Did he lie then, or does he lie now? If he lied then, then so did Ayre. It's a shame how big a part politics plays in today's managerial roles.
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Did he lie then, or does he lie now? If he lied then, then so did Ayre. It's a shame how big a part politics plays in today's managerial roles.
LFCMarshall
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Worst manager we have had? Jeeez. Despite the transfer failings, which don't fall completely at Rodgers feet, we have finished 7th, 2nd and 6th
2nd being our best ever premier league season, and 6th and 7th being an almost average finishing position of the last 10 years or so
I get the reasons for people disliking the Rodgers tenure, but lets not got over the top here.
It's more PR than politics - the potential to undermine the manager by publicly stating he is not in control would be a silly thing to do.
Although most journalist's close to Liverpool confirmed throughout it was an almost 50/50 approach in terms of signing players. How is that ever going to work when different people have different opinions on players and styles of play?
LFCMarshall
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Benteke, Allen and 5-year man Mignolet on the pitch tonight and Jose Enrique is handed the captaincy.
What a bizarre week.
What a bizarre week.
That's what caught my eye as well. Mignolet said he "tries to be a leader". Apparently he fails at that (too), when a fringe player like Enrique is handed the armband. Also, what does it say about Benteke who wore it last time out? What the **** is going on?
epic terrorist
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Enrique is captain??? What a time to be alive!!!
LFCMarshall
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Really been impressed with Brad Smith in the last few appearances
He got 2 assist already.
A very professional job by these youngsters, these 2 games will be an excellent experience to take on board going forward. Beautiful goal by Ojo. Smith looked good again but disappeared a little towards the end. Also think Allen was good, not just because of the goal, although that was a nice bonus. Brannagan and Stewart looked tidy too. Benteke wanted to show too much, but instead ended up showing nothing. Ibe needs to improve his decision making. Great to see Flanagan back.
All in all a good match, and Klopp's biggest Anfield win so far.
All in all a good match, and Klopp's biggest Anfield win so far.
Alright guys, I'm gonna give you a link and you're probably not gonna laugh as hard as I did, but... well, just have a look:
https://streamable.com/trdu
https://streamable.com/trdu
funny but so very wrong
ImAddicted
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That's just weird as ****.
Scouseinthehouse
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Well done the kids. Far from a great game (even Klopp wasn't arsed the last 20. Never seen him sat down as much since he's been here), but all things considered they did great. Fantastic goal from Ojo. Pacey and direct again. Everything Ibe should be. You're a frigging winger Jordan. STOP being so predictable cutting inside all the time and take your man on the outside FFS! And yet again, we have the useless, lazy **** masquerading as a footballer up front .....
Just about had it with Benteke now. He barely moved outside of a 5 yard radius the edge of the box the vast majority of that game. WTF he thinks he's gonna' achieve there **** only knows. There was a moment on the hour mark when he had a two yard start on a frigging League Two player through the middle and got caught. The woeful attempt at the death just summed him up. The only time he did get his head up he played a great ball through for Texeira's goal. (Who I thought was the best player on the park by a LONG chalk. Nice reward for his nights work.). We have a serious goal scoring problem yet nobody wants Benteke ANYWHERE near the pitch Sat'day at Norwich which says it all.
Looks ***** against League Two players and it's all down to his attitude.
Roll on the summer when he's no longer here.
Through to the next round. Again, well done the kids. Yers did us proud.
Just about had it with Benteke now. He barely moved outside of a 5 yard radius the edge of the box the vast majority of that game. WTF he thinks he's gonna' achieve there **** only knows. There was a moment on the hour mark when he had a two yard start on a frigging League Two player through the middle and got caught. The woeful attempt at the death just summed him up. The only time he did get his head up he played a great ball through for Texeira's goal. (Who I thought was the best player on the park by a LONG chalk. Nice reward for his nights work.). We have a serious goal scoring problem yet nobody wants Benteke ANYWHERE near the pitch Sat'day at Norwich which says it all.
Looks ***** against League Two players and it's all down to his attitude.
Roll on the summer when he's no longer here.
Through to the next round. Again, well done the kids. Yers did us proud.
It's not his attitude at all. You bought the wrong type of player, that's entirely on Liverpool, he was making all the wrong runs, because he plays completely differently to how liverpool want to play. Why he was targeted is beyond me, but lets not make him yet another Anfield scapegoat a la Balotelli. He'll go to a side the utilises a mobile targetman and do very well. Even Arsenal adapted to Giroud, who is very similar to Benteke.
Scouseinthehouse
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He can go were he wants. If he's not going to move his lazy **** he's going to be no good to anyone in whatever system/ style is played.
Even the the frigging kids tonight had enough of him just stood the edge the box and where playing round him.
Hes a scapegoat of his own making when he refuses to work.
Complete nonsense. Liverpool screwed up again forward wise, because they bought a player who was banging in goals without looking at how he was doing so. Benteke rarely works the channels, much like Giroud. He will go for the aerial battle, or play deep with his back to goal, much like Giroud. Arsenal smart enough to use runners around him to do rest of the work, Liverpool either unwilling or unable to do so.
