As I said in my post on the last page, for me it is slight naivety on Rodgers part. At the end of the day, if we had managed three draws against Arsenal, Chelsea, and City at their places, the table looks a whole lot different. Arsenal fair enough, probably out played but the other two in quick succession (unfortunate in itself admittedly), a draw or two could have been secured with a bit more discipline I reckon. Negredo's just before half time still riles me, glad to see since then we have made sure we close each half out compact and we are getting good at really dropping the tempo of the game. Esp at Anfield. We can almost zap the life out of games at the moment.
In the post match Fulham interview he spoke about individual errors and how they are costing us at the back, and as true as it is, the circumstances and conditions to allow these individual errors can be limited; we know this as we have seen enough fantastic 'complete performances' this season as the gaffer would say. Home and away to boot. I think it was Daws who posted a fantastic piece about Srktel a little while back, saying he is a very good 'small space' defender, but struggles when pulled out of that space ie into the fullback position against a winger, or facing an attacker on his left side. There were a few occasions where he found himself in such positions yesterday, there were times when Fulham had a yard to turn and play in front of our back four, not frequently but enough to force mistakes from players in areas of the pitch where they are less good.
I do like his forward thinking when it comes to setting out for the win, and was glad to see attacking subs against Everton at their place etc, but I do think that in seasons to come he will be a little more canny in how he sets up away from home. Theres nothing wrong with it in my opinion either, every single top manager will have had games where securing the draw is the primary aim of the match, be tough to beat, and then look for the win. Its Chelsea against City last week, its Yossi's header in the bernabeu. The best we have seen this season on the road for me was against Spurs, the balance in the middle was fantastic. If i had said to you a midfield three of Lucas, Henderson and Allen started that day, you might think it was a defensive lineup. In fact, it was a perfectly balanced away performance, easily the most complete of the season. That extra protection offered by the legs and positioning of the midfield 3 secured the draw that enabled us to dominate the game and go for the win. It is that balance that Rodgers needs to find regularly. It may be a case of dropping a popular player every now and then, even at the expensive of losing a creative outlet, something that goes against his instincts.
Plain Old Alex Ferguson went years without European success. Why? He was less willing to drop an extra body into midfield in key games until later in his career. Even the treble winning team struggled on their travels, i'm sure they won the least amount of games in winning it? Compromising in certain games is vital over the course of a season or cup competition. Its that shrewdness that can get you over the line.
