The Reds were comprehensively beaten 3-0 by rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford as the Northern Irishman dropped Simon Mignolet and tinkered with his formation.
Christmas is regarded as the season of goodwill but there is precious little currently on supply for Brendan Rodgers, with the Liverpool boss entrenched in his first major crisis at Anfield.
This was the start of a crucial period for the Northern Irishman but the Reds followed up their elimination from the Champions League with a 3-0 defeat in their bitter rivals’ own backyard.
The next two games could go a long way to deciding Rodgers’s fate at Anfield. Losses in the quarter-finals of the League Cup to Bournemouth in midweek and then to Arsenal on Sunday could spell the beginning of the end of the 41-year-old’s time on Merseyside – just six months after he came so close to ending Liverpool’s 24-year wait for a league title.
Against United, Rodgers made the bold decision to drop under-fire goalkeeper Simon Mignolet for Brad Jones and start without a recognised striker, with Raheem Sterling handed the responsibility to lead Liverpool’s attack in a new look 3-4-3 formation.
It was one of those days when a manager would be totally judged on his team selection and, unfortunately for Rodgers, his failed to pay dividends.
The decision to drop Mignolet after a string of unconvincing displays did not come as a major surprise but to do it in such an important game was puzzling, especially given that Rodgers later admitted that he had been pondering such a move for several weeks.
Jones’s performance was patchy at best, with the No.2 arguably beaten too easily for the first and third goals. He certainly is not worthy of becoming Liverpool’s first choice, despite Rodgers admitting that he will be in the first team “indefinitely” following Mignolet’s recent struggles.
“I felt I had to change it because we have to find solutions throughout the squad to be better,” the manager said after the game.
“I said to Simon that it’s for an indefinite period. Brad’s a very capable keeper so he was always going to play in the Bournemouth game anyway.”
Further up the field, Sterling was Liverpool’s most dangerous player and, had it not been for the heroics of David de Gea, could have had a hat-trick. His missed chances undoubtedly contributed to Liverpool’s defeat but it would be unfair to focus the blame on the England international; Rodgers is struggling for answers at Anfield and does not appear to know his best team.
The starting XI picked itself last season but Rodgers has chopped and changed in recent weeks in a bid to arrest Liverpool’s slump and is yet to find a winning combination.
The Reds splashed out £110 million (€140m) in the summer following Luis Suarez’s move to Barcelona but none of the new signings have lived up to their price tags. It is debatable if Liverpool’s American owners will loosen the purse-strings again in January, though it is obvious that a striker is needed.
Had Suarez been in the team at Old Trafford, it could certainly be argued that the Reds could have beaten United given the chances they created and Rodgers’s problem lies in the fact that the Uruguayan was not adequately replaced in the summer. Shock summer acquisition Mario Balotelli is yet to score in the Premier League, with fellow new arrival Rickie Lambert netting just once, while Daniel Sturridge has been on the treatment table since August.
The statistics are damning for Rodgers: Liverpool’s defeat at Old Trafford was their seventh in 16 league matches and they languish in 10th in the table. Confidence appears to have drained out of a squad that exceeded expectations last season and fans appear to be losing patience with the man on the sidelines.
A trip to Old Trafford remains the biggest away day for Liverpool fans but the despondent way in which they left the stadium at the final whistle summed up the feelings currently engulfing the club. Rodgers was even forced to bat away suggestions of dressing-room unrest following the defeat, the knives having come out during a dismal run.
“In every dressing room there have always been been issues but it is not something I discuss outside of the dressing room,” noted Rodgers. “The players are honest but we are not getting results.
“We have to recapture the team ethos. With the emphasis of the team, it is clear to me that we are searching to find solutions.”
The minimum that was probably expected of Rodgers this season was another top-four finish to build on the success of last term but that already looks a tall order.
Rodgers insists that he has the backing of Liverpool’s owners, John W Henry and Fenway Sports Group, but they have shown that they do not stand on ceremony if they feel that the club need to move forward.
It cannot be forgotten that the current owners sacked club legend Kenny Dalglish and quickly dispensed of the services of current England manager Roy Hodgson after both failed to meet their standards.
Of course, the Anfield powerbrokers will hope that Rodgers can inspire an upturn in fortunes quickly, otherwise the improvement of last season will be a distant memory before the bells of ‘Big Ben’ ring in the New Year.
Rodgers looked like a man with the world on his shoulders as he patrolled the touchline for the whole 90 minutes at Old Trafford but, unless things improve quickly, he could find himself sidelined permanently.
source: goal.com
STUDIO 3 NEWCASTLE AUSTRALIA 