Topic: Round Table: Swansea 0-0 Liverpool

[Mr Dilkington]

I think this one goes down as one of the most predictable results of the season so far. Two good teams, with not much in it. Liverpool probably edge things in terms of individual talent, but Swansea have been playing this kind of football for longer, so it's more instinctive with them. I think it'll be interesting to see how this fixture plays out next season - I'd be willing to wager that we will get on much better, and control the game for longer spells than we did today.

Anyway... down to the nitty gritty so to speak:

Pepe Reina was bloody good today, wasn't he? Used the ball efficiently, shot stopping was good, and his punching from corners were solid. Makes you think back to that punch at Goodison earlier in the season...

I thought Skrtel and Agger had their best day as a pair today too. The clean sheet was nice, yeah, but more than that they looked like a proper centre half pairing today.

Is it already time to press the detonate button on the Downing at left back experiment?

Glen Johnson is magnificent, eh? If you disagree, just keep your opinion to yersel'. 

Did our midfield three function well? Did Rodgers get the positioning right by playing Henderson highest of the midfield three?

Does Enrique bring more positives than negatives at left wing?

What did we make of Rodgers' subs?

Over to you...

[Garstonite]

Did our midfield three function well? Did Rodgers get the positioning right by playing Henderson highest of the midfield three?

I thought it was a good performance, all in all. Let me just put that out there first. But to answer this question: no. I'm not really sure what Henderson offered out there today. He made a really positive impact off the bench against Wigan last week, but I thought he looked a little clueless out there to be honest. Maybe it was because De Guzman and Britton were too savvy for him, I don't really know. His performance was tame though. I felt sorry for Allen. He's essentially got to cover three midfielder's positions every time we concede possession.

Steve Gerrard:



The midfield is the key. And Gerrard just isn't getting what is required of him at the moment.

[Hinesy]

Stevie was slow. Remember when the odds on him scoring first were the lowest.. But so was the team in general. It reminded of Houllier's late reign when the ball would go to Sami, he'd pass it to Riise who'd pass it back, then back to Riise then to Carra who'd lump it upfield, or Riise would take it over the half way line then pass back and off we went again.

There's too little forward movement and Suarez still looks on his own up there. I don't think Sterling is a right winger, his crosses aren't the best, he's best running at defenders with somewhere to shoot forwards, not sidewards.

The defence looked better today, and I like Enrique up on the left, certainly gives us options when Downing is inevitably subbed. I want so much for him to be good, but his movement and constantly being caught on the ball just depresses me.

Finally, teams know that we'll try to pass it around from the back, so they press up, causing us to eventually have to kick it upfield which frequently arrives at the head of one of their players setting up an opposition attack quickly because they still have players upfield from pressing us. It can be counter-productive playing out that way.

For me, I like Rodgers' style and slowly but surely he's trying to rebuild a style and a vision, and we need that, even if its not the best vision for the club. We have lost our way and need to find one soon.

[The 5th Benitle]

Yep, predictable is the word but there were encouraging signs I thought.
 
Pepe Reina was bloody good today, wasn't he? Used the ball efficiently, shot stopping was good, and his punching from corners were solid. Makes you think back to that punch at Goodison earlier in the season...
 
Solid. Saved everything, kicking was better and as you say he punched well too. Very encouraging and that's two clean sheets in a row in the league.
 
I thought Skrtel and Agger had their best day as a pair today too. The clean sheet was nice, yeah, but more than that they looked like a proper centre half pairing today.
 
I'm not sure it was their best game together but yes, very solid. Love seeing Danny maraud upfield, there was a moment he got into the Swansea box and tried a bit of skill - that's one of the best sights for me.
 
Is it already time to press the detonate button on the Downing at left back experiment?
 
I'd say so yes. Otherwise he's blocking Robbo's development really. I think we'll sell him in January so fairly moot I guess.
 
Glen Johnson is magnificent, eh? If you disagree, just keep your opinion to yersel'. 
 
Very good second half - outlandishly good in the first. Someone said in the post match thread that Glen was one of our worst players and ran down blind allies - amazing. We could do with two Glens. Three maybe.
 
Did our midfield three function well? Did Rodgers get the positioning right by playing Henderson highest of the midfield three?
 
I thought it was functional - I was pleased Jordan came in, and he did his job well. Not a flashy job but a good one. Stevie worried me though, he didn't look at the races. He actually reminded me of himself playing while injured.
 
Does Enrique bring more positives than negatives at left wing?
 
Definitely - the major one being that he has the balls to get in the box consistently. It's really working, for me.
 
What did we make of Rodgers' subs?
 
I'm actually going to be critical. I think Suso should have come on instead of Cole and I don't like it when Jonjo and Stevie are both in midfield - I can see why Jonjo came on as he is a goal threat but I thought bringing Hendo off left us less solid.
 
Shame we couldn't score a winner - that 1-2 between Raheem and Suarez was the moment. I'm not discouraged by this performance though, far from it.

[Juan Loco]

The continual use of Joe Allen in the deepest midfield role is starting to become a problem. Rodgers said initially that he was played there because he understood the system and what Rodgers wanted to achieve in midfield, which is fair enough. Short-term it worked to an extent but week by week it's becoming more and more of an issue.

We're told Sahin's at his best in the deepest midfield position. We're nearly half-way through his time at the club but it's rare we've seen him there. We're told Allen is at his best in a more advanced position... We're not seeing him there. It made sense to play him deepest initially to get Rodgers ideas out on the pitch, but as time goes by shouldn't we be seeing other midfielders more suited to that role take it up? At the moment we're just waiting for Lucas and hoping he comes back the same player. That's no different to what Kenny did really.

We're not getting half of what we could do out of Allen on the ball and we're making it more and more away to the opposition where he lacks off the ball. We must be one of, if not the easiest team to break against in the league.

Rodgers made a big play about being able - in all areas of the pitch - to get 'behind' the opposition, whether that's the line of defence or the line of midfield. We're not getting anywhere near enough of that from our midfield, whilst making it very easy for the opposition.

With Lucas out maybe we won't be able to make it any harder for the opposition to break against us, but at least with Allen advanced we could manage a lot more of it ourselves. Henderson can't take the ball under pressure, turn and get at a back four, and whilst Sahin is more than comfortable receiving under pressure, once he gets goalside he's far too slow to make it count unless there's a pass on immediately. Allen (and Suso) are the midfielders we've got who can get goalside of a midfield and have enough zip about them to take that extra step to get away and get us running on the opposition back four. Now Allen's not going to Iniesta it very often and commit two or three players on a mazy run, but he's got that ability of being able to receive the ball and turn his man, which sets us on our way. This, I would have thought, is key to the whole way Rodgers wants us to play. You can still see it at Swansea (and indeed they've added players who are even better at doing it).

