Topic: Brendan Rodgers - Liverpool Manager (ours to keep - or at least till 2018)

[the 92A]

We all thought Brendan was rigid in his philosophy, and as has been pointed out many times, he has become quite the pragmatist. Who's to say Golom won't do the same?   



Anyway, I agree with you, but the more positive press out there suggesting Moyes be given time the better.

On one level everyone can change and become flexible, but Rodgers was open, he believed in certain principals about how the game should be played but tactically he was always looking to 'sit on the Shoulder of Giants', he had a thirst for what was being done at the cutting edge of those who were successful, he was looking to Spain and Germany rather than inwardly looking, he wanted to innovate.


Contrast that to Moyses who had pretty much laid down his stall at Everton. Keep it tight at the back get it to the wide players etc. Ten years of being praised for the job he was doing and very much part of the LMA orthodoxy. In that he reminds me of a young Hodgson. When Hodgson came I was  desperatly hoping that the way he played in the past was because of pragmatism, he didn't have the players to play open football and that at Liverpool with better players he might adapt his style but the reality was he was closed, it was part of his DNA, he hadn't got to where he was without his drills and his team shape and nothing was going to convince him otherwise. It feels the same with Moyses. Can't say it's not possible but it's very unlikley, look at him in his interviews, he can't understand why it's not working, it must be the quality of the crosses etc, no I can't see Moyses changing anymore than Fat Sam at Real Madrid.

[TSC]

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/liverpool/applause-for-brendan-rodgers-david-moyes-could-learn-a-lot-from-liverpool-boss-29997451.html
Not impressed with that article. Think it shoehorns it's premise into reality. When Dalglish was sacked after losing Rafa Benitez a man that with the right backing had us right back on our perch, Rodgers appointment was met with caution. Many were pissed off with Dalglish's sacking but most were willing to give Rodgers a chance. David Moyses can have all the tenacity and self belief of Rodgers but it will do him no good as he is rigid in his philosophy of how the game is played and that is the problem not self belief.

Yep I agree.  The thing you have to realise with the Belfast telegraph is that it caters to a very high percentage of both UTD and LFC fans in N.Ireland.  Obviously Rodgers is a native, but the journalist has rather lazily linked what has gone on with Rodgers to the Moyes situation in a way to suggest that if UTD gave Moyes some time then it would also come good.  Which is bizarre really.  Two totally different situations re where the respective clubs were at when both took over, and two individual manager's with such different approaches that it's chalk and cheese really.

[Rome-77]

brendos new song...
The Jam - Eton Rifles,
rattel..


HOME Or AWAY -THE REDS ALL PLAY FOR - BRENDAN RODGERS, BRENDAN RODGERS

[Greebo62]

brendos new song...
The Jam - Eton Rifles,
rattel..


HOME Or AWAY -THE REDS ALL PLAY FOR - BRENDAN RODGERS, BRENDAN RODGERS

You know....  I like it

[exiledinyorkshire]

Rodgers has turned my opinion of him, absolutely he has.

Not ashamed to say at the start of last season I wasnt fussed on him, this is Rodgers himself rather than his ability as a manager you understand.

I thought he was trying far too hard to sound like how he thought we wanted a Liverpool manager to sound. The Shankly quotes, the references to how 'special' we are. He was trotting out every line in the book. It felt forced.

And honestly it turned me off him. He was selling himself to us and I wasnt buying.

My word hasnt that changed though? I mean, maybe its just my perceptions but it certainly seems to me as if he's so much more comfortable in the job now, in himself. And it shows just about every time he opens his mouth.

He's not trying to impress us with words anymore, he's doing it with actions. This is how managers connect themselves to ourselves as a fanbase, through deeds. Not through promises and whispering sweet nothings in our ears.

Rodgers is doing the business on the pitch, which is in turn making him much more at ease off it. He's taking on all comers now, he's confident in voicing his own opinion rather than just what he thinks we want to hear.

The man is every inch a Liverpool manager. We're lucky to have him.

