Brendan Rodgers Comments on Divock Origi, Bemoans Missed Opportunities vs. Sion

Liverpool's UEFA Europa League hopes lie in serious doubt after a 1-1 draw at home to Sion on Thursday evening left the Reds with just two points from their first two European outings of the season.

Fringe forward Divock Origi was handed his second start of the season in Thursday's draw disappointment, but manager Brendan Rodgers was left to bemoan a raft of missed chances on goal, per BBC Sport:

"

The result was disappointing considering the number of chances we created. We worked well and had a good start but gave away a disappointing goal. The players worked hard but we couldn’t score the goals. You have to be clinical. We scored a good first goal. They weren’t half chances, they were good chances and you have to score them at this level. We have to win a game like that.

"

It was Origi who created the opener for Adam Lallana after just four minutes, but it didn't take long for the Swiss visitors to find their equaliser through Ebenezer Assifuah.

Unfortunately, Belgium international Origi wasn't quite able to finish the handful of clear chances he had in front of goal, with Rodgers highlighting the striker's finishing as an area in need of improvement: "This is where we find out about players like Divock Origi and others on the fringe. They will be important for us in games like these. Divock did well but he didn’t score and he has to add that to his game."

Jon Super/Associated Press

Rodgers is in the midst of a difficult balancing act as he looks to juggle his Premier League priorities with European commitments, but it seems almost harsh to lump blame on the 20-year-old Origi.

The youngster has been given very little prominence at Anfield, signing for the Reds last summer only to spend the 2014-15 campaign on loan at Lille. This Is Anfield provided further comment from the manager:

On one hand, Rodgers may look to certain players for answers as to why Thursday's result wasn't the win they sought, but there's also the question as to whether Liverpool's squad was ever strong enough.

The Europa League may not sit as the highest honour in every fan's view, but perhaps the shuffling of his lineup was simply too vast for the out-of-practice alternatives to ever expect to deliver three points.

There will be no respite offered to Liverpool, either, as the club prepares for a trip to Goodison Park this Sunday for the first Merseyside derby of the 2015-16 campaign.

And Rodgers has chosen to spin a positive light on Thursday's draw, per BBC Sport, insisting this is a "great challenge" for his team, looking forward to the prospect of a "rebuilding job."

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We go into the the game against Everton and we will focus on our performance. The players will look forward to it. I haven’t lost a derby yet and they are always good games. We are a point behind Everton - I know the media and written press will build the game up but we will stay calm. I am immensely enjoying the job, it is a great challenge and it is a rebuilding job again.

"

Supporters almost assuredly won't see it the same way and would rather a process of constant building as opposed to the stop-start "rebuilding" that appears to have become something of an Anfield theme.

Rodgers can look forward to welcoming Daniel Sturridge back into his lineup for the local trip, where he'll have the opportunity to either turn his fortunes around or slump further into managerial uncertainty.