Rodgers interview

[Lario]

Has he mentioned anything about "his good fwiend Suh Alex Fuhguson fuhgiving him"?

 

If not, he's fine by me. Innocent until proven guilty.

[Brownie]

Some proper weirdo's on here.

[MLB]

Some proper weirdo's on here.

 

 

Loads of them. Total oddballs.

[Cij]

Firstly, I want to preface this post by stating that I am a big fan of Brendan Rodgers and I would love nothing more than if he could turn us back into a competitive force again while playing attractive, passing football. I am very impressed by the signings he made this Summer and have every confidence that they will contribute a lot to the club.

 

With that being said, the press conference he gave last night was a PR master class but I have my doubts about how much we should read into it. Rodgers is an intelligent, perceptive individual who will be all too aware that we have made a less than stellar start to the season. There was a real risk that our supporters would dwell upon our poor results and performances during the international break. That isn't the ideal situation for a fledgling manager who hasn't yet built up much of an affinity with the fans. The smart move was to change the agenda and give people something else to talk about rather than focusing all their attention on our progress so far and he looks like he has achieved that aim. He is clearly a very accomplished and media savvy speaker and I believe this would have been a very attractive quality for FSG as I suspect they are trying to rehabilitate our club's image to some extent.

 

Personally I feel that the decision to invite the TAW crew and fan site representatives for a candid discussion was an inspired move. Whether people choose to recognise it or not, sites like this and Podcasts like The Anfield Wrap exert a massive influence over our support. More importantly they reach past the casual fan and are, by and large, patronised by the diehards / anoraks who have an almost unhealthy obsession with the club! I understand that the attendees thought they were coming in for a brief meet and greet and ended up participating in an engaging discussion with our manager for almost an hour. Naturally those that attended will be grateful for the access / time granted and this is bound to engender some goodwill towards Rodgers amongst the very people who help to shape our fanbase's opinions.

 

In terms of subject matter, Brendan touched upon a lot of points that will resonate with supporters. Fans everywhere love the prospect of young, home grown players being afforded an opportunity. People were genuinely excited to hear our manager talking about the likes of Sterling and Suso getting opportunities to prove themselves this season as it creates a bit of excitement to counteract what was a disappointing close to the transfer window. The boss also paid due respect to a club legend in Jamie Carragher and held him up as a shining example of what our younger players should aspire to in terms of dedication. There is a reason why The Kop has belted out "A Team of Carraghers" for years and it is heartening to hear that our new manager appreciates the type of commitment we expect of our players.

 

Similarly, many people, including myself, were impressed by the revelation that Rodgers intends to send Lucas out on tactical scouting missions while he is out injured. A great idea which will keep his spirits up and could potentially see him return a better player. However, the emphasis on what an important player Lucas is to our system also served another purpose in my view. It subtly implied that we should not judge the manager's tactical approach until such times as all of the key components are available to him. The talk of having to tweak our attacking shape due to the striker fiasco served a similar purpose - they were a call for patience and time to effect change.

 

There were two other aspects of the discussion that I felt were particularly interesting. When Brendan went into considerable detail about the nuances of our midfield shape I detected a note of criticism about Gerrard's performance even though he wasn't mentioned by name. When discussing why we were overrun in the centre against Arsenal he specifically referred to Allen and Shelvey by name but deliberately avoided calling out Gerrard when saying he had to move him back as he wasn't getting forward and back as required in the system. Rodgers is far too canny to take on a club legend directly a la Villa Boas but Gerrard will have to modify his game considerably if he wants to command a midfield berth in our team in the long term, particularly in terms of tracking back and his love for the high risk, killer ball.

 

The second aspect relates to the owners. I would be astonished if Rodgers isn't absolutely fuming with the owners on account of the way the transfer window panned out. We are dreadfully short up front and I don't believe for one second he would have sanctioned Carroll's loan if he thought we would not get a replacement. However, unlike Rafa he has not publicly challenged the owners. Brendan knows that in a few months time our fanbase will demand that FSG correct this appalling oversight. What is the point in creating a fuss now when nothing can be done about it? This club has desperately needed unity and calm for a long time and I am relieved to see our manager does not intend to engage in public mudslinging.

