Liverpool FC Forum

[Reg]

Clarke and Keen have been in position for nearly a year (Clarke) and for 6 months (Keen) as assistant manager and first team coach.

How do you think they are doing - a reflection of how we're doing surely?

We've had some big injuries - SG, Lucas etc.. brought in a number of key players and seen some of them not work out as well as expected. I wonder who was the main decision maker behind those, Kenny, SC or Comolli?

Thats aside, how are we across the field, I don't get to see enough live games and watch what I do see on the box.

Is the Clarke/Keen act the way forward?  Didn't Rafa do as well, are SC/Keen merely maintaining previous standards or are they driving us forward?

Are we ready to break through into top 3 football as opposed to top 3 spending and top 5 performance?

[metalhead]

Hi Reg,

I don't think its their main job to get the best out of key players, that's Kenny's role. If a player isn't performing its the responsibility of the manager to motivate him or get the best out of him.   The coachs' role is more tactical, in a way training the players tactical awareness (defense, set pieces, etc...), movement and passing. As it stands now we have the BEST defense in the league and full credit to Steve Clarke/Kean/Kenny for that. The only problem is finishing our chances as we have the worst chance conversion ratio in the league. Now Clarke/Kean would come in and train the players to be better in the final third.

I don't think we are using the same way Rafa did, its very different, especially that we are playing more on the ground than a direct approach. Just compare the goals we scored under Kenny with under Rafa.

In the end its down to Comolli/Kenny to get it right in the transfer market inorder to be in the top 3, sure some of our signings aren't lighting the world on fire, but I hope the management rectify the situation soon rather than later. It is still early for me to compare it with how Rafa dealt in the transfer market

[stmichael]

Steve Clarke has a very good reputation in the game and rightly so (West Ham should be discounted because the player there weren't good enough). Ok it may have taken a while but the defensive organisation now is far better and we look far more solid as a result. Our problems are at the other end of the pitch. I presume he would have had a big input on how we set-up against Chelsea in recent weeks and consequently beat them comfortably on three occasions.

We look to have a settled back four now (touch wood). Our fullbacks are as good as any in the league in my opinion and Skrtel/Agger are forming a great partnership. Skrtel (another player some fans wrote off as not good enough) has come on leaps and bounds for me in the past 12 months and I think a lot of this can be put down to Clarke imo in regards to allowing us to play a higher line. Whatever anyone says, Carragher is no longer a first choice pick in the side and we look a far better team as a result.

[Waldo]

Think our defensive record this season speaks for itself and Clarke has to take a lot of credit for that. He has managed to get the best out of Skrtel who has formed an excellent relationship/partnership with Agger!

[red till i die!!]

might be a little early to judge them but i think the way we have been playing this season says it all really.
other than the finishing ive been impressed with the quality of football were beginning to play,despite our woes were still up there with a shout and kk and his staff are due the credit for that.
defensively we look the best we have in years but are just lacking the attacking flair and edge needed to convert.
going forward id like to see more work done on the attacking from set pieces and corners.we really are poor and look devoid of ideas in those situations.
i doubt keen and clarke had any input into new signings.
were playing good football again and we are a joy to watch once more even if the end product isnt there atm but to have come this far in just over a year is remarkable.

[Roger Red Hat]

best management team since the days of the boot room. well done fellas.

[stmichael]

Infact if you take the Spurs game out of the equation when we had 9 men and collapsed we've only conceded 9 goals in 14 league games which is exceptional. The bigger test will come in the upcoming weeks with no Lucas in the side and the lack of protection which he gives us with his positioning and reading of the game.

[Ola Mr Benitez]

I think the pair have been brilliant.  We now have a really tight defence, we are playing good fast pass and move football which is a joy to watch, and to be honest we havent done too much of that since Ged arrived!

Our current only fault is we are not sticking the ball in the net.  Once that is sorted we will be flying.

Kenny, Steve and Kevin are doing a brilliant job

[Kerry07]

Big fan of Clarke (big fan of Scots in general as regards authority/management). Hes no nonsense..people listen. No waffle, straight to the point, and our defensive displays/organisation have been superb...and all this with only 1 defensive midfielder (lucas) at the club.

Keen i know next to nothing about, but both Clarke and Kenny rate him so he must be good.

Very very happy with the management side.. player recruitment has been the one dissapointment (thus far).

[Fowler_E7]

Under Kenny i think the managment has been excellent IMO so i have no complaints there, although i do not like the fact that we man mark on corners now, seems so dated. Where i have a serious issue is with player recruitment, after years of heavy spending we still have a squad that is miles from challenging for a league title, the players we buy are simply not good enough, we get good players but too many of our signings are flops who dont have the required quality. It seems that when we spend over £10mil on a player we rarely get it right, especially when you see the players other clubs get for similar prices, its very disapointing.

[Reg]

Player recruitment is Comolli, not Clarke/Keen I assume?

[Raoul]

Player recruitment is Comolli, not Clarke/Keen I assume?

Surely it is Comolli/Dalglish, rather than just Comolli?

Exactly how that works in practice I'd love to know - who is making the final calls, etc, etc, etc.

But yes, I can't see how recruitment belongs in a thread on whether Clarke and Keen are doing a good job.

It is no doubt down to Dalglish in part, but this year I've really enjoyed watching Liverpool play. From a neutral standpoint, results aside, I think we are a much, much, much better side to watch than we've been for years. While Dalglish no doubt paints the big picture, I guess it is Clarke and Keen who do all the fiddly bits of the painting, so all credit to them.

I guess winning ugly is better than losing beautifully, so how good we look isn't as important as results. There is still some way to go on that score - we aren't dominating lesser teams, we aren't opening up defenses enough (or at least aren't scoring as many as we should). But still I like what I see, and I'm sure the players enjoy it too.

[SouthCoastShankly]

For me the easiest comparison is to look at how we were playing under Hodgson and his coaching staff. Clarke and co are a world apart and have returned a decent standard of football. That said it is still work in progress and we have some creases to iron out but I see our progress as 2 steps forward and the occasional step back.

[Sean]

I can see similarities in how Liverpool are being set up with Mourinho's Chelsea and that is obviously the product of Clarke's influence.  Between 2004-2006 Chelsea's success was founded upon a top goal keeper and solid defence that was rarely breached.  Our current defensive record is a great platform from which we can progress.  Mourinho's Chelsea had a creative and clinical attacking unit of Duff, Drogba and Robben that were repeatedly caught teams on the counter attack.  Perhaps Kenny thought Andy Carroll could pull off the Drogba role.  I reckon we continue to be a work in progress but the Clarke input is clearly evident.

[redhayesy]

I think the pair have been brilliant.  We now have a really tight defence, we are playing good fast pass and move football which is a joy to watch, and to be honest we havent done too much of that since Ged arrived!

Our current only fault is we are not sticking the ball in the net.  Once that is sorted we will be flying.

Kenny, Steve and Kevin are doing a brilliant job

great post mate! sums it up brilliant for me also. reg mate,i said straight away when steve clarke was appointed-that was a brilliant bit of business,great signing etc. with kevin also it has proved so far that with kenny he has had an impact in who he wanted to take the FC into a new way of playing,with the financial backing but also in the way the whole side is set up.

i for one am very impressed with all that the back room staff have contributed to helping not only kenny but the squad as a whole! for me the boot room mentality has returned & i couldn't be happier atm! long may it continue -which i have every confidence it will do.