He will not make darting runs, he will not play on the half turn, he's not that kind of forward and never has been. So expecting him to do so and then people getting annoyed at him being lazy for it is madness of the highest. The more I see people complain about Benteke, the more I think people look at players, but don't actually watch them. He's doing nothing different from when he was at Villa overall, apart from trying to work in areas in ways he's not familiar with. None of that is secret
Tony Barrett nailed this (and Liverpool) on Benteke ages back. You bought a player who doesnt fit the way you want to play, and now you're annoyed he doesn't fit the way you want to play.
Sorry but that kind of thinking is madness (United guilty of it too)
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Tony BArrett on Benteke:
Liverpool knew what they were getting when they signed Benteke last summer. Did they think they could fix his weaknesses? asks Tony Barrett
The scorpion wants to cross a river, but he can’t swim. He goes to the frog, who can, and asks for a ride. Frog says, “If I give you a ride on my back, you’ll go and sting me.” Scorpion replies, “It would not be in my interest to sting you since as I’ll be on your back we both would drown.” Frog thinks about this logic for a while and accepts the deal. He takes the scorpion on his back. He braves the waters. Halfway over he feels a burning spear in his side and realizes the scorpion has stung him after all. And as they both sink beneath the waves the frog cries out, “Why did you sting me, Mr Scorpion, for now we both will drown?” Scorpion replies, “I can’t help it, it’s in my nature.”
The above scene from The Crying Game came to mind this weekend as Christian Benteke’s performance for Liverpool against West Ham United was scrutinised, dissected, criticised and questioned. Not only did the forward not move enough, but when he did, he moved to the wrong places at the wrong times and in a way that was all too often at odds with his team-mates.
All of these criticisms were wholly valid but like the scorpion who stung the frog, Benteke is only doing what comes naturally to him. Culpability for his failings, therefore, belongs to the frog for giving him a ride on his back and then being surprised at the consequences when nature takes its course.
Liverpool knew what they were getting when they signed Benteke for £32.5 million last summer. If they didn’t, if they believed him to be a forward who thrived because of his own movement rather than one who is reliant on the service of others, particularly from wide areas, then there has been a serious breakdown in their scouting operation.
Benteke’s strengths and weaknesses are there for all to see, so it is easier to buy into the idea that they believed the shortcomings in his game that many felt made him an unnatural fit for Liverpool could be put right.
What brought them to this conclusion remains unclear. No wingers were signed to provide for him and the creative players on Liverpool’s books – Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino and Adam Lallana – all require clever, speedy movement in front of them in order to be effective. Aside from Jordan Henderson, who operates too centrally to become a foil for Benteke from wide areas regardless of injuries, Liverpool do not have the kind of expert crosser of the ball that would make the Belgium international’s aerial prowess as great a threat as it can be. They have a target man up front but those behind him have different aims.
It is not as if Liverpool have not been here before. Twenty years ago, another forward was signed from a Midlands club for an extravagant fee only for the player to complain subsequently that they had no plan for how to utilise him. In the case of Stan Collymore, an £8.5 million acquisition from Nottingham Forest, a way of playing that suited both him and his new team mates was eventually settled upon by Roy Evans, the manager, and it was one that turned Liverpool into one of the most exciting attacking teams in the country. As things stand, it is hard to see that happening with Benteke unless drastic changes are made to the way Liverpool play and players more compatible with him are recruited.
That Liverpool are in this situation is as predictable as it is unfathomable. Having spent much of last season ruing the lack of movement in his attack due to the laboured efforts of Mario Balotelli and Rickie Lambert, Brendan Rodgers’s priority during the summer was to sign a forward who could add the very qualities that had been missing. With a major problem identified, Rodgers informed his employers that the best available solution was Benteke and urged them to trigger the release clause that would force Villa to sell him.
Despite the pressure that Rodgers was under at that time and the possibility that it would only intensify if Liverpool struggled in the following season, the club’s owners, Fenway Sports Group, backed his judgement. Had they not done so, it might have made his position untenable, but that they did so created a new problem as it left them with a manager who would be replaced within months, a costly forward who does not fit with his new team and a new bout of soul searching centred on how Liverpool operate in the transfer market.
None of which is the fault of Benteke. All he is guilty of is doing what comes naturally to him, of playing football the way he did at Villa and looking to others to help make it work.
In their role as the frog, Liverpool must fear that the greatest sting is still to come, if the mismatch between the second most expensive signing in the club’s history and the players around him continues to undermine their efforts to improve under Jürgen Klopp.
As things stand, they must either change the way they play to suit Benteke or else accept that he is becoming a scorpion that they need to get off their back.
Liverpool knew what they were getting when they signed Benteke last summer. Did they think they could fix his weaknesses? asks Tony Barrett
The scorpion wants to cross a river, but he can’t swim. He goes to the frog, who can, and asks for a ride. Frog says, “If I give you a ride on my back, you’ll go and sting me.” Scorpion replies, “It would not be in my interest to sting you since as I’ll be on your back we both would drown.” Frog thinks about this logic for a while and accepts the deal. He takes the scorpion on his back. He braves the waters. Halfway over he feels a burning spear in his side and realizes the scorpion has stung him after all. And as they both sink beneath the waves the frog cries out, “Why did you sting me, Mr Scorpion, for now we both will drown?” Scorpion replies, “I can’t help it, it’s in my nature.”
