Best of luck to Brendan Rodgers. 
Career suicide from Brendan Rodgers.
Tomkins on Rodgers
So, it seems that Brendan Rodgers will be the next Liverpool boss.
Like many, I was sceptical about Rodgers and the overhyping of Swansea last season. Teams get promoted, do well for half a season, then fall away. But Rodgers is different. His team completed 10,500 more passes than Stoke, and finished above the best long-ball merchants around. Unlike other promoted sides, like Hull and Blackpool, Swansea never fell away after a good five months. They finished 10th, which in the modern age, is remarkable fora low-budget side fresh from the Championship.
They managed to keep 13 clean sheets (on top of 23 last season), and did so with a goalkeeperconsidered by the managertobe the 11th outfield player. They kept 13 Premier League clean sheets despite passing from the back; none of that percentage nonsense.
Rodgers is fairly unique because he went to Spain and Holland tostudy football. This is not something many Brits ever do. From a young age he hated the way football was played in Britain, and sought to emulate the Spaniards.
“WheneverI was playing asa youth international with NorthernIreland we would play Spain, France, Switzerland and the like. And we were always chasing the ball. Inmy mind, even at that young age, I remember thinking ‘I’d rather play in that team than this team’.”
Roy Hodgson was seen as different as he too went abroad, but mostly to Sweden, Denmark and Norway. And rather than going abroad to learn their ways to bring back something better, he was exporting the British model. So in the end, he just brought that back with him.
Contrast these statements from Rodgers with what we saw under Hodgson:
“My philosophy is to play creative attacking football with tactical discipline, but you have to validate that with success.”
“I like to control games. I like to be responsible for our own destiny. If you are better than your opponent with the ball you have a 79 per cent chance of winning the game. For me it is quite logical. It doesn’t matter how big or small you are, if you don’t have the ball you can’t score.”
At first I was concerned that John Henry, who’d spent the week leading up to Swansea visiting Anfield last October in and around Melwood, was swayed by what he saw; he was clearly impressed by Liverpool’s preparations,and yet Swansea played the game in the way Liverpool had intended – but were just unable to. Swansea controlled the game. However, the more I learn about Rodgers, the more I’m convinced that his relative Swansea success is no fluke, and that he was not given the job on that basis.
Presumably, reading between the lines, Steve Clarke stayed on in Boston after Dalglish’s dismissal to discuss Rodgers, the man he’d worked with at Chelsea under Jose Mourinho.
More than the incredible passing stats, it is Rodgers’ strict adherence to high, hard-pressing that I find most encouraging. Liverpool kept the ball well themselves last season, but there was a deep defensive line and no aggression to the pressing. Rodgers speaks very highly of Clarke, but the Scottish coach will need to refine his approach under the Ulsterman.
One major tactical problem Liverpool had was defending too deep for Pepe Reina; he could no longer sweep up, and it made it harder for him to command his box (because the deeper the defence was, the closer to goal big strikers could be, and Reina isn’t the tallest). Rodgers has been happy to use smaller, footballing goalkeepers. Reina should be excited. He should have more space to play in. Rodgers has been doing it this way for almost a decade:
“The example of the Barcelona model was a great influence and inspiration to me. When I was at the Chelsea academy, that was how my players would play, with that high, aggressive press, combined with the ability to keep the ball.”
Rodgers may have learned many things from Jose Mourinho– the ability to keep players on their toes but also on side, and the need for relentless hard work in training –but his teams aim to press and pass more like Barcelona. All of this suggests that his approach is entirely up-scalable.
“People don’t notice it with us because they always talk about our possession but the intensity of our pressure off the ball is great. If we have one moment of not pressing in the right way at the right time we are dead because we don’t have the best players. What we have is one of the best teams.”
In the Championship, Swansea made their way out of a division where, received wisdom tells us, playing football is tough.
“My idea coming into this club [Swansea] was to play very attractive attacking football but always with tactical discipline,” he said. “People see the possession and they see the penetration,the imagination and the creativity, but we’ve had 23 clean sheets this year. So in nearly 50 per cent of our games we haven’t conceded a goal.”
