Rodgers Must Now Plead For Mercy

Typical Brendan Rodgers. On a final day that should have been all about Hull City, Newcastle United, Mike Ashley, Sam Allardyce, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba and Steven Gerrard, Liverpool's manager still managed to make himself the big story. And how. That paragraph is written slightly in jest, but you won't find many Liverpool supporters laughing. A season which promised so much has delivered nothing better than a kick in the crotch extended across the entire campaign. Rodgers' side dropped 22 points from one season to the next, and their Champions League campaign was the dampest of squibs. To lose at Stoke was predictable, for Liverpool have been limping towards the finishing line. But to lose like this? To concede six goals in a Premier League game for the first time? To suffer their worst league defeat since 1963? Last-day matches are supposed to be dead rubbers, and yet this seemed to be the most symbolic result of Liverpool's season. They weren't just beaten, but pulverised. Memories are long, and patience is short with Rodgers. Last season's capitulation was seismic, but that's far more palatable than miserable acceptance. "The supporters have every right to be angry," Rodgers said after the game. "That first half was awful. I take full responsibility as the manager. We have to go away and fix it." Unfortunately for Rodgers, actions speak louder than words. He's quickly cementing a reputation for the latter without the former. This has been a difficult week for all at Liverpool, the back pages filled with Raheem Sterling's ambitions to leave the club. Rodgers will no doubt consider those developments to have been distracting to his side's preparations for the trip to Stoke. There is nothing to excuse such a pitiful performance. Farewell, captain. Please remember the better times. It was a performance to embody the season in microcosm. Liverpool were at sea defensively, and almost completely lacklustre in attack. There was place too for Rodgers's tactical 'creativity'. Emre Can picked as right-back, Philippe Coutinho on the right wing, Steven Gerrard as the furthest player forward. False nines, false hope. Liverpool's result, combined with Tottenham's victory, also has a lasting negative effect. Should Aston Villa win next weekend's FA Cup final, Liverpool must play a Europa League qualifier on July 30. It's not the perfect pre-season preparation. Ian Ayre and his transfer committee can share plenty of the blame for this season's emphatic regression, but it is not his responsibility to create a team which can defend above an abject level. Liverpool have spent too much money on too many players who have impressed elsewhere for it to be a fault purely in those individuals. The buck stops with the manager. "Defending is not hard to coach," said Rodgers on April 28. "It's very easy to set a team up to defend." That only makes the concession of five goals in 23 first-half minutes all the more unpleasant. The Liverpool manager has a wonderful ability to insert his foot into his mouth whilst continuing to talk. Another Brendanism came in early April on the subject of Sterling's desires for glory. "Raheem's ambition is to win trophies and that's perfectly aligned with what we're trying to do," says the Reds boss. "This is one of the great clubs."
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