If the speculation is true and Liverpoool FC are on the verge of offering the managerial post to young gun Brendan Rodgers, then the club’s owners are on the path to capturing the hottest property in the English game.
In a week where England has voted to adopt small sided games at youth level, bringing it back into football’s first world, it will be compelling to see if the EPL manager most in touch with the idea of a possession based game is handed the responsibility to re-ignite the concept at one of the nation’s most famous clubs.
For long-suffering fans of Liverpool, like yours truly, who watched them conquer England and Europe more than two decades ago, they will know that the virtues of possession and combination play, and entertainment, run deep through the club.
For Liverpool, football hasn’t always been about winning, but winning with style.
Only sporadically have these virtues been successfully used over the past two decades as Sir Alex Ferguson and his band have controlled the league.
Rodgers, young, motivated and educated, may, in many ways, be the perfect fit for a club looking to ignite a new era under new owners, the Fenway Sports Group.
A brief flirt with an old timer, in Kenny Daglish, and some old methods – playing direct to Andy Carroll – proved this is not the way forward.
The game, in many ways, has moved on.
Someone like Rodgers, who understands the emphasis has shifted towards mobility and fluid movement of the ball, might just be this way forward.
If he is given a little bit of breathing space to re-build his squad, and just enough money to bring in the types of players that fit his 4-3-3, he could build a lasting template.
The Kop, who stood and cheered Rodgers and his men off Anfield earlier in the season, are shrewd enough to sense progress, and if they do see it, will be quick to get behind Rodgers.
While there has been some talk that the Swansea manager hasn’t had any gigs at a big club, his ability, on a limited budget to enable a team like the Swans to play, and find the players to deliver on his preferred mode of play, said enough.
Indeed, when the news broke a week or so ago that Rodgers wasn’t interested in being interviewed for the Liverpool role, I was nodding in agreement.
After all, one only had to look at his work over in Wales over the past couple of seasons to know that these man management and technical attributes look transferable.
I first took notice of Rodgers just over 12 months ago, during the play-offs for the English Championships in season 2010/11.
In a league known for managers who play the percentages, sticking to rigid 4-4-2’s, playing for second balls, emphasising the physical, here was a manager who stood out for being at the complete opposite end of the spectrum.
Here was a UK manager disguised as a Dutchman, Spaniard or Argentine, playing a 4-3-3 with a front six that more like Barcelona’s in stature than, say, Chelsea’s.
Instead of having a team full of body-builders, Rodgers enabled his team to play through a two diminutive holding midfielders in Leon Britton and Joey Allen, players not afraid to get on the ball and keep it.
In the front line, the lack of size was also apparent, with Scott Sinclair and Nathan Dyer flourishing on the flanks and the Italian Fabio Borini dropping off to link up play or penetrating into the box late to get on the end of things.
Listen to Rodgers speak in the post match interviews with Sky and you actually learnt something.
There was little of the usual talk about winning battles etc. Most of it was of a technical nature, about controlling the game in the various thirds.
When he and his Swans came into the EPL at the start of the season, the talk was about sticking to the principles that had got him there. The hope, of course, was that his football would work, and make the world sit up and take notice. That’s exactly what happened.
Apart from sticking to his guns, what marked out his work in the most recent season was an ability to adapt and find a solution.
With Steve Dobbie, his attacking midfielder, struggling to make the step up from the Championship to the Premiership, and Wayne Routledge looking more a wide man than a central schemer, he found Gylfi Sigurdsson during the January transfer window. He was a hit, scoring and creating in equal measure.
Ditto both Michel Vorm and Danny Graham , the book-ends, who he brought in at the start of the season, one to protect the goal and start the play, the other to round things off.
It is this attention to detail, and ability to not only identify, but solve a problem, that makes good managers, and Rodgers has hitherto got more things right than wrong.
The challenge, of course, if he does land the role at Liverpool, is how quickly he can put out a team that can consistently produce the goods and pick up the points.
What he would do with some of the under-achievers brought in over the past 12 to 18 months, the likes of Carroll, Jordan Henderson, Stewart Downing and Charlie Adam , would be fascinating to watch in the early days.
Rodgers will know that, in order to compete with the likes of Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United, and even Chelsea and Tottenham, he will need to bring in a few world class players to complement Luis Suarez.
Likely, they would all be all silky on the ball, very mobile and able to find solutions in and around the box, especially under pressure. Think more along the lines of David Silva and Kun Aguero, than Didier Drogba or Carroll.
The game is moving quickly, and you sense Rodgers might be just the ticket to help Liverpool FC close the gap, and go beyond.
tommy_doleman
Roar Pro
Looks like the talks with Rodgers will be finished in the next 24 hours. Sounds very much like it's on his terms as he didn't want a director of football and rightly so. I just hope he gets given a good chance and plenty of time. A football philosophy doesn't get embedded into a club overnight, but should he get it right I'd expect Liverpool to really mount a charge in the next two to three seasons. I know there's a lot of hype about him and rightly so, but to play devils advocate here, what happens if he has a 'Hodgson-like start to next season? Does he get given that time or do the impatient American bunch get rid if he struggles to adapt at a bigger club? You can only hope that they don't expect unrealistic results immediately.
johnny nevin is a legend
Guest
Ideally Liverpool would have got the likes of Ancelotti or even Villa Boas. The reality is they can't pull in a big name anymore, theres too much to do and with financial fairplay on the way too little time to achieve success. Add in a relatively small transfer budget and lack of champions league footbal to attract players, its going to be a hard job.I think installing Van Gaal as manager would of been better, despite his history of confrontation he has achieved a lot in the game. Van Gaal probably would of demaned a big transfer budget so going with a younger manager eager to impress was the easier option. The reports I've read about Rodgers is that he plays the game in the right manner but he is going to be under pressure to compete for a top 4 position with the squad of players he has, they need a creative midfielder, a wide player and another striker.
clipper
Guest
Interesting article Tony. All managers in the upper reaches are placed under such immense pressure to perform that there is no long term planning. Just one season where you don't do better than expected and you're gone. Will we see another Ferguson like figure leading the troops for as long as he has in any of the top clubs.
