‘Plan B’

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I don’t usually post twice in 2 days but my ruddy twitter timeline is going on an mission to get ‘Plan B’ trending. I understand the frustration of seeing us lose and being blunt upfront I get it, but to say Andy Carroll would have made a great Plan B in the last 10 minutes totally undoes everything Brendan Rodgers has been trying to teach since he arrived.

If you’ve ever played the game you’ll recognise this scenario, when you were younger at a local club training session the manager would express that he’d like the team to have a training match playing 2/3 touch passing football. This would not only improve you as a player but to also progress the team as a whole. Towards the end of the session he’d say, ‘Go on then everyone, as many touches as you like.’ So for the last 10 minutes of the session you’d totally forget about what you’d been learning and just do whatever the hell you’d like. For Brendan Rodgers to come in and repaint Liverpool’s style of play, only to see it torn apart in front of him would make his appointment pointless. The idea of Andy Carroll isn’t that he’ll throw 4 step overs get a bit of a space and unleash a shot, it is to pump it long and work off it, while it might be effective for some teams people need to understand that is not the plan any more for Liverpool, and it certainly isn’t the plan B.

If we see Andy Carroll play for Liverpool again under Brendan Rodgers I’ll be extremely surprised, he doesn’t fit plan A or B so he’s gone out to prove himself at a club that suits him and we should give him our thanks and wish him good luck, not crave for his immediate return.

You might be wondering, ‘So Ben you’ve told us that Brendan Rodgers doesn’t want Andy Carroll as a plan B, so what is his plan B’. Well although I don’t have a direct link to Rodgers’ coaching sheets I imagine it may include; 1) up the tempo, 2) overload the opposition and 3) push on your fullbacks to create width and another option in order to stretch the game. I wouldn’t be surprised if it said at the bottom of the coaching sheet, *Under no circumstances will we lump it long. Time will tell on that one.

This season is a work in progress, Joe Allen and Raheem Sterling are fine examples of Rodgers’ system working, press, pass and move. They’ve got it almost perfectly, all it needs is for everyone else to pick it up with a little bit of time. I wrote an article yesterday HERE that underlines why I think we’ll be fine so feel free to have a read of that.

YNWA

Ben Carr

As always if you’d like to take up any of my points with me on twitter you can find me here @DoctorBenjy

57 Comments

  1. Of we get top four il eat my hat. were going backwords. thats not an.opinion. thats a fact 6,7,8 now worst start in 50 years

  2. It needs time and hard as it is we need patience. Stevie needs to buck up and suarez too. We need to play 5 in midfield with stevie playing behind suarez and sterling. I believe that we need to bring suso the senior team and jonjo should start every game

  3. But just hard to accept. So much of the ball but nothing to show for it. I know BR respects Shanks but didn’t expect BR to emulate Shanks start too.

  4. king kenny should still be there he was sacked because of the london media and fergies friends at sky and keyboard worriors that wernt our fans i would bet and our owners listened to them 90% of our fans that went to games could see kenny was getting there we should protest like in the days of old up and down anfield road we want king kenny back that lot in the media and fergies sky friends could see kenny would get there to 2 finals in first season isnt that bad could have done as good as fergie at utd in his first 16th and fuck all bring kenny back hes the man!

  5. I would like to say that your blind faith is admirable, but it’s not. Face it – Rodgers was hired because he wouldn’t kick up a fuss when FSG tightened the purse strings, not because of his ‘project’. LFC were diabolical today – I agree Joe and Raheem were good but how long are they gonna stick around if we’re languishing in the bottom half of the table, or worse in the championship!

    1 point from 3, with a realistic probability of it being 1 point from 5 or at best 2 points from 5 is not good enough. IMO the ‘project’ is a pile of cr*p.

        1. Not this summer but in there time at the club we’ve paid out 150 million regardless of what’s come in.

          1. Mate they dumped Kenny, who they invested “£150 million” in (like everyone else I think given the outgoings that is an inflated number). Given THEY dumped Kenny, they shouldn’t expect the next manager to pick up hs tab. I do admire your loyalty, but please be realistic in your assessment of the team not have blind faith. On current form and evidence we cannt play to plan for 90 mins without c*cking something up – therefore without divine intervention (given the transfer window is shut) we’re heading for mid table mediocrity at best, worst case is literally finishing where we currently are. That s the reality.

