Topic: Crystal Palace(lona) 3 v Liverpool 1

[SteveZissou]

Posted on the Rodgers thread:

We are worse than we were under Roy Hodgson and Souness (and even worse than Moyes ManUtd). Agree?

Souness still had some left over quality in the team. He made some average signings and form was erratic, but there were many entertaining games with an edge that deservedly won the FA Cup.

Hodgson made terrible signings too, but at least his team could score more often, were a greater threat with Torres and Gerrard (even when not at their best), while Stevie carried the team on many occasions back then, whilst now can't. Also, Hodgson would play two banks of four players, that was pitiful for a club like us, but at least he made a better attempt at organising our defense like a small club.

With Rodgers defending, I can thinking of many bottom half clubs that defend better than us, nearly every team can threaten our midfield too, while I don't need to tell you about our attack.

As for GK, just thinking of how he replaced Reina with Mignolet, Lovren replacing Agger... don't need to say more - but look at the amounts spent, which for me has seen regression in every department despite investment.

[Butcher Knife Roberto]

The niggling doubt that Suarez, not Rodgers, made us brilliant has been at the back of my mind from the beginning and this horror show is only making that whisper grow louder.

Maybe it's knee jerk calling for the head of a manager who finished second last term, but Hodgson finished second in the europa league and his results weren't this bad.  At least Rafa tried to change things when things went downhill, and the crime of trying to swap Alonso for Gareth Barry pales in comparison to the transfer self harm we've committed since then.  I've lost what remnants of sentiment I had when Kenny got sacked for wasting 35m on Andy Carroll and winning a cup.  Well Rodgers has quadrupled that number down the gutter and can't figure out how to win a game anymore, never mind a cup.

Bingo. The most important thing to remember is that our owner is not simply JWH. There are some serious investors on the books of FSG and they will be expecting a return on investment. Spunking over £100mil and going seriously backwards is not what these sorts of folks will be happy with. We might have peaked a year early but this season we should have been right fucking up there in the mix. Even in Ged and Rafa's final seasons we got European football sorted for the next year - this season we'll be lucky to see the top half of the table. Had enough of this shite already.

[Yiannis]

Remember Brendan's 1st season at the start where we couldn't get a result at the beginning? Yeah, we were miles better than what we are now. We had a plan and you could see it.

What the fuck have we got now, eh? What? We don't counter attack, we can't stretch the opposite defenses with our full backs as City do, we can't string more than 2 or 3 passes that forward our play. It's pretty grim.

[Macphisto80]

Yep.

Well, I can still laugh at the very least.

[stockdam]

Put yourself in the owner's position. You've given the manager time and a lot of money to build a team. You now see them playing with no desire and no sign of things improving. Would you throw more cash to buy players in January? No!

Would you give him more time to sort things out or do you risk waiting until we are in a relegation battle?

I do not want to see anyone losing their job but I've seen enough to make me believe that something serious is going on that cannot be fixed without the owners stepping in.

Sad times and now every match is critical for the manager.

[tommy LFC]

If I see someone post that Definition of insanity quote one more time I think I'll scream!



P.S I know that by saying this there will probably be a barrage of Definition of insanity posts coming my way now.

As Einstein once said:

Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater.

[Silly Effin' Pidl]

Ah we'll, we scored one goal more than I expected.

How to go from great to sheer shite in 6 short months. I feel like crying watching this gang of impostors who have the cheek to wear the great Liverpool shirt . Absolutely no lessons learned by the manager or team from the previous 11 dire (except for 1) league matches.

Once again we got exactly what we deserved, nothing. It was far too easy for the world beating Palace footballers. We were out-fought, out-thought, out-hassled, out-bullied, out-passed, out-paced, out-classed and all the other out stuff. There's an appalling lack of passion and character in this woeful, current side. That goes too for the management team.

This bunch of over-paid professional footballers should donate their wage packet to charity.

Watching us continue to play like this is enough to put you off watching football for good.

[joe ®]

No mate we were extremely poor.  The thing is not to panic and do something stupid like we did with Rafa a few years ago.  We're having a bad season.  It happens, we need to keep going.  It's important that Rodgers doesn't feel like he needs a massive short term improvement to keep his job, and has to sacrifice his principles and long term aims in a reactionary way.

I like your sentiments, we were awful today though - but we won't stay that way.

