There’s no one better than me to manage Liverpool, Brendan Rodgers says
Tony Barrett
Last updated at 12:01AM, December 13 2014
Liverpool manager remains confident he can get his side back on track with tomorrow’s journey to Old Trafford, Tony Barrett says
Brendan Rodgers has responded to mounting criticism of his methods and suggestions that his job could be in jeopardy with a strident insistence that there is no one better equipped to manage Liverpool.
Before Liverpool’s crucial visit to Old Trafford to face Manchester United tomorrow, Rodgers mounted a staunch defence of his record since taking over as manager in the summer of 2012, highlighting last season’s title challenge and his history of improving players as the chief reasons why his position should not be under threat.
Despite acknowledging that being ninth in the Barclays Premier League and failing to qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League is not good enough for “one of the biggest clubs in the world”, Rodgers maintains that he has not lost any faith in his ability to return Liverpool to the standards they set last season. The Liverpool manager did admit, though, that “command” of such a sporting institution is “lonely”.
“I think the message for me is clear, I don’t think there would be anyone better to do the job here,” Rodgers said. “Seven months ago we nearly won the title unexpectedly. I had time to work with players and took them beyond where the club has been, which was above expectation.
“This has been a difficult start with new players, less coaching time, young players, virtually starting again. I don’t think there is anybody equipped better to deal with that, having been here for the last two-and-a-half years, and experienced what this club is about and seeing what we get from the players whenever we are at our best.
“It comes with the territory [criticism and people calling for a new manager] when you don’t win games. Football is very short term. [For] the same people, maybe six or seven months ago, I couldn’t do anything wrong. You have to accept that as a manager and fight even harder to bring success. I certainly don’t doubt myself.”
The contrasting transfer strategies of the clubs have been consistently cited as one of the contrasting fortunes of Liverpool and United before their latest meeting. Whereas Louis van Gaal was able to recruit proven world-class talent such as Ángel Di María and Radamel Falcao, Rodgers has been asked to incorporate and improve players from a lower level. The difference in approach is apparent in their respective results, with United outperforming their northwest rivals, despite finishing 20 points below them last season.
“I think the club is in a different place to others, but that is something that I accept as part of my job here at Liverpool,” Rodgers said. “I will always fight for the club and the people to try and make us the best that we can possibly be.
The club have employed someone who, without being arrogant, believes he can get the best out of a senior player or youth player. He will always maximise talents that he has and I think last year proved that.
“I know exactly where we are at. Of course there is a little frustration in terms of where we were for a couple of years and where we built it, too, and we are sort of starting again really. I will take the responsibility for that. Last year, of course when you do so well, it’s the players, and rightly so. The recruitment is good, everything in the club is good.
“When you’re doing not so well, it’s the manager, and that is football, so you learn to deal with that. I’ve got to find a way with the squad of players, and the players we don’t have that are injured, to find a way to release our talent and our football again. That’s driving me on every single day and I won’t be happy until I get that again.”
The previous time Liverpool’s team bus pulled into the Old Trafford car park, those on board scented blood but also glory. United, demoralised and downtrodden, were there for the taking and so too, it seemed, was the league title. Tomorrow, just nine months after that unforgettable afternoon, Rodgers and his players will alight the coach at the same venue looking to stem their own bleeding. The hunter has become the hunted.
“The last time? What month was it — March? We would have been flying at the time,” Jordan Henderson said. We were going there with a great belief that we could win the game and we did.”
That was then, but this is now. The excitement of spring has gone, packed off with Luis Suárez, and been replaced by the harshest of winters.
Fourteen points separated the teams after their previous meeting, a 3-0 win by Liverpool that enabled them to move farther ahead of their great rivals and close in on Chelsea, the leaders. A month later, David Moyes was sacked. This time around it is Rodgers’s position that will come under increased scrutiny should United exact their revenge and establish a ten-point advantage over the Merseyside club in the process.
The prospect of seeing their season unravel at Old Trafford of all places is enough to strike fear into the most ardent Liverpool fan. Henderson, though, views it as an opportunity to be grasped. “You can’t go in with that mentality,” the midfielder said. “You can’t go in and say if we lose, it’s going to be even worse. If we go there and win the game then, all of a sudden, it changes.”