      1. 150 million really i think with the players that have been sold and sponsership deals its not even close to that amount.

        1. It’s still outgoing into the pockets of other clubs though right? Expenditure however you work it into other areas of finance.

      2. Thats all well and good but if we were good enough for 8th last season and there are 7 + other teams that outspend us in the summer transfer window how are we expected improve on 8th. Any thats not to take into account that we let a number of players go while replacing only a few of them.

        1. So if you get in 75 million you still have to be willing to spend it, it’s a crazy attitude to say, right we’ve got this £75 million incoming we MUST go out and spend it all, the players we got for the money we spent should have equated to that 75 million, not the 150 that it did…

          1. but the 150m hasent been coughed up by fsg still has it, its been generated in sales,sponsership etc not their own money if they had spent the same this summer as last then yes we could say they have put money in. for a club with ambitions of finishing in the top 4 1 recongnised senior striker is shamefull, and the whole carrol/dempsey thing a shambles.

      3. No body put a gun to their head to invest in LFC. It was very silly of them not to get someone before they sent AC. It was even sillier than to nego on a player after letting AC leave. And the worst is not getting a striker for a mere sum of 1M. That show FSG is really F.Up. If they have bought the top players in the world and say it is a project to be champions, than I can believe it, not when they are haggling over 1M. See Arsenal, it was a project for them too a few years back, yes they produced excellent players but the players are not playing forArsenal now. Those with moneybags would want instant success. Maybe FSG project is to produce talents and sell them high to make profits.

        1. Well is the FSG project was indeed to produce talent and sell them on, that would suggest they’ll be here for quite some time, and buying Carroll and Henderson for the prices they did would suggest bad business due to the having no sell on value.

  6. our true fan owe kenny alot he was there for us always and we didnt come out for him and before anyone says he left us try going to 1 funeral never mind 96 he loves lfc and would deliver and did 1 cup and would have been more ask gerrard he thnks the same and nicol and john bishop plz if you really love liverpool fc stand up for what you believe in! ynwa

  7. On the evidence I see in the five games passing been good but the idea is to score goals and win we need three strikers in January and shouldn’t loan Carroll if there no replacement I give Liverpool until end of the October to fix up

  8. We shouldn’t dwell too much on the loss cos arsenal are beta than us in the passing ideology, I enjoyed our style of play than last year but todays game showed we haven’t mastered the passing style cos the final balls were missing. Reinas errors are becoming too much also ♍γ̲̣̣̥ fear is that without extra senior strikers suarez won’t be put unda pressure to perform beta(reminds me of ‎​Wђέή W̶̲̥̅ƹ had only torrees as a striker, eeven if he plays badly he will still make the team sheet). Our youngsters would need to be summoned to step up. Overall there is hope n I enjoy seeing LFC play gud football

  9. We can have the most amazing build up play in the world, but it counts for very little if we can’t stick the ball in the back of the net at the end of it!!!!

    AC does not fit, but nor should we be leaking strikers out of the club without replacing them! Imagine whats going to happen when the usual injuries start to kick in!!

  10. If we look at the bigger picture, over the last 15 years, Liverpool have been regressing continuously. Changing the way of playing, is wiping the slate each time you get 1/4 of the drawing completed. Not being negative, but the eyes can see what is true. Gerrard and Suarez have been terribly wasteful. Over the three matches Gerrard has not been up to the level required. It appears that Liverpool has a good back-line and good midfielder in Allen and sterling, but good passing and good play is being undone by wasteful play from Gerrard and Suarez. Very stupid also that you don’t have goal scorers in the team and one is on loan at west ham.

  11. Manager is completely out of depth and the owners lack committment ie Dempsey and still no progress with new or redevelopemt of Anfield….future looks bleak

  12. going down thats the reality team is not good enough manager is clueless harry rednapp is thwe man we need hope fsg see that sooner rather than later or its the championship because they were garbage today.

