Brendan Rodgers

[foxinsocks]

10 hours ago, LcFc_Smiv said:

The players have to shoulder some responsibility, but for 11 players to make the same mistakes again and again suggests something really isn't right. Remember these are playing in one of the most competitive leagues in the world, you don't just happen to get here by chance and their not below average players who are somehow given a chance to play for us. These aren't just errors on a pitch, it's a mentality on how to see out games, and that doesn't come from a group of professionals who have a desire to win games. 

 

Their told to play to a certain style and how to manage certain situations tactically, it's not for them to decide amongst themselves how we play with 10 minutes remaining. They also aren't the ones coming out to the press saying their happy with how we performed, results disappointing but we're a young squad so it's going to happen. 

mindfulness is key   Mindfulness – to level-up your performance. | (rezl.com)

 or even: At key moments in sport – be exactly where your feet are. | (rezl.com)

 

[Dahnsouff]

1 hour ago, 5waller5 said:

We watched a different game it seems. Richarlison should have been walking away with the match ball. Fortunately he’s the worst striker in the league.

 

You cannot seriously believe this? They got 100% battered in that first half, they huffed and puffed second half, yes there were chances, but they were not better than our chances second half regardless

[5waller5]

4 hours ago, Dahnsouff said:

You cannot seriously believe this? They got 100% battered in that first half, they huffed and puffed second half, yes there were chances, but they were not better than our chances second half regardless

They were awful, a terrible side, and we completely outplayed them for lengthy spells…

 

however, we created fewer chances than them. They had more shots, had more shots on target and a higher xG. 

[Aus Fox]

9 hours ago, Lewis's Junior said:

Brendan spoilt us in his first year in charge; but the reason he is not spoiling us now has a lot to do with him rather than fan expectation. 

Remember the last 3 months of 2019; we were on fire playing quick, progressive football. We were scoring for fun, and seemed sure of a top 4 finish. 

 

But since we dipped in form after that, 'handbrake Brendan' has emerged, and it's never been quite as good. The possession for possession's sake is maddening, as we are SO predictable to play against. It's like any risk taking has been coached out of the team. Unless we complete 30 passes of no longer than 5 yards, and the last pass ends up in the net, we don't create anything. 

 

Then there's his blind spots:

- Corners in both boxes

- Favourites that seemingly never get dropped, however indifferent their performances (Perez for much of last season, Tielemans this year)
- Freezing out players that could offer something despite their being no alternative (Praet, Mendy, Ihenacho)

- Closing out games, and being street smart in doing so

His record undoubtably means he's one of our best ever managers. But right now for me that has an asterisk, as he's done so at a time when our squads have been the best ever, the club has never been in better shape, and we've blown presentable chances to be even better (top 4, Europa group stage)

The playing favourites is a ridiculous argument and holds no weight at all, like all managers they play the best players to do a job they want doing - when a better option comes along they will be replaced by the better option.

Likewise, the freezing out argument is ridiculous, Praet wanted to play every week, which is fair enough for a player of his ability and international pedigree, however, he wasn’t as good as the other options we had in midfield.

Mendy wasn’t in the squad because he was 80% out the door, his move fell through at the last minutes- Choudhury was also preferred because he is a homegrown player for European purposes. Iheanacho was never frozen out, it was a clear plan at the start of the season to play Vardy in the league and Iheanacho in Europe and the cups - this went badly for Kel when he forgot his passport or whatever happened on the way to Warsaw.

Closing out games had never been a problem before this season, in fact in his first two seasons it was a huge strength.

 

The club may never have been in better shape, but when this argument comes up, we forget so are a lot of other clubs. The big six are well clear of us in terms of budget bot for wages and transfer fees, the fact that we are one of only 5 clubs to win trophies outside the big 5 since the PL began is a miracle to be honest, especially when you look at teams like Everton and Villa who also have a far bigger budget than us.

Despite us looking in the best financial position ever, it’s all relative to those around us. 

[smudgerfox]

4 hours ago, Aus Fox said:

The playing favourites is a ridiculous argument and holds no weight at all, like all managers they play the best players to do a job they want doing - when a better option comes along they will be replaced by the better option.