Yeah but if you had listened he was busy telling us about what he was trying to do. And as a result we expected to get this in time. He had to talk the talk in order to be able to walk the walk.

He has backed up all the talk (which for the life of me I don't understand how it turned you off) by walking the walk.

Some people just aren't interested in the process I suppose, the whole thing has been fascinating for me. He came in and took time and effort to explain exactly what he wanted to do, how he wanted to work, and in lots of cases why he wanted to work in that way. And for some that made him a cock.

I think for the people on here who are always trying to understand the game better he was a breath of fresh air from the start. For those that just want to be entertained he's finally got your backing, when it was last summer that he really  needed it.

[E2K]

Contrast that to Moyses who had pretty much laid down his stall at Everton. Keep it tight at the back get it to the wide players etc. Ten years of being praised for the job he was doing and very much part of the LMA orthodoxy. In that he reminds me of a young Hodgson. When Hodgson came I was  desperatly hoping that the way he played in the past was because of pragmatism, he didn't have the players to play open football and that at Liverpool with better players he might adapt his style but the reality was he was closed, it was part of his DNA, he hadn't got to where he was without his drills and his team shape and nothing was going to convince him otherwise. It feels the same with Moyses. Can't say it's not possible but it's very unlikley, look at him in his interviews, he can't understand why it's not working, it must be the quality of the crosses etc, no I can't see Moyses changing anymore than Fat Sam at Real Madrid.

They're very similar, aren't they? Two quotes (from many) stick in my mind from Hodgson's time at Liverpool that sum up why he failed at Anfield, from the same interview I believe:

What do you mean do my methods translate? They have translated from Halmstad to Malmo to Orebo to Neuchatel Xamax to the Swiss national team. So I find the question insulting.

I don't understand questions about Liverpool and Fulham players being different types.

He just didn't get it, did he? Neither does Moyes. As for Brendan, well I posted this in the Fulham pre-match thread but it probably belongs here:

12.

12 months ago to the day, 10 February 2013, I’d wager that many of us were sat around looking at the Premier League table and, aside from bemoaning the fact that Liverpool were 12 points off the Champions League places and just 12 points above 17th–place Aston Villa, we were trying to make sense of how this Manchester United vintage (more or less the same squad they have now)  found themselves 12 points clear at the top of the table and coasting to another League Championship with 12 games to go. And just as it had been for years, it was as if they had a 12th man playing for them (no, not referees), some kind of extra dimension that allowed them to keep playing above expectations and picking up points at a rate that didn’t seem altogether possible. Hey, they were good, no doubt about it, but 12 points better than the billionaires in second place with an ageing core of Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Giggs, Carrick and Scholes, and younger players like Cleverley and Wellbeck who didn’t seem all that great then and still don’t a year later?

So what was it? Well if we didn’t know then, we certainly do now. Replacing Alex Ferguson and his innate ability to manage, organise and inspire those players, replacing the respect and fear he commanded which was forged and relentlessly cultivated over two and a half decades and, perhaps most of all, replacing that psychotic will to win was always going to prove difficult and was likely to see Manchester United slip a few rungs down the ladder, at least in the short-term. What the Old Trafford brain trust did in hiring David Moyes, however, as those of us who could barely hide our glee at the time suspected right from the off, was effectively sabotage their own efforts to maintain two decades of virtually uninterrupted success. They stood in the living-room, poured a gallon of petrol around their ankles, struck a match and let it dangle precariously from between a finger and thumb. Only time will tell just how far they set themselves back, although it’s likely to be cosmetic damage rather than a complete rebuild and those comparing Liverpool post-Souness to what Manchester United post-Moyes might look like are ignoring some key factors, the most glaring being the bafflingly dogged loyalty of David Moores to Souness that Moyes is unlikely to get from the Glazers to quite the same extent and the lack of business acumen of those in the Anfield boardroom that ultimately saw the club left far behind financially by the behemoth that eventually became Manchester United Football Club and, later, the oil barons of Chelsea and Manchester City, a fate that simply won’t befall them now regardless of what Moyes does.

