On Mario Balotelli:
Questions were coming from left, right and centre about Balotelli, with the Liverpool manager at one point questioning the reporters: “Is this the Mario Balotelli press conference?” When asked about if there will be any punishment on Balotelli, Rodgers replied: “Any action [against Balotelli] will be kept between ourselves. We just had a conversation about the culture in this country and club.”
Rodgers also got questioned on Balotelli’s future, he responded: “You have to accept that criticism is part of the game, but the boy [Mario Balotelli] is trying very, very hard. He is working hard on the training field. As long as he’s doing his best that’s all I can ask for, wether his best will be good enough remains to be seen. But that goes for all the players.”
Rodgers, when asked about ‘the Mario Balotelli show’, said: “It’s no problem for me. I select the players on how well they work in training and the best teams to win games. ‘The Mario Balotelli Show’ is no different to me. He’s like any other player.”
“For me, as a manger, it is no problem. I like players who are different. But as long as they don’t see themselves as an individual. They have to be part of the team. He’s working hard and doing his best right now.”
“Mario is treated like any other player. We’re very much about the team. My only concentration is on winning games.”
Rodgers took a mini hit at the defence by saying: “Was Mario playing centre-half? He’s been a wee bit of a victim. Last night should have been a great night despite the result.”
On Rickie Lambert:
Rodgers was questioned about Lambert and wether he was happy in his role as a bench warmer. Brendan answered: “I think Rickie has always been very clear of his position. He knew he wasn’t gonna be a starter. He’s a great guy, he recognises the role he has. And obviously he’s playing that role in training.”
“Lambert didn’t play last night because we needed something different last night – speed and mobility – so we put Raheem up front.”
On Sterling:
Rodgers when asked about Sterling playing up front: “Raheem has played as a striker [when he was a youngster] so he understands the position well. If we feel it helps the team, I can look at it.” After Rodgers gave us a little hint that Sterling could have more chances up front (Rodgers: “I will consider Raheem as a striker in the future.”). The Northern Irishman praised Lallana afterwards.
On the team:
Rodgers: “Our performance needs to be better as a team, not just the defence. We need to be more competitive and aggressive. We all pride ourselves on clean sheets. Large number of our goals we have conceded have been soft. That’s something we need to improve on, but as a team.”
On Hull:
After the Balotelli mess, Rodgers talked about Hull. “Steve Bruce has done an excellent job at Hull, they’ve got real depth to their squad. They come here on the back of a good result. Steve Bruce has done well. They are hard to break down. It’ll be difficult for us. They caused Arsenal problems, but Anfield is a special place for us to play and we go into home games to win with confidence.”
Max
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LFC needs a defense coach, pronto, if Brendan Rodgers wants to keep his job, he has to keep LFC in Champions league for 2015-2016 else I see Ronald de Boer coming because we got a young squad full of potential, which needs guidance so the Ajax man is the ideal candidate with the FSG philosophy, so its BR’s choice to keep winning or else he will land with a big pay off cheque & a broken CV. He should ask Moyes that oppurtunities are few nowadays as a Manager. They are young aspiring Managers so its his choice to bring either Steve Clarke or Jamie Carragher to help wrangle the boys at the back. Else this defence frailties will keep on coming & once he looses the pace with the top 4 teams, it will be hard to get back up there. Football is business these days, so FSG won’t pump money to a failing project & with tickets prices going up, fans will turn up in few numbers if the team continue perfoming below par, they will rather watch the game on a pub & drown their sorrows while some of us we will be spending more time at church rather than get upset week after week by a poor showing & sponsors won’t like that. So its his choice, all good Managers have special coaches where they lack the know how. BR is an attacking coach mentor, defence is not his area. Where you are weak you bring a specialist, Ferguson did it, Mourohno did it, Moyes failed because he brought the wrong back up staff to Manchester United. So BR make a move because time is ticking. He will run out of excuses & players will start giving up on him. How long will he wait for Daniel Sturridge, let’s face facts, Suarez missed most games last season & he is the only one who left the team apart from Daniel Agger in the team that finished 2nd. So this gelling process its all hog & wash nonsense for a an under performing Manager who is running out of ideas. Is the seat too hot to handle or its stubbornness, he won’t have a job end of May. Its time to sign a defense coach to help. Agger & Toure were meant to help in that area but Agger is gone & this boys ain’t listening to Toure because they are ahead of him. We got a very lovely team that can win anything. Borini was banging them for Sunderland, Lambert was doing the same for Southampton & its still the premier league, so why not give them chances to start games. Play them both the 1st 45minutes then bring in pace 2nd half in the absence of Dany, that will give them game time & use them in League & FA Cup games period. Then give the some game time against teams in the bottom half, this will ensure that he has a fresh team all the time.