Likewise, the freezing out argument is ridiculous, Praet wanted to play every week, which is fair enough for a player of his ability and international pedigree, however, he wasn’t as good as the other options we had in midfield.

Mendy wasn’t in the squad because he was 80% out the door, his move fell through at the last minutes- Choudhury was also preferred because he is a homegrown player for European purposes. Iheanacho was never frozen out, it was a clear plan at the start of the season to play Vardy in the league and Iheanacho in Europe and the cups - this went badly for Kel when he forgot his passport or whatever happened on the way to Warsaw.

Closing out games had never been a problem before this season, in fact in his first two seasons it was a huge strength.

 

The club may never have been in better shape, but when this argument comes up, we forget so are a lot of other clubs. The big six are well clear of us in terms of budget bot for wages and transfer fees, the fact that we are one of only 5 clubs to win trophies outside the big 5 since the PL began is a miracle to be honest, especially when you look at teams like Everton and Villa who also have a far bigger budget than us.

Despite us looking in the best financial position ever, it’s all relative to those around us. 

Maybe favourites is not the right word but I suppose BR’s player judgements seem to be quite extreme - you’re either in - and you get played regularly even when out of form, injured, knackered, ineffective (Barnes, Tielemans, Perez until this season) and risk being overplayed (Schmeichel, KDH) , or you’re out and at virtually no risk of getting any game time except in emergency (Choudhury, Perez - this season - Praet, Mendy - until now, Ihenacho, Soumare). This shrinks the squad to an unmanageably low number. 
 

His assessment of Mendy is significant. This guy is not getting a kick until he goes to the AFCON and is one of the stars of the tournament. Until then, BR is happy to sell him, insult him, by not finding space in his squad for him. Wilf gets injured and suddenly BR is starting Mendy in every PL game and rueing the fact he can’t play in the Europa. If he’d assessed Mendy more accurately in the first place,  would we have needed to sign Soumare? And if we’d not signed Soumare - who let’s face it has had zero impact- could we have afforded a better back up defender than Vestergaard? Or retained Praet to allow Youri the odd break? The Ihenacho thing is similar. BR is constantly drawing attention to what Kels (allegedly) can’t do, while somehow oblivious to the fact that he is undermining a 20 goal striker. The second best striker at the club but all we hear about is his shortcomings in “the press” and his inability to play up top on his own. 
 

 

 

[Kilworthfox]

5 hours ago, 5waller5 said:

They were awful, a terrible side, and we completely outplayed them for lengthy spells…

 

however, we created fewer chances than them. They had more shots, had more shots on target and a higher xG. 

It's been happening almost every game. 

 

Just because we keep the ball usually, in non threatening areas (defenders fannying about) does not mean we are the better team. If anything we are containing ourselves. 

 

If you don't create many chances, and have many shots on target, how will we score? 

 

Coupled with the fact that we can not defend at an acceptable level... Its not a good show to watch. 

Edited 22 April 2022 by Kilworthfox

[Dahnsouff]

5 hours ago, 5waller5 said:

They were awful, a terrible side, and we completely outplayed them for lengthy spells…

 

however, we created fewer chances than them. They had more shots, had more shots on target and a higher xG. 

We keep the ball a lot, we move the opposition around a lot and this is good, as we  tire them out, but it’s hard to deny that despite occasional slick moves (which fail a the last couple off moments) we are not very incisive. 

[The Year Of The Fox]

58 minutes ago, Dahnsouff said:

We keep the ball a lot, we move the opposition around a lot and this is good, as we  tire them out, but it’s hard to deny that despite occasional slick moves (which fail a the last couple off moments) we are not very incisive. 

Everything points to us tiring ourselves out

 

Do you think we attempt to bore the opposition to sleep with our pointless possession? Cos it’s working on us fans 

[Tommy Fresh]

1 hour ago, Dahnsouff said:

We keep the ball a lot, we move the opposition around a lot and this is good, as we  tire them out, but it’s hard to deny that despite occasional slick moves (which fail a the last couple off moments) we are not very incisive. 

Tire them out so much they find enough to score in 90+

[Dahnsouff]

1 hour ago, Tommy Fresh said:

Tire them out so much they find enough to score in 90+

Not exactly surprising that relegation threatened team has more energy than a team will little to play for beyond Europe though is it?