Today we had Allen too deep to do it to great effect (he was never going to take the ball forward into their centre, even if he turned away from pressure), and then Suarez, Johnson and Sterling who could do it. Enrique occasionally turns a defender with freakish strength and a bit of fortune, but he's not a natural.

The frustrating aspect is that there was a 10-15 minute period at the start to the second half where we had Swansea pinned in and yet you could see exactly where the weak areas in the team were. I don't mean players having an off day (Sterling, Johnson in the 2nd half) but obvious weak spots. Players who whenever they had the ball gave Swansea the chance to pressure and slow the ball down.

Enrique might be a revelation through the simple fact that he makes threatening runs from the left (and that really is a revelation) but he's still a poor footballer. Incredibly one-footed, slow on the ball and overly reliant on his strength (which more often than not slows the play down as he goes into his numerous upper-body duels per match). Downing is a man who knows he's out of the door, and frankly it's a bit depressing that he's stopping Jack Robinson playing games. It might be too much to have to rely on 4 teenagers in your match day squad (I'd make it five personally, as I'm sick of no goalscorer [regardless of what level] on the bench), but I'd rather see another teenager than players we all know are out of the door. Shop windows are shite and rarely work. If I needed a coat I wouldn't go into a shop displaying one covered in blood and shit in the window.

Whenever the ball went down the left Swansea knew they were safe. Whenever the ball went to Henderson they knew they were safe. Whenever the ball went to Gerrard they pressed both knowing there was danger (he played the only two passes that got Johnson away) but that there was also a mistake.

I said last week I think the reason Gerrard is playing deeper is because Rodgers, after the Arsenal match, is wary of how easily he and Suarez can lose possession as a pair, if they're not on their games - and we saw how easy we were to break against in that game. Personally, if we had two fullbacks who were capable of getting forward, I'd be looking to try Gerrard from the left. Sort of in the 'false winger' role Rodgers talks about Suso playing in. Although I hardly feel that's ideal either.

[archie]

I thought it was functional - I was pleased Jordan came in, and he did his job well. Not a flashy job but a good one. Stevie worried me though, he didn't look at the races. He actually reminded me of himself playing while injured.
 

I think this is the 'issue'. A functional midfield won't get us were we want to go. Yes, work in progress, wait for Lucas etc etc but it is still an issue.

We don't have the creativity to change the game from there, nor are we able to dominate the ball and control
the game as we want it. We are continually exposed.

We did alright today, no more no less imo. Same old issues

But I am slightly concerned about the middle of the park, it appears the manager still doesn't know what suits  the team and/or the style of play.

[BreakfastPercy]

Simply put: the game was clinical everywhere but the final third

I thought we were very solid. As solid as could be expected against a side built to punish weakness. The recycling of possession, playing out of defence, drawing teams onto you, when it clicks it is like a spider beckoning flies into its web, especially in the more counter-attacking form Swansea have developed this year. In some ways it's cruel compared to the 'up and at 'em' of yore; Ali's rope-a-dope re-enacted by 11 tiny Iberophiles. We could never copy it exactly because it would suit teams that have no desire to be sucked out of position at Anfield, but it is magnificently effective against teams desperate for the 3 points or the workhorse, agricultural teams that get lost in the emotion of the match.

It was intriguing to see two versions of the same thing have it out, and though there were less chances it was still preferable to the antichrist West Ham 1-1 Stoke.

The teams nullified each other, so the differentiating moments came down to individual class. Our players capable of that outnumber theirs and this was probably reflected in the chances for either side, without either team dominating the game. If anything Swansea's conviction in philosophy showed most signs of cracking during a period in the second half when they couldn't keep the ball, which made me think our mentality is improving and there's a confidence in the ideas.

The key question for me in whether it was a point gained or a point lost: How many sides would have won that match? I'd wager not many, and it's therefore a point gained. The 'winners' would have had game-changing attackers to come from the bench, but then that side of our predicament has been done to death.

That 'aura' of winning will take time to come, but in the mean time a sense of undefeatability is not a bad foundation. Winning mentality doesn't take an eternity to return, just results and cohesion. Viewed in context of recent results a 0-0 draw is frustrating, but viewed over the season the game could have had so many worse outcomes. I felt we were largely panic-free throughout the game, which is a great habit to eventually turn draws into wins. The various recent matches against Stoke (including last year) are a nice contrast of bad panicky draws and good composed ones. This maybe sneaks into the second column.

The continual use of Joe Allen in the deepest midfield role is starting to become a problem. Rodgers said initially that he was played there because he understood the system and what Rodgers wanted to achieve in midfield, which is fair enough. Short-term it worked to an extent but week by week it's becoming more and more of an issue.

Massive flashbacks of Lucas' first games as a defensive midfielder today, as Allen was constantly caught wrong side of the breaking opponent and proceeded to haul them down in perfect free-kick territory. A square peg becoming squarer, but at least he has just about lasted until Lucas' return.

[royhendo]

I enjoyed the game. I'm not sure what that makes me. I thought there was a lot to enjoy about it.

(Dremel was really well drilled. Sorry. I've been wanting to crack that gag all day.)

James mentions it above, but man it's a shame Agger's 'Zidane' roulette-style drag back didn't come off for him in their box. It was sublime.

Johnson is superb.

Allen. I'm not buying this 'he's tired' stuff at all. He's 22. He has too much to do. He's coaching team mates (Skrtel gets a lot of it, for example). He's sharp over five yards when a player tries to run an angle off him, and he often niks the ball or gets the right tactical foul in (without the caution). When he does it, he often intercepts and as a rule does well in contact. The way it's being described, he's an accident waiting to happen. No - he's just doing a job that we see more experienced players do and still make the occasional mistake of the kind he's making. Today we saw Hernandez and Ki win frees in dangerous positions that demonstrated the point, but we've seen others do the same in that position. Xabi Alonso had spells where he struggled a little with it. 

Allen still did some excellent work today. He's looking for the ball all the time. All the time. Always readjusting his position. On 75 we got a brief glimpse of what he'll give us further up, when, as they're breaking with pace, he nicks it higher up, and in one movement feeds Sterling and breaks forward, only for the move to break down. He's a good player this kid. But he's a kid. Yet Liverpool fans are already moaning about him. You know what? I hope he plays every week. He might not be hitting the heights of his first month or so, but he's still putting in strong showings, and every week. If we free him up to work ahead of Lucas it'll have a big impact on our play. So again, possibly it's as much of a medium-term priority to get quality cover for Lucas as it is to strengthen any other position, bar the striker.