Disco
Roar Guru
Major challenge that could end in tears because the Liverpool squad is littered with dross. That said, Rodgers couldn't really do any worse than King Kenny V2.
Roger Rational
Guest
It will be interesting to see how well he manages bigger egos.
Ian Turnbull
Guest
I certainly like this piece of writing, and as a Liverpool fan I am encouraged at the thought of Brendan Rodgers talking the helm. I also like the thought of Louis van Gaal taking a senior role. He is a man with enormous experience and hopefully will only ever be an asset to Brendan Rodgers. While here, I must mention Martinez. He appears to be a very decent and loyal individual; an extremely pleasant fellow by all accounts. But I read in so many places what a brilliant Manager he was, creating miracles with his Wigan team both this season and last as they managed to haul themselves clear of relegation. Yet to me there was always a flaw in this theory. Does nobody realise that it was always Martinez who led Wigan into these relegation dog fights? Why was he unable to create a successful team for the first three quarters of a season? It is worth consideration. Best of luck folks! Ian
welshman
Guest
Great article Tony Having said that, the Liverpool job is turning into something of a poison chalice for managers lately and expectations from the fans seem unreasonably high, though you’d think they would temper it a bit after last season. From the little I have heard of Rodgers I wonder if he is more the ‘unfinished’ business type rather than the ‘ambitious’ type. They played just as well back then as they do now with probably a little more gloss in terms of your Sigurdsson and Sinclair-like players. He has never managed a big club, and it was only a couple months back he was courted in the media saying ‘i dont want to destroy my career’ by being touted as a possible successor to Villas-Boas.
Matt F
Roar Guru
He might be, but I'd say he should take the opportunity when he can. Some people were talking up Steve Coppell as a potetial England manager after reading's forst EPL season a little while ago (even 1/2 way through the second season really.) They fell apart and were relegated in their second season. A lot can change in 12, even 6, months. Having said that, the Liverpool job is turning into something of a poison chalice for managers lately and expectations from the fans seem unreasonably high, though you'd think they would temper it a bit after last season. Maybe Rodgers, and other managers as well, may feel that they'll be on a hiding to nothing if they take the job.
Griffo
Roar Guru
Great article Tony. From the little I have heard of Rodgers I wonder if he is more the 'unfinished' business type rather than the 'ambitious' type. I can see him remaining at Swansea for one more season - extra EPL experience, taking the Swans further by cementing in the club their style, and being prepared to build a bigger club from scratch without pressure to succeed and the doubts in self-belief that can bring.
tommy_doleman
Roar Pro
Great read Tony, I've known of your man-crush on Mr Rodgers for quite some time, so I won't delve too far into that :) Interesting to note though, that the Swansea 'philosophy if you like, was initially brought in by Roberto Martinez (the other name branded about for the Liverpool position). The Martinez era at Swansea was very successful, and a lot of the players such as Joe Allen, Leon Britton, Ashley Williams, Nathan Dyer, Angel Rangel & Mark Gower that played their roles back then, played in this successful Premiership season. Rodgers no doubt took this to the next level, but Martinez deserves a lot of credit for the emergence of his successor as a manager. They played just as well back then as they do now with probably a little more gloss in terms of your Sigurdsson and Sinclair-like players. Should he go to Liverpool, it'll be fascinating to see what he does with those under-performing players. Jordan Henderson would probably survive as a mobile midfield type, Downing surely can't be as bad as he was this season, but Adam possibly not mobile enough for the way he sets up, although he could still play a role at the top of the midfield as you mentioned with Dobbie. I guess, the main question is, would Carroll survive? Probably not.
pgedeon89
Roar Rookie
Great article Tony. I agree in most bits. But i dont feel Rogers is the man just yet, I think this is going to remind of something like an AVB at Chelsea. Yes Liverpool dont have many experienced players, so clashing might not occur on a daily basis, like it was at Stamford Birdge, But the pressure will cetrainly be on him. He has never managed a big club, and it was only a couple months back he was courted in the media saying 'i dont want to destroy my career' by being touted as a possible successor to Villas-Boas. He is a great manager with wonderful potential for the future and his style of football with such a small and under-known squad at Swansea is second to none. But i just dont think he is ready for the likes of Liverpool just yet, i think he needs to do similar to Martinez at Wigan. Stick with your current club for a good 4 or 5 years, earn your respect there, then when the time is ready..move on. Right now Liverpool has plenty of Ego's. They might be young, but they are a team with confidence ready to flourish. They need an experienced manager who can settle them down and get the best out of them, at least for the next 2 or 3 years till the likes of Henderson, Downing, Adam, Carrol mature that bit extra. If he was to take the top job at Merseyside, do you think he can cope with the pressure of losing 2 or 3 games on the trot, or going through a bad spell? like every team will through the campaign. Someone with limited experience in my opinion wont cope. We saw it with AVB, and we see it with plenty others such as Hughes at Man City and Luis Enrique at Roma. The pressure is too high for the once most successful club in English Football. He needs more time with a small club, and Liverpool need to focus on getting their end straightened up before they look for a long term plam. Because lets face it. They are in dissaray at the moment.
Midfielder
Guest
Tony Enjoyed the read and think you are spot on....