Liverpool's future bright under Brendan Rodgers

07 October, 2012

Under Brendan Rodgers, Liverpool has found a manager who thinks for the future. He is in the process of building a team, which would bring success to the club not only on a short term basis but for years to come. The future of Liverpool seems to be in safe hands.

WHEN KENNY Dalglish was sacked as the manager of the Liverpool Football club at the end of last season, there were anxious fans awaiting to see the arrival of a new manager. Many experienced managers did the rounds but the job of managing Liverpool was finally assigned to a young manager, Brendan Rodgers, who was in charge of Swansea during the time. Very few would reject a chance to manage a club of Liverpool's stature. Brendan Rodgers jumped at the opportunity and was aware of the task at hand – he was in for a bumpy ride. He wanted to bring back Liverpool's glory past, which neither of the two previous short term managers, Roy Hodgson and Kenny Dalglish could.

He was straightforward in his ideas – you have to take it, even if you don't like it (but not in a forceful manner). He made it clear to the Liverpool owners that he wanted to be the boss and he would have the first hand say in all important football matters related to the club. Such kind of things gave assurances to the hierarchy and the fans that the club was in safe hands under Brendan Rodgers. But, he was not at Swansea, but at Liverpool, where the club is expected to win every match they play. At Anfield, Liverpool's homeground, expectations have gone up.

He brought in new faces to Liverpool and sold some players, which he felt would not fit into his style of tiki-taka football, spelled tiqui-taca in Spanish, (Barcelona style of football involving short-passing) after analysing the strength and weakness of his squad. But the club has played seven games till date in the EPL and has been struggling in the 14th place with just a single victory against their name. But this is not what the Liverpool fans were expecting. Still, these fans have faith in their manager, who has brought in a different style of play at the Liverpool table. Though, they are not winning games, it is their brand of football, which has been praised by football fans all over the world.

If football was just based on the quality of performance, Liverpool would have been on the top of the EPL chart. But sadly, it is based on winning matches by scoring goals, which the Liverpool strikers have been far from best. They have also been an unlucky bunch losing matches after dominating teams in the EPL. They are entertaining crowds with their short passing game. The team looks a more determined outfit. They are eager to win the ball back and close in players at once. They are possessing the ball for major portion of the game, but it is only their game in the final third, which remains in question along with some sloppy defending. They have only scored 9 goals in the competition and conceded 12, which is not just good for a competition like EPL.

Brendan Rodgers was unsuccessful in signing a major out an out striker team during the transfer window, which has been hurting them badly. Borini, the only striker signed has not justified his place in the team. The Liverpool squad lack depth at its best. But, it is at this juncture, where Brendan Rodgers pulled the rabbit out of the hat via Liverpool academy. So early in the season, he announced youngsters such as Suso, Sterling, Jerome Sinclair for first team football, which the managers of the past were reluctant to. This risk has turned out to be a positive move with Suso and Sterling impressing many fans around the world. The latter even got a England call up from Roy Hodgson, England's manager. All thanks to Brendan Rodgers, who put the boy into the field against Manchester City and how will did he make the best use of it. Now, he has become a regular first time football player for the club.

Liverpool should be a happier lot, if they finish in the top 6 this season. They are a team under transformational mode. These set of players would at least take a year to understand the style of play Brendan Rodgers want. Till then, the players just have to listen to his principles and follow the discipline that he sets within the team. They are going to reap the fruits from next year onwards. But, during the season, he needs to try out different combinations and see what suits his team the best. During the January transfer, he has to sign a striker and build the striker into his style of play. Come next season, Liverpool will dominate the EPL.

The team has already shown progress with the number of quality matches that they have put up against Manchester City and United. But, this is not only a team for today, but for future. Till then, Liverpool fans need to be patient and see their team performance improve match after match and trophies would follow suit. One can feel the glory days of Liverpool coming back to Anfield.