[Vulmea]

didn't comment on the Thursday's game,  I wrote  a post and then binned it because I just did not have anything constructive to say in it - I was angry more than disapointed.

Todays result...... Swansea haven't kept a clean sheet in 11 games......its still the case that we rely on one man where we should be relying on the team to make something happen and thats the crux of it for me,  we dont play as a team, when we defend we are too open and when we attack we lack options - we had the same problems on Thursday -  Allen looks like somebody who has given up trying to make it work, he's realised he can't be in two places at once and is finding himself out of position more and more and his passing options are so limited he's making more and more mistakes as the risk increases, whilst Suarez looks increasingly frustrated at the quality around him and Gerrard looks unsure of what it is he should be doing. For Rodgers philosophy to work we have to operate as a team for 90 minutes and its just not happening like that. We are supposed to be wearing out teams but we've yet to score in the final 15 minutes and its our players who are looking ragged late on.

As my dad said today ' I really want the lad to succeed but he's making it hard for me to believe he will'. 

I was encouraged by Rodgers' words of having to find a Liverpool way of playing, now he needs to deliver on that. One worry from almost the start for me has been he has simply written off 6 months because he did not have the players he wanted to play 'his system'. I dont want him to play 'his system' , a preconceived plan, set before he arrived . I want him to play our system, a style he learns and evolves thats suits LFC and the players he has available without that he's just another Hodgson who thinks his 35 year old tactics have worked in Switzerland so must work in LFC.
 

[the 92A]

Roundtable now ready.

[Hank Scorpio]

Agree with those that say Joe Allen is overworked.  He does work so hard and at a role he is not best suited to.  If, as more knowledgable posters say, he is better further forward on that half turn, then we need to see him there more often.  I don't really see him as an issue, although his form has dipped in the last 6 games.

The problem is still within the midfield.  The structure and the roles within that structure need to be addressed.  Teams get passed that midfield way too easily.  Then they have a run at the defence.

I'm thinking this is short-term as Rodgers adjusts to the squad.  This is what I am hoping.  I don't want to discuss the alternative.  Once we get the structure sorted it should be the platform to plug the holes and launch attacks.  It's never easy to find that balance and it won't happen within 12 games.

I liked the fact we pressed reasonably well yesterday.  We made Swansea hit the ball long to our defenders on a number of occasions.  But it wasn't always the case, because once they got it in behind our defenders were way to slow to close space.  But again, it's still early.

I like Enrique's runs to the back post.  It's simple, but it's genius.  He keeps doing that and he will score goals.

I thought overall we played reasonably well and there is a case that we should have won that game.  There were moments where we looked in trouble but they were few and far between rather than periods where we were struggling to cope.  Away games in this league are always going to be difficult and this was a decent result for a team that is developing.

I think Rodgers has done well to stop the losing.  I think our first 6 games resulted in 3 losses, that is 50% loss ratio.  Since then we have progressed and produced results which is impressive.  Tough game coming up on Wednesday.

[Funky_Gibbons]

I enjoyed the match. There wasn’t much end product by either team but there was plenty of nice eye-catching football. I think we shaded in terms of clear-cut chances and were let down by another off-side flag, although this one was perhaps a closer call for the linesman. Other than that though, we had the 2 v 1 that we somehow managed to screw-up, hit the bar from Sterling and Enrique missed another good opportunity. 

Pepe Reina was bloody good today, wasn't he? Used the ball efficiently, shot stopping was good, and his punching from corners were solid. Makes you think back to that punch at Goodison earlier in the season...

Makes a mockery of people in the post match thread saying he looks unhappy. An unhappy player would not have charged down the Swansea player knowing he was going to get a face full of studs. That showed massive courage and a willingness to take one for the team.

His punching and distribution was first class all game and he made saves when called on.

I thought Skrtel and Agger had their best day as a pair today too. The clean sheet was nice, yeah, but more than that they looked like a proper centre half pairing today.

They looked solid yesterday to the point that I cannot remember Swansea seriously threatening from open play.

Is it already time to press the detonate button on the Downing at left back experiment?

Yes. It was a worthwhile experiment to try and make some use of a player who cost a lot of money, but bar a few performances in Europe, he has not been a success there. It’s amazing to think that against Young Boys in midweek we had £36m worth of full-backs on display.

Glen Johnson is magnificent, eh? If you disagree, just keep your opinion to yersel'. 

Great player, I still think I prefer him on the left cutting in on his stronger right foot but he was still one of our best attacking players. He had our fourth highest number of shots and second highest number of chances created. 

Did our midfield three function well? Did Rodgers get the positioning right by playing Henderson highest of the midfield three?

In my opinion Henderson and Gerrard played ahead of Allen in a 1-2 formation. I posted a ‘player influence’ picture in the Henderson thread which showed Gerarrd slightly ahead of Henderson in their average positions. I thought the idea was to prevent Britton having too much time to play the ball out of defence to his midfielders and it worked pretty well. Henderson has come in for a lot of unfair criticism for his performance but I thought he put a lot of hard work into pressing the Swansea midfield. In fact I thought the pressing in general, especially the first half, was very good and we forced Swansea to pass the ball back a lot.

Does Enrique bring more positives than negatives at left wing?

For someone with such a poor goal scoring record he is really finding good positions in the box in the last few games. He obviously scored against Wigan but he got on the end of two balls into the box yesterday and could have had goals on each occasion. Someone compared him to Maxi in one of the threads and I thought that was quite a good comparison. He also has the option of that ball behind the defence to Suarez which they try to play quite often now but didn’t get it to work yesterday.

What did we make of Rodgers' subs?

Didn’t think Cole or Shelvey were the right subs to make. I can understand bringing Cole on after his performance midweek but this was superior opposition to that game. I like Shelvey but I just don’t think he has the athleticism to close down players who pass the ball as quick as Swansea.

[sattapaartridge]

We played a 4-1-4-1 formation, rather than a 4-2-3-1 formation.

I really wanted to see Shelvey on for Gerrard (come on, he wouldnt be upset if he was off for the last 10 mins would he?) and Suso on for Downing.

I think people are harsh on Henderson, he provided the energy high up the pitch that we needed. He pressed well and passed well too. Fair enough, he needed to show quality, but I thought it was Gerrard who didn't quite help matters. He was largely static and hardly got a touch of the ball really.

Thing is, when he did get the ball, Gerrard did show lots of quality. It would have been a risk to have subbed Gerrard, and lose such quality he has in abundance. He looked laboured though. He wouldnt be happy with his display, but maybe Brendan is trying to show him, he cant play every game any more.

Defensively, we were okay, I wouldnt say we were great, namely because Downing was not solid and was targetted by Swansea. I thought he did "okay" but we needed better. It wouldnt surprise me if we were to buy a new left back in the near future. Enrique was good, his passion is very evident and he looks like he has a point to prove. His goal was a goal, and it should have stood.

