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Brendan Rodgers has an uphill task if he is to keep his Liverpool jobLiverpool have been in all sorts of trouble this season. The Reds have struggled to secure points against mid-table clubs this season and their failure to score goals has been added to their defensive issues from last season.They have also had a very poor outing in the Champions League, losing three out of the four games they have played so far. They are in a situation where they need to win their remaining two games to have any chance of qualifying for the knockout stages.There have been several questions raised about the performance of their manager Brendan Rodgers and here is why Liverpool should sack Rodgers before it’s too late for damage control. Disclaimer: The views expressed here are those of the author and not those of the site.
#1 Lack of improvement in Liverpools form
Liverpool started their new season with a win over Southampton and played well in an away defeat against Manchester City. The Reds followed this up with an impressive performance against Tottenham Hotspur away from home. The win against Spurs on 31st August was Liverpool’s best performance of the season so far and over two months and 13 games have passed since then.
Liverpool won games last season by outscoring their opponents on most occasions. But this time around, they have failed to do that and have lost against the likes of Aston Villa, West Ham United, Newcastle United and FC Basel.
In addition to this, they have been held to a stale mate at home against the likes of Everton, Hull City and Middleborough (it was a cup tie and Liverpool won on penalties). Such results are not acceptable for a side of Liverpool’s quality who have spent so much money on transfers and are challenging for a top four spot at least.
More than the results, the worrying factor for Liverpool should be their failure to bounce back from defeats and put up a better show. Liverpool have been consistently letting down their fans with their performances both up front and at the back.
Some might argue that Brendan Rodgers needs time to make several new players adapt and play together. But the argument is moot when you look at Southampton who lost several first team players and are currently second in the league.
#2 Poor defensive displays
It was no secret that Liverpool were really poor defensively last season and it was probably that which cost them the league title last year. A title winning side cannot be conceding 50 goals in a season. Thankfully for Brendan Rodgers, Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge who were in top form last season bailed Liverpool out in most games
This season, Liverpool do not have Suarez. And Sturridge has been out of action with an injury for a long time. Coupled with the poor form of Balotelli, Borini and Lambert, it has brought Liverpool’s poor defensive displays to the lime light.
Rodgers has drawn much criticism for replacing Pepe Reina – who is one of Liverpool’s best goal keepers ever – with Simon Mignolet. The Belgian is a decent shot stopper who produces moments of magic at times, but produces moments of chaos and shock more often. The former Sunderland man is shaky when it comes to dealing with areal balls. This is also one of the reasons why Liverpool have conceded a lot of goals from set-pieces. An example of Mignolet’s poor approach to aerial balls is the two goals Benzema scored against Liverpool at Anfield.
Rodgers brought in several players to replace Jamie Carragher. He secured the services of Kolo Toure and Mamadou Sakho last season. He then slowly pushed Daniel Agger out of the team despite good performances to accommodate Toure and Sakho. This was not well received by a huge section of the Liverpool fans.
The Liverpool boss then brought in Dejan Lovren this summer and that signaled the end of Agger’s Liverpool career. This also meant that Sakho was going to be on the bench and one can only wonder why Liverpool purchased the former PSG man in the first place for such a huge fee. Another baffling decision from Rodgers is his reluctance to drop an out of form Glen Johnson.
Rodgers has added Sakho, Toure, Lovren, Cissokho, Moreno, Manquillo and Ilori to his defensive department and is yet to find the right combination for his back four. Titles are won on good defences and Liverpool have decent defenders who are performing poorly. It maybe time for Liverpool to get a new defensive coach.
#3 Persisting with Steven Gerrard as a holding midfielder
Brendan Rodgers moved Steven Gerrard to a defensive midfield role halfway through last season. The first game Gerrard played in the role was against Aston Villa at Anfield and the plan backfired. Villa took a two goal lead over Liverpool in the first half mainly because they strolled past the Liverpool midfield when counter attacking.
