SOMETIMES in life you dare to dream.
You take on an almighty task and you think, sod it, I’m going to give it a go. Brendan Rodgers must have had thoughts similar to this as he walked into John W Henry’s office in Boston just 7 months ago. When he strolled past the trophy cabinet for the first time he’d have done well to sit back, pay homage to the greats and keep walking.
Rodgers has shown in his short spell at Anfield that he’s his own man. He told FSG to look somewhere else to begin with. “I have to be first choice or not at all” was the much reported slogan at the time. To further stamp his authority Rodgers said he wouldn’t leave Swansea if Liverpool went ahead with a director of football. FSG duly rolled over and were so impressed by him that they gave him the job with their much publicised plans for a new structure flying out of the window. The 180 page dossier seemingly the best thing FSG has read. Indeed in his first press conference he managed to leave most of the media spellbound by the slick delivery of what seemed a well written concerto, one of realism but also blatant ambition.
After the 7 wins, 6 defeats and 7 draws (prior to Sunderland at home) quite a few fans were beginning to think that maybe a silver tongue was all Brendan had in his locker. That criticism was beginning to hold some weight, if not merit; consistency being the issue and a few rough decisions along the way. The Sunderland performance seems to have kept the critics quiet for a while at least.
The turning point of this season could well prove to be the performance against Sunderland at home. Yes Fulham was good, very good. So too was QPR and Norwich. Even the gutsy West Ham performance although of poor quality showed grit and courage to come from behind and win. Yet Sunderland was the first time I’ve seen Liverpool completely dominate, press, wear out and blindside the opposition for a full 90 minutes in a long time. Sunderland just looked completely finished after 60 minutes – by that time the damage was done; Liverpool rampant at Anfield once more, Rodgers’ philosophy finally beginning to show.
Rodgers hasn’t been scared to slam his players and has shown guts publicly with the press in repeatedly slamming his players’ attitude stating his desire for consistency. The character, tempo and desire have at times been sorely lacking. This will not do for Rodgers or his senior players.
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Indeed Daniel Agger saying recently that “if you don’t have the motivation, you shouldn’t be here.” A clear sign that the message from Rodgers to his “disciples”, as he likes the call them, that the philosophy he embodies and the attitude he requires is slowly beginning to land with the rest of the squad; the fans starting to see that Rodgers believes firmly in the Liverpool way.
Now with Daniel Sturridge taking on the No 15 shirt, Rodgers has a player who’s impressed but never fulfilled his potential. He’s 23 and frighteningly good on his day. The attitude is well reported but I’d urge the fans to back the new arrival, give him a pat on the back and tell him that at Liverpool ‘you’ll never walk alone’ is more than a slogan, it’s a way of life.
Maybe it shows something about the desire that Sturridge has now that he’s picked the same shirt number as he had at Bolton where he looked the happiest in his short career. He clearly wants to feel like he did there and make that number his own.
For Rodgers, his judgement will come both based on results and performances alike. With 51 points available from the next 17 games Rodgers should be looking to ensure winning ways are kept up. To be realistic, for the Champions League we’d need to win 14 (based on the top 4 last season) of those games and hope other teams slip up around us. It’s possible, however 14 from 17 is Premier League Champion-winning form and I can’t see us doing that.
It shouldn’t be underestimated the effect of not having Champions League football is having on the fans, FSG’s business plan and more worryingly Luis Suarez. Losing him would surely be an almighty blow to Liverpool. World class players like that are few and far between.
As to Rodgers, we can only hope his daring to dream won’t prove a bridge to far but something very special for our club. Like Dietmar Hamann said a few days ago, ‘if you work hard, keep feet on the floor then you never know what can happen’.
2013 will, I believe be a crucial year for the club. Here’s hoping it’s going to be alright in the end!
Follow me on twitter @JohnRitchie84
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The major problem with Lfc is in the transfer window .compare spurs transfer target to ours its a shame. We are failing to bring creative players around eg Michu ,benat, dres mertens,turan,pabro henarndez and many good players are their but poor tranfer decision
Won’t last long, £15mill allen, £10mill Borini, now £12mill Sturridge, all mediocre at best. Can’t see Suarez staying either, he needs better players around him. Now players are choosing Spurs above us, what next Everton! My how the mighty have fallen, we even needed a hand ball to beat Mansfield town, who, by the way, were much the better side second half.
OH RoytheRed you should be called RoytheBlue with all your depressive talk!! lucky son just like me you can’t predict the future, so lets live in the present and have abit of cheer!
I hope Suarez scores a right dodgy goal against those dirty Manc’s this weekned, will really twist their nips on their long journeys back down South after the game.