Johnson, although had a great game, frustrated me at times, when the pass was on to Sterling, he didn't play the pass, and leave the dribbling to him, instead, he took risks and lost the ball high up the pitch and we were counter attacked. I really didnt like that, but overall, his drive to win has to be commended. Sterling, good and bad was shown, but he's young and there is no shame in hitting the bar in such manner, just the pass to suarez on the counter attack could have been better and we'd have won the game.

My 2nd biggest cheer came after what looked like a great save from Reina, down to his left, forget who it was from, but he looked sharp to get to that, even though the replay showed it was probably going wide.

Same as last year, we played well last year under Kenny, and went home with a loss, this time we're at least getting draws. I was thinking during the game, "If we had Craig Bellamy coming off the bench" we would have won this game.

We do need more players with confidence and a eye for goal, just hope that comes sooner rather than later.

[Cpt_Reina]

It's just more of the same isnt it?

Blunt up top (Suarez unable to bail us out this time) and largely sterile in the middle of the park.

Personally I cant see anything changing until Lucas starts playing regularly, and consequently the knock on effect him being on the field will have on our forward line. And who makes up that forward line.

That's at the earliest.

At least Pepe looked good again.

[Mr Dilkington]

It's just more of the same isnt it?

Blunt up top (Suarez unable to bail us out this time) and largely sterile in the middle of the park.

Personally I cant see anything changing until Lucas starts playing regularly, and consequently the knock on effect him being on the field will have on our forward line. And who makes up that forward line.

That's at the earliest.

At least Pepe looked good again.

I think you're being overly pessimistic here, mate. This is a good Swansea side, well drilled and hard to beat at home. We had a perfectly legitimate goal chalked off, and Sterling and Johnson missed good chances too.

I was happy with the performance yesterday.

[Believe]

I'm in the glass half full camp. First half we bossed it and could/should have been two or three goals up and out of sight: Enrique's chance just past the post, Sterling off the bar, the disallowed 'goal' and Johnson's chance/save all spring to mind. We opened them up through intricate passing moves - similar to the chances made against Young Boys - it's more bad luck than poor finishing for me and it's encouraging that we're opening teams up through good play on a regular basis.

Second half we looked less dangerous - I don't know whether this is down to a tactical reshuffle from Swansea or that we tired and/or looked to be conserving energy for Wednesday. Having said that, as already pointed out, the Sterling/Suarez snafu was the chance and it's shame it didn't result in a goal. I also thought the save from Shelvey's shot was great.

So, on to the questions:

Pepe Reina was bloody good today, wasn't he? Used the ball efficiently, shot stopping was good, and his punching from corners were solid. Makes you think back to that punch at Goodison earlier in the season...

Yeah, solid game indeed and perhaps his 'road to redemption' is a microcosm of the team. Seems to be getting better with each game and that will surely breed confidence and consistency. Hard bastard for taking that kick in the face, looked very painful and could easily have inflicted much more damage. Good to see him playing well - class is permanent, form is temporary and all that.
 
I thought Skrtel and Agger had their best day as a pair today too. The clean sheet was nice, yeah, but more than that they looked like a proper centre half pairing today.

They always do in my humble opinion. The season before last when they were paired together after Carra's shoulder injury we were nigh on impregnable and it bodes well that they are carrying that on as we come towards the business end of the season.

Is it already time to press the detonate button on the Downing at left back experiment?

He tried hard but his positioning was off on several occasions - not a criticism as he's spent most of his career in another position but it's definitely something that should be reserved for early cup rounds. I can't understand the reluctance to use Jack Robinson, who's superior to Wisdom in my opinion. I'd like to see him playing in the league.

Glen Johnson is magnificent, eh? If you disagree, just keep your opinion to yersel'.

Rolls-Royce of a footballer, I fear for the day we need to try and replace him.

Did our midfield three function well? Did Rodgers get the positioning right by playing Henderson highest of the midfield three?

I thought so to a point, with the glaring talking point being Steven Gerrard and his role as virtual passenger. I think a midfield three Henderson/Shelvey, Allen and Sahin would function much more effectively in the absence of Lucas. Henderson played well again yesterday.

Does Enrique bring more positives than negatives at left wing?

100% Looks good there, still ponderous in possession on occasion but still threat - as proved by his near miss and 'goal'. We should keep him there until we sign an upgrade.

What did we make of Rodgers' subs?

Should have hooked Gerrard for Suso after the first half and I don't ever want to see Gerrard and Shelvey in a 3 man midfield together! We looked threadbare in midfield after Henderson went off. Can't see why Gerrard wasn't hooked and he was. Puzzling.

[Twelfth Man]

I think Rodger's favours Allen as the deepest midfielder because he is quicker, more tenacious and savvy at playing that role in the Premiership where you have little time compared to any other player we have barring Lucas. In Europe he has tried Sahin deeper and it has been OK because he tends to get a lot more time on the ball. He may be able to receive the ball whilst under pressure but he lacks Allen's defensive nous leaving us wide open. Ideally Allen and Sahin would be the partnership I would go for with Gerrard/Shelvey on the tip of the triangle.


Did our midfield three function well? Did Rodgers get the positioning right by playing Henderson highest of the midfield three?

Henderson was neat and tidy, but adds very little creativity going forward. Juan Loco says he is not good at receiving the ball whilst under pressure, I'm not so sure, he might not be at Allen or Lucas' level but I reckon he would be decent deeper, added to that, he has great energy. Allen and Jordan would give us a much better base stop counters and regain possession centrally. Yesterday Gerrard was defensively just not there leaving Allen to do a ridiculous amount of harrying and tracking back. The reason why Allen looked ragged yesterday was Gerrard's poor defensive play more than anything. The Lucas comparison from BreakfastPercy is apt: "Massive flashbacks of Lucas' first games as a defensive midfielder today, as Allen was constantly caught wrong side of the breaking opponent and proceeded to haul them down in perfect free-kick territory."


"I said last week I think the reason Gerrard is playing deeper is because Rodgers, after the Arsenal match, is wary of how easily he and Suarez can lose possession as a pair, if they're not on their games - and we saw how easy we were to break against in that game." Juan Loco


This may explain Rodgers reticense in playing Gerrard further forward. I think we have seen glimpses of this over the last two seasons when Gerrard is not quite at the races and played further forward, he tends either to give the ball away easily or the game completely bypasses him.


When we had decent possession second half, we looked terribly static, there were moments when everyone was looking at each other wondering who is going to make the run. This could be down to the similar style of play of both teams.


What did we make of Rodgers' subs?

