Why FA Cup Success Would Be a Springboard to Premier League Glory for Liverpool
Losses to both Manchester United and Arsenal have somewhat sullied Liverpool's hopes of top-four success in the Premier League this season but, still in with a chance of winning the FA Cup, the Reds can use this competition to build towards future glory.
Brendan Rodgers takes his men to Ewood Park on Wednesday to face Blackburn Rovers in their quarter-final replay clash, after a 0-0 draw in the initial Anfield fixture.
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Win that, and Liverpool set up a Wembley semi-final against Aston Villa; beyond that, either Arsenal or Reading await in the final.
With seven games to go in the league, and a seven-point gap between Liverpool and fourth-placed Manchester City, Rodgers would be wise to focus now on the FA Cup as a means to achieve progress this season.
The Reds manager can use this potential success as a springboard to eventual Premier League glory.
Squad Belief
After sustaining such significant, consecutive defeats to major top-four rivals, it would be fair to say the morale of Rodgers' squad was depleted—this is a notion enhanced by reports, via Adrian Kajumba of the Mirror, that the manager was "facing a major dressing room crisis."
"The Anfield boss called a meeting after training at Melwood yesterday and accused several players of not playing for him," Kajumba claimed. "Some have been left disaffected in recent weeks and now Rodgers is facing the biggest test of his reign at Anfield."
This is an allegation somewhat confirmed by the Mirror's Jim Boardman, via his Twitter account:
While this level of angst following such defeats is perhaps to be expected, Rodgers will be keen to restore harmony and belief in his Liverpool squad.
FA Cup success could be the way towards doing so this season, and it is a competition that both Simon Mignolet and Philippe Coutinho have stressed the importance of.
"We knew that the two games against Manchester United and Arsenal would be very important. We needed to take points from them but we haven't and that's a big disappointment," Mignolet told James Pearce of the Liverpool Echo.
However, the goalkeeper continued: "We have to move on. We've got another massive game on Wednesday night. We need to make sure we get through in the FA Cup. The FA Cup is very important for us. We have to make sure we are prepared."
Coutinho told reporters, including the Mirror's John Cross, that: "Of course, winning the cup would save our season. It is very important for us to have that as an objective. It would be a successful season to finish fifth and win the cup, but we want to be in the Champions League. That is our primary objective."
The feeling seems to be that, while a top-four finish is the ideal, FA Cup success would still be considered a significant achievement by the Liverpool squad.
It could be an achievement that helps rejuvenate belief within Rodgers' squad.
Transfer Clout
However, even with this belief restored it would be reasonable to suggest that, to build towards eventual glory and a renewed challenge in the Premier League next season, Rodgers will need to add to his squad in the transfer market.
After the loss to Arsenal however, Rodgers expressed a fear of being left behind in the market without the prestige of Champions League qualification, as reported by the Press Association (h/t This is Anfield):
"Liverpool is a phenomenal club that players want to play for, but, of course, players want to play at the top level of the game and if you are not in the Champions League it makes it difficult for you. We know that, but we just have to continue to fight in order to be a stable club in there—and we will continue to do that.
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As the manager continued, he pointed towards Arsenal's squad, in what drew an interesting parallel with the Reds' current situation.
"I look at Arsenal and their bench, the players, the world-class players on the field with big talent and it shows the continual work we have to do," Rodgers stressed. "It is going to be a little like this, until we become more stable."
Arsenal recently reached a remarkable financial stability, as detailed by the Gunners' official website, and this was punctuated by last season's FA Cup success.
After defeating Hull City 3-2 in last season's final, Arsenal pipped Liverpool to the BBC Sport-reported signing of then-Barcelona forward Alexis Sanchez.
While there may be a plethora of other reasons, be it geographical or economical, that contributed to the Chilean choosing Arsenal over Liverpool, the fact that both clubs had qualified for the Champions League for 2014/15 could suggest that the Gunners' tangible, trophy-laden success played a factor in this.
This is something that supposed Arsenal target Raheem Sterling alluded to in his recent, and perhaps misguided, interview with BBC Sport surrounding his current contract situation at Anfield.
After telling Natalie Pirks that he had turned down a £100,000-a-week deal at Liverpool, Sterling maintained: "It's not about the money at all. It's never been about money. I talk about winning trophies throughout my career. That's all I talk about."
While there is more than an element of fallacy in his claims, Sterling's focus on trophies is a salient one.
In a rudimentary sense: If players are successful, they're happy.
Once again, while Champions League qualification should be a positive priority, this season FA Cup success could also aid Liverpool in generating clout in the transfer market.
Stabilising Rodgers' Position
With suggestions of a senior revolt in the Liverpool dressing room, and a "disaffected" squad leading to "the biggest test of [Rodgers'] reign at Anfield," this has led to loose social media speculation surrounding the manager's future, as addressed by Aaron Cutler for This is Anfield.
While any call for the departure of Rodgers should be considered ludicrous, with the Reds having lost just twice in their last 15 Premier League outings, just as within the squad Rodgers' position requires strengthening.
This can be done by achieving FA Cup success.
Again drawing parallels with Liverpool's potential Wembley final opponents Arsenal, the Gunners' manager Arsene Wenger was under considerable pressure prior to their 2014 victory.
In 2011 for example, as reported by Gerry Cox of The Telegraph, the Frenchman claimed that: "My worry is to do as well as I can with the team and to get them to play decent football so that people who come and pay for their tickets are not bored."
As Cox puts it: "Style not silverware."
However, this was a suggestion indirectly refuted by Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis in 2012, as relayed by The Telegraph's Jeremy Wilson: "We're absolutely trying to win silverware and we're trying desperately hard to do it this year."
Five months later, Wenger was forced to defend his position as Arsenal manager with calls for his departure enduring, via Neil Ashton of MailOnline: "I have never thought about throwing in the towel. I love winning, so I will carry on. I have a contract until 2014 and I will be here until then. I will not be leaving before that and I will make a decision on my future in 2014, not before."
Happily for Wenger, 2014 heralded FA Cup success, and shortly after BBC Sport reported that the Gunners boss had signed a new three-year deal with the club.
The stabilising of Wenger's position through FA Cup glory underlines the challenge ahead for Rodgers.
Similar to Wenger, Rodgers is a manager with a long-term plan for his club, one with an eye towards sustained success rather than short-term glory, and as Chris McKenna of the Star reported last month, he believes this is rooted in an accumulation of trophies.
"I’m here at Liverpool building something that was different to maybe what it was when Liverpool were the very top team and dominating," Rodgers claimed. "When I retire from football...it is something that I will have hopefully had success in and have won many trophies."
Like Arsenal with Wenger, Liverpool have a very talented, loyal manager in Rodgers, who is well-placed to bring the club success in the future.
But he may need to use initial success in this season's FA Cup as a springboard towards doing so.
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