Since this wasn't open last night when I was going to vent I took to twitter with Cpt Reina being the unfortunate victim of my outrage.
To sum up the gist of it. This was yet another one of those days where you could see it coming from a mile away. The type where you can't help but feel with a feeling of disgust in your gut that you know the bloody Mancs wouldn't have lost. It's been a worrying trend in my entire lifespan, ever since we last won the league. There have now been so many of those in the past few years that I've almost stopped caring when they happen and I hate that feeling.
This game was no exception. This was to me obvious when seeing the line-up and when it unfolded Rodgers didn't react well enough so it was inevitable from the moment they scored. The fact that we went to half-time with the score 2-1 is an injustice to Southampton rather than anything having to do with our gameplan. Many have argued that these types of games are down to the fact that Rodgers is too dogmatic and lacks a 'plan B'. Personally I really don't give two shits about Rodgers' lack of a plan B. I am however getting quite concerned about his inability to adjust plan A.
It just feels that every team that has a go at our goal through the middle will score against us. Without fail. And the fact that Rodgers doesn't set up the team against these types of players is getting very worrying. Villa, Tottenham, Southampton, Brighton, Swansea just to name a few all of them spot our obvious weakness. And yet Rodgers is so incredibly dogmatic in his system that he doesn't adjust when he should. In a sense it's why I wish we'd have Kenny & Clarke's pragmatism. Like against Stoke for example. We need to find a middle ground. We're losing games we should've won and we're winning games we used to lose. As others have said it's two steps forward and one step back. So in a sense it's still a step forward, but we still seem, as a club, from top to bottom hellbent on repeating the same mistakes. We underestimate the opposition too often and we set up arrogantly thinking "we're Liverpool, they'll roll over" instead of showing it and letting other teams do it to themselves.
Southampton are a team fighting for their lives. They play very good football, considering the trash we usually get from newly promoted sides. Especially so now under their new manager, they play a high-intensity pressing game and have sorted out their defence. Setting up without Reina, Carra or Lucas was begging for them to push through on us. Jones refuses to leave the 6 yard box when he isn't literally forced to. I like Brad Jones a lot. I think he's a very good shot stopper and he seems like a genuinely nice guy. But he's not a voice that commands respect. When I watch the games I can hear Reina or Carragher commanding the back 4 all the way to Iceland. Jones is a bit mellow, in the back. He's not someone who lets people know when they're fucking up. In the 3rd goal you could see his frustration that they got the shot on goal but in hindsight you also get the feeling there wasn't much he did to order the team around to prevent it either. Skrtel, whom I love, is a drone. He's the perfect mindless instrument of destruction. In a high-flying team like we were at times. He's a great player when he has a Clarke or Rafa who will literally coach him through it for 90 minutes. But under Rodgers he hasn't done much the same. I feel a bit disappointed with his involvement because it felt a bit like throwing him in for the hell of it rather than what was best for the team. I got the feeling that this was his last chance. We'll see the safe option in Carragher and Skrtel will go in the summer. Which is a shame, mostly because of how good he was last season. I love him to death but he's as sharp as a brick wall and since you need to coach him step by step and Rodgers prefers his players on the same wavelength I don't see him making an exception for Skrtel. Especially when he will need to replace Carragher, Skrtel is easy to raise capital. Setting up without Reina, Lucas or Carra did nothing to help Skrtel's cause, because his biggest problem is how he tends to switch off.
As for the game it was a cumulation of our faults. Jones is so scared of the action that he wants to keep him close at all times - and for someone who is that tall and the only player allowed to use his hands inside the box, Jones seems terrible insecure challenging for aerial balls. Gerrard and Allen are very good midfielders but they stay in the same places and offer no balance. I'm not angry about the results, I'm angry about the fucking inevitability of the loss which Rodgers has had too many of. Rodgers has a really wonderful philosophy. His problem is that he's so idealistic that it's almost to the point of naivety. That's not to say I don't believe in the system or the "grand plan". Because when it works, my god does it ever work. My problem now is the same as it was in October. He sets out against these sides expecting them to let us play our game how we want, when we want. At times it feels that it's like he can't come to terms with the idea that teams will lie and cheat, throw themselves on the line and "play ugly" to get the points.
It feels personifited in Joe Allen. He is the type of player you'd want British players to be. But he's not the type of player who bests the ones that aren't. I like him a lot but his lacklusture attributes without the ball is all too obvious in games like these that's exactly the same feeling I get. It's *beneath * him to have to stoop to their level. Ferguson loves these games I mean it's just incredible ignorance imho. Our resurgant form and clean sheets have been the improvement of Reina, Carra, Agger, Lucas. Rodgers now went with 1/4 and he does so away from home. He then set it up with Coutinho and Sturridge both new and both some way off full match fitness. Henderson would at have least driven Southampton back with his relentless energy. Yet we played Joe Allen, who has been in a slump and carrying a shoulder injury for 4-5 months we've recently learned. Johnson had arguably his worst game in a red shirt apart from 22 seconds after the 90th minute and two goals down.
The game, like too many this season felt more like self sabotage than losing to the opposition. Not just because they were the games we should and have to win. But because it was clear from 5 minutes in that we had a weakspot and weren't adjusting. Rodgers did so brilliantly against Everton by swapping at half-time but now it's like he has retreated to his ideal vision to a delusional type of dogmatic idealism. Again don't get me wrong the wins have been outstanding and it's actually been very fun to watch us play in the new year. But it's the fact that every single time we look to be resembling any sort of momentum we fall off the cliff when we should be taking off. And that's so incredibly frustrating to watch month after month, season after season. I think he's got a genuinely concerning blindspot to Allen. He put so much effort and money into making sure that he got Allen he practically called him the personification of his footballing philosophy. So when Kenny's outdated methods, personified in Henderson started working a lot better the thought of "what if I'm wrong" entered his head. And he reacted by dumping Hendo because Allen is really good. But Hendo is the type of player that tends to work in the PL. Where sometimes just wanting it more than the other guy means the difference between a draw and a win/loss. Kuyt showed that better than anyone me neither. I meant simply in the terms of games like Stoke, Oldham et al where sometimesit's not about what you do with the ball sometimes what wins you the game is the 30 yard dash to the ball. Where you will see Hendo or even Downing chasing a lost ball even if all it does is pull back 2 midfielders to cover in case they get it. Allen just sits and waits for the ball to come back Lucas' involvement today was also terrible. Bad management imo. Just sit him down, ask him to take one for the team and then when we have the upper hand he comes off. How does it help his fitness coming on and having to chase the goal for 45 minutes, dragged all over the pitch. If you can only use your best players for a limited time you should always do so on your own terms!
What I keep going back to is that 1-3 loss to Avram Grant's West Ham in 2011. When Parker scored against us. I thought that was the last time we'd see a lesser side get the better of us by literally sitting back, catching us out and bumrushing up the middle, since then it's been WBA 2-3x doing it, Sunderland, Bolton (ffs!), QPR, frankly too many to count. Which is just depressing we need a presence Carra and Kyrgiakos are both terribly limited but they put the fear of god in you if you're attacking the ball our players are too willing to look at their teammates looking for explanations about what went wrong than accepting they were.
I hope we can adjust in the summer. But I don't have too high hopes that we will this season. I firmly believe we'll not draw again this season. We'll win big and lose when we shouldn't. Funnily enough we'll probably get more points that way. But the frustration sometimes gets overwhelming and yesterday was one of those days.