All I'm saying is that given the conditions, the players we had out there versus the guys Palace had - it could have been so much worse. For once this season it actually looked like we had something sort of resembling a game plan, with our short passing game back looking better than it has for ages. We even pressed the ball occasionally when we lost it. It's baby steps I know, but any progress is something I'll grab with both hands given how dreadful we are at playing football.

On individual performances, Lambert looked like twice the player he's been for us so far. With another couple of performances like that under his belt, he'll be back to looking like he did at Southampton. Skrtel was fine, I thought he was very unlucky to give away the free kick that Jedinak scored his worldie from. Manquillo tried very hard, blocked a lot of crosses and I don't think Bolasie, for all his pace and threat, had a decent shot on target in the whole 90. I was surprised to see Allen taken off and there were a couple of moments of magic from Coutinho.

[FLRed67]

Because watching Rodgers sitting on the bench there, he looked lost and not arsed about what was going on on the pitch. Seeing his reaction to the performance was the most bizarre part of it all.

Exactly what I thought. He looked completely oblivious and indifferent to what was going on in front of him. Absolutely dreadful body language. Quite amazing, really, given the situation. Or does he already know something we don't?

[tommy LFC]

Definition of Insanity: posting the same quote over and over and expecting anyone to give a shit, its not clever you thick fuckers!

Definition of Insanity: posting the same quote over and over and expecting anyone to give a shit, its not clever you thick fuckers!

Definition of Insanity: posting the same quote over and over and expecting anyone to give a shit, its not clever you thick fuckers!

Definition of Insanity: posting the same quote over and over and expecting anyone to give a shit, its not clever you thick fuckers!

[Cid]

He NEEDS to drop Gerrard, to drop Lovren and to drop Glen Johnson.

It's all very well accepting responsibility, but he needs to have the bollocks to drop those three players who are constantly letting us down and who cost us the title last season. All evidence suggests he hasn't got the bollocks to do so. He's hardly going to chuck his landlord out of the team is he? And unfortunately without the balls to do so, these results are only going to get worse and his job is going to be hanging by a thread very shortly.

Eh? Gerrard was one of our very best players last season.  He cost us the title from one slip?  We would never have even gone near if not for him playing so well.  He's been shite this season, no argument, but lets not rewrite history to fit the agenda eh.

Johnson though..bleh...guy has been dreadful for about 3 years.

[Reds and Revs]

Rodgers is responsible, no doubt, but I don't see that many players perform to the standards we need. Imagine Suarez in today's side. He'd make something happen. He'd get involved. I see that in Coutinho, but how many others? Most want to have a withdrawn role away from the action.

and so it begs the question, how much of the good in Rodger's term was due to Suarez?

The sharp passing that used to be a hallmark looks loose.

We have at least 2 of our 3 midfielder's having to drop off and basically take the ball off our center backs feet, leaving us trying to attack 11 with 6.

Neither outside back can beat a solo defender wide.

We don't move off the ball worth a crap (so much for our pass and move heritage).

We can't defend set pieces. We can't hit the net on shots.

It makes me wonder what we do at practice.

We need to look in the mirror and shape up.

[Adeemo]

One shot on target against Colin Wanker's Crystal Palace.

[plskikme]

I did always think, Gerrard's comments after retiring for England - "Brendan said he would cut my Liverpool game time down if I didn't retire" - regardless of whether he did retire, his minutes should be been cut down anyway.

Maybe Brendan was hoping he'd stay with England anyway so he had a ready-made excuse to drop him.

[cox3100]

We are worse than we were under Roy Hodgson and Souness (and even worse than Moyes ManUtd). Agree?

Hodgson and Souness had goalscorers in their teams and defenders that could actually defend,not to mention goalkeepers that could actually kick a ball straight

[Pistolero]

I genuinely thought that following the (welcome) international break, today would be the jump start to the season that we're in need of...but that was Just bewilderingly bad....played 12 lost 6....telling you now, if something doesn't change before Xmas there's a relegation battle looming

[RedRich84]

Either the gameplan is completely wrong or Rodgers has lost the dressing room.... Either way not good for him. The lack of pressing, desire & the likes of Jones laughing on the bench when we are 3-1 down is annoying as hell.

I'm pretty sure Jones was asleep on the bench at one point

[Stan.]

