makes a difference as he was the stand out player.
3. Sturridge injury means Liverpool are without their 2 best forwards from last year
4. The 'slip' leading to the title being blown. This for me is the big one. Liverpool haven't been the same since Gerrard went ice skating. That game (plus the crazy end to the Palace game) seems to have dented the confidence and momentum Liverpool had last year. Had they had a decent season and finished 3rd or 4th but without challenging for the title. I think they'd have been better placed to have a good season this year i.e something solid to build on. Ironically though, coming so close but failing at the final seems to have put them into some sort of mourning period.
Combination of 2 and 4 imo.
Suarez was carrying the team and got them so close to the title. Now he's gone, the players seem to have given up on all hope of winning the title this year, and thus aren't really trying or working hard any more. It's like they believe last season was as good as it will ever get for them at LFC, and can't be bothered fighting for 4th spot.
Sterling and Coutinho seem to have their feet half out the door already, Gerrard has finally given up all hope of winning the PL, Johnson is just playing for the money, and the new signings are left scratching their heads and wondering what happened to the team they signed for. Rodgers has next to no motivational abilities that I can discern, so the team has no drive or urgency to actually fight for matches they can't win easily.
Liverpool really need someone to do what Rooney did for us in 09/10 after Ronaldo left - step up and show that they can at least partially fill the gap left by Suarez. No one is doing that, and Rodgers can't seem to get anyone to try, so they are just falling right back to where they were a couple of seasons ago.
You mean "lose him" surely? I have never seen a player being missed so much by his previous team ...ever
No I wanted him gone no matter how good he was, and he really was good.
I don't think it was down to Suarez leaving, but the lack of foresight by Rodgers to adapt when he did. His simple view was "I'll replace his goals". A more savvy manager would have looked at the 50+ goals they conceded in the league and thought, I can't buy another Suarez but I can adapt and build the side by strengthening my defence (typical of the kind of thing Fergie or Mourhino would do). Suarez didn't just bring goals, he masked a fundamental, underlying problem that was always going to come back and bite Liverpool this season...their defensive frailties. The games against Crystal Palace this season and last are shining examples, in great big fck off neon lights, of precisely that.
To be fair the Rat masked every one's deficiency: from manager downwards and EVERY player in the team.
What Brenda should have done as a top priority was to get another top player - a so called star he could build his team around. The argument that The Rat was unique may have some truth in it but surely there must have been some big names around : Benzema, Sanchez, Cavani even Di Maria or Aguero (although this might have been difficult). £75m is ahuge amount of money still may not get yoy Ronaldo or messi but may get you others.
Then they could address their defensive problems. How they thought they could build their defence around a donkey like Lovren is just beyond comprehension. Lovren was bought as a Kompany but he is more a Lescott i.e good when he is following a leader who can tell him what to do but absolute s**t if he had to lead.
There is simply no way on earth Liverpool have the pulling power to sign these players so that would have been pointless.
They should have aimed a lot higher than they did though that's for certain.
Benteke (when fit) Bony, Lukaku?
Those are who they should have aimed for, not picking up scraps from Southampton. Piss poor management.
This.
You don't even need the pulling power imo - we replaced Ronaldo with Valencia, and whilst he obviously can't compare it still gave us a top class PL winger.
Rodgers seems to be following the Wenger route of picking players who match this 'philosophy' over players who are actually any good. Problem is that Wenger actually does have a philosophy, whilst Rodgers seems to just want to copy anyone who is being successful at any given time. Also Arsenal still have the ability to attract the best players, so even if they are badly managed they are still good enough.