"He had to go, but Rodgers gave us the best football seen in a generation" by Alex Woo

[Redder Lurtz]

Nice one Woo. Excellent semicolon work as well.

[Red Sun Rising]

thanks Woo, much as I'm glad the club acted fast in this situation, Brendan's team that year made me smile, made me love the game. No hard feelings to the man, did his best. as always, any obituary in management isn't complete until the new guy gets his feet under the table

[Trumo]

I know there are numerous articles and threads discussing the games where it went wrong for him, but looking at it in the clear light of day, I'd say the double whammy of the Chelsea home defeat and calamitous draw at Palace were the two results that cast doubts in Rodgers' mind about the viability of the intense attacking game he'd allowed the team to play over the previous 6 months. Rodgers will have seen that we'd tried to go for it against both Chelsea and Palace only to ultimately come unstuck, and thenceforth decided to revert to his more pragmatic philosophy. Instead of learning the lessons and adapting the intense attacking approach to work with a more solid defensive footing and different players in attack, he shitcanned it and went back to what he knew. The end result was the same lack of defensively solidity and lack of attacking impact that characterised most of his first season, with a midfield that could do little to aid either cause.

[GJM]

I can't move on from blaming Victor Moses for our falling short in 13/14. 92nd minute against City, he has the ball at his feet, moving into the City half, just seconds to hold on to a 3-2 lead. All he has to do is keep the ball. Run wide, take the defender with him, and hold it by the corner; get as far as he can into their half before booting the ball over the top of Anfield Road. Anything but gift the ball back to City on the half-way line. Instead, he overruns the ball and gives it up. City gain the momentum for one last attack, play the ball forward where Henderson tries to regain control, himself overruns it - not his fault in this case as the ball comes at him at speed - and promptly gets himself a red card bravely and selflessly trying to stop City regaining control of the ball. 

 

Nobody will ever convince me that if Moses does not give that ball away, Henderson stays on the pitch and, more importantly, does not miss the Chelsea game. A game that we would not have lost had he been there.

 

Victor Moses. That's the reason.

[ZonkoVille77]

Was anyone else easily able to masterbate to this thread?

[s(k)aturation]

Very good, Woo.

I'd be a hypocrite if I said I didn't have issues with your opinions.

But your even-handed conviction I certainly can't argue against.

 

Rodgers deserves great credit for 13/14.

I also happen to think Suarez deserves the most credit for it, and his contribution in my opinion over-stated BR's status.

 

Aside from being at Barca, Real or Bayern perhaps, I think Suarez could over-shadow any manager's contribution though.

[Hand Shandy]

Was anyone else easily able to masterbate to this thread?

I had a go, but they threw me off the bus.

 

Inconsiderate bastards.

[ritchie]

It was an extreme version of Keegan's Newcastle. Entertaining but ultimately flawed. The club is about winning things.

[Denny Crane]

My final comments on Rodgers as we have a new sheriff in town.

 

A passionate writeup from one of our knowledgeable Chinese fans.

 

I accept that some fans prefer the Keegan approach, not for me and I don't mean this as a sleight but Rodgers was our Keegan from Carnlough, our wee Brendan.

 

His future will be as the ideal man to come into a championship team or a sleeping giant like Leeds or Newcastle, Aston Villa, Everton or a mediocre national team like England or Norway and give them a bit of fun.

 

Although looking at his European record, Rodgers should avoid international football he makes Hodgson look like Paisley.

 

Ultimately there is nothing of substance when you scratch below. I don't actually think he had ideals or football principles just soundbites. Look at Wenger a true believer, through the good and bad he plays his own football. There just wasn't that there with Rodgers despite us telling us he had an identity.

 

If there was ever a manager who needed good coaches to do the tactics and work one on one with the players around him it was Rodgers. Instead at every turn he ignored experience. Even an old head he could have consulted may have helped him but nothing.

 

I always thought Rodgers was a good figurehead but an awful coach it's played out that way sadly.

 

For me regularly conceding Sunday league goals is downright negligence. There are two parts to football defence and attack.

 

At no stage did Rodgers ever get to grips with that. I'm not old enough to have seen the 80s team but 2001, 2005, 2006 and some of our European adventures were great with a moneyshot at the end not forgetting others.

 

Also worth mentioning if Kenny never won silverware we would be close to a decade without winning anything.

 

Over 122 league games Rodgers ended up with a gd of 0.66 for league games same as Houllier.

 

So one manager was labelled as attacking one negative it shows how getting it right at both ends is important.

