There has to be a crisis near the start of every Premier League season, and among the many turbulent storylines running parallel with England’s hosting of the Rugby World Cup is theapparently crumbling edifice that is Liverpool.
It is in 13th place and has scored just four goals while compiling a 2-2-2 record that includes a 3-0 humiliation at Anfield inflicted byWest Ham United and a 3-1 loss to the archest of archrivals, Manchester United, at Old Trafford. The critics are speculating, as they have been since June, that he’ll be the first Premier Leaguemanager this season to be booted, and two days ago Liverpool refuted reports that former AC Milan and Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti had been contacted about the position.
Last week,Japan stunned South Africa, 34-32, at Brighton in what is regarded as the biggest upset ever recorded in the Rugby World Cup. The major golf and tennis events staged in late August and September arecovered extensively in the land of the Premier League. But thanks to the never-ending antics of Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, the surprising surges of Leicester City and West Ham, andthe on-going soap opera that is Liverpool, there’s no shortage of football turmoil to be savored.
Much of that turmoil has swirled around the Merseyside giant, which despite winning 18titles at the top level of the English League has not won a single crown since formation of the Premier League in 1991. Since the departure in June 2010 of former manager Rafael Benitez,architect of the club’s stunning comeback defeat of AC Milan in the 2005 Champions League final, three successors have tried their luck. Current England manager Rod Hodgson was fired sixmonths into the 2010-11 season, and after another year and a half former playing legend Kenny Dalglish departed.
To fill this void, Fenway Sports Group — which owns the Boston Red Sox and had bought Liverpool in October, 2010 viaa contentious ouster of former owners George N. Gillett Jr. and Tom Hicks — selected Brandon Rodgers, who had all of four seasons of experience as amanager yet drew rave reviews at Swansea City, which he steered to promotion in his first season and managed to an 11th-place Premier League finish the following year.
The gamble on apromising, yet relatively untested manager looked like a brilliant move as the 2013-14 wound down with Liverpool atop the Premier League, but a pair of disastrous late-season results — a 2-0 homeloss to Chelsea and a 3-3 tie with Crystal Palace that Liverpool had led, 3-0 — opened the door for eventual champion Manchester City. Liverpool finished second, a praiseworthy performance underdifferent circumstances. But fans couldn’t forgive a stumbling Steven Gerrard back pass that sent Didier Drogba free to score in the 2-0 game, nor Rodgers’ inability to staveoff embarrassment against Palace.
Still, that bitterly near-miss — achieved with an all-time, top-flight record 101 goals scored — prompted optimism that the 2014-15 season, Rodgers’third in charge, would be a charmed one. Instead, despite a slew of acquisitions in the aftermath of Luis Suarez’s move to Barcelona, it dropped out of title contention early. Rodgers hadapparently revived its fortunes by shifting to a three-man back line, which triggered a 13-match unbeaten streak, but a 2-1 home loss to Manchester United halted the momentum and it won just two oflast eight games and wound up sixth.
So Rodgers and his players started this season on a short leash and so far that leash appears to be tighter than ever, in the wake of moves both strangeand unproductive. A mercurial talent such as Daniel Sturridge dazzles at times and plows himself into anonymity during others. Mario Balotelli – cited as the most desperate ofdesperation moves — played 16 games (scoring one goal) last season before going on loan to AC Milan. Two more of last season’s signings, defender Dejan Loveren and attacker FabioBorini, are cited as further examples of Rodgers’ misjudgment.
One player who has flourished under Rodgers, forward Danny Ings, enabled his manager to evade another crushingdisappointment Wednesday by converting a penalty kick by which Liverpool scraped pastCarlisle United, 3-2, after struggling to a 1-1 tie in the Capital One (League) Cup. The triumph, though dramatic, was hollow for the home team: nearly all of the cheers and applause came downfrom those fans who’d traveled to support the plucky League Two team in blue.
Karma is a wonderful thing! Rodgers is rigid, unwise and hard-headed. He never gave Balotelli a genuine chance to succeed at Liverpool. He is stuck and warrants removal.
He should be Fired for bringing the Destablizing Balotelli IN..Not how he Treated/Used him…That was when he “Jumped the Shark”