Villa the better team, says Rodgers

It began badly, and it now looks like it’ll end badly. Liverpool’s season has gone from bad, to good, and has now plateaued at mediocre, as the Reds once again stumbled on the big stage under Brendan Rodgers.

At no stage throughout the final did Liverpool ever look like causing undue concern to Aston Villa despite having 14 shots and matching Villa in terms of possession. It appears to be going to be the story of Liverpool’s season, one in which they’ve constantly lacked threat in front of goal, yet started with three strikers on the bench and none on the pitch.

Brendan Rodgers, however, is firmly of the belief that Villa were the better team. Speaking to Liverpoolfc.com at his post-match press conference, Rodgers said: “As you can imagine, we’re obviously bitterly disappointed, and more with the performance.

“You can always lose a game, but you’d hope you can play well and give yourself an opportunity. I thought we were second best today, to be honest. They were better than us. We had some chances but Aston Villa were better than us today.

“There’s an obligation here to fight right until the very end. We have come close now in two competitions but failed to make the steps. Hopefully in the future we can learn from that.

“I think sometimes you can want to win too much and the focus comes away from what allows you to win.

“I thought our energy was low today. Aston Villa had a good start and I felt we were too passive in the game. I had to change the system, it got us some joy, we started to control the game a little bit and then we got in front – but we didn’t keep the lead long enough.

“We were too passive on the side of the field, Fabian Delph skips through way too easily and they got back into the game. Second half, we hoped to play better but we just didn’t create enough today.

“It was a trademark of the team last year – in the first 20 minutes of games, the intensity of our game was very high.

“Of late, that hasn’t quite been the case. We just were nowhere near our level. Congratulations to Aston Villa because they played well and are through to the final. The better team won.”

Despite Rodgers’ claims, it’s been much more than the past few games where Liverpool have lacked the intensity of last season, having failed to meet the same standards they did last year in all but a handful of matches this year.

The Reds have little left to play for now, with the prospect of Europa League football more likely to be more of a hindrance than a bonus. Although there is still an outside chance of Champions League football, most would agree that it’s highly unlikely we’ll be seeing Liverpool in the elite European competition next season.