Brendan Rodgers seems to have lost the confidence which helped him lead Liverpool so close to the title last season. - Reuters pic, November 9, 2014.Newcastle United, Real Madrid and Chelsea. That’s three games and three losses in a week for Liverpool.
These results will leave plenty of doubt in the minds of the players and their fans. Last season they genuinely believed that they finally have a team capable of dominating domestically and competing with the cream of the crop in Europe. So far since the beginning of this season, they look like a mid-table team struggling to cope with the demands of more midweek football and being without their former star striker, Luis Suarez.
What was probably more disappointing than their results this week would be the Liverpool manager’s choice of the starting line-up against Real Madrid for their Champions League clash.
When Brendan Rodgers named a team of second-stringers to face the current Champions League holders in Spain, it sent out a clear message that he was surrendering the match, or as Gary Lineker put it – “throwing in the towel”.
Arsene Wenger once said in reference to Jose Mourinho’s constant denial of the idea that his Chelsea side was well in the race to win the league last season that “If you're not in the race you cannot lose it, simple as that.” This statement seems to apply to the Liverpool situation in Madrid as well. Fear of failure comes to mind.
It would definitely be more convenient (and less embarrassing) for everyone to think that their loss has more to do with an uneven contest rather than Liverpool’s current inability to win games.
Rodgers subsequent efforts to disguise it as one of his ‘football management logics’ only made it appear worse as it paints a picture of a manager lacking trust towards his players.
Flashback to April, when Brendan Rodgers’ side played Chelsea in the title-deciding match (you know, the one which saw the birth of “Slippy” Stevie G), the Reds manager had a real gung-ho attitude, and he was adamant that his approach to the game was to put Chelsea on the back foot right from the start.
At that point, Liverpool were favourites to claim the title and Rodgers deservedly gained the plaudits for their transformation from a declining team to a Premier League contender.
Not only did Rodgers want to win, he wanted to do so while emphasising his style of attractive attacking brand of football. You could sense that the Liverpool fans appreciated it. They loved the fact that their manager can speak with such pride the style of football they choose to play, and even though Liverpool required only one point against a formidable Chelsea team to all but secure the title, he refused to abandon that philosophy and adopt a defensive game plan.
That was the Liverpool of last season, confident and fearless. Over a span of a few months, how things have changed.
When the team sheet was announced at the Bernabeu Stadium on Wednesday, Liverpool fans and players had every right to feel hurt and angry. They waited for five long years for their team’s return to the most prestigious competition in club football, the Champions League. Yet in the most exciting and lucrative match of their group stage, the manager ruined it by fielding a weaker “B” team for reasons only he can fathom.
Imagine a fan who had travelled halfway across the world and paid a premium ticket price to watch his beloved team play against Ronaldo & Co. on a historic night only to find out that the manager had decided that this match was not even worth Liverpool’s participation.
If Liverpool had managed to pull off an upset and beat Real Madrid – a team comprising some of the world’s best players, then one might just wonder how much confidence they could have taken away from that match. Judging by their recent form and results, that is exactly what they need.
Brendan Rodgers should hang his head in shame. There is a chance that Manchester City might exit the Champions League from the group stages without a win, but for what it’s worth, at least they have played every single match with integrity in the spirit of fair competition, and that is respectable. Too bad the Liverpool manager cannot say the same for himself. – November 9,2014.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.
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