Thank you, Brendan Rodgers, for this mediocrity – A Liverpool fan’s lament

Inconsistency. That’s the word which describes us perfectly at the moment. Us, I mean Liverpool FC. In the last few months, it’s consistently been one step forward and two steps back. The question that most ask is why Jurgen Klopp - The Jurgen Klopp, who took Borussia Dortmund from languishing in the mid-table to back-to-back titles in 2010-11 and 2011-12 beating the mighty Bayern Munich - has been unable to make us better or why does his record look worse than Rodgers’.

Klopp often stresses on the psychological aspect of the game. Games can be won here and there but to win championships, the team needs to have that winning mentality. The strength to keep pushing forward even after going behind. We don’t have that, yet. The players don’t have the belief required to succeed. These are the same players who played under Brendan and consistently lost games even after leading at some point. The 2014/15 season was a horror show, and this does not get mentioned enough. It has affected the players and the supporters far more adversely than what many think. It’s the biggest reason Anfield is so quiet these days. That’s what Jurgen is trying to change. And we must accept that it’ll take time and a change in personnel to achieve that edge back.

Liverpool are a team that aspires to play in the Champions League. So, logically, it follows that the team cannot have any mediocre players. And yet, Brendan chose to add three more years to Martin Skrtel’s contract and made Lucas an un-droppable part of the first team. The evidence against both of them is overwhelming, yet many still think they’re good enough to play for Liverpool. A defensive midfielder is vital to any team and is often the difference between a win and a loss. But instead of fortifying that position, Rodgers made sure we had just one unreliable specialist defensive midfielder in the entire squad. And tying Skrtel to a new contract meant that he would be a starter, no matter what, because the only other alternative was an aging Kolo Toure or the inexperienced Joe Gomez. Half our defensive problems would be solved if we could sort those two positions out.

3. Shipping key players out

4. Buying Benteke

Knowing Sturridge, it was clear that we needed a striker of his calibre (or, at least, someone who possessed some, if not all, of his talents). Spending 32 million pounds on a striker with a skill set so dissimilar to the way our team plays was not a wise call. Money which could’ve been better used had Rodgers not been adamant. Sturridge was never going to play more than 20 games and the only alternative was a raw and untested 20-year-old youngster (Origi) and Danny Ings. And now, with injuries to those three, we have just Benteke who hasn’t been able to improve our goal tally. We don’t create many whenever he starts and when he does get those chances, he is unable to make them count, leading to the team having a total of just 30 goals scored in 23 games. Benteke was never the answer, and although he has his strengths, his weaknesses make him more of a liability.

All in all, the options Klopp has are neither sufficient nor are they good enough at some vital positions. He needs to be given the appropriate amount of time before he’s judged. He will take this entire season to decide which players have a future with the club, so we can’t expect quick results. And not to forget, he started his tenure in the most unlucky way possible, with most of his players already out injured. We, as supporters, need to be patient with him. Jurgen Klopp is a special manager, and we are lucky that he’s ours.

*The Article was first published in freshliverpool.com