While I’d have loved to see Benitez get the job, Rodgers is reminiscent of Rafa at the stage when he joined Valencia: no big-club success, with the major achievement no more than promotion to the top flight; but future success determined by a desire to learn from the best, with a willingness to travel and study. Instead of RB, we gotBR. (Indeed, Rafa brought Valencia to Anfield and controlled a game,just like Rodgers did with Swansea.)
As well as examining Barcelona, Rodgers went to study Valencia (although before Rafa’s time), and he speaks Spanish – again, also pretty rare for the modern British manager, and handy given all the Spanish-speakers at Liverpool.
While I have always hated the notion of unproven British managers getting the biggestjobs based on overachieving in relative backwaters – the way the press touted Curbishley, Hughes, Hodgson and Bruce – I do think that Rodgers (like Martinez) has taken a unique and thrilling approach to small-club management.
Both of these managers had to endure firestorms of criticism for having their centre-backs pass, pass, pass; by contrast, Hodgson even wanted Daniel Agger – the best technical centre-back in England – to “get fucking rid”, and omitted ball-playing Rio Ferdinand from his England squad.
Hodgson was recently overheard in England training sessions encouraging defenders to hit long balls. Where Rodgers and Martinez personally accepted the risks of playing from the back with mediocre players if things went wrong, in the knowledge that it’s the best way to succeed long-term, Hodgson is less keen to risk it, even with the elite. That, I feel, is the big difference. Hodgson’s style has a glass ceiling (although he may muddle through four or five games in the Euros); Rodgers’ and Martinez’s do not. The fact that both these managers were in the frame shows that FSG were looking fora specific type of manager.
If you can get a promoted side to make more passes than anyone but the eventual champions, you’re doing something right. If you do it without even having a god-damned training ground, having to rely on a local sports centre where the public mingle, you have worked some kind of minor miracle.
It’s a risk, of course, but Rodgers is the kind of manager FSG were always after; fresh ideas, cutting edge, analytical approach, able to man-manage (but not coddle) players, and with the scope to grow and develop.
My fear with Rodgers had been how the style of possession football he used at would fare, given that much of it was held in deep areas, designed to draw out the opposition, and also used as a kind of defence (in that your opponents need the ball to score, and that the easiest place to keep the ball is in deep areas).
For Liverpool, keeping possessionin deep areas leads to the opposition saying “well, you have it then”. But Barcelona, whose style Rodgers has closely studied, have far better players, and that allows them to move their way up the field withthe ball; right now, Liverpool are somewhere in between, with much better players than Swansea, but nowhere near the standard of Barca’s.
Results somewhere between Swansea’s control and Barcelona’s devastating über-possession would presumably be possible.
We don’t know if he can handle the extra pressure, but he seems well grounded and balanced, and has experience of a club expected to challenge for major honours, and dealing with star names, during his time at Chelsea. His judgement in buying players will be questioned with bigger cheques to write, but the idea, as I understood it, was that the there’d be others to help with that side of things, as a technical management team was put in place. A lot may depend on how good those other people prove to be, but Rodgers has the potential to succeed.
Who’s Tomkins?
Larry Tomkins.
Trivia: Brendan Rodgers is a cousin of former Ireland manager Nigel Worthington.
Is there any hope of Rodgers instilling this brand of football with the likes of Gerrard, Henderson, Downing, Adam, Spearing and so on? And what about Carroll, can he function as the lone striker in the system Rodgers likes to play? If he does then where does Suarez play and how will it affect your star player’s game?
These are all valid questions, particularly the Carroll situation. A big centre forward does not seem to fit with the intricate passing game that Rodgers favours. It will be interesting to see his starting XI for his opening match.
I would imagine Gerrard would only really work in behind Suarez as part of a front two. He has shown he is not disciplined enough to play in a central midfield role of this calibre.
This leaves Carroll as either plan B , or a gonner. Let’s hope if it’s the latter he has a great euro campaign and shoots his price right back up to about 15m leaving a nice 20m deficit.
