Liverpool: How Brendan Rodgers Can Transform Reds from Challengers to Champions

Liverpool Football Club are apparently in crisis under manager Brendan Rodgers this season; their claims to the Premier League’s top four are negligible and 2014/15 should be written off already.

That’s the view of many foolish Merseyside soothsayers—despite last season’s phenomenal success, when the Reds achieved a hugely unexpected second-place finish in the league, there have been some sections of the club’s wide fanbase calling for Rodgers’ head.

A rational glance over the current league table, which finds Liverpool seventh following their 1-0 loss away to Alan Pardew’s Newcastle United and three points off the top four, should quell those prophets of rage.

A closer look at the side’s current form guide (W, L, D, W, L) doesn't exactly spell disaster, although Rodgers’ side must do better.

With rivals dropping points consistently, such as Manchester City’s recent loss away to West Ham United and Chelsea’s draw with Manchester United, there is every reason to believe the Reds can still challenge for the top four.

That should be the paramount aim this season—the loss of a talent of the calibre of Luis Suarez was too damaging.

However, the goal of becoming league champions—and this must be an eventual goal—is still a fair way from this squad’s grasp. Beyond 2014/15 and a hopeful top-four finish, how can the Reds develop from challengers to champions?

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The Back Four

If you were to formulate a list of Liverpool’s current issues, defence would be top of that list—the ultimate problem on Merseyside.

Roberto Martinez’s Everton have also struggled at the back throughout 2014/15 so far, and there must be something in the water, as Rodgers’ back line have consistently failed to produce telling performances in front of Simon Mignolet’s goal.

With only two clean sheets from 15 games in all competitions this season, this is the first area Rodgers will need to assess in order to provide victorious steel in the Premier League.

The main problem stems from the role of centre-back.

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Signed from Southampton this summer for a fee of £20 million, per BBC Sport, Croatian central defender Dejan Lovren was feted as the long-awaited replacement for Jamie Carragher, both in terms of ability and rare leadership qualities.

The retired Liverpool legend himself attested to Lovren’s character, according to the Liverpool Echo, claiming “he looks like an organiser and he looks like a leader... you don’t get many of that type.”

Furthermore, Max Munton of Bleacher Report wrote prior to Lovren’s signing that the deal would represent “a big milestone in the growth of the club under Brendan Rodgers.” Such was the feeling of positivity surrounding this deal after an immense season at the back for Mauricio Pochettino’s side.

Lovren looked the part in his Reds debut in the 4-0 pre-season thrashing of Borussia Dortmund at Anfield, with his well-taken goal capping a dominant display.

Unfortunately, however, Lovren has flattered to deceive ever since in a Reds shirt, and Southampton’s current record of just five goals conceded perhaps shows that Jose Fonte was the real leader in that Saints defence.

The Croatian has looked desperate to impress to the point of oafishness and a complete lack of positional sense, and the alarming disparity between his defensive actions and those of his fellow defenders point to a rough start at Liverpool.

Alongside Lovren, Martin Skrtel’s lack of the goalscoring prowess of last season has failed to mask the defensive deficiencies also apparent in the big Slovak, while Mamadou Sakho’s recent Anfield transgression, per The Guardian, may have hindered the Frenchman’s chances under Rodgers.

Fellow summer signings Alberto Moreno and Javier Manquillo, both full-backs, have impressed so far this season, meaning the Reds finally look to have found a pair of top-class players for their defensive flanks.

Technically, however, the group is in disarray, and in order to challenge at the top, Rodgers will have to shore up his back line—but how?

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Personnel or Staff?

The combined £38 million spent on Lovren and Sakho as left-sided central-defensive solutions may point to the fallacy in constant investment. Rodgers’ bizarre sanctioning of the Lovren deal when already possessing one of world football’s top young defensive talents remains a mystery.

However, with Lovren having played the full 90 minutes in every league game so far this season, this points to the idea that the Croatian is Rodgers’ de facto first choice and is here to stay. Ideally, Sakho would be the player benefiting, but he remains a bit-part player on Merseyside.

If that is the case, it is a bold move by the Ulsterman, who will have to address these issues in order to accommodate Lovren’s talents.

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If Lovren is not the leader that Rodgers believed him to be and not “exactly what I’ve been looking for since Jamie Carragher left,” (h/t Chris Bascombe of The Telegraph) replacing Skrtel with a forceful, leader-type may be one solution.

First and foremost, let’s not suggest Fonte—Liverpool should be looking at the highest echelon of defenders in order to challenge for the title.

