Does Rodgers really know what solutions are for Liverpool? ESPN FCs Stu Holden and Craig Burley delve deeper into Liverpools worst league start in 50 years, citing Brendan Rodgers appears to be a man short of ideas. In times of crisis, people are often pressured into saying unusual things. There are others who act so calmly that, far from offering reassurance, they sound as if they havent fully grasped the severity of their situation. When manager Brendan Rodgers claimed we know what the solutions are after Liverpools 3-0 defeat at archenemies Manchester United, it wasnt so much reassuring as unnerving. Does he know? Does he really? If he meant Daniel Sturridge will be returning from injury soon, the manager might be exaggerating the restorative effects of one striker. The image currently being projected to supporters lately is not of somebody with solutions but rather someone who is continually changing and experimenting more in hope than expectation of finding a cure. A hint at dressing room issues does not bode well, either. Goalkeeper Simon Mignolet must be suffering the mother of all confidence crises if Brad Jones is being called upon. Unkind souls on Twitter were scathing: If Brad Jones is the answer, what on earth was the question? ran one brutal tweet. Is this news? Not really. When Jones was chosen for Liverpools FA Cup tie at Oldham in February 2013, he played poorly and a fairly strong team lost 3-2. That is a situation that remains unsolved nearly two years later. In fact, the decline of Pepe Reina and the drop in Mignolets performances hint at deficiencies at the training level. Again, no solutions seem forthcoming. Liverpools recent performances havent started any fires, but at least Lucas Leiva helped to rectify the alarming concession of goals. One each against Leicester and Basel, with actual clean sheets against Stoke and Sunderland. To enter the lions den of Old Trafford without him seemed reckless, and so it proved. To be fair, this season was always going to be a stiff test of Liverpools resolve. There were many things that could possibly count against them, which Ive repeated so often it sounds like a broken record. The loss of Luis Suarez, the injury to Sturridge, the extra workload in Europe, the inevitable hangover from a failed title race and the acquisition of so many newcomers would have taxed any young coach. All these obstacles have not come close to be being conquered, and I say this with the best will in the world. Lets be honest, you have to stretch an argument to describe the spending of 120 million pounds as an obstacle! This is Liverpools worst league start this century, worse than Roy Hodgsons in 2010, a season that is widely regarded as the poorest in the clubs modern era. Even then, Hodgson managed a few good results. He was on the verge of a point at Old Trafford before Dimitar Berbatov got his hat trick, Chelsea were beaten 2-0, and there were a couple of easy wins against Aston Villa and West Ham. Nothing has been easy for Rodgers this season. The Champions League campaign was poor and ended as feebly as it began. Of Liverpools nine victories so far this season, only one has been convincing, at Tottenham back in that glorious summer when Sturridge was fit. One win was a two-goal margin, albeit against a 10-man Leicester side plummeting out of the division. Six wins were achieved by a one-goal margin, five with very late goals, while one was a penalty shootout against a Championship side. The number of convincing performances can be counted on the fingers of one hand, excluding the thumb and pinkie. After another dismal defeat, this time to rivals Manchester United, the doubts over Brendan Rodgerss future at Liverpool continue to grow. After another dismal defeat, this time to rivals Manchester United, the doubts over Brendan Rodgerss future at Liverpool continue to grow. There has been little or no indication of any Rodgers method in all this, and he seems to think a calm demeanour will soothe the supporters. That does not work in football. Nerves are stretched tautly as it is, and talk of knowing solutions wont help. If anything, it is a reminder of Rodgers beginnings at Anfield when the press played cruel jokes on the new boss by comparing him to a Ricky Gervais sitcom character. Yet there were indications even in the earlier struggles last season that the coach was on to something. Five goals were scored against both Young Boys Berne and Norwich City, though the latter was attributed to Suarezs peculiar grudge against the East Anglian side. Wigan, Fulham and QPR were swatted aside in fine style before Sturridge even arrived. There was something to latch onto and it wasnt only about Suarez. That doesnt appear to be the case this season. It wasnt just the absence of Lucas and the presence of Jones against United. It was the abysmal finishing as even a toothless Liverpool selection got through Uniteds defence time and again. This has been a problem all season, so if there is a solution, using it very soon might be useful. The less said about Glen Johnson as one central defender in a back three, the better, and Dejan Lovren is actually getting worse. Liverpools injury problems have been dwarfed by those of Manchester United, whose own back three were somewhat less than assertive. Yet United sit in third place after their sixth straight win. It is difficult to take at the best of times, but when the Reds are in disarray it puts Rodgers woes into sharper focus. Inevitably, fans will point at the head man of both clubs in order to explain the disparity. Something will inevitably be done about Anfields flawed transfer committee. A lot of money has been wasted, and a lot will not be recouped when the inevitable changes are made next summer. Corporations are always wary of placing huge fiscal responsibility on the shoulders of one person, but there is an obvious case at Liverpool of too many cooks spoiling the broth. Its up to the owners to find one individual who has sufficiently good judgment to avoid another debacle like the summer of 2014. That man wont be Rodgers, though. The transfer market has never been his forte, but what seemed to be his special skill -- to get a team playing fast, open and exciting football -- also seems to have deserted him. If the solutions he spoke of are real, Liverpool supporters would very much like to see them.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 08:25:20 +0000