You would imagine Downing , The man who was bought to cross the ball, is also in trouble.
Brendan Rodgers is a wonderful man and a brilliant manager. This will be a magnificent appointment.
Swansea play with Danny Graham as their lone frontman - I don’t see any reason that could preclude the excellent Carroll from leading the line under Rodgers.
Brendan Rodgers, the man tipped to become Liverpool FC’s new manager has strong GAA roots.
Brendan Rodgers, who has earned rave reviews as manager of Swansea City, is the odds-on favourite to be named as Kenny Dalglish’s successor on Friday. The Carnlough, Co. Antrim native, who played professionally for Reading and represented the Republic of Ireland at schoolboys level, played both hurling and football before his cousin Nigel Worthington - the former Northern Ireland full back and manager - influenced him to take up soccer at the age of 13.
Rodgers has really come into his own since becoming a manager. He had a spell in charge of the Chelsea reserves before leading Swansea City to promotion to the Premier League in his first season in charge of the south Wales club last year, and they comfortably retained their top-flight status this year by playing a refreshing brand of attacking football.
Rodgers’ meteoric rise through the ranks of management will be complete if, as expected, he is unveiled as the new boss of English soccer’s most successful club this weekend.
I feel Rodgers would appreciate Alberto Aquilani and he could become a big player in the Barclays Premier League.
No is the answer to your question.
If Rodgers attempts to implement tikki takka with the likes of Carragher, Kelly, Gerrard, Carroll, Kuyt etc it won’t work. I don’t know for sure but I wonder if his recent failures elsewhere were because he tried to implement his brand of football on players that weren’t suited to it?
At Swansea he took over players that had been playing that brand of football for a few years under Martinez and Sousa. Reading dumped him as manager and went us as champions only a year later.
+1 on Acquilani. I reckon he’ll take Joe Allen with him too - Liverpool were already monitoring him.
He was sacked by Reading in December 2009. They went up as champions 2 and a half years later. Rodgers’ Swansea defeated them in the 2011 Play Off Final.
He left Watford of his own accord to join Reading where he played. Reading’s the only failure on his CV.
Huh?
Carragher and Kuyt are hardly the future of the club and at best will be lucky to see some bench time.
Don’t know why you put Kelly in there, if anything a more reserved game will suit him, as a natural centre back the demands of bombing forward don’t always suit him.
Gerrard and Carrol have a place at the club and will adapt to whatever system.
Press conference currently taking place.First point was to thank the King for stabilizing the club, and he will always remain the heart and soul of LFC.
Other ponits to note- 1. Rodgers was the only person offered the job (Of course big mouth Whelan was on this morning saying how Martinez was the first choice, the prick) 2. The club are seeking a DOF to work with Rodgers, and all football/transfer decisions will be made as a group and not by one person. 3. There are transfer funds there if and when needed.
What headlines can we expext this coming season?
The buck stops with Rodgers.
Pool Rodger United
Sid, a little help please…
“This is a club with wonderful tradition and I feel very blessed to be manager of this club.”
"Once I found out I was number one target at Liverpool, it was an easy decision. I feel blessed to have this chance
"I arrive here at the age of 39 but I’ve got experience in the game. I’ve been coaching for more than 20 years.
“This is long term. First and foremost, my aim is to defend principles of great club. Attractive football with tactical discipline”
“Hopefully I can be here for many years. This is a really special club and I’m looking forward to moving to this city.”
"I was never a big player. I had to go down a different field of earning respect on the coaching pitch.
“I like to treat people with human values and morals as I would like to be treated.”
“The principles of your game are based upon the players of what you have, so I will look into seeing if we need to bring anyone in to improve that.”
To Brendan
Brodge - “If it was a sporting director, that was something I made clear I couldn’t work with. What you need is an outstanding team. We will form a technical board that will have four or five people that will decide the way forward.”
Seeing as Liverpool have appointed an Irishman and the new kit deal also takes effect from today, we will be nicknamed the Celtic Warriors next season.
I’d prefer if no Director of Football was appointed.