What he has done is provided yet more compelling evidence of how important the manager of a football club truly is, a fact that Liverpool supporters seem to grasp more than most. The manager is everything. Once upon a time, not too long ago, those who sought to defend Roy Hodgson’s woeful approach to managing one of the biggest club’s in the world asked us to forget about the manager, the players were the ones at fault. That same mindset will undoubtedly manifest itself again (if it hasn’t already) as a means to excuse Moyes for not only failing to keep a team that won the League Championship by 11 points last season competitive for a top-four finish this campaign, but has actually taken them into the same kind of ugly mid-table struggle in which Everton typically existed during his time there. Manchester United isn’t Everton any more than Liverpool was Fulham, and yet the excuses will come for a man who, just like Hodgson, seems to be pig-headedly inflicting his small-minded, narrow footballing philosophy onto a club famed the world over for winning silverware, a combination proving to be every bit as appealing as a chalk and cheese wrap. Which is not to say that the squad of players bequeathed to him by his predecessor was perfect. Good managers, however, when presented with lemons, make lemonade. The great ones, of course, the Shanklys and the Paisleys to name two, go quite a bit further than that, producing a bottle of brandy from beneath their sleeve or perhaps a fine scotch whiskey and adding a few drops to the mix.

At what point do they become great? In truth, I think the best are probably born great, but mere mortals like us never see it until we’ve had a couple of sips of that lemonade and liked the taste. It almost always begins with a philosophy, a vision, that allows the players assembled underneath its blueprint to play to their ability both collectively and individually and coalesce into something too powerful to stop and too quick to catch. The irresistible force and immoveable object rolled into one, if you will. And eventually, it all becomes very easy, or at least that’s how it appears. Shankly called football a very simple game. It isn’t, but it may well have seemed that way to him. In 1964, or so we were told quite a bit over the weekend, Liverpool scored five goals against Arsenal on their way to their first League Championship under the great man. On Saturday it happened again, and I can’t be the only one who feels something a little more meaningful than simple coincidence at play here. It feels like we’re seeing the beginnings of something. If the best make it look easy, then what does it mean that Saturday’s performance felt like the footballing equivalent of Albert Einstein reciting his two-times tables? A once-off? A coincidence? A case of one team “showing up” while the other was presumably still sitting on the team bus? I hope not. I think not.

For me, and I’ve already said as much in the Round Table thread, arguably the most pleasing aspect of the game against Arsenal was that, as a team, Liverpool allowed them nothing, and for the first hour (not just twenty minutes, a full hour), every effort they made to get something, anything was punished, like a child having their wrist slapped or a lab rat reaching for a piece of cheese and getting a shock for its trouble.  Many have said that Arsenal were simply rubbish, a bad day at the office from them. Make no mistake, they were poor, but the lion’s share of the credit for that absolutely must go to Liverpool. Özil had a poor game, but I doubt he’s been hustled and bullied like that for a long time, if ever. This is a player who can destroy any team in the world if allowed; Liverpool didn’t allow. His literal collapse onto the Anfield turf in the lead-up to the home side’s third was almost poetic, a physical manifestation of pure and utter submission. Like his team mates, he was under siege and buckling fast. Against maybe any other team in the league, he might have gotten away with the misplaced pass that Coutinho seized upon before blowing open the Gunners’ front door like so much semtex with just the tiniest wave of the wand otherwise known as his right foot and ushering Sturridge inside. And Koscielny and Mertesacker, responsible for protecting Szczęsny to the tune of more clean sheets than any other ‘keeper in the League before Saturday, suddenly looked like teenage boys promoted above their age group a little too soon. Yes, Mertesacker is, to put it kindly, a little shy of pace, but how many teams have had the nous and raw ability to effectively strip him naked for all the world to see like that? Not many if the League positions before Saturday afternoon were anything to go by. Just Manchester City and their billions a few weeks back. Who else? That’s because, regardless of Arsenal’s weaknesses, it hasn’t been an easy thing to do.

