da bet nacional：
da bet7： “I have always said if the owners want me to go, I go it is as simple as that.â€Brendan Rodgers’ words after the lowest point of what has been a desperately low season at Anfield.It’s fair to say that if the decision was down to the fans, his P45 would have been cast onto the Britannia Stadium pitch as soon as the whistle confirmed the 6-1 loss at Stoke, but even though Fenway Sports Group – the Reds’ owners – are a sensible and calculated group, the Northern Irishman has some tricky questions to answer over the coming weeks as he clings onto his job.But does he even deserve another shot? After all, yesterday’s defeat was the largest since the 7-2 drubbing at the hands of Spurs in 1963 and the first time six goals have been shipped by the Merseysiders in the Premier League era.Both are damning, and we at FFC Towers think it’s time for change… after all, these FIVE points suggest that the club cannot progress with Rodgers at the helm.[interaction id=“noneâ€]
Transfer gaffes
Okay, Rodgers works alongside a transfer committee to get deals done, so he cannot be held accountable for every signing.
Although the Northern Irishman has a decent level of power over additions, the likes of Mario Balotelli and Lazar Markovic were rather thrust upon him last summer, but it’s widely thought that the Southampton trio of Adam Lallana, Rickie Lambert and Dejan Lovren were ‘Rodgers buys’ as he set about building on a good season.
The above set of players cost a whopping £211,550,000, which is quite a spend over the course of three trophy-less seasons.
Rodgers has, however, had to cope with the loss of Luis Suarez and took the club to within a whisker of the Premier League title, but to have only two of 23 (Divock Origi hasn’t arrived yet) – Philippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge – as success stories tells you all you need to know about the manager’s selection of targets and ability to adapt to players signed for him.
Lost the dressing room?
Liverpool had nothing to play for at Stoke on Sunday, but that does not excuse the lifeless, limp and downright embarrassing performance at the Britannia Stadium. 6-1 is shocking, no disrespect to the Potters, but last season’s runners-up should not be losing by such a margin to a midtable team assembled on a shoestring budget.
So what happened? Well, the first half alone led clout to suggestions that Rodgers has lost the dressing room. There was not fight and it appeared that the belief in what they were being tasked with had all but evaporated. Can a manager truly recover from this?
Tactical madness
The start of the season rather set the tone. Three games in it was clear that Rodgers would need to adapt his system, with Suarez’s exit and Sturridge’s injury issues having left him without the movement and dynamism up front that was the hallmark of the 2013/14 season.
Instead, the Northern Irishman just slotted Balotelli and Lambert into the same system, with obvious comical results.
Neither player is suited to a quick passing game or constant movement from the front, so attacks frequently broke down before they’d truly got going. Add to this persistence with 4-2-3-1 and 3-4-2-1 – the latter worked until if was ruthlessly exposed by Manchester United – along with an insistence on playing Emre Can at right-back and the downright refusal to look at the 4-4-2 diamond that was so successful last season and it’s hard to make a case for Rodgers as a ‘tactical genius’…
Fresh start needed
Have things just turned a little stale at Anfield? Maybe. Rodgers is now three seasons deep on Merseyside, and although progress was made last season, the end to this campaign leaves the club pretty much where they were when he started – adrift of the top four and heading into the Europa League.
The title loss a year ago appeared to suck the life from Steven Gerrard and many long-term fans, while the exit of Suarez served to take the rest of the energy from the fan base and the squad. Perhaps a new manager bounce could get the players feeling confident again and inspire the crowd?
The likes of Jurgen Klopp or Frank de Boer have pedigree and would bring a new feeling of optimism, while another season under Rodgers will see the knives wielded from the very first whistle…
Is he actually that good?
Well, is he? Last season he was rather dragged through by the magnificent Suarez and Sturridge – who pretty much forced him into deploying an attacking set-up, but either side of the, admittedly, magical run, Rodgers has secured seventh and sixth placed finishes.
With Liverpool’s budget and the quality of players he’s been able to choose from, such results are not exactly encouraging, and hint that, perhaps, 2013/14 was a positive blip. After all, the only piece of silverware Rodgers has is the Championship play-off cup from 2011…