Brendan Rodgers Reportedly Facing Dressing Room Revolt After Criticising Players

The death knell for Liverpool's top-four hopes has apparently sparked a rift between manager Brendan Rodgers and his players. The Anfield gaffer is facing a potential mutiny, following his team's 4-1 defeat to Arsenal, per Mirror Football:

The article behind this exclusive, written by Mirror reporter Adrian Kajumba, details an incident that took place during Liverpool's postmortem of their hammering in North London.

Rodgers apparently addressed the team in less-than-flattering terms at the club's Melwood training complex when tensions reached a boiling point: "The Anfield boss called a meeting after training at Melwood yesterday and accused several players of not playing for him. Some senior players spoke up angrily against Rodgers as they were left incensed at the accusation."

Rodgers did describe his players as "too negative" during the early stages against Arsenal, per Andy Kelly of the Liverpool Echo.

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Kajumba also stated that some of those same, nameless "senior" figures are "disaffected" by the change in the club's fortunes. That's perhaps understandable given how suddenly the Reds have lost momentum in their pursuit of a top-four finish and qualification for next season's UEFA Champions League.

Losing to Arsenal came after a 2-1 home reversal against bitter foe Manchester United. Together, those results have left Liverpool at least seven points off fourth.

Rodgers even took the strange step of publicly conceding defeat in the race for a Champions League place, following the Arsenal defeat, per Liverpool Echo writer Ian Doyle: “I doubt we will be in the top four now, there’s too much ground to make up. That’s the realistic view. It will be difficult to qualify for the Champions League. Now we must concentrate on the FA Cup."

No fan or player likes to see such a white flag of surrender from the man in charge, even though it's impossible to fault Rodgers' logic.

The bubble has well and truly burst for Liverpool. Failing to beat competing rivals when it matters is naturally going to encourage serious questions about the manager for maybe the first time.

But if those questions are coming from within, Rodgers really is in trouble.