This team has the look of one to whom everything may soon come easy. The plan is there, the effort is there. The personnel still needs work and so too, therefore, does the ability, but the signs are good. Fulham away (bottom side, worst goal difference in the league but showing signs of life) is the precise kind of fixture that used to worry me, under Roy, under Ged, under Rafa, didn’t matter. I’m not so worried about this one, and that’s no disrespect to Fulham who showed on Sunday that they can give as good as they get against an aimless mass of crosses and bodies into which world-class talents like Van Persie, Rooney and Mata get sucked like some kind of relentlessly boring footballing black hole. What they’ll be confronted with on Wednesday is an entirely different proposition, almost a different sport, if truth be told. It’ll still be 11 vs. 11, there’ll still be four officials and a football, but they’ll be facing an organised, motivated group with goals on their mind and the ability to get them and, most of all, that 12th man on the sideline orchestrating it, the man with the vision under whose watchful gaze all things suddenly seem possible. I can't wait.

[the 92A]

Great read E2K and is the sort of post that should start a thread rather than getting lost in one   Although, I can't agree that good managers are born for me it's the sum of their experiences but agree that good mangers start with a vision and Brendan has that. I don't like my mangers without vision. Dynasties are us

[helmboy_nige]

brendos new song...
The Jam - Eton Rifles,
rattel..


HOME Or AWAY -THE REDS ALL PLAY FOR - BRENDAN RODGERS, BRENDAN RODGERS

Brilliant... oh and E2K, great post!

[Cpt_Reina]

Yeah but if you had listened he was busy telling us about what he was trying to do. And as a result we expected to get this in time. He had to talk the talk in order to be able to walk the walk.

He has backed up all the talk (which for the life of me I don't understand how it turned you off) by walking the walk.

Some people just aren't interested in the process I suppose, the whole thing has been fascinating for me. He came in and took time and effort to explain exactly what he wanted to do, how he wanted to work, and in lots of cases why he wanted to work in that way. And for some that made him a cock.

I think for the people on here who are always trying to understand the game better he was a breath of fresh air from the start. For those that just want to be entertained he's finally got your backing, when it was last summer that he really  needed it.

It turned me off because you can't manufacture a connection with the fanbase, which is what it seemed like he was trying to do.

I didn't need him to tell me how special Liverpool is, or what great men Shankly and Paisley were. I know they're great. I wanted Brendan to be great. Not by hitting his marks and giving me a load of soundbites about the atmosphere of Anfield or the size of the club. But through making us great again.

Being Anfield didn't help at all, there was a TV show in need a lead character, it needed a certain rhetoric and Rodgers was made to provide it. Its something he continued to do in his first few months at the club.

He was trying too hard to impress us. Like a son-in-law meeting the parents for the first time, it just didn't feel natural. Too many airs and graces, too much saying what he thought we wanted to hear.

He was entitled to do so, Ive never said or thought he wasn't. Being Liverpool manager is a huge job, one he hadn't been accustomed to. So it was perfectly natural that he might try a little too hard to impress and seem like he belonged.

But I maintain that the relationship that exists between a Liverpool manager and the clubs supporters isn't a given right. Its not something you try to coerce it has to grow naturally of its own accord.

People didn't love Rafa when he first walked through the door, the road to Istanbul made the connection, the sitting down in the semi final in 07, the raging against the owners, that's what made the man in our eyes. Ditto Dalglish with the way he conducted himself on and off the pitch.

Its deeds which win hearts and minds, not words.

I didn't want Rodgers explaining how great Liverpool could be, I wanted him to show me. I didn't need him to tell me what legends former managers are and recite their famous quotes. I wanted him to become his own man. Become a legend himself.

This is what he's doing. He's stopped asking for approval and has started demanding it.

