Brendan Rodgers

Originally Posted by Mao's Favourite Starling

Look at the comments

Any post that criticises Brent or the Verm has neg rep

They literally have nothing better to do than spam the DM comments sections with 'rep'

I've noticed that. They even start threads on rawk alerting everybody that Sky Sports or the BBC are running a poll asking who who the best PL striker, midfielder, etc is and deploy their Redmen to get voting to ensure their own players top it. They even go as far as recommending and explaining what web proxies are so they can place multiple votes in their favour.

And when they inevitably win they all congratulate eachother on a job well done. Mental @#%&!s.

But the Northern Irishman has insisted he knew it was no gamble in signing the 22-year-old, slamming ‘snobbery’ surrounding smaller clubs and claiming Allen has been Liverpool’s best player this season.

He said: “It was never a risk. There was no doubt for me because I’ve always said the boy is a top player – and he’s proven that in the short period of time he’s been here.

“Like myself, he wasn’t crying to leave Swansea, but I knew he could help define the philosophy which we’re starting and looking to form.

“He’s been a massive revelation and it’s great credit to Swansea and his upbringing that he has come in here and been arguably our best player.

“He’s been phenomenal with his precision in his passing, his technique and his vision.

“And it’s great for Liverpool supporters because they were probably not sure of the £15m fee – but they have been surprised.

“Sometimes there is a snobbery towards players of smaller clubs, but top players weren’t just dropped out of heaven.

“They have to start out somewhere.

“Joe’s just got an in-built brain for football and life.

“He’s a very humble kid.

“He’s just strolled in here and not many people will have known him.

“But if you ask anyone here, including the players, they will know him now.”

Good player.

Originally Posted by Redordead

Good player.

£#%&!ing kidding arnt you

Didnt even know the lad was playing today,Hes average and would struggle to get in any side in the top 6

"An in-built brain for football and life"

£#%&! me! Must get myself one of those in-built brains, they sound class. Sick of lugging this £#%&!er about in a bag tbh.

Originally Posted by John Blazini

"An in-built brain for football and life"

£#%&! me! Must get myself one of those in-built brains, they sound class. Sick of lugging this £#%&!er about in a bag tbh.

Everton 2 - 2 Liverpool

Originally Posted by Mao's Favourite Starling

Look at the comments

Any post that criticises Brent or the Verm has neg rep

They literally have nothing better to do than spam the DM comments sections with 'rep'

Lets face it, they aint working, so why not.

Originally Posted by HERTS_RED

It's a full time job for some of those @#%&!s, they trawl all the newspaper websites looking for anything negative then spamming it with scouse propaganda

Easy....

Originally Posted by John Blazini

"An in-built brain for football and life"

£#%&! me! Must get myself one of those in-built brains, they sound class. Sick of lugging this £#%&!er about in a bag tbh.

Originally Posted by John Blazini

"An in-built brain for football and life"

£#%&! me! Must get myself one of those in-built brains, they sound class. Sick of lugging this £#%&!er about in a bag tbh.

Originally Posted by John Blazini

"An in-built brain for football and life"

£#%&! me! Must get myself one of those in-built brains, they sound class. Sick of lugging this £#%&!er about in a bag tbh.

‘This is a club brought up with a certain way of playing. Its history has been defined by the many great managers who have been here. You have to win games but you have to win games by playing in a certain style.

'It’s the beauty of the Premier League - there are so many diverse ways of working and playing. We play a certain way. If you look at Everton and a number of other teams, they are a bit more direct and then play off the front players.

For us here at Liverpool, there’s a way in which we play and want to win games. the supporters and the history of the club dictates that.’

He's not winning many is he? Norwich, Hearts, Anzhi...... I think a pattern is emerging

Originally Posted by KenwrightsWallet

For us here at Liverpool, there’s a way in which we play and want to win games. the supporters and the history of the club dictates that.’

"An idiosyncratic belief or impression maintained despite being contradicted by reality."

