Lazar Markovic has admitted that he was not able to prove himself at Anfield last season, blaming the then Liverpool FC manager Brendan Rodgers for his mismanagement.
Markovic had a season to forget at Anfield following a 20m GBP move from Benfica. The Serb found it hard to settle in to England, and was not helped by the fact that manager Brendan Rodgers was not playing him in his preferred position, according to the player.
Markovic blames Rodgers for his season to forget
Speaking to Turkish publication Fanatix, the 21-year-old said: a I was not able to prove myself at Liverpool as I was played out of position but thank goodness that is not the case at Fenerbahce.
a I am played in position here and have managed to get myself into the first team it is absolutely fantastic to play regularly and feel valued.
Markovic continued to describe Fener as a a great community,a saying a I do not feel any crowd pressure on myself.a
Markovic had hit out at Rodgersa mismanagement earlier in this week . , saying a I didna t have a good relationship with the coach,a before saying that playing in many positions was the problem.”
While Markovic indeed was played out of position numerous times during the year, it is more of a case of the player blaming the manager for his poor showings instead of taking responsibility for his own performance.
Markovic was played in his familiar right-sided midfield position early on in the season, with the Reds often deploying a 4-man defence.
Markovic’s poor performance did not help his case, as the player was dropped from the XI. It was only when Rodgers turned to a 5-man defence sometime in November, did Markovic get a chance and was deployed as wing-back. He played much better there owing to less expectations from him in terms of his attacking contribution.