[Mighty_Red]

They're very similar, aren't they? Two quotes (from many) stick in my mind from Hodgson's time at Liverpool that sum up why he failed at Anfield, from the same interview I believe:

He just didn't get it, did he? Neither does Moyes. As for Brendan, well I posted this in the Fulham pre-match thread but it probably belongs here:

Absolutely. Moyes is nearly 51. His managerial style and footballing vision is already set in stone, they can be tweaked (as Mr. Ferguson did in order to rebuild his team on multiple occasions) but they cannot be dramatically changed. The Utd board looked at his persona and took him on based on that. Whilst he has many qualities, they did not check to see whether his vision aligned with where they wanted to go. This was most likely because they had not clue themselves where they wanted to go. They banked on a steady pair of hands and the good mentality of the players to get them through. Instead, many of those players bodies are starting to fail and the younger ones need more help than they thought.

Whilst Hodgson has had good European experience, most of it was in the nordic countries which is a similar game to ours. How many of our young British managers go out to Spain or Germany to find out how they play, and bring that back here? Only Rodgers has done that to any degree. The foreign coaches had no hesitation to try and learn why the Liverpool teams were so great.

The only team has been successful regardless of who's in charge is/was Chelsea. That winning mentality got them through so many wins but then again, it is easier to grind out results playing dour football than try to win games playing the right way.

FSGs thinking was that they wanted the young manager who was good at bringing the young players in and developing them. We know they always wanted do this so it was tough on Kenny and us that they chose to go with that. Of course, some of this vision was down to their agendas - i.e. spend less and make us a cheaper outfit to run. Their tawsk now is to match Brendan and the teams ambitions new that they have grown significantly since summer 2012.

[bigbonedrawky]

Dynasties are us

Which is better than Moy's R Us.

[IndianRed]

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is remaining patient despite senior club officials staying quiet regarding a possible contract extension.

Liverpool are fourth in the Premier League after 25 matches this term, six points behind leaders Chelsea, as they continue to improve under the Northern Irishman's tenure.

Rodgers has just under 17 months left on his current deal and so far he has heard nothing from the club's owners regarding a potential prolonged spell in charge.

"[I have heard] nothing whatsoever. I have, after this year, one more year to go," he told reporters.

"I have always said when I came I am very happy here and we're just over halfway through that contract and it is not something that comes into my thinking.

"If I never get offered one I would give my life to the last day of that contract. In the meantime, until anyone says otherwise or wants to reward the staff or myself for our work, then we keep working as normal and see where it takes us.

"The option is for the club for the fourth year, but in all fairness there is a point next year where the club has to let me know whether they want to keep me on or not.

"I have regular contact with the owners and it is never mentioned. I talk more about players. My ambition is more for the club so I want the players tied up so we can keep the best players here and get players in.

"The club knows my feelings in that I love it here and I've started out on something I would want to hopefully – if I can progress and be good and everyone is happy – stay here and continue.

"If it's not to be for the owners and they want a different direction at the end of it, I will have done my best."

Rodgers highlighted the progress of Jordan Henderson, wh has become a key part of Liverpool's midfield after initially struggling, and reiterated he could be in line for a new contract of his own in due course.

"The way he is working, we would want to secure his services," Rodgers added. "He still has all his best years ahead of him and you can see his growth and development.

"He will want to get better and I'm sure it is in the interests of the club to tie him down. Jordan, tactically, is improving so much, and [Steven Gerrard] is in the zone just behind."

I hope Rodgers is simply playing the media like how he did before we announced Suarez's contract extension. But at the back of my mind, I am worried that we haven't yet tied this man down for the next 5 years. He has shown us all the proof we need of his pedigree and some more. Make no mistake, we are in possession of one of Europe's elite young managerial talents and it is our duty to back him to the hilt.

Come on John!! Get this man a new contract and the January transfer window fuck-ups are all forgiven 

[CHOPPER]

Turning into a Rafa v Rodgers thread but the team of 08/09 would easily deal with our current one.

No it wouldn't.

[justsean]

No it wouldn't.

Agree.

[TepidT2O]

Turning into a Rafa v Rodgers thread but the team of 08/09 would easily deal with our current one.