    1. After three games you’re willing to make that assumption? We can make a bet that in the next 10 years we won’t drop to the Championship too if you like?

  13. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again….This job is too big for Brendan Rogers! He simply hasn’t got a clue! Look, to underline the point, Swansea FC has had a pretty good start without him, and WBA has started brilliantly with the former Kop assistant coach.
    The writing is on the wall. Let’s cut our losses before it’s too late.

  14. It was never gonna be an easy start to a season , but Rogers should try and not get beat first before trying to win 5 nil every week with an headless chicken as his only striker. Does suarez’s new contract dictate he takes all free kicks? Thank God for stirling the only chink in the black sky above us now. To dispatch kuyt bellamy and carroll and only bring in the Italian Ngog in Borini is quite simply stupid. Pacheco must be allowed a chance to impress but I know that wont happen. Talks of Owens return make us a laughing stock and now rogers says Caroll can come back in January the job is too big for him.

  15. Anyone wanting an educated, realistic and well balanced analysis of L’pool FC without the tabloid style sensationalist comments posted from the likes of above need to start reading the Tominks Times. I agree with the author’s point of view by the way

  16. I have been a LFC supporter since I was a Liverpool schoolboy in the 50’s and I have never criticized the team, it’s system or the manager. Ben you are doing the right thing…..’.toeing the party line’. But my experience tells me these people have got it wrong. Wrong directors, wrong manager wrong time. We have to recognize this soon or the Championship league may be a reality.
    No English owner would allow this to happen, they would not dump Lfc tradition in a matter of weeks, change must be gradual to be successful.these people in a typical American way have thrown the’baby out with the bath water.’ Bob P used to say if you have a square peg ‘chisel’ them to fit, not dump them, it is disloyal and destructive of team building.
    There is so much in parallel between Appointment of Obama and Rodgers, the former was an appointment of hope and little experience ,the heart ruling the head, need I say more?

    1. I respect your masses of experience, but I don’t think I’m ‘toeing the party line’, I infact think that I’m giving an explanation to stem the flow of negativity. At the moment I’m hearing more and more that he’s not cut out for the job, this assessment from many is after 3 Premier League games, a quick fix isn’t going to be happening any time soon so the best thing people can do is carry a positive attitude, 2 years ago we were in a state of emergency, having 2 strikers rather than 3 isn’t an emergency it’s a small term problem. I appreciate you feedback though, it’s nice to read something other than, ‘Get him out!’

  17. Liverpool fans should get behind the team and our manager Brendan Rogers. So it seems should the owners Fenway Sports Group. The jury is out on FSG. The Premier League has fundamental differences in approach, history & tradition to those of American professional sports. FSG appear to adopt a cerebral approach to professional sports. Their well known belief in the “Moneyball” approach to pro sports has rightly been questioned in soccer circles. The Robin Van Persie sale, for example, presumably wouldn’t be a good fit with their approach.

    2 recent articles from the Boston Globe & Boston Herald follow. FSG are presently struggling within an arena with which they are very familiar. Are some of their criticisms with the Red Sox comparable to the LFC situation as it is developing at present? I for one see some parallels.

    For the record, I don’t view the Red Sox & LFC as similar as many commentators make out. They both have older, historic stadiums and fanatical support. Liverpool haven’t been English Champions for over 20 years whilst Boston hadn’t won the World Series in over 80 until recently. But other than that there are considerable differences. Liverpool remain the most successful club in English football (albeit by a slim margin). Boston could never at any time in their history have been able make an assertion like that in the realms of American baseball.