That is The Oxford English dictionary definition of the word 'delusional'. As there is a multitude of evidence to the contrary, the post-derby thoughts of Brendan Rodgers and Steven Gerrard fall firmly into that definition. Labelling Everton a "long-ball side" is both disrespectful and incorrect.

It started with Brendan Rodgers on Sunday and Steven Gerrard continued it on Monday. Speaking after the derby, Rodgers said: "We had to stand up to a lot of long, direct balls into the box... we changed it tactically and that gave us more stability against the long ball." The Liverpool manager went on to use each of the phrases "long ball" and "direct" at least once more in his post-match interview.

The post-match statistics quite simply fail to support the views of Rodgers. In terms of long balls as a passing percentage, Everton recorded 14% in comparison to Liverpool's 17%. Even after the removal of any possible anomalies, such as throw-ins, through balls or crosses, Everton's statistic is 13.8% with Liverpool at 14.6%.

On the back of Rodgers' comments, Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard put his weight behind the long-ball argument by comparing Everton to Stoke, saying: "I thought we stood up to a team that are very similar to Stoke." In spite of the supposed direct nature of their football, just 39% of Everton's passes were forward with Liverpool playing 48% of their passes forward. With Everton registering a lower percentage of forward passes, it is hard to give credence to Gerrard's notion that Everton are direct.

According to Gerrard, "Everton are effective because they have some big physical lads in the team and are very direct". Despite Everton having "big physicals lads in the team", though, Liverpool ended the match having conceded more fouls. Aside from Marouane Fellaini, it is hard to identify these "big physical lads". A team containing Leighton Baines, Leon Osman, Kevin Mirallas, Steven Pienaar and Seamus Coleman will never trouble the opposition physically.

In another wild proclamation, Gerrard stated: "The only team who tried to play football was us." Once again, the statistics suggest otherwise with Everton (400) attempting more passes than Liverpool (314) and with greater accuracy (79% - 77%). The home side also enjoyed more possession with 56.2% of the ball. Everton dominated the possession and passing statistics, quite impressive for a side that is "very similar to Stoke".

The deeper you delve into the statistics, the quicker Gerrard's comments lose all credibility. Everton created more chances (14 – 11), attempted more crosses (34 – 17) with a greater accuracy (32% - 12%) and had more shots (16 – 13). The statistics continue to show that, in terms of passing and other relevant statistics, Everton were the dominant side. Further dispelling the long ball myth, Everton attempted more passes in the final third (156 – 103) with a greater accuracy (65% - 61%).

Another Gerrard quote reiterated his belief that Everton use long-ball tactics, as he said: "Every single time they got the ball to their keeper it came in long." Tim Howard played 15 long balls in the match with Liverpool's Brad Jones playing 20. Howard also boasted a better pass completion rate (63%) than Jones (40%). There is a theme developing here; once again, the statistics do not validate the opinions of Steven Gerrard or Brendan Rodgers.

So, while Steven Gerrard claims that Everton are a long-ball side, let us remember this man once compared Joe Cole to Lionel Messi.

Another Gerrard claim was that "there was only one team who came into the derby trying to play football". For once, I have to agree with him, though looking at the statistics, it is clear that the team in question was Everton, not Liverpool.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/blog/_/...id/180?cc=5739

Originally Posted by borsuk

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/blog/_/...id/180?cc=5739

destroyed

Long balls: Everton recorded 14% in comparison to Liverpool's 17%.

Once again, the statistics suggest otherwise with Everton (400) attempting more passes than Liverpool (314)

So Everton played more long balls than Liverpool

Originally Posted by John Blazini

"An in-built brain for football and life"

£#%&! me! Must get myself one of those in-built brains, they sound class. Sick of lugging this £#%&!er about in a bag tbh.

http://youtu.be/yH97lImrr0Q

so, while steven gerrard claims that everton are a long-ball side, let us remember this man once compared joe cole to lionel messi.

Originally Posted by John Blazini

"An in-built brain for football and life"

£#%&! me! Must get myself one of those in-built brains, they sound class. Sick of lugging this £#%&!er about in a bag tbh.

(makes sense now)