After seeing off Gerrard, the pressure is really on for Brendan Rodgers.
With Steven Gerrard off to the MLS in the summer, Rodgers will be under pressure to prove he was right to let the talismanic captain leave Liverpool
In the modern game, the term ‘player power’ has come to be used to describe a process wherein a player’s wish to leave a club can be made real, even if his employers may not want to lose him. Any reference to a contract of course is purely incidental. Once a player’s head is turned, by the lure of loads more lucre or the tantalising glitter of silverware, club’s faced with the alternatives of keeping a dissatisfied player or cashing in, usually take the latter as the least bad option.
There is another element to this however, where player power manifests itself in a battle of wills between the manager and a particular player nominally under his charge. Some have painted such a picture with regard to the relationship between Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers and talismanic skipper Steven Gerrard. Continue reading →
Is Liverpool’s perfect storm simply blowing itself out?
For Rodgers, the new season has been disappointing.
Last season saw Liverpool come as close to a realistic title challenge as they have for a number of years. Luis Suarez had become the most potent force in the Premier League and Steven Gerrard had performed exceptionally in his ‘quarter-back’ role, spraying around the passes to feed a voracious front line. Add in the pace of Sturridge and the emerging force of Jordan Henderson in midfield, and there was little reason to question the credentials of Brendan Rodgers’ squad as a growing power in English football. That was certainly the headline theory anyway. Some however, had doubts. Continue reading →
Gary Thacker 