 

Benitez who is rightly tagged as a conservative coach ended up with 0.82 gd per game in the league.

 

2013/14 was fun and sad at the same time but unless Rodgers can repeat a similar feat in his career his contribution towards it will be open to question, the perfect storm rather than the perfect managerial contribution.

[ZonkoVille77]

good post, not Frod.

[bossy]

Very exciting football but the team had serious flaws. When we were good we were very good but so many times we were absolutely crap all over the pitch except for SAS. I think when Kenny was here, Suarez and co hit the post or bar about 25 times or something, fine margins win games and titles and we came up short during Rodgers tenure.

[Brownie]

Great piece from Alex that. I know exactly what he means about 08/09 and 13/14 as well. 08/09 was really good but I never truly believed that we'd win it, we were always chasing and hoping for a slip up that just never came.

 

13/14 was completely different.

 

And we just twatted everyone, all over the place. Just humiliated our rivals. It was just fucking boss.

[Ranxerox]

He berated the linesman over an offside call with seconds left in the 5-0 drubbing of Spurs. There was never a lost ball or a lost cause to him and he quite simply made everybody better.

 

Not only that but many teams knew they were beat before the game even started. The whole league was terrified of Suarez and it had a huge effect on their mentality when facing us. 

 

Last year and this with the same manager no one was afraid of us. 

[m0e]

Great piece from Alex that. I know exactly what he means about 08/09 and 13/14 as well. 08/09 was really good but I never truly believed that we'd win it, we were always chasing and hoping for a slip up that just never came.

 

13/14 was completely different.

 

And we just twatted everyone, all over the place. Just humiliated our rivals. It was just fucking boss.

It really was. I loved it.

 

2 major differences though.

 

1) In 08 09 we were expected to challenge, hence the boos at Anfield after that 0-0.

 

2) We had CL football.

 

 

No cup games in 09 and we absolutely piss that league. Torres and Gerrard started 18 games together in the league. Compare that to suarez and Sturridge and our relatively injury free run throughout the side.

 

There always has to be context. If we expected to challenge in 13/14, Brendan would have got hammered for Chelsea and Palace. Perhaps West Brom, Hull too.

 

The pressure of others trying to gun us down plays a significant part. The pressure form the fans, the media and the pressure placed on themselves. It just wasn't there that season. Not until we beat City. Then what happened?

 

Chelsea loaned us one of their players for fuck's sake. That's how little threat we posed during the close season.

 

The fact that it came out of nowhere was what made it amazing. And the fact we weren't even expecting top 4 meant our expectations played a big part in the excitement. and even while we were enjoying it, we still had many Reds complaining throughout.

 

Just have a look at the Everton thread at Anfield before the game and how many comments were made about Gerrard needing to be dropped amd Sterling not being good enough etc etc.

 

Sometimes things fall into place and there's not a lot needed. When we needed him though, he failed to deliver. Every single time.

 

[Frank Dacey]

At the time I felt the 2014 season would be judged by what happened next. If, like in 1972, we learnt from disappointment and went on to win the league, it wouldn't be too disappointing. Now it feels like a terrible missed opportunity. I'd say the crucial game was the one against Chelsea; not THAT one but the one at Stamford Bridge where we were royally fucked by Howard Webb as a punishment for Rodgers speaking out against Lee Mason.

[Kurt]

Good piece... A minor error on there though. When chasing a goal against Chelsea we did not have Moses and Aspas. We only had Aspas. Moses obviously was on loan from Chelsea.

 

Agree with tha point in failure to strengthen in January. At the time I said that would probably cost us top 4... It was actually worse... It ended up costing us the title. Our squad was paper thin, and we had noone to step in when Henderson got suspended. 

 

Still... It was one hell of a ride... and the excitement and anticipation was something I've never experienced. I am old enough to remember the title wins in the late seventies, eighties and our final one in 1990. The thing is... Back then it was just another day at the office. This one was totally unexpected, and that made it so much sweeter.

[VladimirIlyich]

Have to disagree a bit with the title of this thread,yes there was some brilliant performances under Rodgers but likewise under Kenny and especially Rafa too. They also through some shiny metal cups into the mix and that counts as 'the best' for me.

 

Rodgers must have played a part in it but without Suarez incessant will to win we would not have been even close. Wasnt the early part of that season a bit lacklustre too?

 

Not slagging off Rodgers here but the best football has to have an end product and this means trophies for me.

 

Good luck Brendan but you won the lottery but misplaced your winning ticket.