The above scene from The Crying Game came to mind this weekend as Christian Benteke’s performance for Liverpool against West Ham United was scrutinised, dissected, criticised and questioned. Not only did the forward not move enough, but when he did, he moved to the wrong places at the wrong times and in a way that was all too often at odds with his team-mates.
All of these criticisms were wholly valid but like the scorpion who stung the frog, Benteke is only doing what comes naturally to him. Culpability for his failings, therefore, belongs to the frog for giving him a ride on his back and then being surprised at the consequences when nature takes its course.
Liverpool knew what they were getting when they signed Benteke for £32.5 million last summer. If they didn’t, if they believed him to be a forward who thrived because of his own movement rather than one who is reliant on the service of others, particularly from wide areas, then there has been a serious breakdown in their scouting operation.
Benteke’s strengths and weaknesses are there for all to see, so it is easier to buy into the idea that they believed the shortcomings in his game that many felt made him an unnatural fit for Liverpool could be put right.
What brought them to this conclusion remains unclear. No wingers were signed to provide for him and the creative players on Liverpool’s books – Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino and Adam Lallana – all require clever, speedy movement in front of them in order to be effective. Aside from Jordan Henderson, who operates too centrally to become a foil for Benteke from wide areas regardless of injuries, Liverpool do not have the kind of expert crosser of the ball that would make the Belgium international’s aerial prowess as great a threat as it can be. They have a target man up front but those behind him have different aims.
It is not as if Liverpool have not been here before. Twenty years ago, another forward was signed from a Midlands club for an extravagant fee only for the player to complain subsequently that they had no plan for how to utilise him. In the case of Stan Collymore, an £8.5 million acquisition from Nottingham Forest, a way of playing that suited both him and his new team mates was eventually settled upon by Roy Evans, the manager, and it was one that turned Liverpool into one of the most exciting attacking teams in the country. As things stand, it is hard to see that happening with Benteke unless drastic changes are made to the way Liverpool play and players more compatible with him are recruited.
That Liverpool are in this situation is as predictable as it is unfathomable. Having spent much of last season ruing the lack of movement in his attack due to the laboured efforts of Mario Balotelli and Rickie Lambert, Brendan Rodgers’s priority during the summer was to sign a forward who could add the very qualities that had been missing. With a major problem identified, Rodgers informed his employers that the best available solution was Benteke and urged them to trigger the release clause that would force Villa to sell him.
Despite the pressure that Rodgers was under at that time and the possibility that it would only intensify if Liverpool struggled in the following season, the club’s owners, Fenway Sports Group, backed his judgement. Had they not done so, it might have made his position untenable, but that they did so created a new problem as it left them with a manager who would be replaced within months, a costly forward who does not fit with his new team and a new bout of soul searching centred on how Liverpool operate in the transfer market.
None of which is the fault of Benteke. All he is guilty of is doing what comes naturally to him, of playing football the way he did at Villa and looking to others to help make it work.
In their role as the frog, Liverpool must fear that the greatest sting is still to come, if the mismatch between the second most expensive signing in the club’s history and the players around him continues to undermine their efforts to improve under Jürgen Klopp.
As things stand, they must either change the way they play to suit Benteke or else accept that he is becoming a scorpion that they need to get off their back.
Scouseinthehouse
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Complete nonsense my ****. He's a lazy **** that looked **** poor tonight against a League Two side. He's not just not making runs. He's not ******* moving at all! There was one instance late that summed it up when he played a decent ball out to Ojo from the edge if the box, who then beat his man and put a great ball in the box ..... To nobody as he was back stood like a spare ***** the edge the box.
He looks like he's won a competition to play a game and has just stepped out the Kop. Without the passion and effort that would go with that. Doesn't work when he has a partner. Doesn't work when he has balls played into the areas he was effective at Villa. Just doesn't ******* work at all.
Nobody disputes he was a bollocks signing. Many of us were up in arms in here when it was made the summer. But it's immaterial that he doesn't suit our style under Klopp. The very minimum he can do when he is out there is look fuckng interested and move. That's not happening at all and is completely and utterly unacceptable.
And that is down to the man himself and his attitude.
He looks like he's won a competition to play a game and has just stepped out the Kop. Without the passion and effort that would go with that. Doesn't work when he has a partner. Doesn't work when he has balls played into the areas he was effective at Villa. Just doesn't ******* work at all.
Nobody disputes he was a bollocks signing. Many of us were up in arms in here when it was made the summer. But it's immaterial that he doesn't suit our style under Klopp. The very minimum he can do when he is out there is look fuckng interested and move. That's not happening at all and is completely and utterly unacceptable.
And that is down to the man himself and his attitude.
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You can say he doesn't fit us etc... But atleast make an effort to press or some movement. When the ball is crossed half the time he isn't even in the box. Is that his playing style now?. His national team manager called him a lampost for **** sake.