I would have brought on Suso, instead of Cole, his trickery and link-up play in tight situations is far superior to anyone else we have coming from central midfield. He's the only midfielder we have who can waltz past a couple of opposition players whilst under pressure. We were crying out for that type of creativity from a bit deeper.

[ArchieC]

Not many enjoyed this game but I did. Was very tactical and cautious both teams having respect for 1 another, great ground passing and i thought we played well. No  3 points but i'll take a point. I actually feel more confident against Tottenham 2 be honest.

[Cpt_Reina]

I think you're being overly pessimistic here, mate. This is a good Swansea side, well drilled and hard to beat at home. We had a perfectly legitimate goal chalked off, and Sterling and Johnson missed good chances too.

I was happy with the performance yesterday.

Perhaps I am.

Just getting a bit tired of living our lives by 'ifs and buts' though.

We might've had a goal disallowed, but then we didnt put it in there again did we? It's like the derby arguement, we 'should' have had a winner in the 93rd minute. But we threw away a 2 goal lead. It wasnt the disallowed goal that cost us 3 points that day, it was letting a 2 goal lead slip that did it.

Same yesterday. We might had that goal count on another day, but it didnt count. And we didnt do enough to cancel out that disappointment.

Good teams, winning teams, dont focus on those fine margins. Because they dont have to. If they have a goal disallowed they'll just go score another.

We dont. We use it as an attempt to justify not winning. We've done it for years now.

We need to score goals to win games. If you dont score you wont win. That's why I get annoyed when we have 2 CBs on the bench and no striker, youth or otherwise. And that's why I cant accept the dissallowed goal(s) or near misses as reasons to be cheerful.

I worried when he was appointed that Rodgers that his teams dont score enough goals. More and more im starting to see why that is.

We might be low on attacking talent, but he doesnt help himself.

[Mr Dilkington]

Perhaps I am.

Just getting a bit tired of living our lives by 'ifs and buts' though.

We might've had a goal disallowed, but then we didnt put it in there again did we? It's like the derby arguement, we 'should' have had a winner in the 93rd minute. But we threw away a 2 goal lead. It wasnt the disallowed goal that cost us 3 points that day, it was letting a 2 goal lead slip that did it.

Same yesterday. We might had that goal count on another day, but it didnt count. And we didnt do enough to cancel out that disappointment.

Good teams, winning teams, dont focus on those fine margins. Because they dont have to. If they have a goal disallowed they'll just go score another.

We dont. We use it as an attempt to justify not winning. We've done it for years now.

We need to score goals to win games. If you dont score you wont win. That's why I get annoyed when we have 2 CBs on the bench and no striker, youth or otherwise. And that's why I cant accept the dissallowed goal(s) or near misses as reasons to be cheerful.

I worried when he was appointed that Rodgers that his teams dont score enough goals. More and more im starting to see why that is.

We might be low on attacking talent, but he doesnt help himself.

Look at Chelsea. They went to Swansea with the likes of Oscar, Mata, Hazard, Moses, Torres, and Sturridge, and even they toiled. They eventually scored from a set piece that bounced off Moses' head and went in. If memory serves, they conceded more chances than we did too.

We didn't score more, you're right; but we created the chances, which we haven't been doing recently. If Rodgers' tactics are getting us into scoring positions, which yesterday they were, is it fair to blame the missed chances on him? We just simply don't have the personnel, it's as simple as that.

I think we're improving week on week, and if come January we can add a couple at the top end of the pitch, we'll see great improvement.

[Veinticinco de Mayo]

Perhaps I am.

Just getting a bit tired of living our lives by 'ifs and buts' though.

We might've had a goal disallowed, but then we didnt put it in there again did we? It's like the derby arguement, we 'should' have had a winner in the 93rd minute. But we threw away a 2 goal lead. It wasnt the disallowed goal that cost us 3 points that day, it was letting a 2 goal lead slip that did it.

Ermmm... it was.  Not letting the two goal lead slip would also have gained us two points.  Conceding a third would have lost us another point.  There are inumerable hypotheticals that you could work into the game, or any game, none of them change the fact that in the actual game the wrongly disallowed last touch winner cost us the three points. 

[Rigden]

While the post match thread could be aptly be described as Mos Eisley spacestation, this thread is nuts and bolts of the forum.

As for the game, I don't thick it was as bad as many make it out to be. People need to understand that the club is in a transitional phase, any progress made is a success. The groundwork is clearly there. For much of the game we controlled the play and where able to create chances, but as previously noted by many others our threat is too one dimensional (ie Suarez). As far as we know this is something that will hopefully will be addressed in January, and the return of Borini will feel like a new signing.

Once again we were denied a perfectly legitimate goal by a questionable offside call. Should this and the one at Everton have counted we would be 4 points better of and knocking on the CL spots. All this re-enforces my belief in the necessity for video review, but that is a discussion for another thread.

Re Henderson - many believed that he was autonomous throughout the game, and though it might be true when he did have the ball, its his work off the ball that illustrates what a valuable player he can be. His constant pressing in Swansea's third, led to a recycling of possession when Swansea gave the ball away cheaply. Furthermore, he provided runs in the box, which unfortunately were not utilized by either Suarez or Sterling.

And to end on a positive note this was we are currently on an 8 game undefeated run and a earned a clean sheet to boot. 

Also the following statistics from Four-Four-Two, were quite interesting. Taken from here: http://fourfourtwo.com/blogs/statszone/archive/2012/11/26/prem-notes-devils-heads-and-dominant-reds-long-ball-toon-and-long-throw-spurs.aspx

Swansea City 0-0 Liverpool

Swansea’s last 6 Premier League games have all been goal-less at half-time; the Swans themselves have failed to net a first-half goal in their last 10 PL matches. Liverpool embarked on more dribbles than any other team this weekend (30) and also had the most touches in the opponents box (35). Swansea's Gerhard Tremmel made 9 saves: no 'keeper has made more in a Premier League game this season. Liverpool were the only team not to catch an opponent offside this weekend. Steven Gerrard created the most chances of any player this weekend (6); only Leighton Baines and Santi Cazorla have created more than Gerrard this season.

[Mutton Geoff]

Can I say first of all I want Rodgers to succeed but I find his style of football to be absolutely boring in fact i started reading a book while glancing at it yesterday, for me it is as dull as dish water and has no end product, i want to see us camped out on the edge of their box battering them in to submission not pretty little aimless lethargic passes on the half way that do not draw their players out and do not even advance our position one yard.