[Nightcat]

That is right Moofy. No one knows football as well as you and the rest of Rodgers' appreciators.

 

I tried to be polite, but here is an typical example of boring, revisionist nonsense from the original poster:

 

The squad he left behind may be bereft of true world-class players, but unlike the one he inherited it’s not full of overpaid, mediocre dross; it’s a predominantly young side full of talent that needs a great coach to revitalise and improve it. The spine of the side needs improving, but there is a strong core group of players to work with; a solid foundation for success.

 

 

 

So the original poster suggests that Rodgers inherited a "team full of overpaid mediocre dross", a team comprised of Agger, Reina, Skrtel, Gerrard, Suarez and Sterling, a team which reached two finals and won our first, only (and so far last) trophy during the decade 2006-2016.

 

After three trophyless seasons and £300m outlay Rodgers, leaves a team with no Agger, no Reina, no Gerrard, no Suarez and no Sterling. He replaced £6m Adam, with £15m Allen, Reina with the attrocious Mignolet, Agger with £20m Lovren, Gerrard with nobody, Suarez with Balotelli(sent on loan)/Lambert(who was sold) and Sterling with my ass.  

 

He also had the brilliant idea (or at least he had no objections as a YESman) to spend £50m of our hard-earned, valuable, scarce resources(since we are not run by some wealthy oligarch/third world monarch), raised by selling players and reducing the wage bill, on Ballotelli, Markovic and a mysterious fella Illory and subsequently send all of them on Loan. Because they are not good enough(?). Excellent.

 

This is according the original poster the team with a spine that will lead to success.<----Hilarious.

 

Apart from Rodgers' successor, it will be interesting to follow Rodgers' career and see the teams he will manage and the success he will have in the future. Indicativel,y since Rafa got sacked from Liverpool, he managed Inter, chelsea, Napoli and Real Madrid and won many trophies. 

 

Ultimately, I agree with Brendan Rodgers that Liverpool is a team in transition. We are in transition from a Midtable mediocrity with no vision and identity on the pitch, to low table Villa/Newcastle type passersby. Finally, you should hope that the FSG gangsters take the current recruitment process seriously and that they appoint a World Class manager (i.e. Simeone, Ancelotti, Klopp), otherwise that under-appreciated (often mocked by football hipsters as Mickey Mouse) League Cup won by King Kenny Dalglish who left you all hipsters so dissatisfied, will be our last for many, many, many years. 

[Section_31]

Original poster, that's Woo to you fucko.

[King Emlyn]

The fact that we were genuine league challengers and indeed came within a gnats bollock of winning it was a fine achievement, it's a shame that those that detest him and love to ridicule him so much can't see it but no matter a genuine challenge at this club is now akin to a haileys comet sighting, how we fix that is what matters. Good read that Woo

[TheHowieLama]

The crazy thing is if he had won the league one would be hard pressed to suggest we wouldn't be in exactly the same position now. 

[usernameunknown]

You have to give credit where it's due with Rodgers, to say he 'should' have won the league is crazy, that side was playing so far above itself it was untrue, if we'd won the league that year it would have belonged in the X Files.

 

For all his flaws, one things Rodgers realised which  the previous managers never did was that not all games need to be controlled, and that he league in England is pretty shite. Managers here are tactically naive and if you've got better players and go at them, nine times out of ten you will win.

 

That was how the mancs won so much under Ferguson, they just went for the throat and before you knew what happened they were 3 or 4 nil up. 

 

If you could  take that aspect of Rodgers and implant it into Rafa, you'd have some Liverpool manager. 

 

Agreed, it's madness to suggest we should have won the league! People can go back and look at the chaos after the Celtic friendly or when Hull smacked us if they want, the general consensus was we were fucking shit and we wouldnt even get 4th!!

[Tony Moanero]

The loud mouthed twat who frequents my local Ladbrokes is a bellend.

[jimmycase]

So that’s that, then. Following months of speculation and clamouring from a large section of the fan base, Brendan Rodgers finally lost his job as Liverpool manager. It’s not surprising – the results and performances progressively got worse, particularly over the past six months – but it is a sad and all too familiar tale for Reds fans; it seems every time the team appear to be on the cusp of greatness things tragically and drastically fall apart.

 

Alex Woo

@woolfc

Click here to view the article

 

An incredibly well written piece.

[Babb'sBurstNad]

The crazy thing is if he had won the league one would be hard pressed to suggest we wouldn't be in exactly the same position now. 

 

I think there'd be one difference - Rodgers would still be in charge.