However, if investment is not on the cards, another hotly debated defensive subject of late should be revisited.

Rodgers has remained vehement that Liverpool do not need to hire a specialist defensive coach. According to Paul Wilson of The Guardian, the manager believes “it is just a lack of coaching time that is hurting us. We need to reinforce basic principles at defensive set pieces, but we know that already. We have to get better and we will be working on it.”

However, the admission that he spent one night up in his kitchen at 4.30am “just thinking of ways that I could make us better and improve certain aspects of our play,” suggests that a lightened workload could benefit Rodgers and the squad.

Rodgers was widely praised after last season’s triumphs for being a thorough, pragmatic tactician, but it was also commonly raised that Liverpool succeeded mainly due to their sparse fixture list.

This season, with Champions League contention to accommodate, Rodgers is clearly struggling to impose all of his ideals on his squad and form is suffering.

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Names regularly floated around on the topic are Carragher, Brighton manager Sami Hyypia and former Reds defensive coach Steve Clarke.

Clarke may be the least likely but also the most suitable, with WorldSoccerTalk.com outlining midway through the 2011/12 season how “this season, the fruits of Clarke’s defensive work are more obvious: 13 goals conceded after 16 games.”

Whether the notoriously stubborn Rodgers will relent and offer his heavy workload around remains to be seen, but a defensive coach may be the difference between Liverpool challenging and becoming champions in the future.

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Steven Gerrard

Another defensive area that Rodgers will need to address in the near future remains an elephant in room: the decline in powers of Steven Gerrard.

The 34-year-old Englishman, to his credit, developed his game last season to become an effective performer in the regista role just ahead of the back four, and with the energy of Jordan Henderson complementing him, Gerrard looked to have found a role for the next two or three seasons.

However, with defensive frailties coming in to the fore this season, the contribution of Gerrard as a shield for Lovren and Co. has come under more criticism.

Speaking to Sky Sports’ Sunday Supplement, Matt Law of The Telegraph proffered that “in that role where he’s playing, if you manage to nick the ball off him he can’t recover going the other way so then you’ve got a free run at the defence.”

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This was abundantly clear when Gerrard struggled as Liverpool went down to a 3-1 loss away to West Ham, with Stewart Downing serving as the midfielder’s agitator on the day at the point of Sam Allardyce’s midfield diamond.

In these instances, the Reds require a genuine destroyer-type defensive midfielder, and you don’t need to look far beyond the Boleyn Ground to see a ready-made replacement for the Liverpool captain in Alex Song.

The Barcelona loanee has grown into his role at West Ham, and his truly dominant performance against Man City in the Hammers' recent Premier League victory over the champions outlined defensive steel paired with a cultured sheen.

While it would be uncouth to suggest Gerrard’s Liverpool career is over at this juncture, it is also ignorant to maintain that the midfielder should start every game for Rodgers.

In order to progress and to help shield his back line, Rodgers must avoid Gerrard becoming an albatross and manage his talents more effectively—a long-term replacement must be acquired.

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Supporting Daniel Sturridge

In a miserable turn of events from last season, Liverpool are also struggling immensely in front of goal so far in 2014/15; after 10 games in the league, the Reds have scored just 13 goals, with a goal difference of zero.

This is a far cry from the Suarez-aided tally of 101 goals scored of 2013/14, bested only by eventual champions Man City.

Last season, there was a palpable fear of Liverpool in almost every fixture—they were a side renowned for their devastating early attacking charge, and Rodgers’ line-up would nearly always outscore their opponent.

This season, without Suarez, the Reds are struggling to find the back of the net.

To compensate for the loss of the Uruguayan, Rodgers signed forwards Rickie Lambert and Mario Balotelli in the summer transfer window, but neither have made their mark under Rodgers so far.

However, perhaps the most pertinent reason behind the Reds’ current profligacy is the absence of Daniel Sturridge through injury.

The England striker finished last season’s Golden Boot race behind eventual winner Suarez and is on course to become one of the club’s most important players under Rodgers.

Sturridge’s recent admission that his injury problems may be hereditary, however, points to one of the main areas that Rodgers must assess in moving forward.

The 25-year-old said to talkSPORT (h/t The Guardian): “Maybe it’s my body type, maybe it’s hereditary. Both my uncles had injuries, and my dad had them as well. Maybe it’s the Caribbean vibes, maybe I have speed but maybe it makes you more vulnerable because of the fast twitch muscles and the speed in which you’re moving.”

