So we are just over half way through the season under our new manager so i wanted to get everyone's thoughts by asking a few questions on the first half of the season overall. Is it going better than, worse than or as you expected? How do you rate the signings so far? How do you rate the manager so far? Biggest surprise so far this season (can be anything from a game to a player)? Biggest disappointment so far this season(can be anything from a game to a player)? What would you like to see in the rest of the season?
Is it going better than, worse than or as you expected? As expected for me. How do you rate the signings so far? Allen - He started the season excellent, he did a great job in filling in the Lucas role. However over the last 3/4 weeks he has looked tired and under par, hopefully it is just a bad spell. Borini - Not been available for a while but started the season well enough, obviously not good enough scoring wise but his movement Sahin/Assaidi/Yesil/Sturridge - Not seen enough of them to make a fair judgement. How do you rate the manager so far? I love him, i think he is the perfect manager for us. He has a plan and i think he could be very successful given time and backing. He has us playing good football and whilst we are inconsistent and there is a few tweaks to iron out, you can see the overall plan is starting to take shape. Some of his subs baffle me but none have lost us a game so no real criticism of them. My only real criticism is that he seems to think Gerrard is undroppable. I love that the youngsters get a chance too. Biggest surprise so far this season (can be anything from a game to a player)? The amount of goals we've scored given our lack of upfront options. I think we are on 34 which is only a few below all the teams above us bar City and Utd who have loads more and West Brom who have less. Also how great Johnson is, he has always consistently performed but this last 12 months he has been great. Biggest disappointment so far this season(can be anything from a game to a player)? Drawing with City, we absolutely played them off the park but gifted them the equaliser, gutting. Getting knocked out of the League Cup. Lastly Reina as he has been shockingly poor and a shadow of his former self, well except this last month when we've seen a return to form. Long may that continue. What would you like to see in the rest of the season? I would like us to add to what we already have and get some consistency, make Anfield a fortress again and end the season competitively. The FA Cup would be fantastic if we could win that, and we've a great shot at it.
Is it going better than, worse than or as you expected? Going slightly worse (although recent improvement is encouraging) on a whole for the season. The really poor start put us back so far that we're going to have to have a tremendous second half to the campaign to get in the top 4/6. But I still feel the top 4 is a possibility, as besides United, City and maybe Chelsea, I don't see a side you can say are much, if any better than us when we play to our potential. How do you rate the signings so far? Borini - 6.5/10 - Feel the guy has had a bit too much uncalled for criticism. Prior to his injury he had several very decent games, show superb positional sense and was perhaps unlucky not to add a few more goals to his tally. He'll improve, no doubt about it. Allen - 7.5/10 - Started off superbly, but his form seems to have dropped over the past month or so, probably due to tiredness. Once again, like Borini I feel he'll improve. Assaidi - 6.5/10 - Not seen enough of him, but what we have seen he's certainly shown he has some talent. Sahin - 6.5/10 - Has looked excellent in some games, then lost in others, no doubt struggling to adapt to the premier league. I do feel he is a player you'd see the best of the second season and onwards. Also lets not forget he hadn't played much football the previous 12 months. Sturridge - to early to rate - Was probably our best player on his goal scoring debut (albeit against non-league opposition). Looked sharp and I'll can't wait to see him used with Suarez and Sterling, think they'll cause defenses a lot of trouble with their pace and trickery. How do you rate the manager so far? 6.5/10 Could be better, but I do like him, he's a decent chap that speaks a lot of sense. Biggest surprise so far this season (can be anything from a game to a player)? Everton being above us. Biggest disappointment so far this season(can be anything from a game to a player)? Everton being above us. What would you like to see in the rest of the season? I'd love to se some consistency and more ruthlessness in front of goal. On our day we can outplay anyone in the league, but the very next week we can be disappointing.
