the story would be about them first and Liverpool second. Whether the deficiencies are with the manager David Moyes or in the minds of the players no longer matters. There is only one way this appointment is going to turn out. Moyes has had fair backing from the Stretford End faithful who defiantly belted out 20 times Man United long after the final whistle and even on the trams back into town from Exchange Quay. The patience now, however, is about to be severely tested. Had United turned Liverpool over and gone on to beat Olympiakos and Manchester City then the season, and by extension Moyes stewardship, would have looked all the rosier. After this dispiriting home defeat, the games against Olympiakos and City are being approached with United fans watching from between their fingers. The Liverpool match might not have been the final nail in the Moyes coffin but it felt like the first. Being at Old Trafford these days is an unpredictable business. 18 points have been snaffled by visiting teams this season. Last season that total stood at nine. There is chaos; a sense of unravelling there and winning away to United seems no longer a landmark event. This then, for Liverpool, was a relatively straightforward away win although there is an historical context which makes it all the sweeter for Reds fans. Three away matches in a row have been won by Brendan Rodgers side and, after Chelseas defeat at Aston Villa, the victory at United puts them within the title race whether Rodgers would like to admit it or not. I dont lose sleep over it, he said to the press on Sunday regarding the prospect of a first league win in 24 years. A Premier League title win would be fitting reward for Rodgers, who endured an indifferent start to his Liverpool days but has converted an admittedly limited squad into the finest football team in all of Britain. The quality of our training, the intensity of our training... there wont be many teams worker harder than us on a day-to-day basis on the training field to improve players and develop players, said Rodgers. There can be no denying that the Irishmans methods are working. He has coaxed the best football out of Luis Suarez in the entirety of the Uruguayans career. Laughable as it was only a few months ago, Suarezs professional ambitions are probably now best served at Anfield. That said, his improvement under Rodgers this season - and his all-round rehabilitation - has probably added £15 million to his transfer value should Liverpool be pressed into cashing in. There have of course been a few work in progress results this season. All in all they have failed to win about a third of their games. The Christmas period losses against Manchester City and Chelsea rankled because those are the type of matches that the big teams win. Worse so that they took the lead in each. To have positioned his side back into the title race even after those two defeats to direct rivals speaks volumes about Rodgers and his squads redoubtableness. We played a number of systems this year but our style remains the same, he said. What Rodgers has in abundance that Moyes currently does not is a group of players across the ability and experience spectrum who have all collectively yielded to what their manager has asked. No Robin van Persie-like sulking from his equivalent in the Liverpool squad, Suarez. No moaning from Steven Gerrard about a new position and a new role. Weve got hungry players at the club who want to improve, who want to develop, who want to learn, said Rodgers. We just get on with coaching the players to be better. Two bogeymen in the shape of Manchester City and Chelsea loom on the horizon of the run in. But unlike at Christmas these Liverpool players will go into those matches believing they can win the title, despite the managers assertions to the contrary. Since the turn of the year, Liverpool have dismantled Everton in the derby, destroyed Arsenal and taken United apart at Old Trafford. Those are significant results, even in isolation, but strung together they form the pattern of Rodgers Liverpool blueprint. They are not spoiling their way towards a title, a la Jose Mourinhos Chelsea, nor are they reliant on the individual contributions of a world class player like City can be. They are the only team in the title race with an attractive, collective purpose that flows from the manager through to the players. Liverpool are what happens when the right manager fits the right club and is given the space he needs to work. Wouldnt it be good if that sort of thinking was rewarded with a trophy? MLS MOVE POSITIVE FOR ENGLAND AND DEFOE Take it from an Irishma
Posted on: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 08:41:20 +0000
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