Here is an article that I wrote that was published in the Late Tackle Magazine (June/July 2022. Issue 81)
Off the back of the 2011-12 season, Liverpool won the Carling Cup by beating Cardiff City at Wembley, but they also faced defeat there later in the campaign, losing 2-1 to Chelsea in the FA Cup Final.
One issue was their Premier League finish. FSG were concerned and unhappy with finishing 8th in the league, their joint-lowest Premier League finish. A change was needed, so FSG sacked Kenny Dalglish and looked for a new manager. There were links to Roberto Martinez and Andre Villas-Boas, but eventually, it was the Swansea manager, Brendan Rodgers who joined the club in the summer of 2012.
He agreed to a deal with FSG, which would see a new dawn at Anfield and would follow a project for the club to reach the heights they were once at, but how long would it take the Northern Irish man to achieve this .
A New Start
The 2012/13 season showed the potential of what might come for the club. In the summer, Liverpool added the likes of Fabio Borini and Joe Allen to their squad, who were both former players under Brendan Rodgers.
The start of the season was extremely poor for the Reds, only picking up two points in the first five matches, and in the League Cup, they were knocked out by Rodger’s former club Swansea, who would eventually go on to take the crown from Liverpool.
Up until January, Liverpool’s form was very inconsistent, with fans wondering what way Liverpool would set up each week. Liverpool would settle a lot of games in draws, which didn’t help the vision that FSG set at the beginning of the campaign.
Liverpool needed extra quality adding to the team, so when the additions of Chelsea striker, Daniel Sturridge, and Inter Milan’s Phillipe Coutinho came to Merseyside, many fans were happy and felt they could see change with better results heading into the tail end of the season, but that wasn’t the immediate case, as they suffered an FA Cup 4th round defeat to Oldham Athletic and a Europa League loss to Russian club, Zenit St Petersburg.
Towards the end of the season, Liverpool began to pick up some good results, which saw them head into the next campaign off the back of some important wins which could carry them into next season. From the outside, Liverpool were a joy to watch from the attacking perspective, with players like Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge scoring plenty of goals for the reds, but there was a major issue defensively. The defense needed improvements, and it was something that needed focus in the transfer window if they were to challenge further up the league.
So Close, Yet So Far
The beginning of the season started with a controversial bid for Luis Suarez from Arsenal, which Liverpool would reject. Liverpool made signings to try and improve their problems at the back. Man City defender Kolo Toure and PSG’s Mamadou Sakho came into the squad to solidify the back four, and Sunderland keeper, Simon Mignolet joined the club to replace Spaniard, Pepe Reina.
Liverpool were without Luis Suarez at the beginning of the season, after picking up a ban against Chelsea at the end of the prior season, but they started the season well as they picked up three wins from the first three games. There were a few defeats and draws, but the majority of the results at the beginning of the season were positive apart from a defeat at Old Trafford in the League Cup.
After January, Liverpool went on a 15 match unbeaten run, which saw results such as a 5-1 win against Arsenal, 4-0 versus Everton and a 3-0 away win against Manchester United.
It looked like Brendan Rodgers would be the man to end Liverpool’s league title drought, but a defeat to Chelsea and a draw to Crystal Palace saw Manchester City capitalise on the mistakes of the Reds, as they went on to lift the title in May.
It was tough to take for the Reds, with brilliant individual performances through the campaign like Suarez, who won the PFA Player of The Year and the Golden Boot, and Steven Gerrard who had the most assists in the league. It was similar to the previous year, with Liverpool scoring a lot of goals, but the incomes in the market didn’t make the defense strong, as they still conceded a high amount of goals. It was important for Liverpool to get back in the Champions League, but there was a threat from some of the best players in the squad to depart before the new season began.
Back To Step One
After a phenomenal season, Suarez would join Barcelona in the summer for a fee of around £65 million. Liverpool would replace their talisman with two forwards. Southampton’s Rickie Lambert and AC Milan’s Mario Balotelli. There were further big additions including Adam Lallana and Dejan Lovren from Southampton, alongside Alberto Moreno from Sevilla.
Many people didn’t believe that either of the new strikers could live up to the presence Suarez had, and that was correct, as Balotelli and Lambert only scored three goals combined across the Premier League season.
They started the season with a win, but it was downhill from there, suffering a lot of draws and defeats throughout the season. They reached the semi-final in the League Cup and FA Cup but came up short against Chelsea and Aston Villa. They also failed to progress to the Champions League knockouts and failed to get past the Round of 32 in the Europa League after losing to Besiktas.
At the end of the season, Steven Gerrard would leave Liverpool and join MLS side, LA Galaxy. It was no secret that Rodgers and Gerrard had a tough relationship, as the Northern Irish man wanted to bring fresh players into the squad, and move on the more experienced players in the group, and on the final day of the season, Liverpool experienced a 6-1 loss to Stoke City.
Many fans weren’t pleased with the displays through the campaign, with many frustrated with the infrastructure at the club. A rebuild was needed at the club, and it showed the transfers brought in by Rodgers. Many questioned whether or not Rodgers would still be the manager come the new season, but FSG still had faith in him.
Mounting Pressure
Many suspected this would be Rodgers’s last chance to prove himself to the fans, the players, and the owners. Hoffenheim’s Roberto Firmino and Aston Villa’s, Christian Benteke joined the club in the window. Liverpool had Sturridge who could still be called upon to score goals and adding two more might help to fill the void that Suarez left. However, there was another void, after the departure of Gerrard, which wasn’t covered in the window, and left fans scratching their heads.
The opening six games saw Liverpool win two, draw two and lose two. The wins they got were cutting it close against Stoke and Bournemouth, only beating the teams by one goal. After another tricky set of games, fans began to turn on Rodgers, as they believed there were better managers to fulfill the plan set out.
After a draw in the Merseyside Derby, FSG had seen enough and sacked the manager following the match.
The time under Rodgers showed the Liverpool fans what could happen to the club, and the excitement they might have, but Rodgers couldn’t deliver that on a regular basis. There was no real plan for the club, which came with a flawed transfer policy instead of a transfer policy that supported the club in the correct ways.
The lack of achievements and success meant there was no stability at Anfield and Liverpool would become a stepping stone club, for players looking to move to teams in the hunt for trophies. It seems he was a manager who relied heavily on the individual performances from special players to put the team in good positions instead of building a team to compete with others in the league and when those players left, the performances lacked passion and the ability to battle.
He offered the Liverpool fans an attacking style of play, but there was a lack of quality in defense, his position at Liverpool always had one fate.
Final Whistle 