tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33779660.post4532468412245452134..comments2023-12-22T01:47:49.178-05:00Comments on oh you beauty: Liverpool 1-3 Swansea natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10043601945557998732noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33779660.post-44391585989935837502012-11-01T09:43:37.786-04:002012-11-01T09:43:37.786-04:00Nate, like you, I was left scratching my head yest...Nate, like you, I was left scratching my head yesterday. Liverpool's first half lineup indicated that Rodgers was going to continue his trend of treating the non-league competitions as opportunities for youngsters and reserve players. Then at half-time, unexplicably, Rodgers decided that this was a game he needed (wanted?) to win. <br /><br />For the first time I think Rodgers got his starting XI completely wrong. Yesil was never ready for this level of competition and should have been in Germany for the Next-Gen match against Dortmund. Henderson was totally lost defensively at RB and as such we had no shape on our right side. In the second half, Henderson and Coates bombed forward leaving nobody back to defend. Cole should never put on the jersey again. His career is dead. Downing up front on the right is a waste. He cannot cross with his right foot. Shelvey was lost as the middle CM in the 4-3-3 not sure when to drop deep and not sure when to move forward. It was clear that this XI had never played together before and had no shape or creative ideas.<br /><br />Henderson and Sahin have bossed the midfield in the games where the two have been paired together. A midfield three of Henderson-Sahin-Shelvey was the only way to approach this game. <br /><br />I really dont know what went through Rodgers's head yesterday. This was so out of character for him. I'm hoping that the opponent was to blame. <br /><br />Fortunately, this was a cup game, and the loss may end up being ok as we really didnt need more matches on the schedule.Ryannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33779660.post-89956332028178456822012-11-01T08:35:22.634-04:002012-11-01T08:35:22.634-04:00Last season, this competition (and the FA Cup) was...Last season, this competition (and the FA Cup) was important. Both were made more important by Liverpool's absence from any European competition. The bigger squad wasn't as stretched, Liverpool had gone too long without a trophy.<br /><br />This season, little else seems to matter aside from improvement in the league. And Liverpool's very shallow squad requires the team to prioritize. The League Cup is and should be the very bottom priority. <br /><br />Also, there's a big difference in the Europa League and Champions League when it comes to both recruitment and revenue. I never heard any player say they joined a club because they wanted to play in the Europa League<br /><br />There are 29 games left in the league season. For all of Liverpool's difficulties over the first nine, they sit just five points behind a Europa League place, seven points behind a Champions League place. Even if those are still unlikely, and Liverpool will need not only vast improvement but help from those teams above them playing worse than they are now, they're still remote possibilities. And possibilities which are slightly improved by not having to play four more League Cup matches over the next three and a half months.natehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10043601945557998732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33779660.post-69298487799202951252012-11-01T07:57:44.607-04:002012-11-01T07:57:44.607-04:00I don't understand the mentality of saying thi...I don't understand the mentality of saying this competition means less than zero. Winning this competition is the reason we have european football at all this season, and given that there's no way we're going to win the league, a champions league spot looks highly unlikely and on current form I can't see us winning the Europa League or the FA Cup either, this 'meaningless' trophy represented our only real hope of securing a European birth for next season.<br /><br />You can disparage success in this competition all you want but European spots are a key factor in attracting talent to a club and I'm fairly sure that the revenue - albeit lower than CL revenue - is also worth having. There's big talk about strengthening the squad in January and again in the summer but you can forget the top-tier of available players if we can't even offer Europa League football.Swinefeverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15719804649768875890noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33779660.post-32691706736449465132012-10-31T19:59:16.412-04:002012-10-31T19:59:16.412-04:00I wished and hoped that team in white was our belo...I wished and hoped that team in white was our beloved Liverpool. Sadly, it's time to add a question mark to the hallowed "This is Anfield" sign...if just to reflect the times we live in. dReXlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16322224256296673469noreply@blogger.com