Whats exciting is Rodgers is always talking about investing in attack, so I look forward to these signings in the summer!

whats nice is that I think (!) that we've finally laid the ghost of rafa to rest.

Not that he isn't still loved and appreciated for what he did, but that we are looking forwards to future success rather than backwards to successes of days gone by..

It's really good that.

[owens_2k]

No it wouldn't.

I think Hyypia, Carragher, Alonso, Mascherano and would have more chance of nullifying Suarez and co than our current crop of keeping out a lethal Gerrard and Torres partnership

[CHOPPER]

I think Hyypia, Carragher, Alonso, Mascherano and would have more chance of nullifying Suarez and co than our current crop of keeping out a lethal Gerrard and Torres partnership

Stop comparing, but they wouldn't of.


Lets move on.

[TepidT2O]

I think Hyypia, Carragher, Alonso, Mascherano and would have more chance of nullifying Suarez and co than our current crop of keeping out a lethal Gerrard and Torres partnership

Impossible question to answer of course!

[owens_2k]

Stop comparing, but they wouldn't of.


Lets move on.

They would, but yeah let's move on.

[Solomon Grundy]

They would, but yeah let's move on.

Had to get the last word in didn't you.

[Cu Chulainn]

Brendan Rodgers. What a manager.

To think, some wanted him sacked before 2013 even began, because of a few bad results.

[PIPA23]

did he signed new contract yet?

[Samie]

did he signed new contract yet?

He can't sign something he hasn't been offered.

[stueya]

I think Hyypia, Carragher, Alonso, Mascherano and would have more chance of nullifying Suarez and co than our current crop of keeping out a lethal Gerrard and Torres partnership

Can't agree mate, as fantastic a team and midfield it was, it would not have coped with the pace and movement of the current front five or six, prime example funnily enough was the Arsenal 4-4 draw which killed our title hopes that year, we couldn't deal with pace and movement of Arsenal that night

[owens_2k]

Can't agree mate, as fantastic a team and midfield it was, it would not have coped with the pace and movement of the current front five or six, prime example funnily enough was the Arsenal 4-4 draw which killed our title hopes that year, we couldn't deal with pace and movement of Arsenal that night

Absolute bollocks. We dominated that game and Arsenal scored from every shot on goal they had.

[Juan Loco]

Turning into a Rafa v Rodgers thread but the team of 08/09 would easily deal with our current one.

Let's get it right. When you say the 08/09 team, you basically mean the one that showed up from March onwards, rather than the entire season.

Think this team has got consistently more out of the players at its disposal over the whole season. Again, very much in common with Rafa's 2nd season.

[bigbear]

Absolute bollocks. We dominated that game and Arsenal scored from every shot on goal they had.

Yep. Everything went right for him that night. We were a good side in 09.

[owens_2k]

Let's get it right. When you say the 08/09 team, you basically mean the one that showed up from March onwards, rather than the entire season.

Think this team has got consistently more out of the players at its disposal over the whole season. Again, very much in common with Rafa's 2nd season.

The one that got us our highest PL points total ever, losing only 2 games all season.

[LiamG]

Does anyone think that in the summer or during not so busy times of the season he still travels around europe studying different clubs and national teams set ups

[Juan Loco]

The one that got us our highest PL points total ever, losing only 2 games all season.

The one that, should we beat the bottom placed side tomorrow, was further away from the top than our current team?

[PhaseOfPlay]

Does anyone think that in the summer or during not so busy times of the season he still travels around europe studying different clubs and national teams set ups

Probably not as much anymore as h has a lot more to do with Liverpool than with Swansea. But he has to do some continuing coach education to keep his A Licence/Pro Licence valid, I think.

[princeoftherocks]

Brendan has found his soul mate. 

[Spearling]

Absolute bollocks. We dominated that game and Arsenal scored from every shot on goal they had.

Don't forget to mention 3 of those came off our schoolboy errors at the back and the 4th was a counter attack in the 90th minute where we had all our defenders in their box

[lindylou100]

The one that got us our highest PL points total ever, losing only 2 games all season.

