Disrespecting the FA Cup

The big teams disrespecting the FA Cup is not a new phenomenon, and last night, Liverpool were the first big side to field a severely weakened team in the competition this season.
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Liverpool manager made 11 changes from their Tuesday night’s League Cup semi-final against Stoke City, with Christian Benteke being the only regular starter to start against Exeter.

Of Liverpool’s starting 11 for the game against Exeter, only Benteke and Jose Enrique had played more than 4 games for the club.

Klopp even admitted to the BBC that he had not seen most of his side play live, only seeing videos of them: “On video I saw all of them playing but I haven’t seen all of them a lot.”

Of course, Klopp has claimed that he had no other choice but to make 11 changes, but is that really the case?

Let’s be honest here, if Liverpool had drawn Manchester United or Everton, Klopp would have played his strongest available team.

Of course, Liverpool are ravaged by injuries at the moment keeping several first team players out, but because Liverpool were up against League Two Exeter City, Klopp felt he could get away with effectively playing the youth team.

There is a fine line between giving the kids a chance and disrespecting your opposition and the competition, and Klopp went too far on this occasion.

With Arsenal to come in the league on Wednesday, it’s easy to see why Klopp rested key players, especially after a busy Christmas period, but even considering that as well as a the sheer number of injuries Liverpool have at the moment, Klopp could, and should, have played a stronger team.

Full credit has to go to Paul Tisdale and Exeter City. They fought hard and they were deserving of the 2-2 draw they earned, but sadly Klopp’s arrogance overshadowed their achievements.

With Liverpool’s Premier League season looking like it will be unfruitful, surely they should be taking the FA Cup more seriously?

 

Liverpool's starting XI vs Exeter City: Bogdan, Randall, Enrique, Smith, Ilori, Brannagan, Stewart, Kent, Teixeira, Sinclair, Benteke

 

Brendan Rodgers: Too much of a nice guy?

After a mediocre start to the season, Brendan Rodgers was sacked from his position of manager of Liverpool last Sunday, with his former side lying in 10th position in the Premier League.
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Of course, Rodgers’ side almost made history in 2013/14 by coming close to winning the club’s 1st ever Premier League title, but there is one problem that I’ve found with Rodgers; his crisis management.

He seems to be a great manager when the going is good. He implements a fascinating style of football and he delivers results. However, when his sides go into a downward spiral, he can’t seem to dig them out of it.

Since that 2013/14 season, Liverpool have got nowhere near the form that they displayed, partly down to the departure of Luis Suarez and partly because of Brendan Rodgers’ failure to adapt to his departure. He may not have suffered a down-swing with Swansea, but with Reading, he started well, but a string of bad results saw his resignation just six months into his job.

So why does Rodgers seem to fail when the going gets tough?

For me, it’s because Rodgers is too much of a nice guy to assert his authority.

There are so many examples of this. Take Liverpool’s infamous ‘transfer committee’ for instance. It was clear to everyone that the committee was not an effective idea, but Rodgers did not assert his authority enough to convince the club’s American owners that it was not a good idea.

Ultimately, I have a huge amount of respect for Brendan Rodgers, but for me, he is too much of a nice guy to succeed at the top level of football management.

The good guys may succeed in Hollywood movies, but this is football management we are talking about, and the good guys never prosper.

There is always a ruthless streak in managers at the top level. Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho, even Pep Guardiola has it.

And that is a major problem with Rodgers. He’s always taken the ‘softly softly’ approach.

That may work with an Under 14s side, but in the Premier League with one of the biggest clubs in the world?

Now it’s down to Jurgen Klopp to take Liverpool to the next level. With the respect he garners and the names he can attract to the club, he should be able to mould Liverpool into contenders once again.

Arsenal Must Stick With Wenger

Arsenal have had a poor start to the season, and as per usual, the Wenger Out brigade, fronted by the ever-loyal Piers Morgan, are out in force, but if Arsenal are to have any hope of achieving anything this season, the club must stick with Wenger.
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Arsenal are riddled with problems at the moment. Their defence is leaking goals (18 already this season), their midfield lacks creativity (especially with the injury to Mesut Ozil and the fact that Aaron Ramsey has not rediscovered his form yet this season) and their strikers are woeful. Only Alexis Sanchez is delivering the goods this season so far. All of this has led to many calling for Wenger’s head, particularly after this weekend’s 3-2 defeat to Stoke, where Arsenal were 3-0 down at half time. Wenger was abused as his side boarded a train back to London following the game, which is disgraceful, but this article isn’t about that.

So, is Wenger’s time up at Arsenal? Well, Arsenal fans need to be really careful of what they wish for. Borussia Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp is the overwhelming fan’s favourite to take over at the helm post Wenger, but it should be remembered that Dortmund are 14^th (of 18) in the Bundesliga and lie just a point above the relegation places. Also, Dortmund want to keep Klopp and would he even want to leave Dortmund? Suppose the answer to this is no. What’s plan B for Arsenal? The odds have Thierry Henry, a man with no managerial or coaching experience whatsoever, at 9/1, the same odds go for Real Madrid assistant Paul Clement, who is ready to take the top job for himself, but would Arsenal be too big a job for him for his 1^st managerial role? The risk in sacking Wenger now is massive, and considering Arsenal have stuck with Wenger for the last 18 years, they are very unlikely to gamble. Remember, Arsenal are currently 6^th in the Premier League, 3 points off the top 4 (though that will increase tonight as Southampton face Manchester United tonight). It’s not as if they are miles off the top 4. Sacking a manager should only come as a last resort, but it’s clear that Arsenal haven’t reached that point yet.

We’ve been here before with Wenger. In 2012/13, Arsenal were 10th at this point, yet Arsenal still finished 4th. They were 5th at the same point in 2011/12, yet finished 3rd come the season’s end. Usually, Wenger’s sides are much stronger in the 2nd half of the season, with last season being an anomaly to that. Will Arsenal win the title again under Wenger? No, the opposition are too rich and too strong for the Gunners and they did well to set the pace last season before falling away. Will a new manager change that? Almost certainly not. Chelsea and Manchester City are set to build a monopoly at the top of the Premier League with Manchester United clinging on. Arsenal meanwhile aren’t on the same level at those three and they won’t do unless Stan Kroenke or Alisher Usmanov invest to the degree that Abramovich and Sheikh Mansour do. Kroenke (66.7% stakeholder) doesn’t have that sort of finance at his disposal and Usmanov (29.1%) doesn’t have enough shares to make a huge investment worthwhile to him, As such, Arsenal fans cannot become too greedy. Also, financial fairplay has to be considered. Arsenal posted a profit of £4.7m last season, which is good, but that doesn’t leave a lot of room for increased investment in the playing squad; they are pretty much spending all that they can at the moment. Wenger delivers Champions League football year on year. that surely has to be the summit of their ambitions with the financial clout of their competitors.

Another factor worth mentioning is the fact that a manager will be thrown straight into the middle of the season if they are appointed now. Surely, the transition period between managers will be easier if the change happens at the end of the season? That way, a new manager will get time to build his own squad and integrate his own philosophy.

Wenger’s time at the Arsenal helm is nearly at an end. He hasn’t moved with the times and Arsenal are paying the price through a lack of progress. But for now, Arsenal will go backwards under a new manager, so they need to stick with what they’ve got, until the end of the season anyway. Maybe that is the point where Wenger should walk away gracefully. With what he’s done for Arsenal, he does not deserve to be sacked.