26 Aug 2015 09:38:00
So it looks by absolute miracle Brendan Rodgers is starting to listen and take advice from others. Set pieces are the clearest sign of this, we look a lot more in control and seem to be dealing with balls in better in a more organised way and I believe that is down to O'Driscoll. If Achtenberg went (as I do not rate him in the slightest) maybe we could find a goalkeeping coach that could work on Mignolets catching of a ball as he seems to panic and flap at things. The other thing is the line, bar from Martin (out of position) Skrtel we seem to be holding a very tight line, the issue is Skrtel will never change and doesn't have the concentration or communication necessary to do simple things, like hold a line. I can slowly see (if O'Driscoll has his way) him being phased out the team and i'm hopeful Ilori can step up or Joe Gomez can move into that position. A back four of Clyne, Ilori, Sakho & Gomez would be my future pick if I had my way. The other minor thing is the dangerous playing from the back has seemed toned down which means i'm not having a heart attack every 5 seconds, its good to see Rodgers accepting his faults and allowing input into his failings, in that respect its been a very positive start for us albeit having a stroke of luck with the last couple of games. Based on the Arsenal game you can see we are clearly improving though, Lucas is a must as he is the insurance policy which allowed Can and Milner to push on and gives the defence that cover where as Hendo and Milner are both wanting to do similar things. Anyway, football wise a so so start but its important to pick up the points early on so its hard for me not to be relatively happy.
26 Aug 2015 10:32:57
There comes a problem when you include Lucas in the team. One of Milner/Henderson/Can goes to the bench and I don't see that happening next Saturday.
BR has no clue on balancing the squad rather picks the players who he think are good enough.
Lucas is just another name, Its all about right players. A DM is a mandatory unless you have an Alonso with you.
BR see one of Milner/Henderson/Can as the playmaker which they are not.
26 Aug 2015 10:37:04
Perhaps he was always listening but the advice he was getting was rubbish.
Perhaps in changing his assistant/coaches he has actually done the right thing?
Perhaps he is a good manager after all?
26 Aug 2015 11:01:03
How do we know the improved defensive work (albeit 3 games) is down to O'Driscoll? How much do you actually know about his defensive coaching methods? It seems, the bad is down to Rodgers, the good is down to somebody else. Why don't we collectively congratulate the coaching team on improving a much needed area?
The 2nd point is about 'playing from the back'. The whole reason this can happen now is because we have Benteke. It's that simple. Last season when Sterling was scooting around all over the place, a long, direct ball wasn't useful. Now we have Benteke, our defence can ping a ball and it can stick or we can at least maintain possession and work our way up the pitch. The dynamic of our game can change because of a personnel change.
The 3rd point is Gomes at left back. He's done great, but I see him as a future CB. Think he will be excellent there.
26 Aug 2015 11:10:27
No Ron, he's a rat, who threw his assistants under a bus to save his own neck, we all get it, you think he's the second coming of sir Bill and sir Bob, enoughs enough lad!
26 Aug 2015 12:52:15
Was it while Mourinho was parking it?
26 Aug 2015 13:42:47
He is not learning or listening, just give it a couple of more good results and he will revert back to his "tactical genius" pass pass pass until i pass out of boredom tactics. Trust me it will come soon enough. He just needs his ego to get filled up to the top again.
i will gladly eat my words though!
26 Aug 2015 14:37:39
I agree here that he threw them under the bus, , however I would argue it shows a ruthless side of him an that can only be applauded hopefully it turns out to be a new side of him. In any field of employment the ruthless succeed. I'd like to see him limit some of his press loving though he sounds like something off a 3rd rate motivational show. However I'm happy with the new backroom team. Let's see hopefully we've turned a corner. Regarding celebrating a draw I can see both sides I think the best way to look at this is from the celebration side people were happy not to get turned over therefore being blinded by what was in the 1st half a wasteful performance. And from the other side I guess the old an bold were maybe disappointed with having to only be content with the pragmatic approach of the team instead of a more ruthless cutting edge that we should have seen keys face it we should be a little disappointed in hindsight, we really should have won the game. I do think it bodes well the result at the Emirates. Our problem now is weer should hammer the irons on Saturday let's see how weer follow this up.
26 Aug 2015 16:54:04
RON KEAGUE,he has no option but to listen otherwise he will be a dead man walking. if he isn't already.
27 Aug 2015 03:09:01
Top managers need to be ruthless, throwing them under the bus might be the case, but to me its clearly the right decision. To me that's a sign of a leader doing what he think will make things better, there was clearly a need for something to change and a change was done. For all i care, BR can loose all his friends if that makes the coaching staff more professional and give results on the pitch, weird thing to critizise him for imo.
27 Aug 2015 06:25:18
Ron and Stoupid are posting rubbish. Waro and Wembley are right. BR may have been kept by Michael Gordon who had the final say but to say that the advice he was getting was rubbish or using the word leader and BR in the same statement, is nothing short of talking utter tripe. BR is not a leader and we have facts to prove that as he spent all last season blaming everybody but himself for our issues. If that is the sign of a leader to you then you need to google the true meaning of the word because a true leader would take responsibility for his actions and admit he has been wrong. He is listening now because he is on his last legs as LFC manager and Ron, saying he was getting bad advice is just insane nonsense because he has had Pascoe for years as an assistant and never had a prob with him then but because his job was on the line, he is certainly getting bad advice now from the same guys? Your hypocrisy is deafening.
{Ed001's Note - one of the things I would like to address in the next podcast is this. I agree with you about taking responsibility, but I disagree that he was only listening because he was on his last legs. Rodgers is very much a person who listens to other people, copies others' ideas and tries to mould them to suit his purpose. Everything he has done has been someone else's idea he has taken, from his pass pass pass obsession to the fast flowing high press, it all came from other people, so he clearly does listen to people and take advice.}
27 Aug 2015 17:35:34
So Ed if that's the case, what advice was he getting and why did he not simply go back to the advice Bielsa gave him on playing the diamond, high press strategy? I saw he did that a few games but why did he abandon it?
{Ed001's Note - I can only think that he doesn't believe he has the players for that system any more and that the reason we fell at the final hurdle was because it took too much out of the squad.}