Is it going better than, worse than or as you expected? I expected us to be in or around the top 6. Not too far from it. How do you rate the signings so far? Joe Allen - Started very well, was bossing pretty much every midfield we came up against. He's been average for a good few game now though. Not quite sure why. 7/10 Nuri Sahin - Was delighted when we landed him, I was really expecting him to leave his mark but he just hasn't. I think that's down to him, not getting a run of games. 5/10 Oussama Assaidi - Not played enough. Looks good at taking on players, but maybe lacking in end product. 5/10 Fabio Borini - Promising. Unfortunately injury has ruined his season. 5/10 Other haven't played enough to leave a mark. How do you rate the manager so far? I like him. I like his style and I like the type of player he's trying bring to the club. I'm concerned about of defensive frailties though, and the lack of a back up plan when things aren't going are way, you'd expect that kind of nativity from a young manager though. It's hard to level too much criticism at him, he's got a very tough job and has had to work with relative restrictions. He's had to try and clear out a lot of rubbish. The frivolous spending from previous regimes has meant our squad doesn't have the depth or overall quality to be where we want it to be. I honestly don't think other managers would fair any better under the same circumstances. 7/10 Biggest surprise so far this season (can be anything from a game to a player)? How poor we've been defensively. Agger and Skrtel were superb last season. Biggest disappointment so far this season(can be anything from a game to a player)? Downing. I was willing to give him the benefit of doubt last season as it was his first with us but he still looks like a scared child out there most of the time. Doesn't have the mental strength to play under such pressure. He's got ability though, which is the biggest disappointment. What would you like to see in the rest of the season? Consistency. We'll get nowhere fast thumping teams one then been thumped the next.
Is it going better than, worse than or as you expected? About par so far. I expected us to end up around 6th but have a better 2nd half of the season as it'd take a little time for Rodgers to integrate some of his ideas and discover his preferred personnel. We're only 3 points off that at the minute, and considering the lack of attacking option we were left with after the summer it's nowhere near as bad as it could have been. How do you rate the signings so far? Allen - 7/10. Really impressed me when he first arrived, considering he was playing out of his preferred position he would boss games and dictate the tempo. He's slacked off the last month or so, he did look a bit knackered but I think he may need a little kick up the arse and some time to cement his partnerships with Lucas and likely Gerrard now he's been moved a bit further forward, what areas he'll operate in when playing with Steven etc. Still plenty of time for him, but I'm happy with him and he could be key for years to come. Sahin - 4/10. I'm quite disappointed as I'm a big fan of his. He's shown his quality in a few games, however generally he's looked off the pace and looks like he needs time to adapt and get used to playing regular football after his injury hit and discarded year at Real, and being played in a more advanced role than his best to accomodate Gerrard can't have helped. But right now he doesn't deserve to be in the team, or the first 4 midfielders and unless we are going to sign him permanently there seems little point to me in us keeping him, giving him the time to adapt only to send him off back to Madrid where he'll ahve upheaval again. Borini - 5.5/10. His movement and intelligence really impressed me, however he wasn't getting reward for his work and at times looked to get isolated in games when used out wide. Injury hardly helped, breaking up his settling. I don't expect an immediate impact but I've seen enough from him to think that he can be a more than useful player for us for a good while. Assaidi - 5/10. Hasn't played enough, but hwne used in Europe his directness andlack of fear in taking on opponents has impressed me, and the contrast was painful with the Downing of 4 weeks ago and before. Perhaps lacking a little end product and a little lightweight, but think he could have been involved more in the league. Yesil & Sturridge haven't played enough. How do you rate the manager so far? Overall I'm happy. I have a few issues with team selections, substitutions and some tactical decisions, and a little wonder at how we do sometimes slack off after the half time break, however the positives far outweigh the negatives. We've generally started to implement the football he likes well (the laughable supposition that we pass it around with no penetration gets made a mockery of when you see we've had more shots than any other team in Europe's top 5 leagues for instance), he's blooded young players through generally wisely and they have generally looked some of the best performers with his style of possession football, he's made some excellent substitutions and tactical changes, I like the players he's after and he talks well enough. Stick with him and give him the time and capability to build his own team and I have no doubts we'll be back doing well. Biggest surprise so far this season (can be anything from a game to a player)? Couple of things. How shaky the defence has looked at times, even with Lucas out having a more capable DM than Spearing/Adam there. Agger and Skrtel's partnership has folded a little this season, I'd place more of the blame on the Slovak's shoulders though. Also just how well the youngsters have settled into first team football. I'd high hopes for a lot of them but I didn't expect Sterling & Wisdom in particular to settle in so well to the demands of regular first team football, especially not Andre out of his preferred position. Bodes very well, I just hope Raheem in particular is managed through. Biggest disappointment so far this season(can be anything from a game to a player)? Three I suppose. The Stoke game away, not just the result after going up so early, but the complete lack of effort from many of the team was galling. The fiasco on the last day of the transfer window is another, which could have hamstrung us even worse than it did, we were lucky we got away from it and Luis has hit the other level he is capable of consistently and hasn't got injured. Finally, Downing. I really hoped a new manager would have seen him kick on immediately and give him some confidence, and Rodgers did place faith in him early. Instead he hid and was utterly shit for months. He's started playing the last 3/4 weeks, but it's a bit late for me and it seems it only came about after he was threatened with being kicked out and he was putting himself in the shop window. We should be getting much more from a £20mil player with over 30 caps for England. What would you like to see in the rest of the season? I'd like to see consistent form, an improvement in the defence, some of our more senior players put in the effort consistently or keep their performances at a level that we know they can achieve. Overall I'd like us to finish 6th at least and I think that is a realistic target.