For me and people will tell me i AM WRONG it is passing for the sake of passing as if we gets marks for Artistic Merits, the only time we look good is when Luis goes off the script with some individual brilliance. Now maybe the problem of the boring football was heightened by two teams playing the same system as well? to me this way of playing is like the Kings new clothes for our fanbase so easy to believe it is good because you need to for your own credibility to be taken seriously in here but frankly there is nothing there in the end  its all a sham. That is simply my opinion right now.

INDIVIDUALLY Positives
PEPE  brilliant back to the old secure confident guy with his sublime ball skills taking the piss out of the forwards, and brave as well with some studs in the face to show for it.

GLEN  again cracking game close to man of the match for me.

SKRTEL/AGGER best partnership in the league and prove it every game.

HENDERSON i thought he had another decent game and needs picking more often.

ALLEN neat and tidy is it enough?

LUIS always harassing them he plays the game the way i want the whole team to play he always pressures them and never gives them a break total in your face football.

JOSE revelation again yesterday he needs to stay exactly where he is and we need to get either Robinson or switch Glen to play behind him now, Downing was never an option and to do that in a league game must have been a final resort surely.

NEGATIVES
Steve, Stevie, Stevie, after 15 minutes he looked to me to be carrying an injury he was that slow around the pitch, was his lack of mobility tactics or him?

He cannot play the role Rodgers gave him, he is not effective there he certainly isn't efficient there and we had  a guy more suited to that role Sahin sitting on the bench, I would have subbed him and not Henderson for Jonjo as both Henderson and Jonjo are far more mobile these days and brought Sahin on for Downing and moved Jonjo forward.
Rodgers is supposed to be this great tactician surely he can see Gerrard sticks out like a sore thumb in the position he played yesterday, my worry and i dont want to divert this at all is who is calling the shots right now?

For me Gerrard needs to be closer to Luis so it has to be on the right with Sterling on the left of a front three or playing in the hole just behind, or frankly on the bench as an impact sub, Stevie may not like that option but we are soon getting to the day that he has to accept it. Knowing Stevie the next game will be a barnstormer but that will only cloud the issue for me his great games are becoming a lot less as he gets older.

DOWNING started well first tackle when he at first got caught out showed he has some balls but he isn't a wing back never will be he cannot defend properly at times he looked bewildered about his positioning and sadly as I like the lad and think he is the latest Rawk scapegoat he has no future here.

STERLING  fairly neutral did some good stuff at times didn't bust a gut to get back at times, stuffed up the two on one situation but then i think hit the bar with a wonderful piece of skill and christ the kid is only 17.

COLE not on long enough didn't change the game if he was supposed to? given that he had his best game for us last thursday so I can see why Rodgers brought him on, however another who will not make it here i fear.

Overall an away point looks good but i want to see exciting football with brilliant wingplay i was brought up on that and this style of football just leaves me cold.

[Sucker-Punch]

okay with this result, didn't think we'd get anything more than a draw.

Pepe redeemed himself, solid performance...i felt with Enrique, it was just one bridge to far, but he is putting in consistently good shifts Hendo was a bit bland...Suso would've added some flare, which this game lacked.

I think Joe Cole needs few more Europa games before throwing into the EPL team.

desperately want us to beat Spuds...it would also put us top half...common you Reds

[Cpt_Reina]

Look at Chelsea. They went to Swansea with the likes of Oscar, Mata, Hazard, Moses, Torres, and Sturridge, and even they toiled. They eventually scored from a set piece that bounced off Moses' head and went in. If memory serves, they conceded more chances than we did too.

We didn't score more, you're right; but we created the chances, which we haven't been doing recently. If Rodgers' tactics are getting us into scoring positions, which yesterday they were, is it fair to blame the missed chances on him? We just simply don't have the personnel, it's as simple as that.

I think we're improving week on week, and if come January we can add a couple at the top end of the pitch, we'll see great improvement.

Just had a quick look at Swansea's results and seen that they've not kept a clean sheet in 13 games. Is it really that hard to score against them?

13 teams in a row managed to do it.

Teams like Sunderland, Wigan and Reading managed it.

I think it's fair to lay some of the blame at his door. Not all of it, but some.

Sterling badly misplaced that pass to Suarez. But then perhaps a more experienced player like Assaidi (not even in the match squad) might have managed it. He's a player who was bought under his stewardship after all. Perhaps Sterling wouldnt have misplaced the pass if he hadnt had to play so many games due to not being rotated enough. He's 17 after all.

Perhaps we might've scored if there'd been a striker to bring off the bench, instead of 2 CBs. We do have a few at the club. Mogan's scoring in the reserves and looked alright out in Anzi. Ngoo too is amongst the goals.

We have a striker out on loan that scored this weekend. He was sent out by Rodgers. Its fair to say he's not ripping up the league, but he managed to score his team a goal this weekend. Where we so flush woth attacking talent that we could forsake the option?

Not in my opinion.

We have a genuine, proven, goal threat in Steven Gerrard that he's negating by playing him too deep.

We aren't stocked to the rafters with attacking talent. But Rodgers isnt helping himself by ignoring or misusing those which he does have.

[Guz-kop]

If the reason we're not playing Gerrard higher up the pitch is because we're worreid we'll lose the ball too easily with Suarez/Gerrard as a pair then I think we're making a mistake. Steven's had a decent season for my money. Some excellent performances (mancs x 2), some dire ones (West Brom, arsenal and yesterday) and the rest somewhere in the middle. But we're not getting the best out of him and we're not leting him get the ball anywhere near far forward enough. If we're afraid of losing the ball too often then I'd argue our movement and use of our wide men isn't strong enough and we're not making the pitch (in the final 1/3) big enough. We're becoming hard to beat which is excellent and with Johnson's return, Pepe's improving form and Lucas' imminent return that will hopefully continue to get better. As a result I hope we can start trusting Gerrard/Suarez more together because they're our ace in the pack and we're not using them anywhere enough (as a pair).

It's not as if we are spoilt for choices with attacking, goalscoring options. I think if we continue to deploy Gerrard in a deeper role, although he'll be ok at it I think we're ignoring one of the few attaching options we do have. We've got a solid base to build from now and defensively we're improving so we need to start trusting ourselves a bit more IMO.

[matthew45]

Can I say first of all I want Rodgers to succeed but I find his style of football to be absolutely boring in fact i started reading a book while glancing at it yesterday, for me it is as dull as dish water

It's good to know I'm not the only one. I am watching less and less of Liverpool this season. I saw the whole of the Young Boys game. I didn't mind missing the first bit of the Swansea game and switched off before the end. I have no right to comment on the performance. But I felt no particular tension, no emotional investment in the players or the outcome of the game. I hope it / I will change. I just feel very remote from it all. This season will end up with Liverpool finishing somewhere between 6 and 10th and not winning a cup. So what's the point?

[ArchieC]

I disagree. I'm finding that i'm more keen for every game to come and enjoying watching the football.

