"He had to go, but Rodgers gave us the best football seen in a generation" by Alex Woo

[tlw content]

So that’s that, then. Following months of speculation and clamouring from a large section of the fan base, Brendan Rodgers finally lost his job as Liverpool manager. It’s not surprising – the results and performances progressively got worse, particularly over the past six months – but it is a sad and all too familiar tale for Reds fans; it seems every time the team appear to be on the cusp of greatness things tragically and drastically fall apart.

 
Rodgers was arguably fortunate to survive this long following Liverpool’s capitulation over the final few months of last season, culminating with the 6-1 drubbing away to Stoke on the final day; many fans thought he should have been sacked after that. I was probably one of the few who understood the decision to keep him and for the most part agreed with it. It’s not that I could have presented a passionate case as to why I thought Rodgers would turn it all around, but in this instance I didn’t agree with sacking a young manager, still learning on the job, who was a whisker away from winning the most unexpected of league titles not twelve months earlier.
 
Both Gerard Houllier and Rafa Benitez found themselves in similar situations before Rodgers, but neither of them were granted such leniency by previous owners. The circumstances were different, though. Both managers had been in the job for several years and Liverpool had enjoyed sustained strong spells to build their respective squads, where, with the appeal of Champions League football – and mostly free of the strict restrictions to transfer targets now imposed by FSG - they could lure top players to the club. Not that either manager necessarily deserved to lose their job when they did; hindsight, of course, is 20/20. But this is a recurring pattern that has plagued the club through the 21^st century. 
 
What Rodgers nearly accomplished in 13/14 was unparalleled, and having seen how changing managers twice after they came so close to the Holy Grail didn’t result in us taking the one final step to greatness, I felt like we owed it to ourselves to see whether that one fantastic season was an aberration or whether in a few years’ time we’d look back and wonder “what if we gave him more time?” Brendan was obviously on a very short leash, however, and after opening the season with a few decent results things quickly turned bad, and the club have made the right call making a change this early whilst there is still a lot to play for this season.
 
Revisionism is rife in football - we’ve all been guilty of it at some point - but it’s a shame that many fans have chosen to gloss over what a ride the 13/14 season was and disparage the role Rodgers played in it. For the younger generation of fans who’ve never seen us win the league, myself included, this was the best football we’ve ever seen from a Liverpool team. Sure, the 08/09 season we finished second under Rafa was a great laugh as well, as were the myriad memorable European nights against some of the best teams on the continent that now seem a lifetime ago. But the second half of that season was simply unlike anything we’ve seen in recent times.
 
Luis Suarez was obviously the crown jewel; the most talented player I’ll likely ever see in a Liverpool shirt, but to suggest that he was the only reason The Reds morphed in to the best team on the planet over the second half of the season is ludicrous. His goals, in all their resplendence, were often beyond comprehension, but he scored 31 of Liverpool’s 101 goals that season - that’s less than a third. Still an incredible haul, and importantly many of them helped to maintain momentum when Sturridge was sidelined – just as Sturridge’s goals early in the season did whilst Suarez was suspended - but he was a key cog in a prolific, functioning machine; he did not do it all alone.
 
Rodgers was pragmatic enough to forego his preferred formation and style of play to build a system that got the most out of Suarez and Sturridge. Rodgers was clever enough to switch Gerrard to a deeper role in front of the back four to utilise his brain and talent on the ball whilst saving his legs. Rodgers was brave enough to thrust youngsters Jon Flanagan and Raheem Sterling in to starring roles during a title run-in when many would have played it safe and chosen more experienced players instead. Rodgers found a system that worked, and then he built upon that and made Liverpool flexible enough to switch seamlessly between a variety of formations, often in game, depending on the opposition and the players available. It was a brilliant collective effort from players and staff, and Rodgers was as responsible as anyone for the brilliant run Liverpool had.
 
I’ll always like Rodgers for that six month spell from December onwards. The 5-0 drubbing of Spurs at White Hart Lane, absolutely playing them off the park and then Flanno lashing a volley in off the bar. Hammering Everton 4-0 at Anfield, yet being disappointed we didn’t put a historic beating on them when Sturridge missed a penalty early in the second-half. How absurd does that sound reading it back? Then the 5-1 annihilation of Arsenal. I doubt the first twenty minutes of that game will ever be bettered by another Liverpool team. That ridiculous Suarez chest and volley from thirty-yards that crashed off the post, imagine if that goes in? 
 
The rest of that season was actually a blur, in large part due to the severe post-match hangovers that followed every fixture. Southampton away and then a trip to Old Trafford at the start of March was where everyone thought we’d fall apart and we won both games 3-0, seeing them off comfortably like minnows. Couple of other wins against jobbers then we turned Spurs over 4-0 at Anfield. Then West Ham. Then that Man City game. Sterling completely having Kompany off early on. Coutinho conveniently learning how to shoot. Being convinced the drought was over and the league was ours.
 

