Should Liverpool be on Reds alert to Rodgers?

14Apr 2013

England - Premier League

Romilly Evans reviews another underwhelming season at Anfield and wonders if their manager is to blame...

First the Oscars. Now we're getting to that culminating point in the Premier League campaign when the gongs get handed out. In short, it's awards season, where the trophies are decided and the key personnel get lauded to high heaven. Sir Alex for top boss, Robin van Persie for PFA Player of the Year, you know the drill. Except this year, at least RVP has some genuine competition in the form of Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the coin are the Raspberries. And this year's bad pennies on the pitch are assuredly Emmanuel Adebayor, perhaps Papiss Cissé, and let's not forget the recent doyenne of disappointment, Fernando Torres (the Meryl Streep of Underachievement). Poor old Fernando. Perhaps we should let him off the hook for once and focus instead on the managerial ranks where Brendan Rodgers has arguably been getting away with murder at the Liverpool helm this term.

I'll start by saying that if Rodgers was looking for underachievement, he certainly came to the right place. After increasingly lacklustre efforts under the tenures of messrs Hodgson and Dalglish, the Reds hadn't been in the league mix since the tenure of Rafa Benitez - Chelsea fans grudgingly take note. So it was the perfect time for Rodgers to join: Liverpool fans were dejected not only by results and signings but also by their style of play.

Whenever the human race gets a little down on itself, the tendency is to hope for a messiah to save it. And while he didn't quite top the Sermon on the Mount for profundity, Rodgers undoubtedly arrived and talked a good game. "For me, football is 24 hours a day, I can't stop," Rodgers enthused. "When you hire me, you get a man who stays up till 2am watching German football. Sometimes even I think, hang on a second."

It may sound closer to a desperate boardroom pitch on The Apprentice, but you couldn't fault it for crazed dedication. Even the club's new American owners were impressed with his can-do attitude. And his statistics. After all, Americans love a stat. Did you know that Rodgers former club Swansea had traded 2,000 more successful passes than Liverpool in the 2011/12 season? So neatly was Rodgers aligned with stateside sensibilities, you almost expected him to sign off with a comment remarking on the niceness of your day to come. Better yet for Rodgers, he signed off on a contract which was meant to instill both long-term continuity and prosperity at Anfield.

What has unfolded, however, is more of the same. Liverpool are clinging to a fading European dream and mired in mediocrity. Seventh place now appears the reality of their finishing position. They don't even look like catching Everton for Merseyside bragging rights, despite a budget which dwarfs the Toffees.

So why isn't Rodgers getting the critical slating, one might expect? Well, firstly, he's won over a bunch of Kop natives, jaded by the dismal doctrines of previous regimes. He has also managed to convince the players that he is up to the task via some excellent man-management and a playing fluency which is easy on the eye, if not eye-catching in the points tally it's garnered to date.

At least Suarez has flourished under Rodgers' stewardship (the Premier League Golden Boot awaits), while he's also managed to coax Steven Gerrard's performance level back to somewhere approaching its peak. As for Daniel Sturridge, the 23 year-old has fitted in well to his system and is emblematic of the club's stated intention to rebuild for the future.

This will now be coupled to a policy of prioritising further young talent over big-priced signings. Rodgers calls it The Borussia Dortmund Way (a team which has rebounded from financial meltdown to the Champions League semi-finals). He certainly likes those Germans. Not that you'd know it from Liverpool profligacy in front of goal this season. Despite Suarez's show-stealing heroics, there been little to laud on a collective basis.

Saturday's 0-0 at Reading, however, was far from a drab affair in which Royals goalkeeper, Alex McCarthy, produced a man-of-the-match effort, fending off 10 official saves (one shy of the leading mark for the campaign). For their part, Liverpool mounted a staggering 26 shots, 15 of which were on target.

With Rodgers then, it's really just a question of whether you believe he's simply been genuinely unlucky, or if his confidence that he'll turn seventh into an elite European place next season is the talk of a mad man. He's riding a fine line between Mike Bassett and messianic. Then again, many a neurotic genius carries within them the seeds of their own destruction.

So it remains to be seen what will become of 40-year-old Northern Irishman and his likeable but goofball ways. He arrived on Merseyside as the self-styled Special One: striving, strutting, no top-flight playing career but an ego to match the best. Sure, he's committed to the cause. But should he be committed to an institution?

Rodgers still believes he's aboard the express train to greatness. But at this rate, he'll be asked by the conductor to kindly disembark at Barking. As for this year's coaching awards, he'd be lucky to get an honourable mention.