Yep, I think Rafas 08/09 team would still beat the current team as it stands because the midfield was stronger and our defence was much more organised. I think they would have simply won the battle in midfield and taken control of the game from there.

This isn't a slight on Rodgers or the team he's building, he doing a remarkable job in a very short space of time, but we are still a team in development.

[owens_2k]

The one that, should we beat the bottom placed side tomorrow, was further away from the top than our current team?

Further away from top than our current team at the same point of the season? All ifs and buts anyways. Brendan is doing a good job so far....

[PhaseOfPlay]

Yep, I think Rafas 08/09 team would still beat the current team as it stands because the midfield was stronger and our defence was much more organised. I think they would have simply won the battle in midfield and taken control of the game from there.

This isn't a slight on Rodgers or the team he's building, he doing a remarkable job in a very short space of time, but we are still a team in development.

Suarez, Sterling and Sturridge up against Hyppia and Carragher?

I'd say if they played each other ten times, Rafa's team would win 5, and Rodgers team would win 5.

You don't compare defence to defence - you compare attack to defence and midfield to midfield.

I think the current attack would find enough gaps to take advantage of the 09 defence, while the 09 midfield of Gerrard/Alonso/Mascherano compared to the current Gerrard/Henderson/Coutinho is debatable.

But either way - it says something that 18 months into his reign, with an injury crisis at the back, and against not one but TWO oil-rich clubs, Rodgers has got us comparing his current, unfinished, unfancied team with one of our best in the last decade.

That takes some amount of coaching

[aggerdid]

brendos new song...
The Jam - Eton Rifles,
rattel..


HOME Or AWAY -THE REDS ALL PLAY FOR - BRENDAN RODGERS, BRENDAN RODGERS

brilliant. Spread the word

[LiamG]

I had this discussion with a fellow liverpool fan in work and we both said look how much we are over achieving this season with the squad we have had and injuries and that just shows how good of  a coach  BR really is, it is a scary thought of what we will have when he can add even more quality to the squad

[Juan Loco]

Are we talking each team at their best or over a league season though?

The case I'd make for this team is the game against Chelsea at home in the European Cup. They won with set pieces and a counter-attack. This current Liverpool team are better at those two things than that Chelsea team.

I think 08/09 was probably a better team (I'd say 6/4 or 7/3 in a best of 10 scenario), but it was a better team because of those final 10 games or so. Most of that season, it's rarely mentioned except to accentuate the positive notes of being able to come back from behind, was pretty unconvincing. The only consistently good football before that Boro away game came during a little run between Christmas and New Year (Bolton and Newcastle). Most of that season was a slog, but the run at the end (34 of 77 goals came in the last 10 games IIRC) set the tone for how it's remembered, rather than the majority of the season.

Further away from top than our current team at the same point of the season? All ifs and buts anyways. Brendan is doing a good job so far....

Aye. If we win tomorrow we'll be at worst 5 off the top after 26 games. in 08-09 we were 7 off the the top at the same stage.

[redmark]

Are we talking each team at their best or over a league season though?

The case I'd make for this team is the Chelsea at home in the European Cup. They won with set pieces and a counter-attack. This current Liverpool team are better at those two things than that Chelsea team.

I think 08/09 was probably a better team (I'd say 6/4 or 7/3 in a best of 10 scenario), but it was a better team because of those final 10 games or so. Most of that season, it's rarely mentioned except to accentuate the positive notes of being able to come back from behind, was pretty unconvincing. The only consistently good football before that Boro away game came during a little run between Christmas and New Year (Bolton and Newcastle). Most of that season was a slog, but the run at the end (34 of 77 goals came in the last 10 games IIRC) set the tone for how it's remembered, rather than the majority of the season.

Certainly the quality of the football improved towards the end, but we took exactly the same points from the first 13 games as from the last 13 (32); in the middle 12, we took only 22 (despite being unbeaten).

The same run-in (10-2-1) now would put us on 82 points. Avoiding the equivalent of the Middlesbrough defeat might mean the title.