So what changed?

[sacreblueits442]

58 minutes ago, Happy Fox said:

We played with grit and determination, which has been sorely missing for the majority of the season, can we now play this way against the likes of Norwich etc, this will be the true acid test. I have no doubts that we can finish top 4 with the players we have. Let’s go on a winning run now. 

.. can't see it, Rodgers will revert back to type!!!

  With Fofana, Soyuncu and Evans back, he will be demanding that they play out from the back and punching balls through the lines to midfielders on the half turn or facing their own goal.

  He is trying to build a team in the image of Man. City but getting confused with how Liverpool look to their Fullbacks as a force for attack.

  He may just have got lucky with KDH breaking into the team, it seems to have solved the support for the defense, the control he wants in transition and the leadership (by example) that we having been crying out for.

  Sometimes circumstances forces Rodgers to do things  that he wouldn't normally do and the players draw strength from a game plan where they know their jobs and understand what they are doing. At this moment  KDH is a godsend, let us see how Rodgers chooses to utilise him.

[sacreblueits442]

13 minutes ago, Hales said:

Mentality, they believed and they worked so hard for themselves and one another.

.. had that attitude under Pearson and MON!!!

  It doesn't matter who you are, when you come up against this mentality, it is going to be a long night. 

Edited 29 December 2021 by sacreblueits442

[Yes]

Loved the game and all but not to be a downer but I do think people are getting a bit carried away, we fought for the result and you can’t ask for much more than that, but if Liverpool score that penalty or if Mane scores that chance it’s a different game, we created our own luck at times  so you can’t fault the lads or Brendan because of the team we had to put out but if we play that game again I’m not sure we get the same result.

 

It’s still a breath of fresh air to see the team have the desire they did last night and I’m sure had we had that same desire all season many of the tight games that didn’t go in our favour would have, let’s just hope that they can do it again when they need to. 

[Hammo]

1) Rodgers finally acknowledged that his methods weren't working - especially at corners

 

2) The fantastic spirit and resolve of 2015/16 returned - both in the team and the crowd

 

3) We scored

 

4) They didn't

 

5) We won

 

 

[red5]

They all watched MOTD and realised even Alan Shearer is more clued up than Rodgers.

[Dahnsouff]

1 hour ago, sacreblueits442 said:

.. can't see it, Rodgers will revert back to type!!!

  With Fofana, Soyuncu and Evans back, he will be demanding that they play out from the back and punching balls through the lines to midfielders on the half turn or facing their own goal.

  He is trying to build a team in the image of Man. City but getting confused with how Liverpool look to their Fullbacks as a force for attack.

  He may just have got lucky with KDH breaking into the team, it seems to have solved the support for the defense, the control he wants in transition and the leadership (by example) that we having been crying out for.

  Sometimes circumstances forces Rodgers to do things  that he wouldn't normally do and the players draw strength from a game plan where they know their jobs and understand what they are doing. At this moment  KDH is a godsend, let us see how Rodgers chooses to utilise him.

So in summary, the win yesterday was nothing to do with Rodgers, he got lucky on many points and once the injured start returning, we will revert to slow play out from the back - that sum it up?

[gw_leics772]

9 minutes ago, Dahnsouff said:

So in summary, the win yesterday was nothing to do with Rodgers, he got lucky on many points and once the injured start returning, we will revert to slow play out from the back - that sum it up?

Let's hope he's wrong but I have the same fears.

 

It feels like we tend to stumble upon our best performances due to lack of choice with injuries.

 

We have said many times this season that once so and so is back well be alright and we weren't.

 

I personally went further and thought the lookman we saw at the beginning of his loan (and thankfully returned last night) would not be as effective once he had been "trained" to play "our way".

 

I just can't get over the west brom 3-0 at half time and he was furious but happy with the dour nil nil second half.

 

Hope were wrong. Still backing him but it has been a concerning year.

Edited 29 December 2021 by gw_leics772
Furious is not the same as curious.

[Heskey2011]

Luke Thomas, KDH and Danny Amartey, these boys wow!!!!

I reckon the influence of our legacy performances, foxes never quit, dreams really can come true. Vardys 11, Tielemans fa cup,  Claridge's shin, it's all there for them, they believe it, we are a specialteam, they felt it, and yesterday became the very legends they've been watching grow all around them.

It's a beautiful thing.

[Webbo]

It's fine margins, if Salah scores the pen or Mane takes his chance some of the people praising Brendan now would be slagging him off. For all the change in defending corners, Liverpool still had 2 or 3 headers from corners that could have lead to goals. 

[foxinsocks]

what changed - Rodgers asked players to do things that they can do.

Edited 29 December 2021 by foxinsocks

[murphy]

I have a suspicion that it is no coincidence that Rodgers ditched the zonal marking after being publicly criticised for it on motd.  He has been stubbornly ploughing away with a failing system for ages until the blame is publicly laid at his door, so thank you Alan Shearer.  

[Beachyboy]

2 hours ago, Sol thewall Bamba said:

We (BR) couldn't play the line of "we're better than the opposition, just keep patient and eventually we'll break them down with our quality" so he had to go with "run harder than them, fight more, defend for your lives". 