[west_london_red]

It's good to know I'm not the only one. I am watching less and less of Liverpool this season. I saw the whole of the Young Boys game. I didn't mind missing the first bit of the Swansea game and switched off before the end. I have no right to comment on the performance. But I felt no particular tension, no emotional investment in the players or the outcome of the game. I hope it / I will change. I just feel very remote from it all. This season will end up with Liverpool finishing somewhere between 6 and 10th and not winning a cup. So what's the point?

Surely thats when the team needs your support the most though?

[Hank Scorpio]

Good teams, winning teams, dont focus on those fine margins. Because they dont have to. If they have a goal disallowed they'll just go score another.

This is true.  But we're not a winning team yet.  We haven't been for over 3 seasons.  And Rodgers is only 12 league games into this.  It will take time.  We don't have the ability to buy the players we need now, so we will have to develop within and plug in talent where we can from the transfer market.

We dont. We use it as an attempt to justify not winning. We've done it for years now.

We musn't use things not going our way as an excuse.  Hopefully the recent appointment of Peters will help build a side that has the mental endurance to be successful.

[Funky_Gibbons]

Just had a quick look at Swansea's results and seen that they've not kept a clean sheet in 13 games. Is it really that hard to score against them?

13 teams in a row managed to do it.

Teams like Sunderland, Wigan and Reading managed it.

I think it's fair to lay some of the blame at his door. Not all of it, but some.

Sterling badly misplaced that pass to Suarez. But then perhaps a more experienced player like Assaidi (not even in the match squad) might have managed it. He's a player who was bought under his stewardship after all. Perhaps Sterling wouldnt have misplaced the pass if he hadnt had to play so many games due to not being rotated enough. He's 17 after all.

Perhaps we might've scored if there'd been a striker to bring off the bench, instead of 2 CBs. We do have a few at the club. Mogan's scoring in the reserves and looked alright out in Anzi. Ngoo too is amongst the goals.

We have a striker out on loan that scored this weekend. He was sent out by Rodgers. Its fair to say he's not ripping up the league, but he managed to score his team a goal this weekend. Where we so flush woth attacking talent that we could forsake the option?

Not in my opinion.

We have a genuine, proven, goal threat in Steven Gerrard that he's negating by playing him too deep.

We aren't stocked to the rafters with attacking talent. But Rodgers isnt helping himself by ignoring or misusing those which he does have.

I think that is a bit harsh on Sterling. In that situation with 2 v 1 Suarez should have continued to take the ball towards the opposition goal and then, when the defender committed himself, slide a pass to Sterling who would have been one-on-one with the keeper.

Suarez passed the ball to Sterling too early, probably in the hope that Sterling would then carry the ball further up the pitch and then when the defender commits, pass the ball back to him to leave him with the one-on-one.

There was either a lack of belief from Suarez that Sterling would score the goal or he wanted to score the goal himself. Either way, that entire move was badly played out.

As for Gerrard - it has been shown that him and Henderson were more advanced than Allen with Gerrard being slightly further ahead of the two.

[Hank Scorpio]

I too think it is harsh to criticise Sterling for that pass to Suarez.  Those 2 v 1's look very simple but it actually becomes quite difficult to take that man advantage, as silly as it sounds.  Sometimes you become paralysed by the choice.

[Mutton Geoff]

Surely thats when the team needs your support the most though?

think you need to separate not enjoying a style of football from not supporting the club and team. They are not connected at times and certainly for me they are a whole different ballgame.

[Anywhichwayicant]

Perhaps I am.

Just getting a bit tired of living our lives by 'ifs and buts' though.

We might've had a goal disallowed, but then we didnt put it in there again did we? It's like the derby arguement, we 'should' have had a winner in the 93rd minute. But we threw away a 2 goal lead. It wasnt the disallowed goal that cost us 3 points that day, it was letting a 2 goal lead slip that did it.

Same yesterday. We might had that goal count on another day, but it didnt count. And we didnt do enough to cancel out that disappointment.

Good teams, winning teams, dont focus on those fine margins. Because they dont have to. If they have a goal disallowed they'll just go score another.

We dont. We use it as an attempt to justify not winning. We've done it for years now.

We need to score goals to win games. If you dont score you wont win. That's why I get annoyed when we have 2 CBs on the bench and no striker, youth or otherwise. And that's why I cant accept the dissallowed goal(s) or near misses as reasons to be cheerful.

I worried when he was appointed that Rodgers that his teams dont score enough goals. More and more im starting to see why that is.

We might be low on attacking talent, but he doesnt help himself.

Good post lad.

Far, far too many excuses being made, very grim to see.

The Everton game is the one that really grates on me. We seem to have forgotten that excellent two goal lead we let drop into the abyss, and instead, level all our frustration, at the incompetent linesman. But of course, we must have an excuse.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

As for yesterday, I wasn't blown away. Unless something happened in the 7 or 8 minutes I missed at the end of the game, I thought it was two ordinary teams, lacking ideas.

[b_joseph]

I didnt understand the anger or general disappointment in the team last night. Ofcourse there should be frustration because we have seen too many games like that not just this season but last as well.

You got through each area of the game and its hard to find a specific area where we were poor. Some areas we have to be better, quicker, more efficient and ruthless but its tough to find an area where we were poor or are poor. Well scoring goals throughout the team we could say but the general play in leading us towards those situations is on the whole, pretty good, IMO.


The first area that seems to be attacked is the middle of the midfield, which is understandablee I guess because it is the most crucial area on the pitch. But if we look at the season on teh whole, how many games can we sya that we lost the battle in the middle for the majority of the match..Arsenal, maybe Everton?.
Yesterday was another game where I thought we equipped ourselves well in there, it wasnt perfect but it isnt likely to be until you know who is healthy. I dont think its a coincidence that we have been better defensively in these games since Allen and Henderson have played together but it further adds to our issues with attacking teams because both are good players. Yet neither are a threat to the opposition on a consistent basis. Not that its their fault because you can only be the player that you are.

Gerrard on the other hand should be a player that can be a consistent threat to the opposition and is still the only player we have who in every game will make a defense splitting pass to either a foward or the wide players/full backs. He clearly cant move around the pitch like he used to and that, for me, is down to injuries and age. And not because he doesnt care or is lazy.
The reason I would have him higher up the pitch is that I dont think he has the 5 yard burst anymore to evade a defender like he used to have. He is bright and clever but I dont think he can play as one of those types of players who are economical with their movement but their savvy allows them to find space and passes.
What that means for his future is beyond me but it does emphasise the fact that he should be playing more than 1 game per week and the fact that he plays every fucking game for club and country is ridiculous at this point.


