Capital One Cup Success Would Give Brendan Rodgers More Power at Liverpool

Brendan Rodgers is preparing to take his Liverpool team into a Capital One Cup semi-final second leg at Chelsea on Tuesday night, claiming his side is ready for the challenge.

Per the official club website, the boss says that preparations for this game continued after the end of the first leg, and again straight after The FA Cup draw with Bolton Wanderers at the weekend:

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We're fully prepared for it. We have a meeting with the team to analyse and review a lot of the positive work that we did in the last game. I will look at two or three [starting] teams that [Chelsea] can play. They will obviously look at the game being at home and may want to take an extra defensive midfield player out and put in an attacker. We're a team that are in a good moment - we're playing well, working well and we know we can go there and win. That's key. What's also key and very important for us - we saw it at the weekend - are our supporters.

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While the opportunity to go to Wembley, play in a cup final and fight for silverware is, of course, the most important set of traits about the match, Rodgers will know that tangible success and trophies will strengthen his claims at the club in a variety of ways. That could be in the transfer market for players he identifies, new contracts for himself or simply control in appointing key personnel on the non-playing staff.

For that to happen, he needs to overcome Chelsea first.

First Is Hardest

It's often said by football clubs who are aiming to grow out of mediocrity and aim for success that the first piece of silverware is the hardest to win. Ingrain those first lines of a winning culture at the club and in the players, and the next strokes can fall more easily into the groove.

Lucas Leiva has spoken, per LiverpoolFC.com, about how Rodgers has said the same thing to his players:

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"The manager spoke to us before the first game and said it is always the first trophy that helps you start something," He said. "He is looking for that first medal and first trophy to put a mark on the group."

Rodgers is right. But Lucas is also right in that Rodgers is looking to win his first piece of silverware...anywhere. He is an undoubtedly capable manager but so far in his short career, trophies have eluded him.

Swansea were promoted to the Premier League via the playoffs, then won the League Cup shortly after Rodgers departed. Liverpool fought for the league title last season but ended second. Rodgers needs titles to his name to begin to validate the claims that he is impressive, progressive and capable.

Cups No Guarantee

Of course, if there is any manager who should be aware that a simple cup win in isolation is no guarantee of anything at Liverpool, it should be Brendan Rodgers. He himself replaced a club legend, Kenny Dalglish, who in the same season as he was sacked both won the League Cup and reached The FA Cup final. It wasn't enough to hold on to his job.

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What Rodgers has offered that Dalglish did not, however, is compelling evidence of progression in style and results.

The surge to second place last season was breathless in its attacking intent, scoring ability and reckless will to win. After a horrendous run earlier this term, things are looking more like last year again at present for Liverpool, with Rodgers having turned things around over the last six weeks or so.

Cup progression is all well and good—necessary, even, for the reasons outlined above—but that has to come alongside league sustainability, not in place of it.

Future

At the top of the piece, control was mentioned. Control and power, for Brendan Rodgers, if he shows that he can offer Liverpool enough to suggest he warrants more leeway than just to pick and train the team. That's something he would no doubt relish, but supporters may be split upon—largely because of misinformation, secrecy and a lack of clarity over roles.

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Take transfers, for instance. There might be those in the know, there might be suspicions, but by and large there are very few people who can absolutely, positively identify which targets were decided by one person, by multiple people or by an entire group inside the club. Earlier in the year, there were unconfirmed reports, discussion amongst the fanbase, that three scouts had lost their job with the club after the summer transfers.

Which ones? Who recommended which players? It's hard to judge from the outside, much less if Rodgers should be the man to dictate who replaces them.

Did the same person give the go-ahead for Dejan Lovren as for Emre Can? How to judge the judgement, as it were, of an individual who can get it so completely wrong with one and right with another? Of course, to expect all transfers to be a success is ludicrous. But the club must certainly want a far greater success rate with the expensive, £15m-plus signings than they have managed so far.

One game in isolation never proves anything. If any proof of that were needed, look at Liverpool's opponent's last result: a 4-2 home defeat to Bradford City. It will probably never happen again.

But if Rodgers is to take another step along the path to implementing his will and vision throughout the club, it all has to start with a single trophy. And that means emerging victorious from Stamford Bridge.

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