    At the end of the day I would like FSG to succeed. If they do then so would Liverpool. However, for them to have success they would need to have a better understanding on the running of a professional soccer club in England and the accompanying culture that goes along with it. That’s easier said than done. I think most of us would have absolutely no clue on how to run a baseball franchise as the overall structure is entirely different to the system in English football. Logically it takes time and I have a sense that they would like to import many of their American sports characteristics in to the English game. I don’t believe they can make those kind of changes until they have settled into the Premiership model comfortably. But more than that I would like FSG to realize that Liverpool is not just a brand. It is a Football Club and long may it continue to be so.

    http://www.boston.com/sports/columnists/massarotti/2012/08/red_sox_have_themselves_to_bla.html

    Red Sox have themselves to blame for how far they’ve fallen
    Posted by Gary Dzen, Boston.com Staff  August 22, 2012 10:29 AM
    By Tony Massarotti, Boston.com Columnist
    Five years ago this fall, the Red Sox won their second World Series in four seasons. Four years ago, they reached Game 7 of the American League Championship Series. Now the Red Sox are a laughingstock, a virtual clown car of calamity, which speaks to just how far the mighty have fallen.
    Red Sox owners, executives and players can blame whoever they want for all of this – from the fan base to the media — but here’s the truth, folks: the Sox did this to themselves. They got so big so fast that they started to believe the praise people were heaping upon them. Once that happens, in any walk of life, failure almost inevitably follows because that is just how any game works.
    Let’s further illustrate this point.
    In 2002, when John Henry and his partners took ownership of the Red Sox, they spoke of Boston’s dilapidated farm system, of a player development operation that was in need of major repair. Beginning that season and over the next few years, the Sox completed a succession of trades that brought them Cliff Floyd, Alan Embree, Scott Williamson, Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell, to name just a few, and all of those deals were effectively made with minor leaguers acquired under the previous regime.
    When asked how the Sox were able to make so many trades with a farm system that was allegedly barren, one (very) high-ranking member of the organization offered the following response.

We made those trades in spite of the farm system.
    Shouldn’t we all be so blessed as to go through life with that kind of no-lose proposition? First the Sox told us they were hamstrung. Then they told us that worked magic just the same. So why should we believe them now when they tell us they are hamstrung?
    Ten years later, quite simply, the people who run the Red Sox simply cannot hide anymore, and this is not any attempt to expose them as frauds or phonies or nitwits. Nobody ever has said that current Sox officials are; at times, we just suggested they weren’t as smart as they think they are. Red Sox officials now have a major league roster assembled with their players, a farm system comprised of their draft picks and prospects. And the Sox are now going on four years without a playoff victory, a rather extraordinary achievement considering the $650-$700 million the Sox have spent on player payroll during that period of time.
    So whose fault is it now? They built this organization and they (mis)managed it. None of us on the outside care whether the revenue streams have remained consistent. For fans and media, baseball teams are judged on wins and losses, and the Red Sox are now stumbling toward the neighborhood of the 1992 New York Mets, a similarly expensive, talent-laden and dysfunctional crew that become forever known as The Worst Team Money Could Buy.
    Do then owners and administrators of the Red Sox even see? They helped bring this franchise to its first world title in 86 years in 2004, then repeated the trick in 2007. And they have since brought the Red Sox right back into the late `80s and early `90s, dysfunctional years when the Sox spent lavishly on free agents like Matt Young and Jack Clark before dissolving into a sea of dysfunction.
    Subsequent Sox clubs had Butch Hobson. This one has Bobby Valentine. Both will go down in Red Sox history as managerial disasters.
    Here’s what Sox officials need to do: stop telling us that things on the inside are not nearly as chaotic as they appear to be from the outside. We know far, far too much now. Kelly Shoppach left here and spoke of a “disconnect” that existed throughout the (dis)organization. Coaches and the manager have openly acknowledged that they were, at times, not speaking with one another. Players were openly eating and drinking in the clubhouse during a historic September collapse, and Red Sox officials continued to sweep matters under the rug by blaming on the manager (Terry Francona) and the former strength and conditioning coach (Dave Page).
    Of course, when you identify scapegoats and the problems do not go away, the changes are proven to have been cosmetic. Attention then turns to the issues of neglect and detachment, both of which Red Sox officials are guilty.
    Uh, guys? PLEASE STOP TELLING US THAT WE’RE EXAGGERATING. It only further destroys your credibility. Your team has real problems and real issues, and it needs real solutions.
    If you are looking for some good news in all of this, maybe this is where it rests: the Red Sox might actually be starting to see the light. Sox officials always have been keen on marketing, and one recent study conducted revealed that an astonishingly low 4 percent of people polled feel the Red Sox are better off now than they were four years ago. (Who exactly are those four percent – embedded Yankees fans?) Approval ratings for Sox officials have plummeted well beneath the floor, and we all know that Sox officials are very concerned about their image.
    Two days ago, albeit far too late into the season, the Sox fired pitching coach Bob McClure. What this means for the future of the team or Valentine is unclear, but it is at least a start. The dismissal of McClure means the Sox have at least acknowledged that a problem existed, something they have been unwilling to do for the better part of the last year despite protestations from fans a media.
    Ten years ago, when Henry and Company came to town, the Sox conducted a series of informational, meet-and-greet interviews with members of the media. Shortly thereafter, Henry expressed concern about the perception that Sox owners were carpetbaggers, that they were merely corporate sharks here to turn a profit. Henry asked some members of the media how the Sox might be able to overcome that perception, and he was given a relatively simple answer.
    You stay, John.
    And you invest emotionally as much as financially, bridging the chasms that now exist between your team and its following instead of widening them.

