I am always amused by fans and how they react, week in and week out, to their soccer club's results. Brendan Rodgers is loved by Liverpool fans, when he makes selection choices that suit them. Anything to the contrary and he's a genius when he wins and a disaster when he loses.
Steven Gerrard played his third game in eight days against West Ham on Saturday. It showed, as his stats were the worst I have ever seen out of him in a game. He had zero shots, made zero through balls, won zero tackles and completed zero of his five crosses. This is nowhere near the standards we are accustomed to with Captain Fantastic.
A pass completion of 82% is all I have that is not a negative mention . So if Rodgers didn't play Gerrard for 90 minutes against West Ham, who would have been his options to protect the backline? Gerrard steps up when the team needs him, and has the ocsssional slip as he is always in the thick of things. To slot in the penalty that won the Champions League game midweek was a massive relief, that takes a lot out of anyone emotionally.
There was no Joe Allen, no Coutinho, no Can, so choices were limited as to what to do with the midfield, given Rodgers was already using Lucas. The point is, for all the flack Brendan Rodgers is being given, I can't see what options would have been better. Add that he walked into a tactically prepared Sam Allardyce, who is fighting to keep his job, and you realise what he was up against.
Pellegrini has the luxury of utilising Frank Lampard sparingly, hence he could score the vital and momentous equaliser against Chelsea on Sunday. Rodgers on the other hand had little choice.
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