Brendan Rodgers has been inevitably sacked by Fenway Sports Group and this has not come as a huge surprise to most of the followers of the Liverpool Football club. All eyes, with respect to Liverpool FC, were on Brendan Rodgers since the new Premier League season (2015-16) started. In his 4th season with Liverpool, Brendan’s best performance came in the 2013-14 season, when Liverpool challenged for the Premier League, eventually ending at 2nd Spot.
But that season was highlighted by a goal scoring spree of Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge, which of course was instrumented by Brendan’s attacking football philosophy. But, while Suarez and Sturridge were going rampage and crowds were entertained, very rarely could you say that the team was in total control of the game situation. Liverpool’s last few games in that season, 0-2 defeat to Chelsea and 3-3 draw with Crystal Palace (after leading by 3-0) ultimately denied them the title challenge.
While no one can deny the fact that the team played beautiful football that season and more often than not, fans returned home with their heads held high, there were 2 main questions before the start of
2014-15 season – after the departure of Luis Suarez to Barcelona:
1) Will Liverpool be able to continue the threat in front of the goal?
2) Will the team learn from their mistakes in the area of game management and strengthen its defense?
How Brendan Rodgers answered these questions ultimately defined Liverpool’s performance in 2014-15 and this season.
Liverpool was never the same force in front of the goal
To answer the first question, Brendan spent quite a lot of money, to design a formula which can provide the team similar kind of aggression, symphony and provide the goals. But, though at moments, the team could showcase some brilliance and entertainment that so much reflects Brendan Rodgers type of football, but they could not find the back of the net, as often as it was possible with Suarez and Sturridge together on the pitch.
Unfortunately for Brendan Rodgers and for Liverpool, Sturridge was sidelined with injuries, most of the season (2014-15) and the new look attack was toothless. None of Liverpool’s strikers that season scored more than 4 goals. Daniel Sturridge (4), Ricky Lambert (2), Mario Balotelli (1) and Fabio Borini (1) scored only 8 Goals together. Liverpool scored only 52 goals in 2014-15 (League Position of 6th with goal difference of +4) as compared to 101 goals in 2013-14 (league position of 2nd with goal difference of +51), in which Suarez and Sturridge together scored 52 between them.
Liverpool were lackluster at the back
To answer the second question: In 2014-15, Liverpool conceded 48 goals in the Premier League, with a goal difference of mere +4 and on the top of it, the club managed only one win from 8 of the key games (involving Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal). Questions were raised whether the team got any stronger after literally dropping the title in 2013-14. A lot of money was spent at the back, including £20 million on Dejan Lovren, but until today he has not looked convincing. And as a unit, the team was dismantled too many times.
Actually, the performance at the back was in fact slightly better than the season before, when 52 goals were conceded (4 more), but, the difference was that they managed to score more and that helped the defense (and Rodgers) get away with it more often than not.
2015-16 season so far: How did Brendan’s side responded to the challenges
Liverpool’s owners made it very clear at the start of the new season that they will invest faith on Brendan Rodgers and were confident that the Northern Irishman can rebuild the side successfully this year. The thing about rebuilding is that it’s always on the clock and if the fans do not see the changes and if the team lets them down week in week out, eventually it clocks out.
The mood at Anfield has not been so depressing in the last few years. Brendan’s team has been booed off in last few games and talks of replacing the manager were never this intense.
The slow start to the season was made worse by defeats to West Ham United and Manchester United.
A sense of positivity since the Norwich Game?
The mood however, was lifted to some extent since the Norwich game. Why? There was a sense of positivity about the games. Liverpool had 23 shots, more than any other game before this. This followed by a 3-2 win over Aston Villa, which obviously saw the return of Daniel Sturridge. But, was it just Daniel Sturridge returning to the game that made Brendan’s side look better on the day? Or there was a change in the way the team played?
The answer could be in the way you see the last game Liverpool played in the Europa League against Sion. Yes, it was hugely disappointing not to win that game, but the team created a lot of chances in front of the goal. Liverpool’s performance was criticized as lackluster and disjointed the next morning, but had Origi and Lallana managed to beat the goal keeper (they were one on one) and had Liverpool won the game 3 goals to 1, will we be saying the same thing about the performance of the team? The Answer is yes and no. Yes, because what disappointed the fans even more is the fact that the team could not manage to hold on to the lead either, very similar to the Norwich and Aston Villa games and something that has been the most obvious problem for Liverpool under Brendan Rodgers.
The ease at which Norwich equalized and the eased at which Gestede scored 2 goals for Aston Villa, again, reflects Liverpool’s lack of conviction at the back and lack of game management under Brendan Rodgers. But, had Origi and Lallana Scored and had Liverpool won 3-1, things could have been different for Brendan Rodgers.
Ultimately, yet again, Brendan Rodgers’s Liverpool could not find the right answers
This again leads us to the 2 main questions that Brendan Rodgers were asked to address at the end of 2013-14 season;
1) Will Liverpool be able to continue the threat in front of the goal?
The answer, quite obviously has been a no. If Brendan had a Sturridge and a Suarez each season, he would have repeated his performance from 2013-14 season. If Sturridge had not scored twice against Aston Villa, it could have been another defeat at Anfield.
If Sturridge was given those 2 chances in the game against Sion, in all probability, result for Liverpool could have been different.
It’s the finishing that Brendan needed and it’s those skills that he did not have and he could not develop in the absence of Suarez and Sturridge, which left him dry for so long. He invested millions on too many players “with potential”, who did not perform consistently.
2) Will the team learn from their mistakes in the area of lack of game management and strengthen its defense?
If the performance at Home against Norwich and Aston Villa has anything to do with it, the answer is quite obvious. But, was strengthening the back Brendan’s priority ever? It’s a question that is debatable, but what we have seen so far, since Brendan Rodgers took over as Liverpool manager, Liverpool has been conceding more goals than they should be to make it to top 4. In a typical and ideal game for Brendan’s team, a striker of the quality of Sturridge just manages to scores more than the opposition, but in the absence of that kind of quality in front of the goal, Brendan’s team has been coming as second best on one too many occasions.
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