It's tactical...we're all over the shop.  No one knows where they're really supposed to be.  I'm all for attacking fullbacks, but pulling your centre halves wide to cover them is just asking for trouble, particularly with a back four who are so constantly exposed by a midfield that's usually square pegs in round holes...we're exposed all over to be honest, have no one running the channels...Amazingly we're constantly caught short at the back, but also have fuck all getting into the box when we break forward...I really rated Rogers as a coach right from the start, but the list of failings is endless and I've seen no improvement this season, even gradually.

[rich87]

If that's his mind set I'm extremely disappointed. I'm not sure whether he was just lucky it clicked for him last season but he's showing a lot of tactical naivety and stubbornness this season and it's costing us dearly.

Yeah its interesting, that little bit shocked me, that he felt that when we get a goal, we need to work defensively as a unit, rather than as a team as a unit to go out there and finish the game of. He seems like a manager that has reacted to the way we played last year - all the media coverage on us needing to be better defensively and he's so desperate to sort the defence he's forgotten the rest of the team.

[surfer. Fuck you generator.]

Was a fucking depressing watch at times.

As long as the players play with commitment and a plan, the performance is there, the results will come. We had a good period of attack from around the 60 th minute to near the 75 th iirc, but beyond that, a good number of players were playing as if they had given up on the shirt, given up on their manager. Horrible to watch.

[jediwarrior]

I don't understand how Allen who was playing well and he gets subbed while Gerrard with another awful display stays on the pitch. Soon as Allen went off we concede the 2nd.

Johnson also don't bring anything to the table. Gerrard sits so far back he is like another centre half.

A lot of the time if Lambert came out the box to collect the box we had no one in the 18 yard box for a cross or pass just sshocking that no one is getting in the goal scoring position.

[Skidder.]

It's tactical...we're all over the shop.  No one knows where they're really supposed to be.  I'm all for attacking fullbacks, but pulling your centre halves wide to cover them is just asking for trouble, particularly with a back four who are so constantly exposed by a midfield that's usually square pegs in round holes...we're exposed all over to be honest, have no one running the channels...Amazingly we're constantly caught short at the back, but also have fuck all getting into the box when we break forward...I really rated Rogers as a coach right from the start, but the list of failings is endless and I've seen no improvement this season, even gradually.

It's more than just tactically. That's for all to see. Which is the most worrying thing about this situation.

[horne]

attacking third is where the problem is and always has been
suarez and sturridge taken out the team puts you on the back foot...its just a matter of time before the knockout punch lands and were starting to see it...the punches are starting to rein in from everyone

the question that begs to be asked is...where are the the youth team goal scorers who can step into the shoes of the seniors when needed?....
for a number of years now weve been depending on buying in yer 20/30 goal a season man....whats the point of having a so called conveyor belt of youth if theres no end product
we should have them stacking up for all the money and years been put into the u21/u18's ....but wheres the next great goal scorer ?....we havnt had anyone banging on the door for years....sterling ?.....
the worlds full of players and we struggle to find one?....what the fuck is going on with the so called great scouting set up we have?
you can talk tactics all yer like but there is a serious shortage of decent scouts out there who know there stuff in the final third....cant get me head around this...its never talked about and yet for a club who has financial restrictions....isnt it the obvious way forward....?....thats not actually working?

[Gnurglan]

If the freefall is not arrested soon, anything could happen. I can't see how this will happen without Sturridge how is apparently still six weeks away.

Put it this way, it's time for players to prove their worth. Forget Sturridge. The players at our disposal need to improve. Or we'll have to play to avoid relegation once Sturridge comes back. We should earn a CL spot and new players worth 100M+ must show the way. Or we can sell them all in January and play the likes of Suso, Borini, Enrique, Lucas, Toure etc. It wouldn't make us worse.

[soxfan]

I thought we had the best supporters in the world? A dozen people in this thread calling for the head of a man who lead us to within a whisker of winning the title last year?? I'd hate to be in a wartime foxhole with you. You'd be stepping over your mates in a rush to desert. 

Rodgers needs to make changes, but please remember he's missing Sturridge. And Suarez jumped ship. That's not easy, I don't care how much money you spend. You need chemistry to develop. And as many of us agreed, last season we were ahead of a schedule with our rebirth.

Lousy run of matches? No doubt. Adjustments needed? No doubt. But show some support, for gosh sakes.

[Caligula?]

Remember Brendan's 1st season at the start where we couldn't get a result at the beginning? Yeah, we were miles better than what we are now. We had a plan and you could see it.

What the fuck have we got now, eh? What? We don't counter attack, we can't stretch the opposite defenses with our full backs as City do, we can't string more than 2 or 3 passes that forward our play. It's pretty grim.