    http://bostonherald.com.nyud.net/track/inside_track/view.bg?articleid=1061154699

    Sox strike out in fan survey
    By Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa with Megan Johnson / Inside Track/Boston Herald
    Tuesday, August 21, 2012

    Sports fans have spoken, and the Boston Red Sox [team stats] are no longer New England’s favorite team, with a shocking 70 percent of respondents in a new poll saying the Boys of Summer are “changing for the worse.”
    The New England Patriots [team stats] hammered the Sox in every category in the survey, with Fenway’s leadership getting especially poor grades. But that was not the only surprise: The Patriots’ marquee QB, Tom Brady [stats], was NOT the most admired football player in town. That honor went to wide receiver Wes Welker, who was unable to reach a long-term contract deal with the team.
    “We were very surprised,” said Jennifer Patterson of Channel Media & Market Research in Burlington, the authors of the survey. “But it does tell the teams something about players who are real assets.”

    Welker topped Brady by a slim 23 to 22 percent margin. Other favorite jocks, by team, were theCeltics [team stats]’Kevin Garnett, Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury [stats], theBruins [team stats]’Zdeno Chara and theRevolution’s Matt Reis.
    The “Fan Opinion Poll” of 7,200 respondents — billed as “one of the most extensive sports surveys ever done in the New England region” — was taken between July 22 and Aug. 12 and appears to be the first of its kind in the area. It provides “a unique look into what the fans really think of the teams they cheer for,” Patterson said.
    Sports fans have spoken, and the Boston Red Sox [team stats] are no longer New England’s favorite team, with a shocking 70 percent of respondents in a new poll saying the Boys of Summer are “changing for the worse.”
    The New England Patriots [team stats] hammered the Sox in every category in the survey, with Fenway’s leadership getting especially poor grades. But that was not the only surprise: The Patriots’ marquee QB, Tom Brady [stats], was NOT the most admired football player in town. That honor went to wide receiver Wes Welker, who was unable to reach a long-term contract deal with the team.
    “We were very surprised,” said Jennifer Patterson of Channel Media & Market Research in Burlington, the authors of the survey. “But it does tell the teams something about players who are real assets.”