Is it going better than, worse than or as you expected? Pretty much on the level at this point, all things considered, but we're probably a few points and a couple of places lower than i'd have expected. I don't think anyone expected much from the season, although you get the usual "deluded Liverpool fans" tag. How do you rate the signings so far? I think we could have probably used the money better, but time will tell. Sahin doesn't seem to have worked, Assaidi's rarely played, Borini was unfortunate to get injured and I like Allen, but I don't know where he'll fit into the team now Gerrard's got his CM place back. When Lucas and Allen have played together it hasn't really worked either. How do you rate the manager so far? He plays good football, he feels more of a Liverpool manager than Roy ever did, he's shown in some games he can be adaptable as well. I think he's a bit in awe of Gerrard and Carragher and his inexperience shows at times. I'd like to see us the use transfer market better as well, but that's been the case for a few years now under successive managers. Biggest surprise so far this season (can be anything from a game to a player)? I didn't expect Wisdom to come through and play so many games, or Suarez to be as prolific as he has been. Biggest disappointment so far this season(can be anything from a game to a player)? The Villa defeat. It was the first game of a favourable run of games to get on a good run and we f*cked it up with the first match. We should never have lost that. What would you like to see in the rest of the season? Just a bit more consistency in our game - half to half as much as week to week. We look very much like a work in progress, but it'd be nice to see it come together more The good things in our game show our capabilities.
Without a doubt this. I'm still fuming we failed to win that game...looking at the table now, those 3 points would have had us right up there (level with Arsenal and just 4 points off fourth place) terribly terribly disappointing result that was, especially given the three games that followed Villa conceded something like 15 goals with reply.
Is it going better than, worse than or as you expected? Results wise, about what I expected. Performance wise, I think we've played much better than anyone would have thought we were going to in the summer. Rodgers is still building his squad and I'm confident that the results will soon come along with the performances. How do you rate the signings so far? Allen - Started the season brilliantly but the last month or so has looked leggy and tired. Hopefully he gets a week off soon and when he comes back I'd love to see him in a more advanced role. Unfortunate that his career here started with Lucas's injury, overall he's been decent for us though. - 7/10 Borini - Again didn't have the best of starts here because of his injury, hopefully given his age he'll come back stronger. Obviously didn't exactly set the world alight with goals but his positioning and movement were promising for such a young player adjusting again (3rd club in 3 seasons or something?) to a new league. Difficult to rate him after such little playing time but I'll give him a 6/10/ Sahin - Seems wasted here. When he first came in I thought he was brilliant and one of the keys to us having such good possession stats early in the season but since he's been gone we've kept up that form, in fact we've probably played better so he's clearly not exactly vital for the team. If there's no chance of us making it a permanent deal (and there doesn't seem to be) I'd rather he went back to Madrid, if anything to improve the finances as there's no point in just putting him on the bench every match. Disappointing so far - 5/10 Assaidi - I'd love to see more of him in the league, I really think he could cause a few fullbacks problems with his pace and directness. Difficult to judge after what's been mostly European appearances but he seems like he could develop into something special. Just for his potential - 7/10 How do you rate the manager so far? Perfect. He'll bring long-term stability to us after too many years of instability. He's taken a risk and given the likes of Sterling, Suso, and Shelvey the chances that they deserve and it's payed off hugely for him. He's locked down some of our best players on long-term contracts and as long as he has the backing of the fans and the owners I think he'll go down as a Legend in 10 years time. Biggest surprise so far this season (can be anything from a game to a player)? The emergence of youth in the side, as well as the number of goals we've scored despite being so thin up front. Moreso the youth, we've known for a while we had some talent in the younger teams but I can't say I expected the amount of influence that they've had thus far. Biggest disappointment so far this season(can be anything from a game to a player)? The loss to Villa. Not much more needs to be said about that. What would you like to see in the rest of the season? I'd like us to get a Europa place, challenge for top four and challenge for the FA cup. I also hope the owners back Brendan in the summer window, and if that happens and he's allowed to fill out the squad with players adapted to his style, I think we'll be top four next season.
