http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/latest-news/rodgers-i-m-looking-for-right-mentality Brendan Rodgers has challenged his players to prove they have the right mentality as the Reds attempt to bounce back from FA Cup disappointment when they travel to Arsenal on Wednesday. Following defeat by League One Oldham at the weekend, the boss outlined the kind of character he wants in the Liverpool squad - and how he identifies it. "I'm trying to piece together here a group who are mentally on the same wavelength," Rodgers explained. "There are certainly question marks about the mental strength and not just in this period. "They have to step up to the demands and do it week in, week out. If they don't they won't be here and that goes for both youth and senior players. This is a great season of learning for me in terms of what we have here. "What I've found from working with players is that plenty of people tell you they care. The greatest benchmark and way I assess it is what people do physically. "People tell me: 'I want to be in your team, I want to play and do this or that'. I say 'okay', but the minute they walk out the door I look to see what they do physically. "What you do physically is your commitment mentally. "If they are one of the last ones in in the morning and one of the first ones away in the afternoon, then really they don't care." Rodgers selected a youthful XI for the FA Cup clash at Boundary Park, and expressed his disappointment with their performance in the immediate aftermath of elimination. On further reflection, the Northern Irishman warned his fledgling charges that it works both ways - they will be given all of the support they need, but must grab the opportunity handed to them. He added: "The young players know they have a manager here who is 150 per cent behind them. "They have had great support since the first day I walked in here, but you can't be too nice to young players, especially the modern player. "The modern player has been brought up differently to the likes of the Carraghers and the Gerrards. Being young doesn't exempt you from criticism. "But they know they have a manager who will be up in the room going through their mistakes with them individually. "We never leave them hanging out to dry. We will look at where they need to improve. But they have to understand the responsibility to play for such a club. "You need resilience and steel. "When you go to places like Oldham, you know what you're getting. It's not a Premier League game. You need to roll your sleeves up and fight. It was too soft. "This is very much about the group. For me the pressure starts higher up the pitch, that's the first point. It was too easy for the ball to be played forward. "There's a problem when it comes forward but there's always the root of the problem which for me was the pressure at the top end of the field. Can we stop the ball coming forwards? "That's not down to one player in particular, it's the front three or four. I don't want to single anyone out here as that's not how I work. "As a group we have to take a greater responsibility. "I was bitterly disappointed because the FA Cup was a competition we had really focused on doing well in." Questioned on whether his team lacked the necessary physicality to cope with the Latics, Rodgers issued a confident riposte. "We've been in many games where physical questions have been asked of us and we've come through that. We just have to be more consistent," the 40-year-old continued. "Take Fabio Borini and Joe Allen, for example. If you ask people about Borini, they would say his biggest attribute is his physicality. "His power and aggression - that's what he's renowned for. That's where his qualities lie but that's something he needs to improve on for us. "As for Joe, I've seen him throw Yaya Toure to the ground in games last season. He has never been found wanting physically. "For some players their power and strength is in their brain. Otherwise you would just have basketball players throughout your team. "I don't think that as a team we are physically light or short in any way. I think it's mental and that's something we need to improve." With Barclays Premier League fixtures at Arsenal and Manchester City to navigate this week, there has been little opportunity for Rodgers and his side to dwell on the result at Oldham. The boss accepted that the Reds were below-par when they tackled the Gunners earlier in the campaign but expects a much stronger showing this time around. He concluded: "It's a very important game and one that we are capable of winning. "When Arsenal played at Anfield earlier in the season we weren't at our best and deserved to lose, but we have made improvements since then. "When our intensity and focus is right, we've shown we have great quality. "When I changed the team on Sunday it showed our lack of depth. But it made it pretty clear what group we go forward with for these remaining games to try to get some success." ............................................................... theres some interesting quotes in this one as always when Rodgers talks. just a few things that stood out for me. first he really acknowledges the point about mental strength that must be questioned about our whole club and that runs into the professionalism, turning up early, staying to improve. second he says its not one player but then talks about borini and allen specifically... almost an admission? I'm amazed he thinks borini's strength is his no 1 attribute as if thats the case we may as well cut our losses now. third its this quote "I don't think that as a team we are physically light or short in any way. I think it's mental and that's something we need to improve." sorry boss but you've not quite got it right here. sure its mental but its quality, its physical and i think we've got to find our way to compete. If we are lightweight and not the best then we will always be second best. on the other hand stoke have mental issues away from home stemming from puli but are huge and a beast to play at the brittannia... its a whole package surely
Anyone else get the school playground image of them all fighting to get through the door first in a morning...? And playing tactical mind games when leaving, trying to shove the others out first?
