Brendan Rodgers accepted he was fighting to save his job after Liverpool’s dismal 3-1 defeat at Crystal Palace.
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Brendan Rodgers accepted he was fighting to save his job after Liverpool’s dismal 3-1 defeat at Crystal Palace.
The manager revealed he had held talks with Liverpool’s American owners over a dramatic slump that has left the Reds 18 points behind Barclays Premier League leaders Chelsea.
Former Liverpool defender and Sportsmail columnist Jamie Carragher was scathing in his analysis of the performance and labelled the team ‘mentally and physically weak’. He also claimed they lack leadership.
Rodgers, who later hinted at issues within the dressing room, admitted: ‘I’m not arrogant enough to think I am safe from anything.
‘Any manager will tell you that you have to win games and get results, particularly after the way we have been developing as a club. I have great communication with the owners. We’ve been honest with each other and we have to get results.
‘You have to see development on the field.
Barring this period, our development has been very good and fast. That will support the confidence of the owners.
‘I will only ever do my best. My best has seen us develop well. Now I must fight even harder. The full responsibility comes down to me. Any pressure comes on to me.’
Liverpool took the lead on two minutes when Rickie Lambert, in the team because Mario Balotelli apparently has a groin injury, beat Julian Speroni.
Dwight Gayle, who scored twice in the 3-3 draw between the same sides at Selhurst Park last season, equalised for Palace in the first half.
Joe Ledley put Palace in front and captain Mile Jedinak scored a free-kick to finish Liverpool off.
Speaking on Sky, Carragher was brutal. He said: ‘Something’s not right, they’re getting bullied out of games. At the end of last season when they came here we said they were mentally, physically weak. Same again. Nothing’s changed.
‘No matter the £120million spent on players. Luis Suarez has gone — so what? They are still mentally weak, there is no leadership on the pitch. As a Liverpool fan, the worst thing you can be throwing at your team is that they are being bullied or being weak.
‘It has been going on all season and we’re saying “new players, give them time to adjust” — I’m not a big believer in that. When a foreign player comes in, it takes a bit of time to adapt but we’re getting to the stage where you want to see performances.
‘Liverpool aren’t getting beaten by quality, they’re getting beaten by enthusiasm from Palace.’
Rodgers faces another huge test this week when Liverpool travel to Bulgaria to face Ludogorets in the Champions League before returning to play Stoke at Anfield.
The manager hinted at problems in the dressing room since the departure of Suarez when he said: ‘We’ve been a very close group for a couple of years, but we had to make changes and bring players in. The group was very thin.
‘We’re in another transition phase, but whatever phase it is we have to do better than that. We’ve brought in very good players.
‘This is a group doing their best, but they’re not quite firing. Confidence is low.’
When asked about Mario Balotelli’s presence at Liverpool Arena on Saturday night to watch boxing, Rodgers said:
‘He came back from the Italian squad and the groin was still sore. We’ll assess that over the next few days. There’s no issue. He wasn’t out too late.’ – Daily Mail
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