da dobrowin： And so Brendan Rodgers remains as Liverpool boss for the upcoming season – just.
da dobrowin： After a dismal campaign which included such low points as getting knocked out of the Champions League group stages and losing feebly to Aston Villa in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, not to mention that 6-1 drubbing at the hands of Stoke City on the final day of the season, Fenway Sports Group – the club’s owners since 2010 – decided that an emergency meeting was in order, with Reds chairman Tom Werner flying in from the States to hold talks with the embattled manager.
That rendezvous concluded with FSG continuing to place their trust in Rodgers. The same could not be said of his backroom staff, though. Long-time assistant and close friend Colin Pascoe was given his marching orders by the owners; so too first-team coach Mike Marsh, whose contract will not be renewed at the end of the month.
Rodgers’s relief at retaining his job has therefore come at a cost. The sacking of Pascoe – his most trusted confidant during their time together at Swansea City and then at Liverpool – is a clear warning from the Anfield hierarchy that while they are happy to give the man from Northern Ireland another chance, a repeat of last season’s underwhelming displays will not be tolerated.
A busy summer ahead for Rodgers then, as he seeks to make additions to both his playing and coaching staff. So who should he target to replace the outgoing Pascoe and Marsh? And is a new approach to coaching in order?
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Cast your minds back to the short-lived second coming of Kenny Dalglish and you may get an indication of which area of Rodgers’ Liverpool needs the most drastic coaching overhaul. Despite a League Cup triumph and reaching the final of the FA Cup, the 2011/12 season under Dalglish was, to put it bluntly, embarrassing. The ill-judged summer signings of Andy Carroll, Stewart Downing and Charlie Adam for laughably overpriced fees set the tone, as the Reds huffed and puffed their way to an 8th-placed finish in the Premier League.
And yet, ignoring the team’s good performances in cup competitions, there was at least one positive to be taken from the league campaign. Inept in front of goal (managing to score just 47 times, one fewer than relegated Blackburn Rovers), Liverpool did at least perform solidly in defence, conceding a respectable 40 goals (Arsenal, who finished in third place, shipped in 49).
This ray of light in an otherwise shambolic season was mainly down to the work of Steve Clarke, who Dalglish had employed as the club’s defensive coach. And it is this approach that Rodgers must adopt if he is to see his Liverpool side improve.
Dalglish was of course sacked at the end of the 2011/12 campaign, with Rodgers being named as his replacement. Clarke, sensing that the new man wanted to stamp his own mark on the running of the club, promptly followed King Kenny’s lead, and in the three seasons that Rodgers has been in charge, the Reds have never bettered the 40 league goals conceded during the Dalglish-Clarke era.
While Liverpool did come within a whisker of clinching a first Premier League title in 2013/14, this was in spite, not because of the team’s defensive displays. They let in a total of 50 goals; Hull City, in 16th place, conceded just three more.
Rodgers cannot blame his side’s consistent defensive shortcomings on a lack of investment. He has overseen the signings of a number of costly recruits, including Simon Mignolet, Mamadou Sakho, Dejan Lovren and Alberto Moreno; none of whom have been convincing, and some of whom have been downright calamitous at times.
The Liverpool manager may feel as if he is capable of sorting out the team’s frailties at the back on his own, but ultimately the statistics – and the performances – don’t lie. Only by hiring a specialised defensive coach can Rodgers hope to eradicate the elementary errors that have cost his side too often over the past three seasons.
The Reds do not even have to look far for a suitable candidate for the role. Former Liverpool centre back and long-time fans’ favourite Sami Hyypia recently revealed his desire to team up with Rodgers and join his coaching staff, and there is every reason to believe that the Finn would be an ideal appointment for the club. Not only did he spend ten years playing for the club, amassing more than 300 appearances, he also has experience of playing alongside Martin Skrtel, Liverpool’s most-capped current centre-back.
Hyypia is desperate to forge a career in football management; he was hugely unlucky to have been sacked by Bayer Leverkusen in 2014 and endured a difficult spell at Brighton and Hove Albion last season. The 41-year-old is clearly desperate to prove a point, and by working with Rodgers he could continue his learning of the managerial side of the game whilst also providing some much-needed defensive training.
This mutually-beneficial partnership is one that Brendan Rodgers should seriously contemplate as he prepares for a fourth year in charge at Anfield. The key to Liverpool’s rebuilding process lies in defence; neglect this, and the Liverpool manager’s next meeting with the club’s owners may be his last.
Got any questions? Follow me on Twitter @GruffuddOwen
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