... was our first win of the season with that emphatic win over Norwich. Not sure what happened from January on ( adding sturridge and Coutinho helped last year) but it seems Rodgers and the team have come to some understanding and it is clicking. Now, we will slip up, we are still the modern day LFC and are prone to that but looking that up made me realize how far the team, BR, the players, the philosphy, everything has come since this time last year. I think Rodgers has ditched the tiki-taka for a bit of proper mix to suit the league and it has worked wonders. Thoughts MFG?
It's a results business and despite performances not being sparkling we've had a great start points wise. Having a couple of regular scorers has helped massively. The tight games we've won this season we just would not have won last year because we were so reliant Suarez. Sturridge has been a breath of fresh air and I have to say his former club must be looking on with a touch of envy I still have doubts about the depth of our squad over the course of the season but I feel we are much better equipped than twelve months ago. That's exactly what I wanted to see from Rodgers, progression. There will be plenty more ups and downs this season and I still think we'll have a tough fight for a top four spot but I think we'll closer than last year and that will put pressure on other teams so we will see how they cope too.
BR needed time as the squad he inherited were pretty dire and lacking any real fight - I expected him to need longer than he has to put a decent squad together with the spirit they have now, but something seems to have clicked. I'm not going to get ahead of myself but the signs look very promising - Hugely spirited squad, so many options in defence and formations, great attacking players with Ford, Suarez and Studge - A couple more reinforcements in January and we could be dark horses... MFG come out, come out, wherever you are P.S. Bily I now honestly think we have a good shout for top four, we need to take advantage this season - with all the teams around us all over the place with changes and Europe etc etc.. Plus the fact if we get top 4 will Suarez stay? I think he will, plus we'll attract big name players - if played correctly this year could be our turning point. But I don't wanna get my hopes up just yet, I just think it is very much a possibility. I can see UTD slipping out of the top four (some may say that's not going to happen, but they seem ****ed without Fergie). Will Arsenal keep going? Will Spurs gel in time? Has Jose took Chelsea backwards? Are City gonna blow hot and cold all season? So many questions that are impossible to answer - but we're in the mix that's for sure. Can't wait for Ford to return - him behind the best strike force in the PL, could terrify other teams, as they'll have 3 players they usually double up on - which will be impossible!!
There must be something going on that I can't quite put my finger on yet. Our defense still looks shaky and panicky at times. Our frontline has only had 2 games together. Our midfield is criticised by the younger element of our own supporters as being lazy. Yet we are 2nd in the league; have shown both resilience and flair and periods of complete domination. I don't know what it is but I'll have some more of it whilst I try and figure it out!
Rodgers is learning...the good thing is he's putting what he has learnt into practice from last year. I recall last year saying your lot and Spurs are in the same boat.. It's not luck that we are both second. Do you think you can compensate for injuries if they occur?....January is never the best time to buy players. You have a good a chance as the other top teams this year.
To an extent we already have injuries. We've had no Suarez, Coutinho (our most important player in an attacking sense) is now out, Johnson, Agger and Cissikho all out, Joe Allen and Daniel Sturridge hasn't even been 100% fit this season. That may be true but we got Sturridge and Coutinho for a combined fee of £20m last January, it will probably go down as one of our best transfer windows in 5 years.
Yes - as Magic has pointed out we've had some important players missing already. Plus the fact BR likes to be versatile, meaning we can switch up our formation to accommodate injuries if they occur. Ideally we need a couple more players but we're strong as a squad, especially with regards to mentality
Thought our playing style looked different against Sunderland from the first couple of games of the season, less emphasis on pure possession and pretty passing triangles, and more on doing what was most effective to break the opposition down. Maybe the absence of Coutinho is an influence on this or maybe Rodgers is just learning that this is an incredibly tough league and your team can't be one dimensional. Maybe it's too optimistic but it feels like we're not going to eff it up this year, not saying we'll win it at all but top four is doable.
I like how we have Toure, Cissokho and Sakho in the team - not only are they good players but they have big club experience and have all won a title. They are not over-awed by the experience of playing for LFC because they are used to it already.
We started turning the corner the moment Rodgers realised his "pure ideological" form of football sucks and gets its pants kicked in. Once he stopped being an ideologue we started doing OK. Early Rodgers reign was every bit as crap as Roy's reign. Thank goodness Rodgers doesn't have an old bald guy fetish like Roy. I'm still not sure Rodgers is better than Kenny... but he seems to be doing better in the transfer market... although that could be down to better backroom staff. If Kenny won the Cocup and reached the final of the facup without Sturridge, Minny, Moses and Cout... imagine what he could have done with them. (Minus Carroll, Adam, Pepe and Debby). Rodgers is doing alright now... and we may see champ league again. Best of all we might be the ones that keep Midtable United out of the top 4.
I still think we fanny about too much at the back. Trying to pass it around when you're being pressed is dangerous. I thought to a large extent we'd learned when we can and can't do that but on Sunday we nearly came unstuck a couple of times.
But would Kenny have signed Ming Sturridge courthino. He did after all sign Carroll, Adam...don't know who Debby is? And can't see why you include reina in there. Given how much the transfer market can be something of a lottery I think BR ,after his first forgettable window, has done ok..well more than ok really. Would still have liked us to sign Henri Ryan and Ericsson though
It wasn't just Roy's results that were his downfall, it was his acceptance of mediocrity. He told us we were a mid-table side and should be content with that. BR showed far more ambition, and that's the important difference between them.
I think we can "fudge" a decent starting 11 from our current squad (as proven recently with the likes of Agger, Johnson, Coutinho and Suarez missing), but would like the addition of a couple of first team players come Jan, esp. if where in with a decent chance of top 4 (or better..) and if we do sign anyone, would like them in early in the Window, like we did with Sturridge and Ford, don't want to be part of any Deadline day Circus!
I still think we need another good attacking player. You can't rely on 3 players to win you games throughout a season. Especially two younger ones (Sturridge & Coutinho) and an injury prone one (Sturridge, always seems to pick up knocks and injuries).