 
We all know how it turned out, and it ruined Stevie. It ruined most of us, too. You could tell throughout the whole of last season how much it affected Gerrard, and the best thing he could have done was get out of Dodge and not relive it every time he stepped out at Anfield. I don’t think I’ll ever get over it, either – and I don’t think I’ll ever be as emotionally invested in a Liverpool team I was then. But what a six months that was. We won 11 games straight between February and April. I know it counts for nothing at the end of it, but this is as close as it gets being a modern-day Liverpool fan. Those older than us have plenty of memories, but even Istanbul was over a decade ago – this is a different era. It’s a damning indictment of how far we’ve fallen that this was the highlight of the last ten years, but Rodgers’ role in it all should not be diminished just because last season was a disaster. 
 
I remember writing just after the January transfer window shut that Liverpool’s failure to bring in any new players could cost them the league, and I’m still convinced it did. A new signing or two would have been the difference between second and first. The transfer model FSG have put in place and the farcical recruitment process stem much further back than just last summer after we sold Suarez, and these are systemic issues that FSG must address as well as finding Rodgers’ replacement.
 
When we needed a goal against Chelsea we had Victor Moses and Iago Aspas as our top two attacking options from the bench: that’s the club failing the manager. £20m wasted on Tiago Illori, Luis Alberto and Iago Aspas in the summer of 2013 were the warning signs. Whoever suggested signings those three players should be promptly following Rodgers out of the door. Then spending nearly £120m on new players yet replacing Luis Suarez with Rickie Lambert and Mario Balotelli is so staggeringly incompetent that it doesn’t really matter if Shankly was in charge, nobody would have been able to progress with such a drop off in talent. Sturridge’s injuries last season were unfortunate, but he’s hardly been a paragon of durability throughout his career.
 
Rodgers’ eye for a player was extremely questionable, too, though. Joe Allen, Fabio Borini, Dejan Lovren and Adam Lallana have proven to be an exorbitant waste of money, with little return from the £70m investment on players the manager clearly wanted. It’s hard to support the manager’s claim for more control over transfers when ‘his signings’ were just as bad; the only difference is they were actually given substantial playing time. The majority of the signings made this summer, whether they were Rodgers’ choices or not, are of a good pedigree, and it appears the club managed to strengthen the squad without the risk of massive overhaul if Rodgers was replaced.
 
Whether this Liverpool squad is good enough to challenge for the league, or even finish in the top four is up for debate - but it is clearly capable of playing much better than it has under Rodgers and that is the crux of the issue. The product on the pitch for the last six months has been truly abject, and this is ultimately what cost Rodgers his job. After a good run over the winter period going 13 games unbeaten, the nosedive from the loss at home to United in March, to the semi-final loss to Villa at Wembley, to then getting hammered by Charlie Adam and Jonathan Walters in the worst club loss in 50 years was arguably enough to see him ousted, but if FSG have proven themselves to be anything it is patient and calculated.
 
The players obviously must bear a lot of the blame for the team’s struggles, but the team has lacked an identity; a blueprint from which to work from. It’s clear that the rut had set in, and a full pre-season working with the squad and new signings ultimately made no difference to the results. The manager had no idea how to solve any of the issues that have continued to trouble his side, particularly when it comes to defending.
 
Conceding goals was constantly Rodgers’ Achilles heel, despite several new faces and a variety of different systems. Liverpool got away with it when they could just outscore the opposition, but the goals dried up following Suarez’s departure and despite brief spells where the backline has looked solid, they have always eventually reverted to type; they are a shell of the side who lit up the league not eighteen months ago.
 
A new manager will not be the panacea to the club’s woes, however, whether it’s Jurgen Klopp, Carlo Ancelotti or Mike Bassett coming in. Liverpool’s current model is one that is inherently flawed, and the apparent money saved in not paying extortionate wages is more than wasted in fees for gambling on potential when the setup is not in place for them to fulfil it. The club are hoping to repeat what the likes of Montpellier, Dortmund and Atletico Madrid have accomplished in recent years by winning trophies with a smaller budget than their competitors, but the odds are stacked against them – none of those leagues have the money and quality through the league that the Premier League boasts.
 
But that is another point for another day. The club have taken the right first step in improving by getting rid of Rodgers. He’s a young, talented coach who should go on and have a good career, despite his incredibly tedious middle-management rhetoric. The squad he left behind may be bereft of true world-class players, but unlike the one he inherited it’s not full of overpaid, mediocre dross; it’s a predominantly young side full of talent that needs a great coach to revitalise and improve it. The spine of the side needs improving, but there is a strong core group of players to work with; a solid foundation for success.
 