 

Funny eh.

Yep its the arrogance of players and staff sometimes in these matches against lower teams, that causes the complacency and dropped points, lets see in the next 3 matches, win those and its an 18 game season positioned at 7th or 8th with possibilities of some injured players returning, lose them and we are 10th or 11th and out of both domestic cups. 

[Beachyboy]

6 minutes ago, Webbo said:

It's fine margins, if Salah scores the pen or Mane takes his chance some of the people praising Brendan now would be slagging him off. For all the change in defending corners, Liverpool still had 2 or 3 headers from corners that could have lead to goals. 

You need a bit of luck against one of the best teams in the world, ifs and buts, nothing but positives out of last night, can we do it against lesser opposition in the next 3 tho?? 

[The Horse's Mouth]

We definitely got lucky, sitting back in the last 10 mins how we did against Liverpool like that 9/10 they get the equaliser. But we just wanted it more, everyone worked their bollocks off and everyone did their part. 

[blueharmie]

We are so much better when we are more aggressive. We need to keep this level up. 

[jim5000]

Thomas, Choudhry, and Dewsbury-Hall, all local lads and youth development products. All of them put it on the line and played for the badge. Hugely impressed with all three, 

[David Hankey]

"What changed"? Attitude. It just shows that in the right frame of mind we can beat anyone in this league, unfortunately, consistency also plays an important part but with so many injuries and not being able to select a settled side doesn't help.

[sacreblueits442]

39 minutes ago, murphy said:

I have a suspicion that it is no coincidence that Rodgers ditched the zonal marking after being publicly criticised for it on motd.  He has been stubbornly ploughing away with a failing system for ages until the blame is publicly laid at his door, so thank you Alan Shearer.  

....so long as the media narrative is about over achievement, or injuries or lack of finance then there is no need to change his approach, then it is the players that are letting him down!!!

If the so called pundits were more well versed regarding the clubs they were commenting on some managers would not continue to get free rides.

  It seems a pundit only has to mention a well known flaw (to all our supporters and opposing managers) and he looks to remedy the situation.

 

[Dan]

Sometimes I think circumstance forces a bit of a siege mentality but often it's been lacking. I think my biggest criticism of us under Rodgers has been the lack of those types of wins. It's often felt, bar that Chelsea game (which is admittedly a quite significant one ) that we're very good when the circumstances suit us but when they don't we fold.

 

Not the case at all last night. That was fantastic and I don't think there'll by any manager debates for a while if that kind of thing becomes more regular.

[Lesterlad]

Think Liverpool like everyone else expected us to go zonal at corners Liverpool would of planned for that. When we went man for man it wasn’t what they expected,I think they really struggled to cope with that strategy and yesterday it went for us. We were superb clearing our lines last night. 

[shen]

4 hours ago, RumbleFox said:

To be fair, if you take out the penalty and subsequent rebounded efforts their xG was only about 0.8. 

Kasper saved miraculously from Salah first half and Mané missed a sitter.

Then you can also count the number of times Liverpool players got in eachother's way on corners. This was down to their lack of ability on the day and not our performance as such. Jota in particular had the beating of Castagne in the air (he was woeful defending set pieces), but contrived to miss decent opportunities.

I really think we're overstating the performance. objectively speaking. The telling difference was the tracking of runners and limiting the space to run into our box. We arguably did this just as well in the cup game, but lacked the conviction and composure to see it through.

 

 

[Matt]

I've just done a long post in the tactics thread.

 

For me is purely about being savy, not being blinded by stats of 'dominating' or 'controlling' the game with high possession stats, e.t.c.

 

Whether people want us to be a possession based side, playing like Man City, 'transitioning' or not, for me with the players we have at our disposal, we're still a far better team out of possession, than we are in possession, we're arguably at our most dangerous.

 

 

[FoxyLeon]

Nothing 'Changed'.

 

It was a very typical Rodgers win, where the opposition contributed more to us earning 3 points, than we did ourselves.

 

We were again completely outplayed, nicking a goal with our first shot on target. 21 shots to our 6 and Liverpool having 63% possession highlights their dominance.

 

 

This wasn't 'New'...Nothing 'Changed', it was more of the same, except now, our fans standards are far far lower.

[BluethroughtheMiddle]

I'm not sure I personally agree with many of the comments on here that it was purely tactical and/or luck.

 

It seemed to me there was a desire, a drive and determination that we haven't seen for a long while... That's why I think something has changed behind the scenes..

[Chrysalis]

On 29/12/2021 at 09:34, BluethroughtheMiddle said:

What a performance last night against Liverpool! The best I have seen under BR. A breath of fresh air in defending, we really wanted that and I wonder what/if something has happened behind the scenes. Was it a one off or a new direction for us? We looked like a different side last night.

I felt defensively we were still messy for a lot of the game, but we havent had the rub of the green in many games so its about time we got it in this one.

 

KDH added steel in midfield which helped prevent Liverpool from having continuous attacking flow.