"When you go to places like Oldham, you know what you're getting. It's not a Premier League game. You need to roll your sleeves up and fight. It was too soft. what does he expect playing players like Allen and Henderson ffs, they haven't got the grit for games like that, why isn't he blaming himself for poor team selection as well as the youngsters.
I can imagine the likes of aquilani bursting i nthe door at school so everyone would turn around and see him swan in... he'd be late every day. I wonder who's last in in the mornings? joe allen... nah.... pepe? coates? shevley... If i were paid that much i must admit i'd not be bothered either so you have to question how someone like henderson is so motivated to succeed... i think most men would be like shelvey rather than henderson.
I wasn't sure what to make of that. Is he criticising them or using them as a example on how to be? I think it is the latter but I don't agree with either analysis TBH.
henderson was brilliant, he worked his socks off.... allen was the worst i've ever seen him... sturridge was poor, sterling was on a tightrope... borini was anonymous..... caotes bottled it. suarez henderson and skertl stood up to be counted IMO. I must say that i was amazed how scrappy and silly the goals were... we should not have conceeded any of them but certianly the second and third were total flogs....
100% this! I don't mind him laying criticism at the players but if he is going to do that then he needs to blame himself for picking that team too! PS...I don't agree with the Henderson part, he is willing to fight just not to a Lucas or Mascherano standard
Of course, they could all start and finish training at he same time but some are quicker to get change. Longest in the shower and all that PS...I understand his point though
So here's the question... do you think its possible with this group to create mentality or what? I've seen this sort of thing for years upon years and felt that under rafa we had a core of more profesional, mentally strong players... hyppia, masch, alonso... I mean i don't think gerrard is all that mentally strong myself but he was sitting o nthat bench shaking his head in disgust at the show on offer... then he came in for a half hour and shows what to do. right now I don't think skertl is all that mentally tough... but he bit the bullet and went noggin to noggin with the big lump that was needing doing.. but we've seen drogba take him apart. Agger i think is tougher but isn't the type to hold the jersey and not let a guy get a run on him. is jonhson or enrique that tough to keep going and going at 0-0 or 0-1 in the 80th minute? Is allen, lucas? su\rez never stops but can't play on his own! It used ot be draem of a team of carraghers but the reality is we need a team of suarez's.
MITO... I think you have a point there. I think Carragher is clearly the leading light on the mental side of things but we don't really have anyone else. God, I miss the days of Mascherano, Alonso, etc
they got to 2007 final.. not sure what the hell happened in 2008 really cos torres came in and socred a bunch.... alonso was out bascially cos fat frnak broke his ankle and mache only came in. I nthe end in 2009 we were not great but we started well, sipped when gerrard and torres were injured then picke dit up again... sold keane after abusing him and then torres ogt injured again and we dipped. In 2009 had we 2 forwards to choose from all year we might have won the title. 4 points in the end after going all out when off pressure and it was nearly gone. i think we need to see the pressure, the intensity ,the pressing and the lack of errors/gaffs all year. its the minimum required form higly plaid "stars"
Didn't we get more points per game when we didn't have one of Gerrard or Torres on the pitch that season?
If I remember rightly we beat Man Utd without both Gerrard and Torres, after being branded a 2 man team by many rival fans
Tbf, he's in pretty illustrious company there. I think the mentality of a team is largely down to the manager so he has to take responsibility for that. I think that this interview was him conceding that it's a group thing- his use of "we" a few times suggests that- but he's very much an old-school authoritarian type, and doesn't appear to want to show any "softness" or weakness to the players. He seems to find it difficult to admit to his own mistakes in an unambiguous way. I'm not sure how far that attitude will take you (doesn't seem to have hurt Fergie too much) and I hope he has enough nous to do the arm round the shoulder thing occasionally.
