What to do? What to do...?

Well, another weekend performance leaves many supporters of the Kop scratching their heads and asking what to do.  A very underwhelming 1-0 loss to Newcastle, on the road, brings up all the old questions and maybe even a few new ones.  What are Liverpool to do?  What formation should they be playing?  Who should be playing in that formation?  Is it the manager, the players or a combination?

Without even going on social media, I already know Mario Balotelli's detractors are having a field day with this game.  Another match without a goal.  Several moments of lackadaisical play.  Etc. and so on and so forth.  The man is not Luis Suarez.  Never was.  Never will be.  The sooner people fully grasp that, the sooner they can accept the fact that Balotelli is going to be a part of this team for the full season and Liverpool can win games and score goals with him in the side.  He is not going to go full boar for every single ball.  He is not going to track down every lost pass.  He is going to look a bit silly on occasion, trying to draw fouls where there are none (Suarez did this as well by the way).  Regardless of your or my own opinion on the level of effort, those items in and of themselves, do not make the man a poor player.  Nor do they mean that he lost the game himself.

Today's loss to Newcastle was another prime example of a bad effort by the entire team, as a team.  Right now, Liverpool look like 10 individuals out there on the pitch.  There seems to be little cohesion with anyone.  Right now, everyone needs to take blame for the losses because there seems to be nobody to not blame.  The only person you might exclude today would be Steven Gerrard and maybe Simon Mingolet.  Everyone else played a hand, or did not play a hand as the case actually seems to be, in not getting any result against Newcastle.

Nothing against Newcastle, they came out with a game plan and executed it very well and were able to poach a goal late in the contest.  On the other hand, Liverpool not only look disinterested at times, they look confused.  There is still strong support for Brendan Rodgers, as there should be in the grand scheme of things.  Yet, under the microcosm of this game and the last few weeks, the manager must share the blame.  Rodgers has been too stubborn in his relentless pursuit of keeping all his midfield signings happy, to the detriment of the team.  The 4-3-3 and/or the 4-2-3-1 simply has not worked.  While I am a strong supporter of Mario Balotelli, if Rodgers was dead set on playing one up top so all the talent could be employed through the midfield, then certainly the Italian enigma was the wrong choice.

Despite the lack of speed and perhaps even creativity it provides, the Reds looked their best in attack when Balotelli had a partner up top in Rickie Lambert during the Capital One Cup match.  Most would say that warranted a longer look, but BR must disagree.  Even on the American broadcast of the match, they pointed out when Lambert came on, Balotelli then was told to come to more of a wing position.  Down the road, when Daniel Sturridge is healthy, perhaps that would be an option.  Sturridge up front, Balotelli and Sterling on the wings and midfield and defense set up behind that.  But this hard-nosed approach to not even attempt a top two seems wrong headed at this juncture.

Liverpool need something different in the attack.  Rodgers must either find a system that suits Balotelli or figure out what roster to use without him, because jamming square pegs into round holes isn't working.  Also, the rest of the team needs to take a long look in the mirror.  The defense is just abysmal at the moment.  Mignolet, while not at fault in much today, looks lost at times especially when called to charge after lobbed balls.  The back four is also just a shamble right now.  Lovren seems to be trying to live up to his contract too much instead of just playing football.  Skrtel plays his guts out most games, but is almost always good for one critical mistake or silly foul.  Moreno looked lost against Newcastle, mostly because of the position he was put in.

The scouting might have shown that using Moreno in a more attacking role was a good plan, but the employment of the plan was non-existent.  Moreno looked so uncomfortable, he often refused to take anyone on and would simply pass back to where ever the ball had come from.  Again, Rodgers seemed too stubborn and even when Newcastle were pressing the attack, a back three seemed to be the system employed.  And then there's everyone's favorite, Glen Johnson.  For awhile it seemed it might have been just fans being too harsh on him, but now it is more evident why there is an overall disdain for the left back.

Johnson, no doubt, tries his best but he just isn't deserving of a starting spot right now.  The only logical answer to the question of why he's in there could be that Liverpool want to showcase him to get a higher bid in January.  It seems to be backfiring.  While Johnson was not directly at fault for the goal scored, as a former goalkeeper, nothing is more infuriating to see than the defense continually backing away from the attack as Johnson and his mates did on the scoring play.  There were several opportunities for a tackle further up field, but so much room was given that when the gap was closed a tackle was out of question since they were in the area.  Nothing seems to change though.

Rodgers sees this team every day in training.  He knows their strengths and weaknesses.  He sees who is providing the effort and improving.  That is what makes it so infuriating as a fan to see the same issues pop up almost every game.  What is Manquillo not doing during the week to not see more minutes come the weekend?  What are Lambert and Borini doing or not doing to not be given a chance up top alongside Balotelli?  Why is Rodgers so keen on sticking with a system that doesn't even seem to produce chances, regardless of the talent of Sterling and Coutinho?

This team has to start finding answers.  While they remain in the top 10, despite a rather uninspiring start, there are just too many questions.  It's too early for fatigue to be a real issue.  There is too much skill and potential for there not to be, at least, more scoring chances.  I don't base success and problems on the money spent.  Yet, there just has to be something more given by all who wear the crest right now.  The questions have to be answered, because status quo is not working and this team, as Brendan Rodgers has even pointed out, cannot pin their hopes on Daniel Sturridge returning alone.