da bet7： When Brendan Rodgers sat down to his pre match press conference, he no doubt would have been expecting the first question to be about a certain Andy Carroll.
da stake casino： The saga involving the big striker has been the focal point of Rodgers Anfield reign thus far, with his decision to allow Liverpool’s record signing to leave on loan sparking controversy and confusion amongst the clubs supporters.
This has been compounded by the news summer signing Fabio Borini will be out for three months with a fractured foot, leaving Liverpool with Luis Suarez as their only available senior striker. This has led to speculation Carroll may be recalled from his loan spell as early as January, speculation Rodgers was quick to dismiss, as sure enough the first question centered around a possible return for the former Newcastle man.
‘I haven’t considered Andy coming back,’ Rodgers said somewhat dismissively. ‘He has gone to West Ham to get games under his belt. We have people watching when he plays and reporting back on how he does.”
The whole saga has been very strange from the off, and Rodgers hasn’t covered himself in glory during it. The current situation is that Liverpool have just one victory and six points from their opening seven Premier League games, and just one fit striker until January. Anything less than a win against Reading at Anfield tomorrow will see the knives sharpened once more.
Rodgers must secretly if not publicly wish he could walk to East London right now to bring Carroll back, such is the desperation surrounding Liverpool’s lack of attacking options. But his stubbornness in refusing to give the big striker any sort of first team chance has come back to haunt him.
It begs the question as to whether Rodgers decision to isolate Carroll, and subsequently go on to publicly criticize Stewart Downing, has shown a real flaw in his management style? Liverpool need all the goal scoring help they can get, and Rodgers has got on the wrong side of £50 million of Liverpool’s attacking talent before the end of October. Whether that’s an overpriced £50million remains irrelevant, Liverpool could do with a fit and firing Downing and Carroll as they search for crucial Premier League points.
There are those who will say Rodgers is a coach who knows exactly what he wants, and will admire his no nonsense approach to players who don’t fit into his ideas. Every top coach needs an element of stubbornness, an absolute confidence and belief that their way is the right way.
But his treatment of Carroll and Downing could also be viewed as an act of inexperience. It is almost comparable with Andre Villas-Boas’ tenure at Chelsea last season, an example of a young manager coming in and trying to stamp his authority on proceedings too quickly.
The turning point of Villas-Boas’ Chelsea reign came during a Champions League tie with Napoli, where both Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard were left out of the side. Following a heavy defeat, Villas-Boas had to somewhat sheepishly turn back to the players he left out.
Rodgers has been slightly naive in first shipping out Carroll, and then publicly criticizing Downing. Firstly these situations should have been dealt with in house, and not out in the open for the press to dissect. Secondly, you never know when you are going to need these players. The subsequent injury crisis and failure to bring in transfer targets has left Rodgers in desperate need of attacking talent. One is in East London, and one is ‘upset’ at his managers public criticism of his performances.
The likes of Raheem Sterling, Jonjo Shelvey and Suso have shown enough to suggest Rodgers may just about get by until January, despite the striker crisis. Rodgers is convinced the owners will back him in the next transfer window, and told the press he already has a list of strikers drawn up on a transfer wish list. But although he won’t admit it publicly, you must wonder if the Liverpool boss holds regrets over the early treatment of two of his most attacking players. Results from now until January will only tell.
What do you think of Rodgers handling of the Carroll/Downing situations? Follow me on Twitter @LukeGreenwood89 and let me know your thoughts.
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