Premier League: Brendan Rodgers pleased with Liverpool's steady start to campaign
Sunday 19 October 2014 07:37, UK
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers insists there is no crisis at Anfield and says he is happy making gradual progress throughout the opening period of the season.
With Liverpool preparing to play QPR in Sunday's Sky Live lunchtime game, they will be hoping to improve on their stuttering season, having won three and lost three in their seven league games.
Four of those matches have been without striker Daniel Sturridge, now viewed as the club's senior marksman following the summer departure of Luis Suarez.
But Sturridge is likely to miss the next two to four weeks after sustaining a calf problem on Thursday, just as he had recovered from a thigh strain which had ruled him for six weeks.
But even with their early trials and tribulations, Liverpool stand just a point off fourth place in the Premier League and Rodgers feels there is no cause for concern just yet.
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"I'm quite relaxed. I said the same last year - we'll look at it after 10 games and see where we sit," Rodgers said.
At this point in time, it's just about looking at our performance level and looking to improve that. We know we'll get better as the season goes on. There's certainly no crisis.
"If Phil Jagielka doesn't score a world-class goal (in last month's Merseyside derby) then we're two points better off and in the top four.
"At this point in time, it's just about looking at our performance level and looking to improve that.
"We know we'll get better as the season goes on. There's certainly no crisis."
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With two international breaks in the first three months of the season, combined with numerous injuries, Rodgers has found it difficult to blend a number of new signings into the squad with great effect. Despite this, he remains confident that performances will pick up.
"We lost a world-class player in the summer and we brought in a lot of players and that just takes time to gel," he added.
"Of course, with less training time to coach the players, you are going straight into the games.
Magnificent
"But the players here are absolutely magnificent; the attitude and energy that they show here, and their thirst to want to be better, is what gives me the hope that we can really push on.
"I would rather make slow and steady progress as you'll get there and that is something we will look to continue to do here."
Liverpool head to bottom side QPR on Sunday looking for a confidence-boosting win ahead of the midweek Champions League visit of Real Madrid.
It may be a match which is grabbing all the attention, but Rodgers stressed everyone at the club knows where the focus has to be.
"Our most important game is the next game, which is QPR. We will have no thought towards Real Madrid until that time," he said.
"I have to look at it but if I wanted to go with the same team on Sunday and Wednesday I could do that with the period in between - that is why we bulked up the squad."
Watch Liverpool travel to QPR live on Super Sunday. Coverage starts at 12:30pm – Sky Sports 1 HD
