Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has suggested injuries to key players has left the Reds’ squad unbalanced, resulting them in poor start to the 2014-15 season.
The Merseyside club have already lost three out of the five Premier League matches and have just six points from the first five matches. The Northern Irishman is without the services of key players as England international duo of Daniel Sturridge and Glen Johnson, Lucas Leiva, Jon Flanagan and Emre Canare, who are on the treatment table.
The German midfielder arrived at Anfield earlier in the summer transfer window, while the absence of the former Chelsea striker has been a massive blow for Liverpool. Rodgers remains confident that he can help the Anfield club come back on top and is keen to keep the belief of winning within the team.
“This is a very young group. We don’t have too many really experienced players who have been coping at this level at this club for many years. As well as new players settling in, we’ve got players out injured who have been with us on the journey here for a couple of years,” Rodgers told the Liverpool ECHO.
“That all makes it a wee bit unbalanced at the moment but we will improve over the course of the season. It’s my job to ensure the confidence is retained within the group.”.
“I don’t think confidence has been affected but it’s one where if you don’t win games over a prolonged spell then it can be. I’ve worked with this team enough to know how they respond. The honesty in the group and how hard they want to work gives me great hope.”
“We just need to get back to doing what we do best – the way of working which we know can bring success. Our passing disappointed me on Saturday. We arguably played more long passes than West Ham.”
“I look at the movement patterns in the team and our pressing and patterns of pressure. Probably with the injuries, I need to look to retain a system for maybe a longer period.”
“The 4-4-2 diamond worked really well for us but it worked really well because we had certain players playing in it. It didn’t work quite so well at the weekend. Until we get all our multi-functional players back, I’ll look at the strengths of the players we do have. Hopefully that gives them the confidence of pressing better from that position.
“It’s not all smiles when you lose games and it’s not a feeling we’ve been used to. But you have to recover quickly, refocus and move on,” the former Swansea boss concluded.
Liverpool finished second in the Premier League last season, which has seen them return to the Champions League after a five – year of absence. With the European football, every club needs a competitive squad to challenge for silverwares in all competitions.
Rodgers needs to understand that this is how it works and not just blame injuries and lack of experience for their poor form this season. Their defence has three new faces, Dejan Lovren, Alberto Moreno and Javi Manquillo and are yet to communicate well against each other.
In addition to this, goalkeeper Simon Mignolet needs to step up and has looked bit shaky this season. With Pepe Reina moving to Bayern Munich, the Belgium international lacks competition for a place in the starting lineup.
Rodgers needs to give a pat on Mignolet’s back and do everything possible to improve his form. He must also get his side’s back four sorted as they have already conceded eight goals this season. Also, the Reds manager would be hoping the summer signings could start to gel quickly before they drop further points in the coming fixtures.
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