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| Liverpool's 2014-2015 Season In A Nutshell... | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Apr 29 2015, 06:24 PM (464 Views) | |
| Webster | Apr 29 2015, 06:24 PM Post #1 |
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...everytime we seem to get a nice head of steam going....![]() ....we fall flat on our .... *scratches head in thought* ...am I wrong to think that?
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Conversations 'Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.' - Bill Shankly, Liverpool F.C. | |
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| daib0 | Apr 29 2015, 07:07 PM Post #2 |
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even so ... would be really interesting to read your reviews of the season, if you get a free hour at some point! |
| A friendly Reading FC fan! Job: CELLO MAN - see extensive web http://www.johnstone-music.com | |
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| Webster | May 3 2015, 06:55 PM Post #3 |
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MatchDay Commentator
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I'll probably do that at some point, Daibo.
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Conversations 'Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.' - Bill Shankly, Liverpool F.C. | |
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| Webster | Jun 19 2015, 03:55 AM Post #4 |
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MatchDay Commentator
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Well, I said I would....here it is. Just a few thoughts, ramblings and other things as I look back at the 2014-2015 Liverpool campaign. Where do I begin? Well, let's start with the virtual disaster that is Liverpool's Transfer Committee. No, really, let's start there; of all the transfers that we signed this year, one - and only one - of those transfers did good this year: Emre Can. Even though it seemed we were playing him in every position imaginable but the midfield, nary' a peep of complaint could be heard from the German. Of the rest, three showed flashes of potential: Adam Lallana, Lazar Markovic & Alberto Moreno. The others (Balotelli, Lovren and Lambert)....not so much. Balotelli was always going to be a risk given his history, so you can't really put all the blame on him for his season. Lovren & Lambert, I expected a lot more of both of them...and boy, did they disappoint. Given their respective performances down on the South Coast the previous year, it would've been really, really nice to see the same at Anfield last year....I still think Lovren can be salvaged, but I honestly believe Lambert's signing was more for sentimental reasons than for tactical reasons. All-in-all, either the Transfer Committee needs to be re-worked or it needs to be scrapped; we can't endure another Keystone Cops-style transfer period. Now that we've eviscerated the transfer committee, did we have any overachievers and underachievers this year? In terms of underachievers....without question, Dejan Lovren. Of all the times he was out on the pitch, I think the one time he showed what kind of player he could be for us was in the friendly agst. Borussia Dortmund; otherwise, this has to be one of the biggest disappointments that I can think of in terms of those who've put on the Red. As part as overachievers go, if Dejan Lovren is on one extreme, then Emre Can was on the other. As I said earlier, even though we seemed to play him everywhere but in the midfield, he did the business and this year, that was about all that matters...he did the business. If half-seasons count, then Simon Mignolet comes to mind here 'cause when he was at his lowest point in the year, he turned it around and gave us some astounding performances. Now, don't get me wrong...he wasn't Petr Cech or Tim Howard astounding, but his performances in the second half of the year made up for his performances in the first half. ...to be continued... |
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Conversations 'Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.' - Bill Shankly, Liverpool F.C. | |
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| Webster | Jun 20 2015, 05:55 PM Post #5 |
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MatchDay Commentator
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Now that we've scoured the players, what about the Head-Man-In-Charge? Years ago, when he was asked to explain Russia's actions at times, Winston Churchill opined,
In a similar vein, one could also very easily ask that question of Brendan Rodgers. At times, the man could be a veritable genius...at other times, he could be as stubborn as a down mule. Take, for instance, our lowest moment back in early December when everyone and their mother was screaming for his head...with an injured Sturridge, a messy Lovren, a bumbling Migs, and the team seemingly sliding towards oblivion, in the face of the team's December trip to Old Trafford, Rodgers went with a 3-4-2-1 formation, putting Raheem Sterling on top. Although it didn't help us that day - we lost 3-0 to Manchester United - it seemed to stanch the bleeding and eventually got us back on the right foot for a while (although little did we know that the Raheem Sterling Saga was about to begin...). One of the reasons I've been pretty bullish about BR - even when things were at their lowest - was that I admired the man's willingness to throw conventional wisdom out-the-window when it was necessary.