[Dahnsouff]

1 hour ago, The Year Of The Fox said:

Everything points to us tiring ourselves out

 

Do you think we attempt to bore the opposition to sleep with our pointless possession? Cos it’s working on us fans 

Think us tiring ourselves out relates more to Europe, no?

[Tommy Fresh]

Just now, Dahnsouff said:

Not exactly surprising that relegation threatened team has more energy than a team will little to play for beyond Europe though is it?

You've said it's good as we tire them out, which it didn't. So if it's so obvious it won't work against a relegation threatened side why have we persisted with it against them?

[Dahnsouff]

Just now, Tommy Fresh said:

You've said it's good as we tire them out, which it didn't. So if it's so obvious it won't work against a relegation threatened side why have we persisted with it against them?

What am I? Brendan?  

 

(Does not hurt to embed a style of play anyway)

[Lewis's Junior]

8 hours ago, Aus Fox said:

The playing favourites is a ridiculous argument and holds no weight at all, like all managers they play the best players to do a job they want doing - when a better option comes along they will be replaced by the better option.

Likewise, the freezing out argument is ridiculous, Praet wanted to play every week, which is fair enough for a player of his ability and international pedigree, however, he wasn’t as good as the other options we had in midfield.

Mendy wasn’t in the squad because he was 80% out the door, his move fell through at the last minutes- Choudhury was also preferred because he is a homegrown player for European purposes. Iheanacho was never frozen out, it was a clear plan at the start of the season to play Vardy in the league and Iheanacho in Europe and the cups - this went badly for Kel when he forgot his passport or whatever happened on the way to Warsaw.

Closing out games had never been a problem before this season, in fact in his first two seasons it was a huge strength.

 

The club may never have been in better shape, but when this argument comes up, we forget so are a lot of other clubs. The big six are well clear of us in terms of budget bot for wages and transfer fees, the fact that we are one of only 5 clubs to win trophies outside the big 5 since the PL began is a miracle to be honest, especially when you look at teams like Everton and Villa who also have a far bigger budget than us.

Despite us looking in the best financial position ever, it’s all relative to those around us. 

Favourites is perhaps too loaded a term; what I was trying to say is he seems to play players irrespective of form, implying he has faith in them. Then for some reason they are ostracised and can't get a look in. Perez is a good example. And when you're a club of our size, we can't afford to have 3-5 players in our squad who basically have no chance of playing. We need all of them to compete in the league and the cups. 

Agree on the financial position of the other clubs. But my point was - we have never had a better squad or a better environment for success, both for us AND relative to those around us. Man U, Spurs and Arsenal have been turd for large parts of the season. West Ham don't have the squad depth we do. We've had a terrible time with injuries, but IMO it's right to expect higher than the 9th or 10th we'll finish this season.  

[foxfanazer]

I've never been of the opinion that the players have downed tools under Brendan and I still don't think it's true but I don't get the impression that they'd run through brick walls for him either or that he demands them to

[An Sionnach]

3 minutes ago, Lewis's Junior said:

Favourites is perhaps too loaded a term; what I was trying to say is he seems to play players irrespective of form, implying he has faith in them. Then for some reason they are ostracised and can't get a look in. Perez is a good example. And when you're a club of our size, we can't afford to have 3-5 players in our squad who basically have no chance of playing. We need all of them to compete in the league and the cups. 

Agree on the financial position of the other clubs. But my point was - we have never had a better squad or a better environment for success, both for us AND relative to those around us. Man U, Spurs and Arsenal have been turd for large parts of the season. West Ham don't have the squad depth we do. We've had a terrible time with injuries, but IMO it's right to expect higher than the 9th or 10th we'll finish this season.  

Our players are not as good as some think and comparisons with other teams players involve a lot of bias. Our indisputably top class players are Vardy, Evans, Fofana and Maddison. There are question marks about all the other players even Tielemans and Ndidi. We have to be realistic about our current capabilities ,too many of our squad are injury prone or inconsistent.

[majaco]

Stating the bleeding obvious:

 

Players need to be switched on until the final whistle.   Individual errors are costing us dearly.  

 

We should have got 6 points from the last two games.  Newcastle were the most boring team I have seen for a while (including Wolves) and Everton were little better.

