Now, Rodgers haa took ALOT of stick from all angles for the majority of the season, with criticisms such as "Stubborn" leveled at him. While at the time the questioning of him was warranted, I do think the last 9-10 games he's proven why he's a good coach. Let's be honest, players were under performing, new signings were struggling and we looked both blunt and defensively awful. Now, 10 games on.. The rise of Markovic and Can, both playing in unfamiliar positions and not looking out of place at all. Good spot from Rodgers. Lucas is playing like he was pre injury, Coutinho is finding consistency and the 3 at the back with the return of Sakho has given our team a much needed shape. Bear in mind this is a formation top managers have failed to get right in the PL. Now, I'm not saying you're not allowed your doubts about BR, nor that he's a tactical genius.. Just think if it's easy to give him stick, we should equally praise him. Like Villa, got so much **** for them on Saturday but they helped regain control and get a second goal. Not an eyelid battered! BR
I've been quite vocal and felt that he had lost the plot earlier in the season and that he didn't seem to know what to do to turn it around. At this point he seems to be heading in the right direction. The change in formation has brought a bit of confidence to our defence. The inclusion of Lucas has given us a starting point for attacks and a barrier for our defence, he also seems to be at long last using Gerrard correctly and resting him when needed. Balotelli has been dropped, so all good. I still have concernes with the inclusion of Johnson when fit and his stubborness, it seems to take him a while to see his mistakes and act, the current striker situation is a good example we need one now and he should be in for one.
I've already given him credit for it... but the test is whether he buggers it up with johnson or not. everythign is all hunky dory now but the games are going to continue to keep coming fast and if he needs to make changes will it still keep going. I also feel that in 5/6 games time everyone will be moaning again so.... Yeah well done for getting something out of a different formation but credit to the players like can who only got in via an injury for actually making it work. If toure had been fit all this time i reckon jonhson would have been rushed back in and can might never have got a go... for example.
He certainly does deserve credit for finding a system to suit the players, and for using the right ones. However, let's not forget the horror show of the first half of the season which he was at fault for and was stubborn. And also, players like Lucas, Can, Sakho, Markovic were only in the team because of injury. It would be interesting to see how we would be had these players not been injured. This is the second season in a row where Rodgers' has been forced to make changes rather through his own initiative, so I will reserve judgement. But last night was one of the few times this season where he pretty much got everything spot on - the substitution/management of Gerrard is what we've been crying out for, and hopefully it continues.
Rodgers problem (IMO) wasn't his stubbornness it was his lack of preparation going into the season and it's a problem we've had under him every season he's been here. Even last season we were performing worse in the first half of the season than we were capable of, the difference being that Studge and Suarez were winning games when we didn't perform well. I realise it's tough (almost impossible) when you lose your best players however hearing statements like "we were expecting Suarez to stay" makes us all cringe surely. Even if Rodgers thought he was staying he (and the committee) should have had plans in place for if he left. Buying two big lumps of strikers wasn't necessarily a bad thing but ONLY buying them and leaving the lad who was Studge's natural deputy out on loan was madness. Rodgers is a young manager so we have to accept he'll make mistakes and his biggest asset so far has been his ability to see solutions. If you want to manage at the top level however you have to be able to plan better and get things right before the season starts not half way through it.
Yeah good points Bill - I think Rodgers assumed that we could do exactly the same as last season and just put another body in place of Suarez. What he didn't realise is the impact Suarez had on the team. I say he was stubborn because he was persistent with the same underperforming players and the same system which simply wasn't working.
Must praise him for finally having the guts to take Gerrard off last night and not play him every game. The change of formation is working for us too, so well done Rodgers.
Understood the criticism but also understood that the task at hand was extremely difficult. We have a very promising young team that could develop and really push on, especially with the confidence we are gaining from not losing in 9 games now. I think Brod is the guy to do that, but we seriously need to sort out our transfer policy because the 'committee' or BR can't get it right - if we can get the right players in with a new structure then I think he is the man to get that team confident and get them winning.
