[article=http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/liverpool-manager-brendan-rodgers-put-3150178#ixzz2tSOGbLw0 ]It's promising to be the greatest Premier League season ever.
The title race has developed into a four-team battle for supremacy, the contest to break into the Champions League places is just as compelling, and the rest are all scrapping for top-flight survival.
The constant twists and turns make it impossible to predict anything.
But I would love to see Liverpool crowned champions.
It would be the perfect fillip for England before Roy Hodgson’s men travel to Brazil.
Brendan Rodgers is proving at Anfield that we can produce top footballers in this country.
And he is also showing that the standard of British coaching isn’t too shabby either.
Believe me, even the best players can improve with the right technical and tactical guidance from their manager.
And the thing that has thrilled me most about Liverpool’s unexpected emergence into the title mix is the English influence that Rodgers (below) has strived to retain.
Brendan hasn’t had tens of millions to spend in the transfer market. What has been made available has been invested wisely – just look at the boy Philippe Coutinho.
The calming of Luis Suarez after a summer of discontent hasn’t made the Uruguayan any less brilliant.
But a big part of the Liverpool success story this season has been made in Britain.
Steven Gerrard has continued to be inspirational, in a more withdrawn midfield role – his ball to send Daniel Sturridge free to score at Fulham in midweek was delivered with the kind of precision we normally only associate with pass-masters like Andrea Pirlo.
Sturridge has been as sensational as he once only threatened to be.
And the charge for the top has been made at a time when Glen Johnson has been injured.
All three of those players will be on the plane to Rio.
But the one thing that should warm every Englishman’s heart has been the form shown by unsung heroes like Jordan Henderson , Raheem Sterling and young Jon Flanagan.
Henderson’s rebirth is a credit to him and his manager for not giving up on a player who had lost his way following a big-money transfer.
Sterling is out there terrorising seasoned international defenders.
Flanagan has played with an assuredness that is well beyond his 21 years.
These boys are the future of England – and let’s hope that future begins at the World Cup.
Rodgers is no different to any manager in that he is responsible only to the club that pays his wages.
But he is clearly committed to developing talent as much as recruiting through the transfer market. To give someone like Gerrard a new lease of life by employing his skills in a different role was an absolute masterstroke.
Liverpool’s 5-1 hammering of Arsenal last week was quite rightly hailed as one of the performances of the season . But it was the 3-2 victory at Craven Cottage that gave me more belief that this team is the real deal .
Twice a Fulham side buoyed by taking a point at Manchester United went in front.
But Liverpool demonstrated a resolve and belief that will hold them in good stead during squeaky bum time.
Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City have all looked like champions at times this season. In the last seven days, so have Liverpool.
Rodgers is right when he says his team is still a work in progress, but I won’t bet against them. Not this season, when we’ve learned to expect the unexpected.[/article]
The title race has developed into a four-team battle for supremacy, the contest to break into the Champions League places is just as compelling, and the rest are all scrapping for top-flight survival.
The constant twists and turns make it impossible to predict anything.
But I would love to see Liverpool crowned champions.
It would be the perfect fillip for England before Roy Hodgson’s men travel to Brazil.
Brendan Rodgers is proving at Anfield that we can produce top footballers in this country.
And he is also showing that the standard of British coaching isn’t too shabby either.
Believe me, even the best players can improve with the right technical and tactical guidance from their manager.
And the thing that has thrilled me most about Liverpool’s unexpected emergence into the title mix is the English influence that Rodgers (below) has strived to retain.
Brendan hasn’t had tens of millions to spend in the transfer market. What has been made available has been invested wisely – just look at the boy Philippe Coutinho.
The calming of Luis Suarez after a summer of discontent hasn’t made the Uruguayan any less brilliant.
But a big part of the Liverpool success story this season has been made in Britain.
Steven Gerrard has continued to be inspirational, in a more withdrawn midfield role – his ball to send Daniel Sturridge free to score at Fulham in midweek was delivered with the kind of precision we normally only associate with pass-masters like Andrea Pirlo.
Sturridge has been as sensational as he once only threatened to be.
And the charge for the top has been made at a time when Glen Johnson has been injured.
All three of those players will be on the plane to Rio.
But the one thing that should warm every Englishman’s heart has been the form shown by unsung heroes like Jordan Henderson , Raheem Sterling and young Jon Flanagan.
Henderson’s rebirth is a credit to him and his manager for not giving up on a player who had lost his way following a big-money transfer.
Sterling is out there terrorising seasoned international defenders.
Flanagan has played with an assuredness that is well beyond his 21 years.
These boys are the future of England – and let’s hope that future begins at the World Cup.
Rodgers is no different to any manager in that he is responsible only to the club that pays his wages.
But he is clearly committed to developing talent as much as recruiting through the transfer market. To give someone like Gerrard a new lease of life by employing his skills in a different role was an absolute masterstroke.
Liverpool’s 5-1 hammering of Arsenal last week was quite rightly hailed as one of the performances of the season . But it was the 3-2 victory at Craven Cottage that gave me more belief that this team is the real deal .
Twice a Fulham side buoyed by taking a point at Manchester United went in front.
But Liverpool demonstrated a resolve and belief that will hold them in good stead during squeaky bum time.
Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City have all looked like champions at times this season. In the last seven days, so have Liverpool.
Rodgers is right when he says his team is still a work in progress, but I won’t bet against them. Not this season, when we’ve learned to expect the unexpected.[/article]