Let’s just hope the club have learned from their mistakes of the previous five years or they are destined to repeat them - and that all starts with appointing a manager who has a proven track record of winning things.
 

Alex Woo

@woolfc

Click here to view the article

[xerxes]

I didn’t agree with sacking a young manager, still learning on the job

A decent piece. It overstates Rodger's football and understates Rafa's football for my taste, but that is just opinion. It also ignores the fact that for all his glory in 13/14, he never fixed the defence in all his time with us. The Liverpool way has always been before you win a game, don't lose it.

 

The above quote is at the heart of it all. Appointing someone on a work experience basis was high risk, continuing on the job learning after three years is a non-starter for LFC.

[Grinch]

Much better side under Rafa then we ever were under Rodgers.

[clangers]

It depends what you consider to be the best football? All out attack without any ability to defend is undoubtedly the most exciting, it is also extremely naive and one dimensional. I still think Rafa's side was better, more sophisticated and sustainable (if we hadn't started selling our best players). Rodgers side was wonderful to watch but it was clearly going to run out of steam. You just can't thump 5 past everyone.

 

I can't help but feel that the 2008/09 side would have walked the 2013/14 campaign.

 

Despite the plaudits we ultimately didn't have flexibility to shut up shop against a Chelsea side that came to park the bus and play on the counter attack in a match we didn't actually need to win. 

 

The 2013/14 side will be remembered just as Keegan's Newcastle, a glorious failure but a failure never the less.

[Section_31]

Really good piece that Woo. 

[Nightcat]

Suarez gave us the best football we've seen for a while. that is why when he was sold we could not recover even after spending the entire fee we received for him. Suarez was signed by Kenny.

 

During Rodgers time we have consistently witnessed the worst defending I have seen from a Liverpool team ever, destroying our defensive legacy extending back during the Houllier years.

 

Football is not only about attacking.

[billypilgrimnz]

What Rodgers nearly accomplished in 13/14 was unparalleled

 

 

That sums it up, really. 

[Babb'sBurstNad]

A lot of good points - I also dislike the revisionism that fail to give the manager any credit - but I'm afraid I disagree on the key ones of the club's structure, what we can expect from a new manager, and the quality of the league.

 

I hear it said that we can't compete for top players when we don't offer top wages, but in my view there's a chasm of difference between not being able to compete for the very best, and the players touted as being the manager's choices. Even the briefed pieces sticking up for Rodgers can only really point to Ashely Williams as the prime example.

 

Does anyone really think a manager with a big reputation and a history of success will struggle as much to attract better talent?

[Peter Cormack]

We finished second in 2013/14 largely because of Rogers. A less naive manager with some nous would have guided the team to first place. It was the draws that should have been comfortable wins that lost us the league

[johnsusername]

0809 / 1314 can't we just accept them both instead of fighting between them?

 

If we'd have strengthened both squads in the january windows we'd have won the league. Ngog was no replacement for a crocked Torres, and the 1314 team were shattered by the end.

 

A bit of investment and we'd be sitting on 20 titles now.

[Soleilrouge]

The key to great managers is they build teams that are both good in attack and defence

 

Rodgers could never achieve both and most of the time he achieved neither

 

In one season he achieved one with a player Kenny Dalglish  bought for him

[DaveTucker]

It's crazy to claim we'd have won the league with a January signing or two. We won 12 and drew one of the last 14 games and we probably would've beaten Palace if all we needed was 3 points and didn't foolishly try for a cricket score.

 

So basically all the new signings could've done to improve us would have been to change the Chelsea result. Whilst extra attacking options may have helped in this regard It's a bold man who claims that could've been done whilst also assuming that their presence wouldn't have disrupted the brilliant run we had with a settled team. 

 

Other than that - good article!    

[SasaS]

The key to great managers is they build teams that are both good in attack and defence

 

Rodgers could never achieve both and most of the time he achieved neither

 

In one season he achieved one with a player Kenny Dalglish  bought for him

 

Had Dalglish actually played any significant part in bringing in Luis? The player he himself had at his disposal for a season and a half, which many people forget when arguing 13/14 was all down to Luis.

[Russ Atmosphere]

It's crazy to claim we'd have won the league with a January signing or two. We won 12 and drew one of the last 14 games and we probably would've beaten Palace if all we needed was 3 points and didn't foolishly try for a cricket score.

 

So basically all the new signings could've done to improve us would have been to change the Chelsea result. Whilst extra attacking options may have helped in this regard It's a bold man who claims that could've been done whilst also assuming that their presence wouldn't have disrupted the brilliant run we had with a settled team.