    Welker topped Brady by a slim 23 to 22 percent margin. Other favorite jocks, by team, were theCeltics [team stats]’Kevin Garnett, Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury [stats], theBruins [team stats]’Zdeno Chara and theRevolution’s Matt Reis.
    The “Fan Opinion Poll” of 7,200 respondents — billed as “one of the most extensive sports surveys ever done in the New England region” — was taken between July 22 and Aug. 12 and appears to be the first of its kind in the area. It provides “a unique look into what the fans really think of the teams they cheer for,” Patterson said.
    Among the results:
    • Forty-two percent of the respondents picked the Patriots as their favorite team to the Sox’ 32 percent. (The Bruins scored with 11 percent of the fans, the Celts with 10 percent and the Revolution with 5 percent.)
    • When asked if they could follow only one team, 44 percent of respondents picked the Patriots, with 29 percent choosing the Sox. (Bruins, 13 percent; Celtics, 11 percent; Revs, 3 percent.)
    • Only 4 percent of respondents said the Sox are “changing for the better,” with a whopping 70 percent saying the team is “changing for the worse.” And only 11 percent rated the Sox as “excellent” when it comes to “focus on winning another World Series.”
    • Sox ownership came up the big losers in the poll with only 12 percent picking them as the franchise caretakers they “most admire.” By comparison, Robert Kraft was picked as the top owner by 42 percent of fans, Wyc Grousbeck and the Celtics ownership scored 23 percent and Bruins big Jeremy Jacobs, never a fan fave in years past, came in third with 19 percent.
    • The Pats’ Jonathan Kraft, the B’s Cam Neely and the Celts’ Danny Ainge all topped Ben Cherington in the category of “Leadership Performance,” with the Sox GM picking up only a paltry 7 percent of the vote.
    • And Bill Belichick was the region’s most admired coach by a huge margin, grabbing 47 percent of the vote. The Sox struggling skipper Bobby Valentinecame in fourth (behind Doc Rivers and Claude Julien), with just 6 percent of the vote.
    “People are really down on the Sox,” Patterson said. “The team is doing badly and the tide has turned. But people are still invested. Even when they don’t like what’s going on, people still have a passion for the team.”
    Patterson said her company has sent the survey results to all five of the region’s professional teams and believes they could benefit by listening to their fans.
    “People running the teams need to hear more of what the fans have to say,” she said. “These fans want to be heard, and they really took the opportunity to provide useful and thoughtful insight into the local sports scene.”

  18. what z use of playing possession whenit results in lost, one has to be pragmatic . Last week lost results from not being pragmatic. As i told LFC will lose many simply bcoz LFC doesn,t have the technical skilful players needed to play BR way. Hence below top ten, Barca with all the talents sometimes find it difficult to break opponents yet it has messi among others , so wake up BR

  19. Rodgers biggest problem at present is his lack of flexibility,we have the personnel to slip into a 451 4231 etc but he seems set in playing a 443 despite the players not being able to play this way.Its fine trying to play like Barcelona if you are Barcelona but you have to find a shape that suits your playing staff and I think he hasnt got this right yet. Reina’s GK errors cannot be forecast but he needs serious competition for his place.

  20. Liverpool are a work in progress, we just have to accept that. If we constantly change the manager we will constantly be a work in progress and never progress beyond that. BR got Swansea playing well and absoutely no reason given time we won’t take that to the next level. People need to chill and stop posting using rational based on emotions and what the media want to put out there. As for Mark’s completely ungrounded accusation that BR was employed because he, “would not kick up a fuss”, I seem to remember BR refusing to work with a Director of football or whatever the position put forward by the owners. Not really the mentality of a, “yes man” now is it?

  21. Ben, There was no 150million, when they sold players they also made back some money. So let’s be honest. I am just so disappointed that we hardly tested the keeper, at least when Kenny was around we had so many opptunities but had some bad luck but today, it was so so bad. My only hope is that we don’t “pass” our way to the bottom half of the table come end of march. We all know that BR needs time to build his team but he needs to realise that in Liverpool Plan B is something you must have. Look what happened to Kenny…. Ben what you mentioned was an extended Plan A. Borini and Sahin were very poor. Even Henderson could have done a little better not forgetting Downing who was more of an attacking threat when he came on for Borini. Jonjo was a breath of fresh air giving us more attacking options. I heard Sahin’s name mentioned not more that a dozen times…Sigh….Even Hodgson did not do so badly when he started off. But I will continue to support my team thru thick and thin. YNWA.

    1. Because money is taken in on transfers does that mean we MUST go out and spend it? This notion that we got money in so it almost ‘doesn’t count’ is obscene a business isn’t run that way. We need a base to work from, as others have said, we’re a work in progress and shouldn’t expect the finished article. Borini and Sahin will get time to settle, but only if we give them that. It’s nice to hear you say you’ll support them through thick and thin though :) YNWA

  22. 150m in transfer fees? Take into account transfer fees received and the massive reduction in the wage bill which stands at 23m this summer alone. Works out fsg havespent 0!