...on the flip side, his stubbornness damn well nearly cost him his job at Anfield this year. Cases in point:
These things - among others - cost Liverpool dearly at times when we really needed to pull things together. If Brendan Rodgers wants more than another season at Anfield, he's got to stop making these kind of stubborn mistakes, period. ....and speaking of the mistakes made by our beloved Reds' this year.... |
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Conversations 'Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.' - Bill Shankly, Liverpool F.C. | |
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| Webster | Jun 20 2015, 06:13 PM Post #6 |
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...our team's handling of Steven Gerrard's final season will definitely rank our sensibilities - and I don't mean that in a good way... For starters, I'd really love to know how the "we’re going to play you in a lesser role/minutes in this way" conversation between Brendan Rodgers and Steven Gerrard went because it was from this conversation that we eventually got Gerrard's decision to leave Liverpool at season's end. The sad part is that it seemed everyone was will to accept the general idea of our talisman sliding into the role of an elder statesman on the pitch, someone who could still make impacts in key matches without starting every match....everyone, it seemed, except Steven Gerrard. Remember the stubborn streak that I spoke of in regards to Brendan Rodgers? Well, it turned out that Steven Gerrard has the very same stubborn streak...and when you put those two things together: ![]() ...unfortunately, the result of said stubbornness means that, instead of seeing our beloved pitchside leader finish his career at Anfield, Gerrard will instead likely finish his illustrious career in North America... ...but, that doesn't mean he gets to escape some of the blame for the team's precipitous decline...far from it. Besides the stubbornness mentioned above, there's also his seeming lack of cognizance over his abilities this year (he is 34, remember?) and his stubbornness over being moved from a prominent starter to being more of a squad player didn't help things either. Now, don't get me wrong here: I understand that a player of Gerrard's caliber is going to want to start every possible time he can...but most players' of his caliber also have a sense for when it is time to step back from the fore' and take the role of elder statesman on the pitch, a position which I believe Steven Gerrard would've been perfect for. It also makes you wish, given everything that happened this year with the team, that Gerrard had taken his leave prior to this year rather than when he did.... ...to be continued.... |
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Conversations 'Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.' - Bill Shankly, Liverpool F.C. | |
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| Webster | Jun 21 2015, 08:09 PM Post #7 |
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MatchDay Commentator
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....finally, what do we need to do to have a successful 2015-2016 campaign? (1)Have a successful summer transfer window (and a successful in-season window also). So far, we've done that, with four signings thus far (Milner, Ings, Bogdan & Gomez) and we're not even at July 1 yet. (2)Sign players that fit the structure of the team. Each of the players signed thus far do just that: Milner shores up our midfield, Ings gives us another option up-front, Bogdan gives up a competent backup to Migs and Gomez gives us a bit of youth). In addition, we've got to also find players that can compliment our current raft of players; this means finding talents who can not only back up our regular starters but can also start as time goes on. (3)Pick a strategy and stick to it. As I stated earlier, one of Brendan Rodgers' worst problems was constantly sticking to the same strategy over-and-over again, even when we didn't players in the right positions (Can at right back, again?). If he wants to stick around more than another season, he needs to pick a strategy and stick with it; find players who work well w/in the team's plans and run with it. So, what should Liverpool's goals be this year? (1)Top-4 Premier League finish (and the concomitant Champions League berth that goes with it) (2)Semi-final runs in both the League Cup & FA Cup competitions (3)Keep injuries to as much of a minimum as possible (4)Wash, rinse, repeat...wash, rinse, repeat...
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Conversations 'Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.' - Bill Shankly, Liverpool F.C. | |
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.... *scratches head in thought* ...am I wrong to think that?




8:46 AM Jul 11