It is Sturridge’s great speed that sets the striker apart from most others in the Premier League, but Rodgers may need to concede that his star goalscorer will not be fit for a whole season due to these attributes.

Realising this, the manager will need to develop genuine support for the Engishman.

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Mario Balotelli

The player capable of this is already in Rodgers’ first-team squad: Mario Balotelli.

The striker, however, needs to be managed carefully in order to get the best out of him.

The £16 million man has come under immense criticism in his short time on Merseyside, and the majority of this has been unfounded—the Italian is often pulled up due to a perceived lack of work rate and a lack of desire.

According to Squawka, however, Balotelli’s average of two defensive actions per game (including interceptions, blocks and clearances) matches that of Sturridge and is more than the input of Raheem Sterling, Philippe Coutinho and Joe Allen to name but a few.

Following the Reds' recent Anfield stalemate with Hull City, Tigers boss Steve Bruce claimed that Balotelli could be Liverpool’s Eric Cantona, with Chris Bascombe of The Telegraph quoting the former United defender as saying: “Cantona was big, but let me tell you, he was a maverick but the dressing room accepted him straight away.”

Balotelli is a popular character on Merseyside, and he is clearly already a better defensive player, but he will need to up his goalscoring rate in order to emulate the enigmatic Frenchman.

So far, in the absence of Sturridge, Rodgers has utilised the former Milan man as a lone striker, but Balotelli feels, per James Pearce of the Liverpool Echo, that he is at his best as part of a front two, claiming “I have never been a real, out-and-out striker—I have always been someone who goes around the pitch, you know? If it was my choice, I would always go with two strikers.”

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The pair performed excellently in their only game together so far, Liverpool’s 3-0 mauling of Spurs at White Hart Lane, and Sturridge’s return could see both players’ form ignite.

Sturridge believes that “once I get back fit I’m hoping we can strike up a partnership. Last season with Luis [Suarez] we had a great relationship up front and scored a lot of goals. Hopefully this season it will be the same.”

For Rodgers’ side to become a conquering force, Sturridge and Balotelli must be played together.

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Moving Forward

It can be argued that, after a summer of squad-strengthening acquisitions, the bare bones are already there for Rodgers and Liverpool to mount a title charge once more, but there is no doubt that continued reinforcement is required.

Looking at the success of big-money signings such as Angel Di Maria, Alexis Sanchez and Diego Costa so far this season underlines the importance of the occasional, established world-class signing, and it may be that Rodgers should look to make this calibre of transfer in the coming transfer windows.

Reassess the spine of Lovren, Gerrard, Balotelli and Sturridge, for better or worse, and Rodgers will have a side more capable of becoming champions.

The road ahead is not littered entirely with negatives, of course, and there are many factors of Rodgers’ management style that should be encouraged and continued.

The Ulsterman must keep purporting his progressive tactical outlook—it was Liverpool’s dominant diamond midfield that has inspired those of England, West Ham and, arguably, Man United this season.

Rodgers must continue to blood his phenomenal banks of youth. With Raheem Sterling’s rise under the manager, it is easy to see the benefits of this, and youngsters Jordon Ibe, Jordan Rossiter, Jordan Williams and Lloyd Jones, to name but four, all have bright futures at Anfield. There would be an element of surprise and tactical ambiguity in deploying these capable, relative unknowns.

Lastly, the manager must keep faith in the stars of his current squad. There is no use in discarding talents of the calibre of Sakho, while the slow starts of Lazar Markovic and Emre Can should be handled with patience.

However, along with these positives—and these are qualities that make Rodgers a rare British coaching talent—in order to achieve greatness, the manager must adapt some of his stubborn ideals.

Take Liverpool “[scrapping] plans to appoint a director of football—at Rodgers' request,” per BBC Sport, when this model is working so effectively following the appointment of one-time target (h/t The Sunday Times, behind paywall) Txixi Berigistein at Man City.

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He has a core group in assistant manager Colin Pascoe, assistant performance analyst Chris Davies and performance consultant Glen Driscoll.

However, Rodgers should spread his duties further, to coaches who understand his particular philosophy.

Also, with a few additions in terms of playing personnel, Brendan Rodgers should have a squad capable of mounting a title charge, but he must address the issues in defence, the future Steven Gerrard and tailor his talented attack in order to get his hands on the Premier League title.

As 2013/14 showed, Liverpool have the ability to challenge at the top, but they must persist and be willing to adapt in order to reassert their grip.

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