Hard to believe that it is almost a year since Rodgers took over. There were plenty of reservations about his appointment (myself included), and although some of the cooler kids tried to pre-empt the move being an instant success by jumping on the bandwagon, it has’nt been the disaster it could easily have been. From Chrismas on the team showed champions league form and ended the season with the 4th highest scoring record in the league and joint 4th best defence (level with Utd). This is a massive turn around on last year, particularly on the scoring front, and is in no short thanks to the signings of Sturridge and Coutinho. If the club are to move forward and to challenge for at least a CL spot, Rodgers is going to be as shrewd if not shrewder in the market this summer. But I think he deserves credit for taking a risk on Sturridge where others may not have and I hope he continues to get the best out of him.
But getting back to before Christmas, the only word that can desribe it is, disaster. Stats like ’ worst start in 52 years’ and ‘still haven’t beaten a team in the top half’ were thrown at the team each week and pretty much sums it up. This was as much down to Rodgers as it was the players at his disposal, the body language of the players read like they didn’t believe in what the manager was asking them to do and Rodgers’ consistent deployment of players out of position and leaving us tactically exposed at the back were something that everyone could see was killing us but he persisted with it week in week out. Question marks over his purchases were also rightly made and the likes of Allen, who started good, were found wanting…The return of Lucas however brought balance to the team, and highlights the need for another DM- if he gets injured again, Rodgers is back to playing Allen in there- but perhaps more worrying is the fact that one of the biggest changing factors was bringing Carra back into the team. The soft goals conceeded dried up, the defence looked settled and assured and and and… forget it, he has retired. Which, along with talk of Reina going, highlights the massive headaches Rodgers has this summer. Skertl and Coates (who I still think will turn out good) have been poor, and while Agger has looked assured when Carra was beating out the orders, he is very slow to react when marshalling the defence himself and paired with one of the other two. B-Rod needs to act quick here in getting in a replacement.
Overall, it has been a step in the right direction. The club finished 9 points better off than last year and on the back of how the team finished this season along with a few more decent additions, a further 9 points and a challenge for 4th is a very realistic target. Rodgers will have learned a lot about himself and the players this year and he deserves further credit for turning the form of Downing and Henderson around (who are both decent squad additions now at leaset)and also King Luis, who needed 10 shots to score one last year. The biting incident aside, he certainly seemed a far more focused player this year. He also deserves credit for bringing on some of the youth players. Sterling, who started brilliantly- but pyhsically faded as the season went on- Jordan Ibe and the new signing Canos all look excellent prospects as does Suso. I fully expect all of these and hopefully Ryan Mclaughlin to see game time next season in various comps and in doing so Brendan is building a nice little squad.
This time next year will probably be about the right time to judge the job he (Rodegers) has done (even that is probably too early given the job on his hands but that’s modern football) and I don’t know at whose expense, but I fully expect to have qualified for the CL come next June.
Now, having said all that, can someone explain to me what system Rodgers actually plays, becuase I haven’t a clue?
p.s It looks as though an offer has been made for Schalke’s Papadopoulos (14m) and talks are at advanced stages.
Liverpool for Sam