Liverpool FC have had a poor start to their Premier League season, and with manager Brendan Rodgers struggling to get the best out of his team, former Reds midfielder Graeme Souness believes criticism is justified.
After three seasons in charge of the Merseyside club, it appears as though Brendan Rodgers’ days at the helm of Liverpool FC are numbered. The Reds have been unconvincing all season, winning just two of their opening six Premier League fixtures, with the victories coming against Bournemouth and Aston Villa at Anfield.
Given the amount of money Rodgers has spent during his time managing the club, Liverpool FC legend Graeme Souness believes that the Northern Irishman must accept that he is under pressure to deliver results.
Souness says Rodgers must accept pressure
The retired Scotland international is a pundit for Sky Sports and expressed his opinion regarding Brendan Rodgers in his column previewing the Merseyside derby between Liverpool FC and Everton FC on Sunday.
Souness wrote (via Sky Sports): “Is Rodgers under pressure? I’d say pressure is automatic for him.
“When you spend big money – as he did both a year ago and again this summer – then he has to accept he is under pressure. That’s the price of being the manager at a big football club. If you start spending big money, what you’re ultimately judged on is how your buys perform.
“He has been whingeing about some of the comments made by ex-players – and maybe I am included in that – but that is what you have to accept in the world of football today. That’s what you get paid the big bucks for.
“I think I speak for all the pundits when I say we are just giving an opinion. I am asked to give an opinion based on my experiences in football and based on what I see out on the pitch. Right now he has to be feeling the heat because the buys he has brought in during the last two years have not proved themselves.”
Rodgers on the brink
As Souness rightly goes on to state in his column, even a good result against Everton at Goodison Park will only temporarily ease the pressure on the Liverpool FC manager. Given that the owners and the board backed him with the money this summer, realistically, a challenge for a top four spot is the least that Rodgers will have to deliver.
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His statements in the press alleging a conspiracy to get him sacked have not helped either, and the Reds’ fans are quickly beginning to lose patience with the man that took them ever so close to winning the Premier League title in 2013-2014.
Particularly given the availability of top managers such as JA?rgen Klopp and Carlo Ancelotti, the authorities at Liverpool FC might decide it is the right time to make a change. With the Merseysiders facing an extremely challenging schedule in the league in October, it seems as though only a miraculous run of results can save Rodgers now.