KopTalk.com Forums Football Liverpool FC Forum My take on LFC at the moment.

Firstly, hello everyone!

My first post on here, I've actually been following the forums for over a year now, but never actually got an account! So strangely, I feel like I know you all already! So hello to Faz, Flames, Stanley, bar and all the regular posters!

Last week I watched the game away at Zenit, watching us struggle to gain any authority on the game, away in Russia on a poorly maintained pitch. It was a strange moment for me, after watching The scum against Real Madrid at the Bernabéu, I had the realisation we are not what we used to be?

As much as I try and be positive, glass half empty and all that- we simply are not the team we where. There is a reason Rafa,Hodgson, Kenny and now Rodgers are achieving a poor league position! Our mentality and squad are simply not what they where! It pains me to say it, but it's now an un-arguable fact.

It is just mad to assume every single one of the last four managers are all to blame? Maybe the incredible form of Gerrard and Torres managed to cover up the cracks emerging in the back ground at LFC?

Either way, we find ourselves in this situation. We are not a top four team, we are not what we where- and we have to deal with it!

I have massive faith in Rodgers, I believe many individual errors by some of our average players have really cost us this season. WE NEED TO BUILD FROM THE BOTTOM.

Rodgers has this process well under way,

* Majority of his signings have been superb
* Given younger players a chance to shine
* Every player performs better under him

I think this are all good foundations of a great manager, but he needs TIME to turn this around..

I just hope us, the fans give him that time.

Welcome Andy

On your three points in particular -

- I wouldnt' agree with the transfer remark. Allen started off very well but has faded badly and isn't starting currently but will be a good player going forward to have. Borini has been poxed by injury but I don't know if he will make it. Coutinho will hopefully become a star and Sturridge has been superb. Overall I don't think his transfers have been too bad and he seemed to have learned from his initial forays into the transfer market

- He has shown huge faith in the younger players, albeit a lot of it was down to numbers but I still think he is more than willing to give them a chance to play and develop and hopefully they will become fixtures in the future.

- I would agree that there has been a marked improvement in the form of Downing and Henderson and Enrique has rediscovered his form thankfully. Gerrard appears to have found a more suited role considering that he is not the explosive player he once was.

Yeah signings haven't been perfect, but I think they are much better than what we have had of late- at a fraction of the cost.

Allen started off fantastic, but has struggled for form recently. He is not a bad player though, and will return to form soon I hope. Sturridge, I am gobsmacked to how much difference one player makes! Before you can imagine the opposition managers team talk "mark suarez we win" Now we have another dimension to our play! Borini, I reserve judgement on for now. Seen some good, and bad from him so far

Welcome on board Andy

Under BR we have improved attack wise but we have become very vulnerable at the back. Some of the goals we have conceded this season have been shocking.
I think he will get at least 1 more full season unless we fall apart completely this season or start poorly next season.
If we keep Suarez we may improve significantly next season, if we dont....

I would go as far as saying that Rodgers needs to be judged on the season after next. If we haven't improved sufficiently, then we need to look at replacing him. With the overhaul he's done with playing style, tactics and players It's unrealistic to think our fortunes will change in one or two seasons.

I firmly believe that Rodgers is the man to take us back to where we belong, IF he is given the time.

hello andy what a great first post. i totally agree with you on this. especially building from the bottom. i do feel we are a fair distance from where we once were. but given a bit more time i think rodgers and his young squad are capable of closing that gap. give him the time to develop players and tweak certain area's of the squad and we can be up there fighting for 4th place soon. i feel that although we've been knocked out of a couple of cups and slipped up against west brom, theres plenty of improvement to be seen from the squad. give them time and we'll be back

Welcome,

Regarding your points made, I think it's the easy option to blame the manager for poor results - Although they play their part in it and are rightly criticised, the mentality of the majority of the players has been poor for a while now. We have those players like Suarez who ticks all the boxes with mentality, never goes missing in games. Too many like Downing, Shelvey, Henderson and even one you wouldn't of expected a few seasons ago, Reina.

Our squad is a young side, with that comes the incosistency that you'd expect and we havent got the right mix of youth and senior and with the FSG policy on this can Rodgers be to blame?

I think the main additions we need and which will hopefully be addressed come the summer are a Defender to replace Carragher and challenge Skrtel for his place, a Defensive Midfielder to challenge Lucas and for cover if he gets injured (again) and an Attacking Midfielder. Then something later for us to get is a higher quality of Squad depth, In the Zenit game at home, we had no one on our bench that inspired confidence, just more kids. But get the XI sorted first and then worry about the quality of Squad depth.

I agree except his signings , Borini has failed , Allen I just don't see what he brings or what type of midfielder he is, Assaidi not reaaly seen him play and Yesil where is he ?

Allen - Not good enough
Borini - Not good enough
Assaidi - Decent when I've seen him, doesn't get any game time
Yesil - Young, not really expected to see him in the senior team more of one for the future
Sahin - Never really gave him a chance, wasn't very happy to see the loan deal cut short
Sturridge - Brilliant signing no trouble here
Coutinho - Can't really comment yet, decent of what I've seen but too soon to say

Borini hasn't really had a fair crack to say he has failed but on his showings so far I suspect he is not up to it. Yesil was only ever bought as a youth player and was always hugely unlikely to feature at all