Is Brendan Rodgers the man to take Liverpool back to consistent Champions League football?
[quote]That’s a difficult question. Can Rodgers take them back to the Champions League? Yes. Is he the only man who could do it? No. Will he definitely do it? No. The signs are broadly positive from this season – with a fair few set-backs and hiccoughs – but it is a long journey. He will need time, and patience. The team is learning, but probably more importantly, so is he.[/quote]
Do you think Rodgers’ use of academy players was a forced hand?
[quote]I do, but that doesn’t make it a bad thing. Fenway Sports Group made it clear that they would not countenance the signing of ageing players for the short-term, and they made it equally evident that they wanted the wage bill to be brought down. In those circumstances, Rodgers had no choice but to entrust the roles of squad players to a number of the youngsters. That said, he did not have to play them so often from the off, and he did not have to stand by them when things were difficult. That he did both is to his immense credit.[/quote]
Last season, Liverpool had a good defensive record yet this season the defence has looked susceptible at times, how big of loss has Steve Clarke been?
[quote]Liverpool don’t look any less or more defensively secure to me than they did last year, though I’m willing to accept the stats may say differently. Clarke is the sort of coach players enjoy working for; his training sessions are original, varied, and tend to involve the ball. But the players seem equally happy with Rodgers’s training regime, so from that point of view there is probably no difference. Like I say, Rodgers is still learning. Working out how to get a solid defence without compromising attacking style is something that takes a manager time.[/quote]
Is there space in the midfield for both Joe Allen and Lucas to play together?
[quote]Not with Steven Gerrard there, no. In a 4-3-3, which seems to be the favoured system, they occupy the same sort of spaces, though the jobs they do are quite different. They look a lot more balanced with Henderson in the middle, offering a more energetic, more industrious presence. In a 4-2-3-1, on paper, Lucas and Allen should be ideal as the two holding midfield players, though I suppose there is a doubt over Allen’s quality.[/quote]
With Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher coming to the end of their illustrious playing days at Anfield, how do Liverpool compensate for the loss of their two ‘go-to’ men?
[quote]That’s the big question. It looked like this season, the defence had weened itself off its reliance on Carragher, with Agger and Skrtel starting to form a cohesive partnership. That’s floundered in recent weeks, and Carragher is now back in. That’s good for the short-term, but this is part of football: when you have iconic players, reference points, talismans, it is hard to replace them. It’s part of the incontrovertible yin and yang of the game. There has to be a period of pain. It will be even worse when the time comes to ease Gerrard out, because he has been even more of a cornerstone than Carragher. If Suarez is still there when that happens, he will take on the creative burden, and I do think Jonjo Shelvey is capable of providing the dynamism. If that doesn’t work, there will be only one answer: money. To replace players like that, you buy better ones.[/quote]
Luis Suarez has always been part of the media storm, what do you make of the controversy that seems follows him?
[quote]Suarez has struck out beyond the realms of footballerhood, and become a celebrity, so he is held to different standards. Everything he does is pored over, interpreted, dissected, and every misstep, every peccadillo, is a cause for outrage. To an extent, that’s his own fault, though it also speaks to a number of truths about this country: our insularity, our inability to understand otherness, our desire for scapegoats and demons. The racist abuse at Evra was inexcusable, but the whole thing was not handled well by any number of parties. His refusal to stop talking about it is baffling. Even without that there was a perception of him from the Ghana incident, though. He’s been cast as a villain. He will never escape that.[/quote]
Do you think Luis Suarez is in a team and a system that allows him to realise his full potential?
[quote]In terms of the system, yes, and from a personal level, yes, I think he is capable of being the best player he can be at Liverpool. That said, I don’t think he is at a club that is capable as it stands of allowing him to fulfil his ambitions of winning trophies, playing in the Champions League, and all the rest of it. He will go if that doesn’t look like changing.[/quote]
Can Brendan Rodgers emulate a successful possession ethos in the premier league much like Barcelona in La Liga?
[quote]Not exactly like Barcelona – the amount of time you get on the ball precludes that – but the Premier League is changing, and for the better. There are more teams now who want to play good football, and the changes of the rules to outlaw tackling have helped them do that. It will be an English hybrid, but wanting to play possession football is certainly not a barrier to success.[/quote]
Is renovating Anfield the right move or would a new stadium be more beneficial?
[quote]There are pros and cons to both, but what Liverpool really need to do is get started on one of them. The longer they wait, the more it holds them back. I’d probably have erred on the renovation side – for the history, the smaller financial impact, and the fact that the boom time in England can’t last forever, so they could have been left with a stadium they couldn’t fill – but only if they get on with it.[/quote]
Looking at foreign ownership in the English game, how do FSG differ and are they doing it the right way, in terms of buying for future?
[quote]There is, reportedly, no debt on the club, and that is a good thing, and they seem committed to self-sustainability, which is not only morally right but also probably the most financially sensible decision. But what I would say about American ownership in general is that there is a move from those US-owned clubs to decrease the wage bills (again, you can’t argue with that) and that does make me think there is an imperative for them to try and make the PL imitate US sports. In terms of FSG in particular, my concerns go from the apparent inefficiency in the transfer market, the silence, and particularly the amount of times they’ve made mistakes that experienced sports owners should be able to avoid. It also worries me that they keep changing their minds about what they want – technical director, recruitment panel, just Rodgers, etc. Have a plan, and stick to it. It will probably work.[/quote]
What are realistic targets for Liverpool for the remainder of the season?
[quote]Top six, I think. The Champions League is a step too far. I’d like to see them have a proper crack at the Europa League, too. Silverware is an important tonic.[/quote]