 

Finally, I wholeheartedly disagree with his assessment of Luis Suarez' best position. I take the point that Luis is not blessed with exceptional pace but I think playing him around the box merely accentuates his limitations. Luis can go past players for fun. However, experienced defenders drop off him in the box and crowd him out by denying him space. In a wider position he can isolate players and turn them inside out. This forces other players to come across and frees up space in the box for Luis and others. Furthermore, his shooting is probably the weakest aspect of his game and forcing him to take snap shots in the box while he is off balance following a run is hardly ideal. It would be much better if he was allowed beat a player from a wider position and take a shot while he has more time and space. After all, it is from wide attacking areas that he has traditionally enjoyed most success with Heerenveen, Ajax and Uruguay. Ironically, Borini appears to suffer from the opposite problem; his qualities are movement and finishing but he lacks the pace and skill to fashion good positions from wider areas. I think we would be far more potent if we reversed their respective roles.

 

Whilst I am taking some of Brendan's comments with a pinch of salt, I am delighted overall with his vision for the club. He will certainly have nothing less than my full-throated support over the coming months and I hope that the vast majority of our fans get behind him and the team. There are going to be plenty of hiccups along the way but it is nice to feel we may once again be moving in the right direction. PS. Joe Allen is fucking boss.

[Paco]

He's certainly making no secret of how we'll play. is that just confidence that it doesn't matter what the opposition knows or how they play we're just worried about how we play?

 

also we've been able to predict his last 2 teams by looking at who's wearing what bibs in the final training session. I just feel we're giving away more than we should but again maybe he doesn't care, he just has total belief that of we play the way he wants us to play it doesn't matter what the opposition know all that matters is that if we play well we should win.

 

which brings me on to my final point - all this talk is fine. we know he's a good talker, we know he's had relative success at swansea but we need to start seeing results in terms of league victories now because if we're were we are now at crimbo he'll know what the pressure of managing an under performing world class club is.

[William_Ulsterman]

If he told me Crows were white, i'd agree. He has a touch of the Derren Brown about him.

[Jhinge Machha]

If he told me Crows were white, i'd agree. He has a touch of the Derren Brown about him.

 

that man in your avatar passed away not too long ago. his last wish was for people of the internet to write lyrics to that song.

[therevivalist]

Great ideas and well put across too. Following up with his transformation of the squad, Rodgers needs to complete it by next summer and go forward with the team of his own as of the coming season. I'm convinced he has got the philosophy as well as the commitment to make us successful again. What he needs is the requisite support from everyone connected to the club, the owners specially.

[Aldonose]

He talks a good game.

 

Listening to him I do find myself thinking "I'm more than confident in him". But I've found in life at times sometimes the biggest talkers are the biggest bullshitters.

 

Not saying Rodgers is that, in fact I think all the talking hes done so far(not just this week) has been in an effort to calm the fanbase.

 

But fact is, talk is cheap until things start to improve. I'm sure he'll get plenty of time. But a few more defeats before october and we'll be sinking fast and its very hard to turn things around as many have found out.

 

That pretty much sums it up for me. It's all well and good coming across as a really nice, genuine fella, but let's face it, we're only really arsed about results on the pitch. That's ultimately were I'll judge him.

[KopOut]

FUCK Meditation.

[Bobby Hundreds]

FUCK Meditation.

 

That's tantric.

[Cliff T. Beast]

I personally was very impressed by it and i think, if left alone to get on it, he'll do a brilliant job here

[longballs]

Dave, did you get an invite to the interview? Found out that RAWK were there!

[DooooodekNo5]

Damned if he does damned if he doesn't , he could win the league for us and it wouldn't be good enough for some.

[Rick Sanchez C-137]

Damned if he does damned if he doesn't , he could win the league for us and it wouldn't be good enough for some.

 

Derp?