 

To our credit,we are trying things.  We are looking for opportunities.   Our low xg is misleading as it often takes last ditch defending to prevent us having clear opportunities.   

 

The last two 109th minute goals we conceded required a  certain amount of luck caused in part by individual errors.  

 

I keep thinking that we are due to destroy another team.  Instead, we are losing to some pretty pedestrian teams.   Our players ability does not seem to be matched by their concentration levels.

[foxfanazer]

4 minutes ago, majaco said:

Stating the bleeding obvious:

 

Players need to be switched on until the final whistle.   Individual errors are costing us dearly.  

 

We should have got 6 points from the last two games.  Newcastle were the most boring team I have seen for a while (including Wolves) and Everton were little better.

 

To our credit,we are trying things.  We are looking for opportunities.   Our low xg is misleading as it often takes last ditch defending to prevent us having clear opportunities.   

 

The last two 109th minute goals we conceded required a  certain amount of luck caused in part by individual errors.  

 

I keep thinking that we are due to destroy another team.  Instead, we are losing to some pretty pedestrian teams.   Our players ability does not seem to be matched by their concentration levels.

The point is though, when your dominating games you need to kill games off. These late goals conceded and individual errors don't matter if you're a couple of goals in the lead. We take our foot off of the gas once we take the lead

[An Sionnach]

2 minutes ago, majaco said:

keep thinking that we are due to destroy another team.  Instead, we are losing to some pretty pedestrian teams.   Our players ability does not seem to be matched by their concentration levels.

The definition of a good player does involve more than just obvious ball playing ability. Intelligence, durability , physical strength, stamina and consistency are just as important.

[majaco]

2 minutes ago, foxfanazer said:

The point is though, when your dominating games you need to kill games off. These late goals conceded and individual errors don't matter if you're a couple of goals in the lead. We take our foot off of the gas once we take the lead

There are many points.

 

It is frustrating. 

[deep blue]

4 hours ago, Dahnsouff said:

We keep the ball a lot, we move the opposition around a lot and this is good, as we  tire them out, but it’s hard to deny that despite occasional slick moves (which fail a the last couple off moments) we are not very incisive. 

It's a good theory, but not borne out by the facts or the results.  We tire them out so much that they resurge and score at the death whilst we are too knackered to defend adequately.

 

NB Apologies - I see the same point has been expressed several times already.

Edited 22 April 2022 by deep blue

[Dahnsouff]

4 minutes ago, deep blue said:

It's a good theory, but not borne out by the facts or the results.  We tire them out so much that they resurge and score at the death whilst we are too knackered to defend adequately.

I think it’s more a case of this is what Brendan would like us to do (questions there) but if we have too little quality in either players or training, then we will struggle, especially off the back of midweek fixtures. 

[Kilworthfox]

7 hours ago, Dahnsouff said:

We keep the ball a lot, we move the opposition around a lot and this is good, as we  tire them out, but it’s hard to deny that despite occasional slick moves (which fail a the last couple off moments) we are not very incisive. 

We won the league with an average of 43% possession.

 

This shows that there are many ways of defeating the opposition.

 

I am not a fan of possession for possessions sake, which I feel is a lot of our play, like over 95%! Along side this, it is insipid to watch, so uninspiring watching our defenders, putting themselves under more pressure, with less and less time on the ball, until they pass back to the GK when in trouble, just to kick for a 50/50 duel. 

 

Fact is, it isn't working, and if you feel it is, then please explain how?

 

The performance against Palace, which was very praise worthy, was built on a strong attacking press. Why isn't this the model of preferred play?

 

 

Edited 22 April 2022 by Kilworthfox

[l444ry]

10 hours ago, Dahnsouff said:

We keep the ball a lot, we move the opposition around a lot and this is good, as we  tire them out, but it’s hard to deny that despite occasional slick moves (which fail a the last couple off moments) we are not very incisive. 

Judged by the late goals and previously conceded corners you could also make the case that we tire ourselves out, physically and mentally, playing this way? Never been one to get carried away with possession stats.

[CosbehFox]

Calling it now if Conte to PSG is true and Poch don’t fancy the return to Spurs, BrenDON is off there