Brendan Rodgers' Overhyping Players, Performances Not Fooling Liverpool Fans

Rickie Lambert working tirelessly, Fabio Borini being outstanding against Swansea, a late 2-1 win over Swansea described as excellent, and the claim that his side had almost full control against Newcastle United: It's been another week of superlatives and hyperbole from Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers.

While it's all well and nice putting a positive spin on performances and building players up when the performances are nowhere near the desired level, it merely stands only to further disgruntle the frustrated fanbase.

Speaking after the defeat to Newcastle on Saturday, Rodgers told BT Sport (h/t ESPN): "We passed the ball well. I think the options in front of the ball were good but we lacked a bit in the final third of the field."

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The claim that Liverpool passed the ball well is highly contentious, especially with defender Dejan Lovren's long-range passing found to be highly inaccurate.

Lovren is a player struggling desperately to live up to the high claims of his manager, with Rodgers having declared the Croatian the leader his defence requires and a replacement for Jamie Carragher. Instead, the only time Lovren has looked assured is with Kolo Toure leading the defence alongside him.

Progress

"We had full control of the game but we didn't create as much as we would like," admitted Rodgers. "We've been punished for a mistake and it's ended up costing us."

The truth is that it was a series of mistakes that ended up costing Liverpool. From Glen Johnson's wild and unintelligent shot that led to Newcastle breaking away, Lovren bizarrely stepping out of the way as the ball came across the six yard box, and Alberto Moreno hesitating so close to his own goal, "calamity" is how it should be described.

"We haven't started how we would like but we will improve," said Rodgers on Saturday, per This Is Anfield. "I think we showed that in the period when I first came here after six months."

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That's all very well, but those first six months were a time when there were signs of progress; you could see what Rodgers was implementing and how the side was developing. These opening months of the new season have not seen any signs of improvement; in fact, quite the opposite.

The defeat to Newcastle was arguably the worst performance of the season and similarly the most worrying.

Completely devoid of attacking intent, creativity or threat, Liverpool then succumbed to a calamitous goal—which is becoming the norm rather than the anomaly among a back four into which more than £66 million has been invested over the past 16 months.

Borini and Lambert

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"I thought Fabio [Borini] was outstanding against Swansea," said the boss last week, per the Liverpool Echo (h/t the club's official website). He was subsequently left out of the side against Newcastle and used only for the final 25 minutes in an unnatural left-wing role.

Why overhype his performance? He can't have been that impressed if he didn't warrant his performance enough to put him in the side for the following game.

"Rickie Lambert hasn't had many opportunities," said Rodgers last week per ESPN, but, of course, he "has worked tirelessly every day."

Lambert's lack of opportunities is due to Rodgers' choices. The question should be why the manager signed a player whom he barely involves, especially one who clearly needs and benefits from playing regularly.

Lambert needs to be playing frequently, just as he was at Southampton, to play anywhere near his best. His game isn't suited to brief 10-minute cameos here and there.

Hyperbole

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We're well averse to Rodgers' hyperbole though, not least when the boss famously dubbed Joe Allen "the Welsh Xavi" upon his arrival at the club in 2012. Such comparisons help nobody, instead giving fans and media easy opportunities to criticise the player.

Did Rodgers not see Gerard Houllier foolishly compare Bruno Cheyrou to Zinedine Zidane?

In the world of modern football, positive PR is all very well and good, as is being aware of the media—something Rodgers is clearly good at—but it can also work the other way. Fans aren't easily fooled, and instead these public declarations and overhyping of players helps nobody when things don't go to plan.

While we're not after Roy Hodgson-style lowering of expectations, Rodgers would be best off toning down the positive spin, as it's not helping himself or his players.