Glen Johnson is magnificent...words cant even get into how good he is and how much of a world star he would be if he was afforded the chance to play in a world class team. No offense to our team but he is too good for us at the moment, same with Suarez and Agger. I have so much respect for those guys right now because many players would be sulking and moaning about their situation...those 3 guys work hard and just keep their performance standard high.
Love them all....hopefully we take advantage of having players like this and soon.


Enrique is a mad man...he is one of those guys that will do 5 things right and then the final thing to do, the easiest thing to do, he'll mess it up. With a  player like that, I think it probably is best to have him high up the pitch but its not like he is going to be the answer for us in that area. I do appreciate how hard he works though and how willing he is to get in the box...if more players had his appetite, we'd be better off sometimes.

[Jimbolinos]

Pepe Reina was bloody good today, wasn't he?
I think he was good, perhaps it is just having been conditioned to his poor form but I still feel nervous every time anyone gets near him. Strangely, think it might do him some good that he got clocked in the face, it was fearless and brave, decisive and confident.

I thought Skrtel and Agger had their best day as a pair today too. The clean sheet was nice, yeah, but more than that they looked like a proper centre half pairing today.
I think we did pretty well restricting Swansea to shots from distance, they didn't seem to get through very often. I was also impressed with Sterlings tracking back though from a defensive perspective, he made sure he stopped a quick break and cross.

Is it already time to press the detonate button on the Downing at left back experiment?
Its time to push the detonate button on Stewart Downing. He's not got the courage to be a defender [as shown by Reina taking a kick to the face] or the arrogance or confidence to play further forward.

Glen Johnson is magnificent, eh? If you disagree, just keep your opinion to yersel'. 
He's a fine, fine player.

Did our midfield three function well? Did Rodgers get the positioning right by playing Henderson highest of the midfield three?
It was a back and forth game, so I think it worked and din't work in equal measure. progressively, it seemed to do ok, but defensively there was space everywhere. Not sure why Henderson was so far forward - part of me thinks BR just doesn't trust Gerrard to play the right game as the furthest forward and he's looking for a way to keep him in the team. Same situation happens with Sahin. There are definite problems with Gerrard being one of the '2'. He's not having much impact on the game, beyond getting caught out of position. I think both Henderson and Sahin are suffering because of it.

Does Enrique bring more positives than negatives at left wing?
I think I'd rather see Assaidi, but Enrique has a sort of bullish swagger. He's actually got very good feet and technique and does seem to find his way out of tight spots. I don't remember him doing anything maddening!

What did we make of Rodgers' subs?
Cole deserved a go after his turn in midweek, but failed to make any sort of an impact. Shelvey has a good nose for goal and gets himself in good positions. I don't think we saw anything particularly inspirational from BR tactically this week.

[b_joseph]

As for yesterday, I wasn't blown away. Unless something happened in the 7 or 8 minutes I missed at the end of the game, I thought it was two ordinary teams, lacking ideas.

i thought both teams had a number of really good chances. More chances than you'll usually get in a game....sometimes you look at the stats and see a lot of shots but they were mostly chancers from distance and bad angles. IMO, that wasnt yesterday.

[Fordy]

Perhaps I am.

Just getting a bit tired of living our lives by 'ifs and buts' though.

We might've had a goal disallowed, but then we didnt put it in there again did we? It's like the derby arguement, we 'should' have had a winner in the 93rd minute. But we threw away a 2 goal lead. It wasnt the disallowed goal that cost us 3 points that day, it was letting a 2 goal lead slip that did it.

Same yesterday. We might had that goal count on another day, but it didnt count. And we didnt do enough to cancel out that disappointment.

Good teams, winning teams, dont focus on those fine margins. Because they dont have to. If they have a goal disallowed they'll just go score another.

We dont. We use it as an attempt to justify not winning. We've done it for years now.

We need to score goals to win games. If you dont score you wont win. That's why I get annoyed when we have 2 CBs on the bench and no striker, youth or otherwise. And that's why I cant accept the dissallowed goal(s) or near misses as reasons to be cheerful.

I worried when he was appointed that Rodgers that his teams dont score enough goals. More and more im starting to see why that is.

We might be low on attacking talent, but he doesnt help himself.

Spot on this.

[Hij]

I thought we performed fairly well in this match and for me this was the match where it became pretty clear if we didn't know already where we need to improve the team. Using Enrique as a left winger nearly worked with the goal that wasn't given but he's being asked to perform a role he's perhaps not used to and on the opposite side Sterling who is 17 is starting every game and expected to deliver to push us up the league which is unfair at this moment in time. For me, we need to focus over the next two transfer windows improving those forward positions, RW, LW and ST to bolster what we have to be able to change it as we only really had Cole and Suso on the bench to change it up, Cole, who looks to be past it, and Suso who is also 18 years old, who didn't come on, was perhaps the only other option. So while back up for Lucas may be needed, it comes secondary to changes up the field. Agger/Skrtel have signed new contracts, so for me, this game showed that we can control games once more, even against a side like Swansea who many touted to be better than us, and we had better of the ball in the second half but we just don't have that cutting edge.

Our defence kept another clean sheet, and that can only be a positive. Overall we are improving in defence and that's something which we can't take for granted after leaking goals a lot last season. We're about average in comparison to some of the teams directly above us in the league (conceded less than some, more than others) but have massively under scored in comparison to all of them- again an indication where our weaknesses lie.

Lucas will be a big boost when he gets back, as it will allow us to more effectively play the 1-2 in midfield I imagine.

The Enrique goal was unfortunate as was the Sterling/Suarez interchange but you feel like we are getting to the point now where we are coming away from draws unfortunate to not win, from perhaps losing games like this without so much as a whimper, which is a step in the right direction if not immediate progress. I know we had a lot of that under Kenny, but we have been so poor in 2012, and I feel like we may have turned the corner.

I'd like to see us focusing on bringing in attacking talent to supplement what we already have and allow us better options off the bench than Joe Cole. Carroll/Spearing/Downing/Cole should be another £230k (roughly ofc I don't know the actual figure) off the wage bill, and then we should be able to look at bringing in quality that immediately walks into the first 18. This might not take place all in January which is why I am ready to wait until summer to see.

As a general point away from the Swansea match, I said to another poster via a PM that we haven't had a manager in charge for long than 18 months for a while now. I would like to see Rodgers get that time, hopefully while offloading the aforementioned players and bringing in the ones he feels can move us forward. I just feel that this time, this project will take a little longer than we'd have hoped for, and we'll have to analyse progress as we go, as I feel progress will be incremental rather than immediate.

I'll answer the individual questions after I've been to Sainsbury's!

[royhendo]

Spot on this.

But entirely premature.