Rodgers believes the Reds now have a new-found composure
A narrow 2-1 victory will usually look much more even but, in reality, Liverpool were much the stronger side against an Alan Pardew led Palace side that seemed happy to borrow Chelsea’s bus and wait for the opportunity to unleash Dwight Gayle on the break.
In truth, the home side created some good chances but Liverpool were mostly comfortable and could’ve won the match by a few clear goals (not to mention a penalty).
Speaking to the assembled journalists after the match, Rodgers said “It was certainly a different feeling to when we were here before. I think you saw the confidence in the team and the composure today.
“Alan has done a great job in a short period of time, making them really hard to beat and he has won games. So for us to get the victory like we did and the goals and create a lot of chances, it was very pleasing.
“Importantly, we defended well when we had to. There were a lot of long balls into the box from different angles, free-kicks, set-pieces and corners. I thought we dealt with them very well. Huge credit to the players. We’ve had a great week in terms of our results.
“The players turned it around. We just felt at half-time that we weren’t creating enough chances. I felt we needed to be more aggressive. We started the game not as aggressively as we would have wanted.
“They have players who want to compete. We felt once we shortened the pitch in the second half, we moved the game higher up the field, kept the ball and it was only going to be a matter of time.
“I thought the players showed great composure and great character in that second half.”
So, with LFC now through to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, there is every chance of us watching the boys walk out at Wembley in a few months time. Are the Reds now one of the favourites for the cup? Are Arsenal and United the only team standing in their way? Let us know your thoughts.