We are looking for the next Suarez. Is called Daniel sturridge . Every player BR buys, he has worked with at Swansea/Chelsea . To think we payed money to get this guy! Laudrup would have walked all the way from Denmark to get the job!!!
@ Roy d red,ur jibes are pathetic & its obvios u became a livapul suporter wen d ucl was won in 2005…well..,deres no hidin d fact dat tins aint goin well for l’pul since 3-4 seasons now bt an optimist will jst know dat ders always a silver lining somwhia in d near future…it tuk us 2decades or mor b4 dat nite of wonda@ d Ataturk& now dat tins aint d way we want dem,den we mst build&be patient..suarez has bin our best playa by far &sooner or lata he’lld lyk2 move on bt in his mind,he knows no club will be willin to give him d kind of support he enjoys@ l’pul if he finds himslf in subsequent allegations due 2 his reputation….easy does it…before, it was l’pul,now its man untd & trust me,it cant kontinue2 be dem…if we move in d rite directn,it mite be us dominatin England agan…YNWA
T.boier if you can’t write proper English you shouldn’t be posting. This is not someone you are texting.
you don’t have to read it if you dont want to
Rodgers is not a risk taker . He landed himself a top job without having done anything to deserve it . All his buys have been atrocious and we havent beaten 1 good side all season . The man is out of his depth and needs to be replaced
This week will tell alot.
Loose and we’re still in the position of not having beaten anybody in the top 8.
Win and it will be 3 on the bounce in the PL and we’ll be back in the hunt for top 4.
Also gets a crack without Rooney.
Time to step up BR and the boys. No more honerable defeats or draws.
Not beaten anyone half decent yet , Rodgers has been a massive disappointment …… but he can prove us wrong in next few weeks , we must win against good teams
any tiny bit of respect i have left for Rodgers will disappear if he picks Allen for any upcoming game
T.boier if you can’t write proper English you shouldn’t be posting. This is not someone you are texting.
25m spent in the summer and with Sturridge for 12m and Ince for 6m we could be talking about 18m spent in January. Rodgers is out of his depth.
To show himself to be big club manager – He must gets wins versus top clubs . So far he has failed – he must get 2 or 3 wins in next few games to show he is capable , otherwise sack him
Interesting thoughts from all of you. Thanks for taking the time to post.
Just a thought though… Who was available at the time to come to Liverpool to do a better job? And no Gaurdiola wasn’t interested, neither is Mourinho, Klopp or hardly anyone other than Rafa who neither Ayre, Gerrard or Carragher wanted – my choice at the time was Laudrup.
Yes he didn’t have any PL experience however he is world renowned, and able to attract top talent and likewise talent who we necessarily don’t know about such as Michu (although not convinced he always does his job in MF hence why the swans leak goals) likes to pass and move but also plays a lot more direct attacking football. Certainly not Martinez.
I agree, we’ve not beaten a top side yet, but give him time. Surely this time in the season to sack him would be ridiculous, also has been hamstrung by FSG in the market (Assaidi not his signing and according to some fan-sites FSG blocked more than just Dempsey in the summer).
There would have been plenty of top managers interested in the job . who is to say if we had of tried to get Klopp he wouldn’t come ? or Van Gaal , Hiddink or Pelligrini . Markus Babbel , Redknapp , Hyypia , Sancho Flores and many many more might have come .
To give the job to someone with NO history of success , or history of managing big players was the cheap option , and the wrong one .
When a club like liverpool is struggling in mid table , having beaten no-one in the top half , when we still have great players all over the pitch , plus an excellent batch of youth , plus the premier league’s best player, how can you say its ridiculous to sack him ?
surely , its ridiculous NOT to sack him ? any other top club wouldn’t put up with it . and we didnt put up with it when Hodgson was boss , Hodgson and rodgers have near identical records .
i think that you are making excuses for him , the assaidi thing seems untrue . and even if FSG didnt back him fully – every player he has signed has been a waste . 30m on rubbish in the summer – not one of them good enough
for a club like liverpool to be a top team again , we shouldn’t accept second best , rodgers in 6 months has done nothing except prove the doubters right . giving him more time is wrong
110% SPOT ON BOB
Laudrup would be great choice . We should get him NOW . Rodgers can toddle off back to swansea
Why should we give this clown more time ? why ? personally i thought 4 months was enough to prove he is inept
Give 1 reason why he deserves more time . Does he have lots of injured players returning to dramatically improve fortunes ? – No
Has he signed some great players that will improve fortunes ? – NO
Do his rubbish signings show any signs of massivey improving ? – No
There is no reason to give him more time – and plenty of reasons to get rid
Yes ,totally agree