Liverpool made a switch in tactics and brought on Lucas in the game and somehow managed to salvage a draw. This was the first clear indication that Gerrard struggled to cope in a defensive midfield role. This season, Rodgers had the time and money to bring in a proper experienced defensive midfielder, but the Liverpool boss decided not to and instead just purchased Emre Can.
Gerrard’s inability to perform as a defensive midfielder was again visible this season. He failed to track the run of Manchester City’s David Silva into the box which led to Stevan Jovetic’s first goal against Liverpool at the Etihad. It was a similar case with Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal at Anfield.
Yes, it was a brilliant goal but it could have been easily avoided. Gerrard went after the ball instead of tracking Ronaldo’s run into the box. A player who has been taught to perform the role of a defensive midfielder rarely makes such mistakes.
Rodgers has the option of playing Lucas or Emre Can in the role, but the Irishman doesn’t seem to have the guts to drop someone like Gerrard. It is no surprise that certain fans have voiced their opinion on the matter.
Don’t get me wrong, Gerrard is not a bad player. He can still excel in the role of a deep lying playmaker, but he is not a defensive midfielder. Rodgers needs to realize that before more fans start to point fingers at someone like Gerrard.
#4 Borini and Lambert not getting enough chances
It was the goals from Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge that bailed Liverpool out on several occasions last season. And this season Luis Suarez’s move to Barcelona and Daniel Sturridge’s injury have given Liverpool a lot of problems. The Reds purchased Rickie Lambert from Southampton and Mario Balotelli from AC Milan this summer and also had Fabio Borini returning from loan at Sunderland.
Rodgers started the season with Sturridge, but an injury to the striker meant that Balotelli had to step up. Sadly, Balotelli has struggled to find the back of the net for the Reds in the EPL and has only two goals which have come in cup games. It is evident that Balotelli is not a hardworking running striker like Suarez or Sturridge. Hence, playing him alone up front will leave him isolated and waste a man on the pitch.
Rodgers has adamantly refused to play two strikers with Borini or Lambert playing alongside Balotelli to give more space and time for the Italian to work. Lambert or Borini have also not got a chance to play as the lone striker up front when it is clear that Balotelli is not working. This is quite baffling from Rodgers.
When the team is not doing well, a good manager has to make big calls and do what is necessary. But Rodgers tries does the same thing over and over again. He gave Borini a start against Real Madrid on Wednesday and the Italian ran around to collect the ball and bring his team-mates into play much better than Balotelli. It will be interesting to see if Rodgers now gives a chance to Borini against Chelsea or revert back to Balotelli.
#5 Poor Transfer record
When you spend over £200 million in nearly two years, fans expect the club to do well. But when the money has not been used wisely, you have to ask questions about the manager’s ability to spot good players.
Liverpool have purchased 24 players permanently or on loan after the arrival of Brendan Rodgers. From this list, it is shocking that arguably just two have been good additions to the squad. Daniel Sturridge has been a huge hit at Liverpool although his constant injuries have been a problem while Philippe Coutinho has had some great moments for the Reds although his inconsistency has been an issue.
Other than this pair, the transfers of Borini, Assaidi, Sahin, Yesil, Alberto, Aspas, Cissokho, Moses and Ilori have been failures without any doubt while there is plenty of debate about the quality of players like Mignolet, Allen, Sakho and Toure.
One has to wonder why Assaidi and Sahin were purchased in the first place when they were seldom used by the manager. In fact, even when they played well Rodgers overlooked them for underperforming players like Borini and Shelvey.
It’s too early to give a verdict on the performance of players Liverpool signed this season, but there is nothing wrong in saying that a lot more was expected from Balotelli, Markovic, Lallana and Lovren.
Liverpool went for quantity over quality this summer and that has not helped them so far. They should have gone for established players this season and could have enticed players with the Champions League card. Instead, they went for promising young players instead of experienced campaigners.
