New Signings ?

[Southbank Old Boy]

If Rodgers wants the full backs to add a bit of width in a 4-3-3 then Armstrong possibly isnt the answer

Thats assuming the its a stringent 4-3-3.

I have a feeling its more of a 4-5-1 with the two wingers having more license to go forward

You still need the full backs to add some more attacking support and quality because the wingers and the extra midfielder have to support the front man more, and that leaves gaps the full backs need to help fill

If that doesnt happen then the striker gets totally isolated

End of the day, last season we really missed Shorey and Murty building attacks from the back, it could just be that Rodgers knows he can get a good cheap option to address that by getting the lad in on loan

[Southbank Old Boy]

Talking to people down here he was a bit of a frail lad when on loan.
Still,it's two years on but the idea (as we were told about Makin and Armstrong) that he could also play centre-back may be wide of the mark.

I dunno where that centre back business came from, but from the couple of times I have seen him play, and purely on his physical size and the comments about his style I cant see him being anywhere close to a centre back

[papereyes]

End of the day, last season we really missed Shorey and Murty building attacks from the back, it could just be that Rodgers knows he can get a good cheap option to address that by getting the lad in on loan

and the season before, really.

In the 05-07 era, if the wingers weren't firing, you could rely on Murty or, more importantly, Shorey to add another dimension to the attack.

[Ian Royal]

It isn't easy to come up with full backs who are good enough defensively and offensively to do that though. Given we're looking at a new system, I have my doubts over the necessity to rely on the full backs getting forward to help out th ewingers.

Yes it will still happen to a certain extent. However, we do look like we're playing to a system (all-be-it it's very early to say) which will provide much more attacking support from the middle. Which will hopefully reduce the need for fuul backs you can rely on to get forward and attack as well as Shorey and Murts did in their prime.

[Negative_Jeff]

Doubt that's in the manager's mind or Armstrong's.

I don't have anything against armstrong, model pro who gave 100% all last season. He's just very average with no pace. A real sign of how weak we were that he got player of the year.
I fully expect bertrand to be the regular with maybe armstrong stepping in for league cup games.

I totally agree with this. Not Armstrong`s fault but due to the paucity of contenders he was surely the most ordinary Player of the Season for a long time. We were never a particularly good passing side under Coppell, yet Murty and Shorey with clever link up play brought Convey, Hunt, and Little into the game in a way that Armstrong never could.
I read a few snippets of "Total Football" being encouraged by Rodgers. Perhaps he is thinking of using one winger on the left to rotate with the back four and release Rosenior as an attacking threat on the right. One full back for whatever reason was often operating high up the pitch at Tooting and Mitcham yesterday.

[Sun Tzu]

. Not Armstrong`s fault but due to the paucity of contenders he was surely the most ordinary Player of the Season for a long time. .

At least 12 months.....

[FiNeRaIn]

We won't be playing anything close to "total football" with the players we currently have. Some right donkeys in there.

[Negative_Jeff]

You only need to involve four or five players to play "total football". Look up Rinus Michels.

[Southbank Old Boy]

It isn't easy to come up with full backs who are good enough defensively and offensively to do that though. Given we're looking at a new system, I have my doubts over the necessity to rely on the full backs getting forward to help out th ewingers.

Yes it will still happen to a certain extent. However, we do look like we're playing to a system (all-be-it it's very early to say) which will provide much more attacking support from the middle. Which will hopefully reduce the need for fuul backs you can rely on to get forward and attack as well as Shorey and Murts did in their prime.

Attacking support from the middle to a forward left the battle on his own. That means the wingers need to get forward a bit more too and that means fullbacks will more than likely have to join in to add the depth to the attacks

[bootboy]

It isn't easy to come up with full backs who are good enough defensively and offensively to do that though. Given we're looking at a new system, I have my doubts over the necessity to rely on the full backs getting forward to help out th ewingers.

Yes it will still happen to a certain extent. However, we do look like we're playing to a system (all-be-it it's very early to say) which will provide much more attacking support from the middle. Which will hopefully reduce the need for fuul backs you can rely on to get forward and attack as well as Shorey and Murts did in their prime.

Attacking support from the middle to a forward left the battle on his own. That means the wingers need to get forward a bit more too and that means fullbacks will more than likely have to join in to add the depth to the attacks

With the system we appear to be adopting with wingers sat higher up the pitch then full backs will naturally want to push on more to exploit the vacant space left by the winger if they are that way inclined. It helps greatly in this situation if your centre backs are very mobile and can play football. They can cover over defensively if the full back is suddenly caught higher up the pitch and the defensive central midfielder can then help cover the middle areas left by the centre back as and when required. Seeing some of the you tube footage of the danish centre back we are suppose to have made an offer for you can see this scenario.

