Exactly a year today I finally had believed that Liverpool were on the right track and a League Title was just a couple of seasons away. Liverpool had this dynamic young manager, best strike-force in Europe and a young squad which could only get better, things have sure changed in the last twelve months.
Let me be honest, I wasn’t thrilled when Brendan Rodgers was made Liverpool manager but I shut my gob and supported him. I was ecstatic that he was proving me wrong, he had me totally on his side after last season. What I liked about Brendan is that he was learning from mistakes, so when this season started off on a bad note I wasn’t too worried. I am a firm believer in the Liverpool way and supporting your team and manager is one of them, however there comes a time when even the most faithful lose their faith.
I knew this season would be difficult, with a Champions League campaign and losing Luis Suarez things were not going to be easy. I had expected Liverpool to at least finish in the top four, qualify from the Champions League group stage and have a couple of decent domestic cup runs.
Unfortunately the Champions League campaign was nothing like I expected it to be. After the humiliating defeat against Real Madrid at Anfield, Brendan fielded a weak team at the Bernabeu and totally betrayed the Liverpool spirit. The consolation Europa League run only lasted one round when we got knocked out by Besiktas in the very stadium that 10 years earlier saw us lift the Champions League Cup.
The League Cup run was a decent one and we did show some fighting spirit in the semi-final against Chelsea which did give us hope for the F.A. Cup and League campaigns. However the F.A. Cup run ended in a very sour note when we crashed to Aston Villa in the semi-final. This was our best opportunity for trophy as Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United had already been eliminated while we had a pretty easy run. A win against Villa would have set us up in the final against Arsenal but it wasn’t to happen as Villa totally humiliated us at Wembley.
And then there was the league, after a bad start it had finally looked like things were turning around and we were winning (although not very convincing I might add). Finishing runner’s up again was starting to look like a possibility however we had to beat Manchester United at Anfield. It didn’t happen, a trip to the Emirates ended with a humiliating 4-1 loss and we just kept sliding, the chance at a top four spot was gone. The last straw had to be our utter humiliation against Stoke however we can’t forget that Crystal Palace pulled a double on us this year.
As you can see this is not some knee-jerk reaction. I am one who is always poking fun at the likes of Real Madrid and Chelsea for constantly changing managers however I just can’t see how Brendan can pull this off. F.S.G. need to be consistent and set high expectations for this club, the supporters and the club’s heritage demands it. Most of the players who played against Stoke will be at the club next season and I can’t see how Brendan can get then motivated again, at this point we need new blood.
Brendan is a decent lad, watching him in Chicago last summer signing autographs and not missing a single fan left me with a very positive impression of him however after three seasons without a trophy and the demise at the Britannia I have to say, sorry Brendan.