Is it going better than, worse than or as you expected? As I expected, we all knew that this season was more of a rebuilding season, getting used to new style, new manager, few new faces, and getting confidence in each other. Results wise, bit disappointed with a few of them, but nothing we can do, and performance wise, more than happy with the direction it's going in. How do you rate the signings so far? Allen - Done well, starting to look a bit on the tired side, but with a little break I'm sure he'll be back to his norm. Bit unfortunate that he was shackled pretty much early on with Lucas getting injured. But with Lucas back now, I'd like to see him in the advanced role as Gerrard is occupying his usual spot, and he did well in the second half against Sunderland. Borini - Didn't have a good start to his time here, unlucky to get an injury that has halted his progress, I'm hoping that he'll come back strong. Sahin - I rate him as a player, and was hoping to see more of him, but unfortunately he hasn't been given much time to show what he is capable of. I don't see him here any longer Assaidi - Showed glimpses of what he can be capable off. Just needs to get a consistent run in the squad to show more. How do you rate the manager so far? Doing a good enough job at the minute. He'll achieve a lot more in time, and gets his players that he requires. Giving the youngsters a chance to show there worth and it's being paid off, pushing out the deadweight, and securing the big names to long term contracts. Biggest surprise so far this season (can be anything from a game to a player)? The youngsters, on how they have performed when given there chance. Biggest disappointment so far this season(can be anything from a game to a player)? The loss to Villa, and Stoke. Not the result, the way we crumbled and lacked the fight we are known for. What would you like to see in the rest of the season? A run in the Europa League, maybes winning it, whilst pushing further up the league.
Is it going better than, worse than or as you expected? Its going worse than I expected , I thought we would be alot closer points wise to the top three than we currently are How do you rate the signings so far? Havent seen enough of Borini to make a judgemnet, Allen I've been impressed with i think he's going to be a top player for us for many years , I think there alot more to come from Allen , Sahin and Assaidi look to light weight to me for the premier league , they've both shown some good touches but i'm not convinced with either player How do you rate the manager so far? I rate him quite highly , I dont think his philosophy is the problem for our lowly league position more so from some very poor defending and our lack of firepower upfront , I think he needs to bring in another quality Centre Half that will directly challenge Skrtel and Agger for a place ..... he should also be given some credit for giving some of these youngsters a run in the team , Rodgers has shown a lot of faith in playing youth and it has paid of with the premature emergence of players like Sterling and Wisdom Biggest surprise so far this season (can be anything from a game to a player)? I think it would have to be the emergence of Sterling , he has been a revelation and is one of the first names on the team sheet , he has really come out of nowhere Biggest disappointment so far this season(can be anything from a game to a player)? again I think its being so far off the pace of the top two or three , we really are miles behind, i was also dissapointed that Andy Carroll didnt get a chance What would you like to see in the rest of the season? I'd like to see Sturridge settle in quickly and really have a positive impact upfront and I would like to see our defence show more concentration
I didn't expect us to be challenging those spots. And I certainly of not put my hopes on being there either, new season, new manager different style of playing was always going to be a season in transistion. Next season is going to give some sort of true reflection of which way we are going.
No I thought we would be closer points wise to the top two than we are , not neccesarily challengeing just closer
It is a sizable gap from us to the top two, but I knew we wouldn't be closer in terms of points. It's been the case for a few seasons now.