  23. Tell that to Manchester City, Ben. Yes, please do. And to Manchester United for Robin. We needed a proven goalscorer in the team. One was willing, dying to come and we just pushed him away. See you around soldier. I fear for the team, really. But, well, let’s see how this September (then October) pans out and reassess. The season’s still an infant. There isn’t very much we can appropriately read from it.
    But then, I think Steven Gerrard should be made to eat the bench for a while, starting from the substitutes. He should know, legend or not, that he has competition too and needs his game to be 08/09-esque. Remember we’ll be playing Man U very soon.

  24. The point is being missed by the article.
    Torres was sold 3 years ago in January, and wasn’t replaced, and still hasn’t been and the chickens have come home to roost.
    Whoever sanctioned 35m on a Sunday League player needs to stand up and admit it if he hasn’t been sacked already. Carroll, never was and never will be a Liverpool quality of player – and he’s not alone.
    Rodgers is picking up the tab for the last 3-4 years of total mismanagement at every level.
    And it’s not just 3 games – check out the form table for the 2nd half of last season and add those 19 as well – the writing was on the wall.
    It is Shanks birthday today and what would he would think of that performance today?
    I watched my first game in 1963 – this has been one of the worst periods in those 49 years – Souness included.
    Too good to go down? Yeah right.

  25. am not even looking forward to match of the day.. i was even counting on southampton to beat man utd just so that it can calm me down after that disgraceful performance from lfc.. woords cant describe how painfully dissapointed i was. i felt empty… even steven Gerrard of all people having a shocker.. i was screaming at my tv for Shelvey to come in for Gerrard.. Suarez is just a frustratiing player for a moment i felt like i wish we sold him.. Reina is the most dissapointing of all for me..2 major errors in 2 games no wonder casillas is always ahead of him..
    the only positives today.. my god raheem Sterling plays like he has been in the game for ages ..joe Allen is still running our midfield and doing it well..shelvey came in and added a bit of presence in the team too.. Reina really needs a wake up call

  26. Cant believe people are saying that we are going to get relegated after 3 games, we have one of the toughest starts to a season ive seen us have for a long time, today we played a team who do what we are trying to do and there better than us at it so it was always going to be hard. We have to back the team he have a good squad now that looks stronger than last year and im sure that we will start getting results soon. Cant believe some of our fans are so short sighted to even think of relegation i would happily put everything that i own on us getting relegated
    To the guy who said get Harry Redknapp he writes for the sun so i cant think of anyone worse.

  27. A plan b is NOT an option Ben. I have loved reading your level headed posts but this topic i can not agree with one bit. If we are adapting a style of play which is just a tweak of style we have been playing for years then lets stick to that and make that work 1st. The pass and move brand of football will win more games than you lose………… We dominated europe playing this way before we banned from europe. There was a reason we were banned from europe and it was nothing to do with the fans.
    If a game is going against you then just keep playing your game till you do score. If you lose then work on the aspects of the game that need improving. If you give up on the way your playing your more or less saying it doesn’t work and teams can stop it from working………. Bad idea. If after reading this you still think a plan b is needed then i suggest you champion the tall young gangly striker in the youth team.
    I just wish our fans would sing the managers name out. Lets sing his name all game against United and show there not the only team who are united. Lets give the poor bloke a fighting chance here.

  28. Just to clarify one point here. I agree with most of article but i am against a plan b in any shape or form. You can pick faults in the way we are playing all day but i’m sure the manager knows all this. One of the most alarming aspects of our play is Stevie G. Mr Liverpool inspires those around him to play better by his own performances. I’m just hoping he is having a dip in form and not being stiffled by the short passing game.

  29. To Alan Kay, a fan supports the club through thick and thin. In troubled times the team and manager needs it’s fans to get right behind them. You have been spoilt by decades of success so show your support for this team and stop mentioning relegation after 3 games. You should be an educated fan after all those years and realise this change we are going through is just what we needed. Now sit in the corner with your pointy hat on.

  30. One more thing peter kay……….. Yep, got your name wrong on purpose but i’ll let you work out why. A true fan would never have a go at King Kenny. What a short memory you have. Go and support the prawn sandwich brigade they deserve you.

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