[Ian Royal]

We may be helped by Harper in that regard. Depending on how defensively he plays. But he is very good at slotting back into a full back position to allow them to go forward.

I see what SOB is saying, and the full backs will obviously push up, but don't need to actuvely push forward past the wingers, who will be more advanced anyway.

Previously the full backs have acted as a second set of wingers. Maybe we'll see them come forward to midfield, allowing the midfielders who've previously sat in the middle, get into the box or switch out wide.

Just thinking out loud.

[Agent Balti]

With the system we appear to be adopting with wingers sat higher up the pitch then full backs will naturally want to push on more to exploit the vacant space left by the winger if they are that way inclined. It helps greatly in this situation if your centre backs are very mobile and can play football. They can cover over defensively if the full back is suddenly caught higher up the pitch and the defensive central midfielder can then help cover the middle areas left by the centre back as and when required. Seeing some of the you tube footage of the danish centre back we are suppose to have made an offer for you can see this scenario.

...until the opposition play five in midfield. That's what did for us many a time last season and a nut we need to crack this season, for sure. Ball retention is absolutely key as the first touch last year was diabolical.

[Snowball]

With the system we appear to be adopting with wingers sat higher up the pitch then full backs will naturally want to push on more to exploit the vacant space left by the winger if they are that way inclined. It helps greatly in this situation if your centre backs are very mobile and can play football. They can cover over defensively if the full back is suddenly caught higher up the pitch and the defensive central midfielder can then help cover the middle areas left by the centre back as and when required. Seeing some of the you tube footage of the danish centre back we are suppose to have made an offer for you can see this scenario.

...until the opposition play five in midfield. That's what did for us many a time last season and a nut we need to crack this season, for sure. Ball retention is absolutely key as the first touch last year was diabolical.

So not just Shane, then...

[Agent Balti]

So not just Shane, then...

Hell no, Cisse, Kitson, Kebe, Rosenior, but especially Cisse - couldn't trap a bag of the much oft used cement.

[Ian Royal]

So not just Shane, then...

Hell no, Cisse, Kitson, Kebe, Rosenior, but especially Cisse - couldn't trap a bag of the much oft used cement.

certainly were too many loose passes, loose touches, not enough movement and too little drive about us after xmas last season.

They all just fed into each other and made the whole thing get progressively worse.

I think Rodgers may be starting with an attempt at "total football" and will work back from that to get to the place we balance ball retention and short passing, with creativity and attacking success.

[Agent Balti]

So not just Shane, then...

Hell no, Cisse, Kitson, Kebe, Rosenior, but especially Cisse - couldn't trap a bag of the much oft used cement.

certainly were too many loose passes, loose touches, not enough movement and too little drive about us after xmas last season.

They all just fed into each other and made the whole thing get progressively worse.

I think Rodgers may be starting with an attempt at "total football" and will work back from that to get to the place we balance ball retention and short passing, with creativity and attacking success.

Can't argue with any of that. Back to Basics, springs to mind. Last season we fell foul of thinking we were much better than we actually were. This season it's a case of 'prove to me how good you are before I replace you.'

[Snowball]

I'd agree that silky ball skills is not the first thing
that comes to mind when thinking "Shane Long"

But our insistence on high-tempo last year on an awful pitch, was DUMB
and made us look worse than we were.


As for how bad we were? Let's remember we BLEW it (mentally IMO, for which I'm sad to say, I blame SCC)
yet still finished fourth and could have got automatic promotion by beating Birmingham


By blew it, I do not mean we didn't have players capable of winning the league.

I think we did.

I think we under-performed for the quality of our squad.

That's why I think we'll do well this year.

[Hoop Blah]

By blew it, I do not mean we didn't have players capable of winning the league.

I think we did.

I think we under-performed for the quality of our squad.

That's why I think we'll do well this year.

Doesn't that really depend on what the squad looks like in a few weeks time?

We've lost a lot of the quality from it already and some of those players we've lost were the ones that put the extra quality in the squad over and above most of Championship squads.

[Gordons Cumming]

By blew it, I do not mean we didn't have players capable of winning the league.

I think we did.

I think we under-performed for the quality of our squad.

That's why I think we'll do well this year.

Doesn't that really depend on what the squad looks like in a few weeks time?

We've lost a lot of the quality from it already and some of those players we've lost were the ones that put the extra quality in the squad over and above most of Championship squads.

Only 2 of them played any where near regularly though.

[Hoop Blah]

Only 2 of them played any where near regularly though.

Which one of Doyle, Duberry and Hahnemann are you discounting then?

Not getting the best out of an expensive asset like Lita, who should be a very good goalscoring at this level, also cost us to some extent.