I've been thinking that for weeks now. It was never ever this bad, and my God he has some dross to work with back then.

He's just lost the plot, and I'm not sure he can arrest this rot.

[Anywhichwayicant]

Reminiscent of December 2010

[Snail]

There's been stories of it showing up in the press

It's going to be the end of him if he's not careful.

[Macphisto80]

I left one in the other thread just to spread it out a little.

[Father Ted]

I don't want Rodgers sacked, it'd be consigning us to another few years of 'transition'. I just don't understand why he's become so rigid and stubborn, Lucas and Toure did well against the best team in europe away from home and neither have had a look in since then whilst Lovren and Gerrard keep getting picked, and keep making mistakes. He's stuck with Balotelli even when he's never once looked like fitting into the system we're playing him in.

Just a bit more flexibility would be nice. I do think his subs have been very poor this season also.

I think most of our problems come from this inflexible stance of playing the same players, despite them never doing anything to deserve such loyalty. I'm thinking Johnson, Lovren, Balotelli and Gerrard specifically.

[muyuu]

Sack Ayre.

[SerbianScouser]

Gerrard 0 tackles, 0 interceptions, 0 fouls committed...lolz

[Nazi Dickhead]

I like BR and his philosophy in football, but like it or not the modern game doesn't allow for these kinds of results for long for any team, let alone LFC. The worrying thing for me is the Jan transfer window is well over a month away and we are getting worse and worse each week with very little sign of hope of improvement in any area of the pitch. I'd say BR needs to adopt a much more defensive approach due to our lack of anything up top, I worry though his philosophy and staff around him don't allow for a competent defence no matter the line up.

[El Lobo]

Eh? Gerrard was one of our very best players last season.  He cost us the title from one slip?  We would never have even gone near if not for him playing so well.  He's been shite this season, no argument, but lets not rewrite history to fit the agenda eh.

Johnson though..bleh...guy has been dreadful for about 3 years.

Nah Stevie was awesome last season, he was. But he's done. And Johnson was a travesty in 3/4 games last season which cost us the title. Palace particularly.

[Redman0151]

I thought we had the best supporters in the world? A dozen people in this thread calling for the head of a man who lead us to within a whisker of winning the title last year?? I'd hate to be in a wartime foxhole with you. You'd be stepping over your mates in a rush to desert. 

Rodgers needs to make changes, but please remember he's missing Sturridge. And Suarez jumped ship. That's not easy, I don't care how much money you spend. You need chemistry to develop. And as many of us agreed, last season we were ahead of a schedule with our rebirth.

Lousy run of matches? No doubt. Adjustments needed? No doubt. But show some support, for gosh sakes.

If there appeared to be some signs that it was trying to change, he'd have my full support.


But right now it feels like we're repeating the same thing over and over and over again and he doesn't know how to do it any differently

[NigelManx]

Yeah its interesting, that little bit shocked me, that he felt that when we get a goal, we need to work defensively as a unit, rather than as a team as a unit to go out there and finish the game of. He seems like a manager that has reacted to the way we played last year - all the media coverage on us needing to be better defensively and he's so desperate to sort the defence he's forgotten the rest of the team.

But theres no improvement in defence..none !! if anything its worse and no sign of any pattern of play

[ecu]

Ah we'll, we scored one goal more than I expected.

How to go from great to sheer shite in 6 short months. I feel like crying watching this gang of impostors who have the cheek to wear the great Liverpool shirt . Absolutely no lessons learned by the manager or team from the previous 11 dire (except for 1) league matches.

Once again we got exactly what we deserved, nothing. It was far too easy for the world beating Palace footballers. We were out-fought, out-thought, out-hassled, out-bullied, out-passed, out-paced, out-classed and all the other out stuff. There's an appalling lack of passion and character in this woeful, current side. That goes too for the management team.

This bunch of over-paid professional footballers should donate their wage packet to charity.

Watching us continue to play like this is enough to put you off watching football for good.

Totally agree. A disgrace to the shirt.

[Bird Bird Bird The Bird Is The Word]

Well done to Lambert for his first goal.

Can't believe its taken 12 games for one of Balotelli, Lambert and Borini to score.

[nevoo36]

Sturridge, Suarez - masked a lot of Rodgers' weaknesses, now they are on full display in all their glory.

[Trev20]

Can we scrap post-match threads?!