As long as Rodgers knows when he's made mistakes and learns from them then that is fine by me as long as he doesn't make an habit of criticising player sin public. If he is going to criticise player then he needs to learnt o take blame himself too IMO.
Lets see: my tuppence. Mentality is what its all about with players at that level. That's all they have to bring. A club will identify them, train them physically & tactically with expert coaches & equipment but if they merely go through the motions they will come up short every game(Torres the ultimate example of this surely!). They won't really be listening when drilled about tactics & position, they won't really be giving 100% physically. They will be the first to give up when a match isn't going their way. It starts in the head & if that ain't right it ends in the head. Take Suarez as an example. You could have an incompetent manager play him at CB: he'd ultimately fail in that position but that wouldn't be from lack of effort, it wouldn't be a lack of steal & willpower. So, getting past the preconceptions everyone has adopted that Allen is his bitch, what has he literally said here? He's argued that those stating that Allen isn't physical enough for that game type are wrong. BR disagrees with those that say playing Allen in a robust game is a tactical error. Taking him at his word; if he's saying that he has witnessed Allen take on and compete with YAYA successfully, then he's doing what you all want & criticising the player for not putting in his best effort. By all means criticise BR if after his declared criticism, he continues to play Allen & he continues not to give 100%. Same with the other example. He's saying the failures are with the players effort. No excuses. Nothing wrong with that. Having watched our games and quite a few of our players I'd have to agree. Yes I've questioned some of BR's decisions but I've questioned the effort of players more. If there is a weakness in BR's setup its a reliance on players always giving him that 'bust a gut' perpetual motion the likes of Suarez gives & if just one or two don't then it all falls down. I said I'd give him time to form a squad made up of his type of players & will stick to that. This summer should remove those that don't currently live up to that. He's questioning both old & new & remarking that its not a new problem. well thats an improvement on the criticism levelled at him yesterday about just picking on the youngsters (but lets be honest its where he's going to focus because the very few older players remaining are in their twighlight years career wise they can eventually be marginalised or retired.) Well, I'm only going to go as far back KD but I find that a fair point. This group taking & leaving the players come & gone have been inconsistent mentally. Too many times there been 20 minutes at a time of 100% with 15 minutes of coasting or heads dropped when the 100% isn't rewarded. United score more goals in the last 10 minutes for a reason. You can't tell me they've got some special gym over in Manc land that's so different to ours that gives them more stamina? You can't say looking at that lot that they're all brainier players than ours with more capacity to learn tactically? Their set up isn't so vastly different to ours each match that you can point to it and say ahhhh! That's where we're going wrong! So what's left if not mentality? He's echoed my sentiments yesterday: these players get all the support physically, financially and mentally from the club: better than any group of players down through the ages there only duty is to respond with 100% well; they aren't all doing it, all of the time. Too many think by merely putting on the jersey they've made it rather than that being just the beginning of the real test of their character. If Rodgers wants to instil that idea into his squad & remove those that don't want to go with it. I'm firmly behind him. So,.... this is the second time that Rodgers has made a comment regarding now knowing the group within the group that he can rely on. So from now to the end of the season (barring injury forcing his hand), I expect him to play those players. Any on the fringe from now on we must assume BR regards as those not giving 100% and who, when he can he will replace because they've blew it. I will take BR at his word here. I fully expect him to drop Allen if we have anymore individual performances like that. Same would go for any other player now. ANY OTHER player if he states that mentality is that important. I also expect the removal of players BR considers not up to it as soon as possible: which means in reality, this summer because there is no point in saying names are in envelopes & deadlines for upping of ones game have been reached if no action is taken after that. That's a bluff called and all power over the players lost from that point on. So I'll take him by his word. But nows the time for him to live by his word or it is indeed as MFG would insist nothing but hot air.
