Looking like a nearly man: Brendan Rodgers’s Liverpool too often left at ‘almost’

'Liverpool have come up short on the major stages too often,' writes Richard Jolly, making Brendan Rodgers look like Liverpool's, 'engaging, eloquent, evangelical, inventive nearly man'.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers observes his side during their FA Cup semi-final loss to Aston Villa on Sunday. John Sibley / Action Images / Reuters

A man who rarely strays from the realms of blandness made a particularly pointed comment on Friday.

Manuel Pellegrini was asked who he thought would be a deserving recipient of the end-of-season coaching accolades.

“Maybe if you win two trophies you can be the manager of the year but not always,” the Manchester City coach replied, drawing upon his experience of lifting the Premier League and the League Cup and seeing his peers instead honour Brendan Rodgers last season.

The managers’ award remains the only silverware the Northern Irishman has won at Anfield.

Since Bill Shankly inherited a struggling second-division club and founded a dynasty, only one Liverpool manager, Roy Hodgson, failed to win a trophy in his first three years and, as dismally as the current England coach failed, his side were only knocked out of one competition by the time he was sacked.

Rodgers has had 12 opportunities, but Liverpool have no honours.

Sunday’s FA Cup defeat to Aston Villa was their second semi-final exit this season.

They almost won the title last season and will probably finish just outside the top four this term.

It raises the possibility that Rodgers is turning into a nearly man, an engaging, eloquent, evangelical, inventive nearly man, almost presiding over a great revival in Liverpool’s fortunes.

But Liverpool have come up short on the major stages too often.

There have been a handful of memorable triumphs, but Rodgers’s record shows five wins in 27 games against Arsenal, Chelsea and the Manchester clubs.

In mitigation, he has often had inferior players. Not against Villa, though, making a deserved defeat all the more damning.

Rodgers had ideas: too many, perhaps. He tried four formations and, between them, Emre Can and Raheem Sterling played virtually every outfield position on the Wembley pitch. But Liverpool lacked cohesion and conviction.

Whereas his estranged mentor, Jose Mourinho, looked like a strategist with a plan as he overcame Manchester United on Saturday, the Northern Irishman was cast more in the mould of a mad scientist, forever experimenting.

That can be the fate of tactically bold managers but having transformed Liverpool’s season by adopting a 3-4-2-1 system, Rodgers has seen his team defeated in each of the past three times they have deployed it from the start.

It is not just a question of configuration, but of character.

It was telling that even after an undistinguished game and even when his decline is sadly evident, Steven Gerrard conjured the only moments when an equaliser was possible.

His header was cleared off the line by Kieran Richardson, his long pass converted by Mario Balotelli, who was wrongly ruled offside.

The cult of Gerrard, which persists in part because he represents the antithesis of many of the Rodgers generation, irritates some.

Philippe Coutinho is an exception and Jordan Henderson and Can may be but there are too few big-game players at Anfield.

Rodgers’s dressing room includes players with potential, but not the blend of warriors and world-class footballers that Mourinho, for one, favours.

There is style, but insufficient proof of substance.

It is not entirely Rodgers’s fault, given the Byzantine workings of Liverpool’s much-mocked transfer committee.

That only three of the 25 signings in his reign – Daniel Sturridge, Coutinho and Can – rank as definite successes is an indictment of all responsible for recruitment.

In critical matches in successive seasons, Liverpool’s last hope has rested with a bad buy.

In injury time against Chelsea last year, the non-scoring substitute striker Iago Aspas took an infamously appalling corner.

In the final few seconds against Villa, the ball fell to Dejan Lovren, the most expensive defender in Liverpool’s history.

The £20 million (Dh109.9m) Croatian’s missed penalty in the shoot-out against Besiktas had already resulted in their elimination from the Europa League.

This time, rather than emulating Gerrard’s sensational equaliser against West Ham United in the 2006 final, he contrived to boot the ball high over the bar.

It ranked as the worst shot by a Liverpool player at Wembley Stadium since Charlie Adam, a poor buy of a previous regime, skied his spot kick in the 2012 League Cup final shoot-out. Despite that, it was the last time Liverpool won a trophy.

