BRENDAN Rodgers has asserted that he believes Liverpool Football Club will be fighting for a top four finish in the Premier League this season.
The Northern Irishman feels that the squad are showing real signs of progress working within the new philosophy being imparted at Anfield and believes that the close bond of togetherness that runs through his small squad will help to spur them to reach their Champions’ League goal.
Replying, in his pre-Stoke press conference, to a question posed about Liverpool’s realistic top four hopes Brendan Rodgers told Liverpoolfc.com:
“Yes, absolutely. There’s no doubt that it’s going to be very difficult for us but that is our fight. We’ve got great quality here. The players are very much unified and there’s a wonderful spirit in the group and even though we are frustrated with last night’s result [against Udinese], the performance in the league last time out was fantastic.
“So we’ll look to carry that into the weekend’s game, which we know will be difficult. There’s still a very long season ahead of us and we’re starting to get to grips with how we are going to work as a team and I’m sure that will bring us good results.
“Some of the football last night was fantastic; the speed of our passing and our movement and creativity was great. Seeing some of the younger players come in has just been fantastic. But there’s a lot of work to do here and that will take a bit of time. We have to keep working hard to correct our mistakes and thankfully we’ve got a great bunch of players who are committed to that.”
After a convincing away performance at Carrow Road brought Rodgers’s men their first Premier League victory of the campaign, the Reds will be seeking their first Anfield victory of the young season with the visit of Stoke on Sunday. Despite the Potters reputation for “direct” football, Rodgers has a lot of respect for Tony Pulis and his Stoke team and won’t be taking the visitors’ threat lightly.
“No matter what kind of football you play, playing against any team in this league is difficult, Stoke are one of those teams who are very hard to beat, I’ve got great respect for Tony Pulis and the work that he has done there and how he prepares his players.
[ad_pod id=”unruly-video” align=”center”]
“He’s taken Stoke a long, long way in getting them promoted to the Premier League. They are now a very established team at this level. There’s no right or wrong way to play football and at the end of the day it’s about getting results.
“Tony will have his way of working and I don’t think they get the praise they deserve for the football they do play because they play some good football. But obviously they have a stigma about playing a slightly longer game.You have to defend as a team against that and then bring your own style to the game.”
The manager praised the Anfield crowd for their support so far this season and believes that they have encouraged the team to play eye-catching, expansive, attacking football at home in 2012/13. All that has been missing is a positive result and Rodgers believes the home faithful can help the players attain that target against Stoke this Sunday.
“To play at Anfield is a real honour and a privilege and the support we get from the crowd is incredible,” he said. “It’s certainly not a distraction playing at home.
“We’ve performed well at Anfield this season. We have won a number of Europa League games and we have come close in a number of Premier League games and should have won but we haven’t. The backing that we get every time we play there is fantastic so [the recent results at home] are just one of those statistics that there’s no explanation for. There’s no secret to it, you’ve just got to try and work very, very hard.
“Physcologically there’s nothing there for me, we’ve just got to get the results. We’ve got wonderful backing from the crowd and hopefully we can get some wins and perform well for the rest of the season.”
You can catch up with Neil on Twitter @Neil1980 or on his blog http://itsallinthegameblog.wordpress.com/
[ad_pod id=’DFP-MPU’ align=’right’]
Live4Liverpool is recruiting columnists. For further info contact the site editor at live4liverpool@snack-media.com
Follow us on Twitter here: @live4Liverpool and ‘Like’ us on Facebook
The top four? I am afraid that is way out of our capabilities for some time to come! He decided in the Summer that a class striker was apparently secondary to his buys and left until the last. We all know what happened with that! He has to live with his call….
And he will. He knows what he’s doing. The midfield was rooted as well. Spearing send Adam were running around the park. Need I say more.
Good result is all we need to start climbing up d table.
i am sure if this guy rogers is given the chance to see his project through, we are in for a treaty. very soon the young guys will click and good results will start coming out. already signs are there for everyone to see.
Those young boys, they are Rafa’s boys. Just like in Swansea, Rodgers just inherites someone else’s hard work (Martinez) so, the next time Rodgers talks about his “philosophy” or “projects”, beware>
Can’t see us in top four as long as FSG own us. Yanks won’t spend big on class players, where the two manchester clubs Chealsea and Arsenal will. They just don’t get football. Also, not too sure Rodgers is the man either. The jury’s still out on that one.
This Rodgers guy is confusing. Basically he said we could fight for top 4 but under his watch we had our worse start in a century and already 9 points adrift with 4th place (6 if we beat Stoke). Basically we are closer to relegation (2 points) than we are to top 4. Well, at least he has something in common with KD and RH.
He sure has a strange way of beginning our fight.
I don’t trust a man who tend to writes 180 page dossier but can’t even get his priorities right (The Dempsey saga) and rambles endlessly about his “philosophy” and “projects”. Alex Ferguson, Guardiola, the great Shankly and other great managers never talks about “philosophy” or “projects” but they just deliver results.
Rodgers got to just talk less and start to deliver and the same goes for FSG
i dont blame rodgers , its the owners fault , but anyone who thinks liverpool will be even challenging for the top 4 this season or next is delusional .
its the weakest liverpool squad since the late 60s , and even if the tight yanks spend a bit in january we are far behind any of the top 5 teams squads .
FSG OUT
You know what BR, after yesterday’s games against Stoke, your talk sounds very hollow bordering on the delusional.
Why don’t you just get to work and stop talking especially on your “philosophy” and “project”, that would be better.
If you can’t do the real work (no, writing 180 page dossiers is not one of them) and help us go places, why don’t you just quit and let someone else who can do the job before you bring us down with you?
Truth be told rodgers is doin alot of talk ths guy cnt change anythng, i didn’t expect we fight 4 the league ths season his game luks gud in the field bt in the end goal are the one’s that matter, i dnt knw why we culdn’t bring back rafa, in hs worst season we were 7 nw even finishing thea is imposible.
FSG OUT
enough is enough
top 4 ? balls to that .WE ARE GOING TO WIN THE LEAGUE