After a 1-1 draw in the Merseyside derby about three-and-a-half-years ago, Liverpool decided to part ways with manager Brendan Rodgers. The Northern Irishman, who came close to winning the Premier League title with the Reds just a year-and-a-half before his sacking, was replaced by Jurgen Klopp. Liverpool fans have some good memories of their time under Rodgers. The current Leicester City manager did a brilliant job at Anfield with limited resources but was not able to fix Liverpool’s mounting problems by the end of his spell at the Merseyside club. The former Liverpool manager faces Manchester City in Gameweek 37 of the Premier League and has a chance to fix all his mistakes at Liverpool by beating the reigning champions and assisting his former club to the crown.
The Era of Brendan Rodgers at Anfield
Liverpool’s Unforgettable Season
Liverpool had an unforgettable 2013/14 season. On the very first game week, a penalty save from Simon Mignolet helped the club earn a narrow win over Stoke City. That was the beginning of a ruthless Liverpool side under Rodgers. The Merseyside club’s attack was the most entertaining in England at that time. The front three of Luis Suarez, Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge had the ability to rip apart any team’s defence. One of the best examples of this attacking masterclass was against Arsenal at Anfield. Liverpool went 4-0 up against their fellow title contenders in the opening 25 minutes of the game. Nobody had seen anything like this in a long time at the club. This was the time when the supporters started to believe that this might be their year of winning the title after such a long wait.
Rodgers earned a Premier League double against Manchester United for the first time in many years during that memorable campaign. The Northern Irishman had really done something incredible at Anfield. A late Philippe Coutinho winner against Manchester City made Liverpool favourites for the Premier League title, but the end was not sweet for Rodgers; Tthe end of the 2013-14 season was actually the beginning of the fall of his era at Anfield. A shocking defeat to Chelsea courtesy of a Steven Gerrard slip followed by a 3-3 draw at Crystal Palace marked the end of Liverpool’s title hopes. Luis Suarez left the club for Barcelona in the following summer, taking the situation from bad to worse.
Fall of Rodgers’ Era
Replacing Suarez with Mario Balotelli and Rickie Lambert was not the wisest of plans. Both of these strikers collapsed at Anfield. They weren’t able to live up to the high expectations set by their talismanic Uruguayan. The season after the title slip was a disaster for both Rodgers and Liverpool. The ‘Rodgers Out’ signs at Anfield were seen after defeats to Arsenal and Crystal Palace at the end of the season. Gerrard’s final game for Liverpool was a humiliating 6-1 defeat to Stoke City, which was the final game of the nightmare season for Rodgers.
Everybody expected Rodgers to get sacked after that crushing defeat to Stoke, but the Liverpool owners kept faith in him. The big money signings of Christian Benteke and Roberto Firmino helped Rodgers in making the fans believe in him again, but the curse was still on at Liverpool. After a handful of inconsistent performances, Liverpool’s hierarchy finally lost their patience and decided to bring in Klopp.
Rodgers went to Celtic to rebuild his career and his reputation and enjoyed an unbeaten league season at the first try. Just last week, he was announced as the new Leicester City boss, replacing Claude Puel. He returns to the Premier Leauge hoping to prove his worth in England once more.
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