Rodgers has seemed like a revolutionary at times, an instigator of unexpected renaissances at others, but right now he looks like Liverpool’s nearly man.

A man who rarely strays from the realms of blandness made a particularly pointed comment on Friday. Manuel Pellegrini was asked who he thought would be a deserving recipient of the end-of-season coaching accolades. "Maybe if you win two trophies you can be the manager of the year but not always," the Manchester City manager replied, drawing upon his experience of lifting the Premier League and the League Cup and seeing his peers honour Brendan Rodgers last season instead.

It remains the only silverware the Northern Irishman has won at Anfield. Since Bill Shankly inherited a struggling second-division club and founded a dynasty, only one Liverpool manager, Roy Hodgson, failed to win a trophy in his first three years and dismally as the current England coach failed, his side were only knocked out of one competition by the time he was sacked. Rodgers has had 12 opportunities, but Liverpool have no honours.

Sunday’s FA Cup defeat to Aston Villa was their second semi-final exit this season. They almost won the title last season and will probably finish just outside the top four this term. It raises the possibility that Rodgers is turning into a nearly man, an engaging, eloquent, evangelical, inventive nearly man, almost presiding over a great revival in Liverpool’s fortunes, almost Fenway Sports Group’s footballing equivalent of Terry Francona, the baseball manager who ended the “Curse of the Bambino”, Boston Red Sox’s 86-year wait for a World Series.

But Liverpool have come up short on the major stages too often. There have been a handful of memorable, at times magnificent triumphs, but Rodgers’s record shows five wins in 27 games against Arsenal, Chelsea and the Manchester clubs. In mitigation, he has often had inferior players. Not against Villa, though, making a deserved defeat all the more damning.

Rodgers had ideas: too many, perhaps. He tried four formations. Between them, Emre Can and Raheem Sterling played virtually every outfield position on the Wembley pitch, but Liverpool lacked cohesion and conviction.

Whereas his estranged mentor, Jose Mourinho, looked like a strategist with a plan as he overcame Manchester United on Saturday, the Northern Irishman was cast more in the mould of a mad scientist, forever experimenting. That can be the fate of tactically bold managers but having transformed Liverpool’s season by adopting a 3-4-2-1 system, Rodgers has seen his team defeated in each of the last three times they have deployed it from the start.

It is not just a question of configuration, but of character. It was telling that even after an undistinguished game and even when his decline is sadly evident, Steven Gerrard conjured the only moments when an equaliser was possible. His header was cleared off the line by Kieran Richardson, his long pass converted by Mario Balotelli, who was wrongly ruled offside.

The cult of Gerrard irritates some. It persists in part because he represents the antithesis of many of the Rodgers generation. Philippe Coutinho is an exception and Jordan Henderson and Can may be but there are too few big-game players at Anfield. Rodgers’s dressing room includes players with potential, but not the blend of warriors and world-class footballers that Mourinho, for one, favours. There is style, but insufficient proof of substance.

It is not entirely Rodgers’s fault, given the Byzantine workings of Liverpool’s much-mocked transfer committee. That only three of the 25 signings in his reign, those being Daniel Sturridge, Coutinho and Can, rank as definite successes is an indictment of all responsible for recruitment.

Wins camouflage errors and defeats highlight them. In critical matches in successive seasons, Liverpool’s last hope has rested with a bad buy. In injury time against Chelsea last year, the non-scoring substitute striker Iago Aspas took an infamously appalling corner. In the final few seconds against Villa, the ball fell to Dejan Lovren, the most expensive defender in Liverpool’s history. The £20 million (Dh109.9m) Croatian’s missed penalty in the shoot-out against Besiktas had already resulted in their elimination from the Europa League. This time, rather than emulating Gerrard’s sensational equaliser against West Ham United in the 2006 final, he contrived to boot the ball high over the bar.

It ranked as the worst shot by a Liverpool player at Wembley Stadium since Charlie Adam, a poor buy of a previous regime, skied his spot kick in the 2012 League Cup final shoot-out. Despite that, it was the last time Liverpool won a trophy.

Rodgers has seemed like a revolutionary at times, an instigator of unexpected renaissances at others, but right now he looks like Liverpool’s nearly man.

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