Too soon in the season to be painting 'bleak picture' at Anfield
Friday 3 October 2014 16:30, UK
Yesterday evening I was listening to a radio phone in which was asking the question: ‘Is this the time when we find out whether Brendan Rodgers is a top manager or not?’
And the answer to that is no, it’s not; because we already know that he is.
Rodgers hinted at it at Swansea and proved it last year with a breath-taking season with Liverpool; he is a top-quality manager. For me, he’s got nothing to prove in that respect.
People have got to take a step back and not panic over what’s happening at Liverpool. Some say ‘it was easy last year because he had Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge.’ Well he didn’t have Suarez for the first half-dozen games of the season and they still got 13 points. Rodgers and Liverpool proved they can survive without Suarez.
But without Suarez, without Sturridge, without Glenn Johnson, without Joe Allen and without a couple of others as well, any manager, at any club would find that difficult to cope with.
Bleak
People are lining up to have a dig at Brendan at Liverpool far too quickly at the moment.
The picture that’s being painted at Liverpool is far too bleak and far too gloomy. At the beginning of November they’ll have played West Brom, Hull, Queens Park Rangers and Newcastle and then let’s see if things are looking quite so bleak and gloomy as they seem to be at the moment.
It's also worth bearing in mind that even though the jury is out over some of the signings and yes, there is no question that not all of them will come off, but Brendan knew that when he signed them. He made a point of saying at the start, ‘I’m trying to lay the foundations not just for this season at this club but for years to come’.
That's why he’s gone out and bought the sort of players that he has – Lazar Markovic, Divock Origi (who’s back out on loan), Emre Can who’s injured – young players who can be the core of a Liverpool team for years to come. Most real Liverpool fans will understand that and give him and them a bit of breathing space.
And that includes Mario Balotelli. Before he kicked a ball for Liverpool I suggested on Soccer Saturday - and was pilloried on social media for it - that Balotelli was no bargain at £16million. I thought that then and I still feel it now, but it’s too soon to make a real judgement on what we’ve seen so far. He’s only had a handful of games, even he should deserve a little bit of latitude.
People are lining up to have a dig at Brendan at Liverpool far too quickly at the moment.
Terrible
That said, they were terrible on Wednesday night but I’m sure that will change over the course of the season.
It was a bitterly disappointing performance against Basel. I don’t know what’s happened to Philippe Coutinho over the summer, maybe it’s his less talented twin brother that’s come back instead of him? But he has been as poor this season as he was good last season. While Steven Gerrard is finding it a very difficult start to the season but I’ve got no doubts that he will come good as time goes on.
Liverpool are going to have to learn to cope with the extra workload of the Champions League. People are fearing that they won’t get through their group and in an ideal world they would, but that’s not as important as them finishing in the top four again. They need to establish themselves season after season as a top four club and hopefully success can come further along the line.
They’re going to come off the back of what would have been a really tough game in Basel and face West Brom this weekend and it wouldn’t surprise if they lost on Saturday. But even then I feel that they have to be given a bit more time before anyone switches on that panic button.
This week's top perfromance goes to Huddersfield for their 3-1 win at Wolves on Wednesday night.
What a fantastic achievement for Chris Powell. He’s one of the few that proves that nice guys can succeed. He’s gone in there and it’s obviously going to take time, but back-to-back wins now - and nobody saw that one coming at Molineux where Wovles have been unbeaten since I was in short trousers - is brilliant.
Another little coup for him is that he’s got Grant Holt in his team now. I’m pleased for the club, Huddersfield is a great place to go and I’m delighted for Chris Powell.