If Rodgers is to succeed, then either there needs to be a clear line between him and the committee, and who has the final say. Because at the moment, there appears to be a disconnect. Then he needs to get some quality coaches around him - not a bunch of yes men. He definitely needs a new GK and defence coach. Because without an emphasis on defending, he won't win much.
Oh, we should wait and see how well we do when European football returns. Rodgers has struggled each time (I think we were in the EL when he first joined, and also the recent CL campaign).
Agreed we do need more quality in regards to coaching staff. Just while we're on it - Mignolet actually rushed off his line to intercept Costa at the start of the 2nd half last night Was shocked to see him come in to the picture as normally he's rooted
Seems to have grown in confidence - all stemming from the inclusion of actual defensive players i.e. Can, Sakho and Lucas have all made a positive impact. Not to mention Markovic who has defended brilliantly.
I'd certainly praise where we are now. However, the introduction of Sterling in a more advanced central role and Lucas in the right position, rather than Gerrard in the wrong one came five league games too late. Just about everyone could see Mario up front wasn't working and that Gerrard was as a DM was not working. Everyone but BR apparently. And don't get me started on Johnson!!!......The 3-4-3 system has stood up though and he deserves some credit for that, although I would like to see it against a team that really attacks.....not a very defensive Chelsea. The new players are bedding in well now. I think it was somewhat naive to expect them to hit the ground running. Next year will be his true test regarding player acquisition with Can, Lallana, Markovic, Moreno all beginning to look good.....As is Sahko... I just hope that all of this talk about letting Lucas go stops.....probably journos making stuff up as usual. He's been instrumental in our recovery. Yes we need a striker but not at his expense! So playing players quite obviously out of position or in the wrong system, persevering with players that struggle for form, assuming that we'd bed in several new players and have no transition (tbf, we have no idea what goes on behind the scenes) and for believing that Mario could be anything other than....well, Mario.....and simply for failing to buy the right players (we still need a GK, DM, Striker to fit our game...exactly as we did the last couple of windows)....then it's no more than a 5/10 'must do better from me' but that has improved from a 1/10 some weeks back!!!
It is now past the mid stage of the season... One can argue that anyone trying out all sorts of formations was bound to hit it right (or nearly right) sometime and especially after 22 games into the season. A very good manager would have spotted the problems and addressed them within a few weeks. Having said that, it seems that we have hit upon a system that allows us to attack and score more goals and at the same time reduce the vulnerability of our defence. The jury is still out IMO and let's see how we do against as top team. In the league, before we go over the top, most of the recent matches were not against any of the big boys...
Agree 100% about the coaching staff, it takes the current set up too long to identify problems and find solutions. I also think our youth set up needs a serious look at (I know we've discussed it before) as we get hardly any competition to the first team players from the youth team.
But you could argue do we need competition from the youth team? Our first team is already quite young as it is: Sakho 24 Can 20 Moreno 21 Sterling 20 Coutinho 22 Henderson 23
I never jumped on the sack bandwagon but nor have I ever been in the 'Brod for life' camp either. I'm a realist, he is what he is; a decent coach that takes his time in making decisions but is able to get there eventually whilst dishing out plenty of BS in the meantime. His first season with us was poor and the second season was great but I don't think either of them are a realistic evaluation of Brendan Rodgers, he is somewhere inbetween the two IMO. I wasn't stamping my feet about how poor we were early in the season and I'm not convinced about the current good run either since we've not really played anyone of note since changing the system (bar Man Utd who we lost 3-0 to) until last night. I am still firmly on the fence with Rodgers and I can't see it changing any time soon. Of course, if he manages to lift a trophy and/or get top four then that view may change.
I haven't been critical of him anyway so I haven't much to say on him now. As pointed out above, he's a young manager just learning his trade so he'll make mistakes. The trick, as in life in general, is not to keep repeating the same mistakes. There's a long way to go before a real assessment can be made of him, but I'm happy to see that the fans are being a bit more supportive.
How many clean sheets have we had? This list is what gives me hope. You can see how well they play when they are confident. You can also add Markovic to that list and Gerrard aside, there are not too many oldies in the team.....Get it right, stop giving away silly goals and start winning and we could have the nucleus of a great team for the next decade. It could also go horribly wrong mind!
