In defense of Rodgers, he didn’t have a defence and a goalkeeper who could stop conceding goals. Remember the clangers that mignolet had that season.
But I will say this. Rodgers shouldn’t have gotten sucked into that by Mourinho. Maintain the shape. And then the counter attacks start. We played as if we were the ones chasing the game when we were the ones with the ascendancy. Even woy would have had a better gameplan than bodgers there.
I think you watched a totally different game than most.
We wouldn’t have been in that position if it wasn’t for Gerrard and Suarez. Of course it wasn’t Gerrard’s fault that we missed out, but the abiding image that I, and I’ll wager most fans have, is of that moment.
The sickening feeling as Ba raced away is etched on my memory just like the agony of the Michael Thomas goal. That’s what makes football so compelling, yes, it’s the tactics and the background stuff, but in the end it’s those moments of drama that we all remember.
There are a lot more positive memories of Gerrard too by the way, that FA cup final goal, Olympiacos, Istanbul etc etc, but when I think of that season, it’s that moment that, painfully, sticks in the mind.
Towards the end of it I remember saying to a mate, whatever happens, I’ll get the dvd. I never did, because all the great stuff was leading to such gut wrenching disappointment.
Seemingly so. But all people ever address is their feeling watching the game…people who themselves got sucked into Jose’s mind games and then take the result as validation of that. There were definitely times we tried to accelerate the game and trying to get the ball back into play was a part of that and where most of the flare ups came from. But it didnt come at the expense of irresponsibly throwing players forward, nor was the first goal, the one that forced us into shifting into that gear for the second half, the result of that.
I think the thing that is often overlooked in this discussion is that you can’t just say to a team that has been built pragmatically to play free flowing attacking football ‘Right lads. We’re playing for a draw today’. Outside computer games, football doesn’t work like that!
I remember one of the press outlets describing the 13/14 team as an experiment in seeing if it’s possible to win the league without a defence.
That team played to it strengths. Defence was not one of them.
I think that’s the trauma talking. About you, and most fans, me included. But that moment was waiting to happen, again in my humble opinion.
I think the main point I have, just to clarify, is related to this thought.
I think that letting Chelsea try and come to us, press (the very way we were pressing back then), and go at them when they’re on the back foot, would be the way to go. Trying to go to them with possession, while they close gaps, and then be exposed as our focus is on finding paths through the closed lines, was not the way to go.
Rodgers hasn’t ever been pragmatic though. He got given the Klopp blueprint and for all of Klopp’s Dortmund , there was no denying the fact that he really did have a decent defensive unit there. Rodgers didn’t have that. But he should have been experienced enough to get the lads back and read the situation.
It didn’t feel like it was waiting to happen at the time, it felt like a bolt from the blue, and I reckon most would see it that way.
I doubt many people said oh yeah, of course that was going to happen.
It’s easy to be wise with the benefit of hindsight.
Fair enough, but I think that no one is suggesting we should have parked the bus. That would have failed, indeed. We should have done what we had successfully done in a few occasions: press while the other team is trying to attack us, and counterattack. We tried with possession, because Chelsea let us have the ball. That’s what Mourinho’s trap was, I believe. We took the ball and went at them because they wouldn’t have taken it.
Granted, it would have been very surreal to react like “hey, fuckers, you won’t get the ball? - we’ll just leave it there, you are the ones that are desperate for a goal, not us”, but at the same time we shouldn’t have gone like “hey, look, the ball is free, let’s carry it over to the blue side and try to break that defence”. In reality, their time wasting annoyed us, when it should have been exploited.
And when they would see that we would not get ourselves exposed, and the clock would tick, and they’d finally come forward, then press and counter.
I am aware you didn’t feel that at the time, I am saying I did. And I hope you can give me the benefit of the doubt and believe me, and not think I’m saying that in hindsight, because I am not. I remember very well discussing this with my son during the game. You last sentence wasn’t really called for.
Even before Gerrard’s slip. I had the feeling we were cocking up this match. Primarily because of how Rodgers got overcooked.
Let me guess, hindsight? 
Nope. I was watching the match between a group of friends(all mixed allegiances) , I did say that before the slip. The way we were setup a disaster was bound to happen
I did not book a hotel that early as the last I did we lost it at the death in 2014 but now it is almost impossible to find accommodation hence why now me and my son will be in Liverpool on the 25th of may and travel back home and come back the next day again for my first parade in 61 years of supporting this amazing club. I even tried B&Bs and they were either all booked or the price was too much for us.
It was a joke, referring to Bekloppt’s post 
None of this would have mattered if we hadn’t been robbed by Howard Webb in the Stamford Bridge game in December 2013.
Anyway, as you were.
I was waiting for that comment, and I was waiting for it from you specifically. And I totally agree. We should have been champions anyway, and not just for the game you were referring to, but for Sterling’s disallowed goal vs City earlier in the season, which was onside by a mile.
The reason it’s still a discussion is because it was still very much in our hands, despite refs.
He was extremely pragmatic.
Pragmatism means making the best of what you have, and Rodgers understood he had a devastating attack and no defence. That became the game plan.
He came to Liverpool as a coach with a reputation for tiki taka sterile possession football and abandoned that to build around Suarez. That’s is the definition of pragmatism.
Media darlings: “stuff of champions”
Liverpool: “fortunate, got away with one there”