 

I thought the players were absolutely dead on their feet by the end of matches in that run and that was with one game a week. Rodgers didn't rotate and he didn't trust his subs. Part of the blame should be Rodgers for the poor previous summer transfer dealings, but I agree with the OP that not being backed in that January transfer window by the owners was ridiculous as those chance don't come around that often.

[mattyq]

Good article, Woo

We did play some great football that season but it was a failure in the final analysis

He gave it his best shot, Brendan, but he was nowhere near good enough for us. A bad appointment not helped by the lack of assistance and poor management structure

Hopefully, we live and learn and go on to appoint somebody entirely appropriate

[Section_31]

You have to give credit where it's due with Rodgers, to say he 'should' have won the league is crazy, that side was playing so far above itself it was untrue, if we'd won the league that year it would have belonged in the X Files.

 

For all his flaws, one things Rodgers realised which  the previous managers never did was that not all games need to be controlled, and that he league in England is pretty shite. Managers here are tactically naive and if you've got better players and go at them, nine times out of ten you will win.

 

That was how the mancs won so much under Ferguson, they just went for the throat and before you knew what happened they were 3 or 4 nil up. 

 

If you could  take that aspect of Rodgers and implant it into Rafa, you'd have some Liverpool manager. 

[JermainePennant]

The key to great managers is they build teams that are both good in attack and defence

 

Rodgers could never achieve both and most of the time he achieved neither

 

In one season he achieved one with a player Kenny Dalglish bought for him

Kenny didn't sign Suarez and if Suarez was the sole reason behind our success under BR what does that say about Kenny?

 

People saying finishing second was not an achievement are totally ignoring what position the club is in, 5th has been our highest finish in recent years apart from that season.

 

He's gone now and people got what they wanted, there's no point carrying on the criticism.Hes part of the LFC family for ever now and deserves to be shown respect.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[VladimirIlyich]

We always seemed to run out of steam under Rodgers,even in our great season. This was always a concern for me and something a new manager would need to address. Klopp seems to fit the bill in this respect too.

FSG have to take some of the blame with their dithering and allowing more money to be spent in the Summer. These players may even be surplus to requirements very soon.

[Baltar]

It's a good piece but understates the role of Suarez. He not only scored 31 goals in 33 matches, but made 14 assists and was involved in almost every goal we scored. Players were enhanced playing with him. His runs, his passing, his work rate and interplay with the other attacking players was the key to the success of that team. Coutinho, Sterling, Sturridge, Gerrard, Henderson all were brilliant during those glorious 6 months and while Rodgers did well enough to get them into positions they were comfortable in, it was Suarez that made them all tick. Suarez was a genius playing the best football of his life. He'll never have a better individual season.

[TheHowieLama]

Much better side under Rafa then we ever were under Rodgers.

 

 

Those sides with Suarez win everything

[Dr. J]

It's a good piece but understates the role of Suarez. He not only scored 31 goals in 33 matches, but made 14 assists and was involved in almost every goal we scored. Players were enhanced playing with him. His runs, his passing, his work rate and interplay with the other attacking players was the key to the success of that team. Coutinho, Sterling, Sturridge, Gerrard, Henderson all were brilliant during those glorious 6 months and while Rodgers did well enough to get them into positions they were comfortable in, it was Suarez that made them all tick. Suarez was a genius playing the best football of his life. He'll never have a better individual season.

 

He berated the linesman over an offside call with seconds left in the 5-0 drubbing of Spurs. There was never a lost ball or a lost cause to him and he quite simply made everybody better.

[Soleilrouge]

I remember Suarez first goal against Spurs

 

A through ball from Suarez to Henderson who miscontrolled  with first touch and Suarez had followed up his pass to finish first time

 

Brendan Rodgers my arse

[moof]

I must say, if you think Rodgers deserves little or no credit then I don't think you really understand how football works.

[KMD7]

Good piece that Woo. 

[Adebisi]

Don't we have enough threads to compare sides, managers and claim everything was down to Luis?

Whatever the fuck it was, I don't think anyone can deny watching us that season wasn't fucking ace. We were a joy to watch. So many matches that made you feel good and positive inside. I think the last time the whole family watched a match was when we won number 5, but from about Feb til the end of the season family and friends would be round ours every weekend watching the match. Some like my mum don't even like football, others not even Liverpool fans but still we'd all be in the front room. I remember Cou making it 3-2 against City and the house went fucking mental. Even the dogs were howling.

Memories that will stay with me for the rest of my life even though it all ended in tears. Obviously football is about winning at the end of the day, but there's also the small matter of the memories and times spent with loved ones while watching the thing that really make it special. Hats off to all involved.