Is it going better than, worse than or as you expected? Worse, I thought given last season with the cup win, FA final, Carroll picking up form and the transfer window that this season was going to pick up. How do you rate the signings so far? Allen - If he can become the player he was at the beginning of the season then he gets a 8/10, he was a real positive at the start Borini - Good work rate, good at making space and really promising, unfair to rate him with injury and stuff but looks like a 7/10 Sahin - What a waste of a good prospect. 5/10 Assaidi - I don't know why he isn't getting a game, other than a few disappearances in the games he has played he looks like a really good player. 7/10 How do you rate the manager so far? He has played some stupid teams, not started Hendo, not played Jack Robinson in LB, but instead moved Glen from the right to the left and put Andre there. That sort of stuff but he will change things on the pitch and I respect that. I think his second or third season will be a good season. 7/10 Biggest surprise so far this season (can be anything from a game to a player)? Suarez finding his shooting boots, Henderson not getting a game, been beat by Mancs twice and Enrique becoming a reliable winger. It's a lot to take in haha Biggest disappointment so far this season(can be anything from a game to a player)? Feeling like a mid table team. You look at Agger and Skrtle, Johnson and Enrique, Stevie and Suarez. We've got a strong spine, then we have Raheem and such on the wings, Suso and Hendo. I just think we could challenge with this team. What would you like to see in the rest of the season? Consistency, no more win lose win lose. More win win win win!
Is it going better than, worse than or as you expected? Hard to know. We have a few good results mixed with a few head scratchers. On the whole I think our style is better and we certainly dominate more. How do you rate the signings so far? Promising with room for improvement, especially defensively. Hopefully will improve once Lucas is back in form How do you rate the manager so far? 7/10 Can certainly see his philosophy coming through and he has implemented the young boys really well. Has got Downing and Henderson looking close to 20m signings. Biggest surprise so far this season (can be anything from a game to a player)? Henderson. I liked him last season even when getting all the flack. Think he showed enough glimpses of real quality that once he got his head sorted and started trusting his quality he was going to fire. Biggest disappointment so far this season(can be anything from a game to a player)? Player/s - Reina. A shadow of his former self. Skittles. Errors against City and WBA have proven very costly and they seem to crop up quite often with him Game - Villa. What an embarrassment that was What would you like to see in the rest of the season? Consistency in results. A good run of 8-9 WINS would be fantastic and really put some confident into the wider team. I can see Anfield being a horror place for teams to come next season, especially if we can add another natural goal scorer tot he mix, whether they be an AM and ST.
Is it going better than, worse than or as you expected? Considering the manager's lack of worthwhile experience you could argue better, but worse than it should be. But circumstances make it look like we could still reach the CL places even though it will still require a fair bit of doing. How do you rate the signings so far? Bit early to judge Sturridge fairly but he stands out. You could leave the rest of buck's signings out and it wouldn't adversely affect the side, Henderson is more than capable of playing in place of Allen and Borini has done nothing worth including him regularly for. How do you rate the manager so far? Run of the mill, so far looking like a Souness. I think with three big spenders/clubs he'll struggle to be an Evans. Biggest surprise so far this season (can be anything from a game to a player)? I suppose losing at home to villa, I did not think we would lose that even with a tendancy to drop points. Biggest disappointment so far this season(can be anything from a game to a player)? I didn't expect much from signings or managers, Sturridge I said at the time was a decent signing but it is still early, but I'm going to go with the defence as it is capable of so much more. Would help if we defended as a unit and didn't help the opposition as much as we do with players galavanting around and out of position, sloppy passing, marking and general defending What would you like to see in the rest of the season? Better organised defence/defending, more goals from midfield and abandon any poncing about in our own defensive third with passing.
Yeah, keep it real eh? We haven't won more than five league games in a row since 2005/06 and you want us to win 8-9 in a row, even if you mean in all competitions. Most wins in a row (post 05/06) Rafa = 7 Kenny = 4 Woy = 4 Buck = 3 Rafa beat Inter (h), Boro (h), Bolton (a), West Ham (h), Newcastle (h), Inter (a) and Reading (h) to make up that 7 in a row.
