Quantcast
Featured

Brendan Rodgers has more problems to fix

|
Image for Brendan Rodgers has more problems to fix
Rodgers may only have one last run-in to save his job at Anfield

Rodgers may only have one last run-in to save his job at Anfield

It’s safe to say that Liverpool have come down from the highs of that 13-game unbeaten run with an almighty crash.

While it’s important to remember that it’s only been two games since we beat Swansea last month, there are plenty of reasons to be concerned. For one, with two defeats in a row momentum has been truly lost. The team will have to start from scratch again, and considering how huge those games were for us that will be no easy task.

Man United at home gave us a chance to finally reach 4th place, but we messed up and gave them a 5-point cushion. With an Arsenal placed third, it was also important to get a win against them if we wanted to make up some points on United but we weren’t at the races and fell even further behind.

Whatever way you try to spin it, those two games have seen us lose precious ground on our rivals. Before the game against United, we were two points behind them. Now it’s eight points. Sure, City are 7 points in front and have been very poor in the last month, but it’s still a lot of ground to gain in not very many games and I’d expect City to sort themselves out before then anyway with the quality they have.

If Liverpool want to get back to their winning ways as of a month ago, there are two big problems that Rodgers needs to fix. One of them seems to be that opposition teams seemed to have figured us out. The 3-4-3/3-4-2-1 was rightly hailed when Rodgers first made the change, but teams are starting to wise up to it. Swansea, United and Arsenal all knew that if they outnumbered us in midfield and pressed us high up the pitch, we’d struggle to cope.

Rodgers seems to stalled Henderson's progress by starting him at wing back

Rodgers seems to stalled Henderson’s progress by starting him at wing back and he was missing against Arsenal

Swansea didn’t quite have the quality to make that plan work, but our last two games have seen us come undone. The issue isn’t solely restricted to our system either. It was harder for teams to press us last season because we always came racing out the blocks ourselves, but with every other system Rodgers has employed throughout his Liverpool reign, it has always seemed that being pressed is our achilles heel. We never seem to have any idea how to cope with it and it forces us into making basic errors that always lead to conceding chances and often goals.

The other main problem is that we seem to lack bottle. I’ve criticised Gerrard a lot over the course of the season, but it’s true that he does seem to be the only one capable of picking this squad up by the bootstraps and driving them to sort themselves out when things get tough. When we conceded the first goal against Arsenal, everyone’s heads seemed to drop. Henderson’s been praised for his leadership qualities this season too, but even he went missing while the second and third goals were banged in.

Now of course the players all need to look at themselves; usually they find their confidence again at some point in the second half, but by then the game’s already over. They need that drive to change the tide of a match as soon as things start to go wrong. But it’s not just their responsibility. This squad is incredibly young, and one of Rodgers’ responsibilities as manager is to motivate his players to give them the drive and hunger to perform and get the results that he and the fans expect.

Right now, Rodgers isn’t doing that. He’s rightly been lauded as a fantastic coach, so hopefully he can put this right as soon as he possibly can.

Gerrard has waned drastically this season and Rodgers persistence in playing him saw the team suffer

Gerrard has waned drastically this season and Rodgers persistence in playing him saw the team suffer

There are other factors at play that must be making this difficult for both Rodgers and his squad. Both Gerrard and Skrtel got themselves suspended against Man United, and Emre Can got himself red-carded against Arsenal a game later. It means we go into our FA Cup replay against Blackburn with a player shortage in defence. We were also missing Adam Lallana, Jordon Ibe and Mario Balotelli through injury and Daniel Sturridge was only just fit enough to make the bench against Arsenal.

Though the club have been key to play down the recent headlines caused by Sterling’s contract negotiations, it’s another distraction that the club could do without.

However, these are not excuses. Brendan Rodgers will still be expected to fix these problems and get the Reds winning games again, regardless of any injuries and suspensions affecting his squad. That is simply what is demanded of a manager of a big club.

This whole season has been one massive test for Rodgers. He’s come through most of what’s been thrown at him so far, but if he doesn’t pass this final one, it may well be his last.

Share this article

Drummer, gamer and football fanatic. I love to write about Liverpool and spend most of my time thinking about the mighty Reds. That or Game of Thrones.

2 comments

  • KK says:

    he must start playing balo 90min and stop all nonsense of training ground judgement,he is not lazy him and u media all talk,if not balo in rodgers out

  • The team need to believe in themselves. Against Man Utd and Arsenal, they lacked the conviction they’d shown up until then.

Comments are closed.