Prior to the match speculation was rife that our manager would be sacked if he lost this game versus our Merseyside rivals Everton.
Confident in the knowledge that he had yet to suffer defeat in the derby, by the close of the match that record would still be in tact. A few hours later it was a record set in stone as he unceremoniously sacked by a board member over the phone.
The timing may have been surprising with Liverpool only six points behind Man City and a two week international break giving the manager time go again, but it seems the owners have decided this would give his replacement time enough to recaliberate the squad push for relative success.
In what turned out to be his last match as manager, Rodgers was still without Benteke still absent through injury. It was no surprise that we went unchanged from our league win versus Aston Villa last weekend.
For the first time since 1986 there was no local representation for us in the starting eleven with Jordan Rossiter (on the bench) being the only link to local Liverpool talent. The first twenty minutes of the match were played at an entertaining and very good tempo with the referee Martin Atkinson trying to keep the game flowing.
The main chances for us came late in the first half consisted of a volley from Danny Ings that went over the bar, Milner forcing Howard into a reflex save at his near post after a delightful flick over the Everton defence by Coutinho.
Naismith then had a point blank header brilliantly saved by Mignolet. He produced another fine save to deny McCarthy’s long range drive despite seeing the shot late.
We then took the lead after winning a corner which came after Ings failed to find Sturridge on a counter attack. From the resultant corner Ings (not the tallest striker) was clearly unmarked and headed home to the shock and amazement of the Everton fans. The travelling LFC away fans went delirious with happiness.
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| Ings heads home to give us the lead |
The happiness was short-lived with poor defending by first Moreno (who inexplicably turned his back on a cross coming in from wide on the left) and then Emre Can (who failed to clear the cross) whose attempted clearance fell perfectly for Lukaku to prod home the equaliser. Extremely poor defending that you shouldn’t be seeing at this level of the game.
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| Lukaku gets the first half injury time equaliser |
Half-time thoughts: Our excellent combative work in the first half was destroyed yet again by disastrous defending. It is becoming the story of our season.
Unfortunately, Everton started with confidence in the second half, which was unsurprising considering how they ended the first half with a late equaliser. The possession swing from 30 minutes to the hour mark was quite drastic and in Everton’s favour. We then began to struggle to contain Everton’s attacks. Barkley flashed a shot wide on 65 minutes and four minutes later Mignolet was called into action once again parrying away a fierce Lukaku shot.
The pace and direct running of Aaron Lennon, who came on for Deulofeu on the right, helped Everton push us back even further. Lallana then came on for Danny Ings with fifteen minutes to go and Arouna Koné on for Steven Naismith. Lucas Leiva replaced by Joe Allen to prevent a second yellow for the increasingly reckless midfielder and also to ensure we kept things tight to see the game out and come away with the point.
From 60 to 85 minutes, there wasn't much in the way of ideas or entertainment as both sides ran out of steam. Everton seemed to find some impetus in the last five minutes with Barkley on the ball. We disappointedly settle for a draw.
In retrospect, the smile at the end of the game from Brendan Rodgers showed a man under pressure, but with little idea this was to be his last game as our manager.
Everton (4-2-3-1): Howard , Browning , Jagielka , Funes Mori , Galloway , McCarthy, Barry, Deulofeu (Lennon 60), Barkley, Naismith (Kone 79), Lukaku
Subs not used: Robles, Gibson, Oviedo, Osman, Holgate
Goal: Lukaku 45+1
Booked: Barkley, McCarthy, Lukaku
Manager: Roberto Martinez
Liverpool (3-4-1-2): Mignolet, Can, Skrtel, Sakho, Clyne, Milner, Lucas(Allen 79), Moreno, Coutinho, Sturridge, Ings (Lallana 76)
Subs not used: Gomez, Origi, Ibe, Bogdan, Rossiter
Goal: Ings 41
Booked: Can, Lucas, Sakho
Manager: Brendan Rodgers
Referee: Martin Atkinson
Att:- 39,598
Full-time thoughts: A draw. It was the best our manager could hope for with us not making any effort to win the game in the second half – with our manager seemingly happy to settle for the point from halftime onwards.
Our manager would have boast that his team remained undefeated in the Merseyside Derby with a trip to Spurs after the international break. But he had only one win in seven attempts which to me was not a great record.
Our manager’s away record as LFC manager vs the top 4 and Everton is extremely poor and the reason why we would never have won the title under him.
Played 18 Won 1 Drawn 9 Lost 8 Goal difference -12
This record without improving drastically will be another reason why he has not been good enough for this club.
Breaking news whilst typing the blog is that our manager Brendan Rodgers has had his contract terminated following the 1-1 draw against Everton.
In a joint Fenway Sports Group statement, Principal Owner John W Henry, Chairman Tom Werner and President Mike Gordon said: “We would like to place on record our sincere thanks to Brendan Rodgers for the significant contribution he has made to the club and express our gratitude for his hard work and commitment.“All of us have experienced some wonderful moments with Brendan as manager and we are confident he will enjoy a long career in the game.“Although this has been a difficult decision, we believe it provides us with the best opportunity for success on the pitch. Ambition and winning are at the heart of what we want to bring to Liverpool and we believe this change gives us the best opportunity to deliver it.“The search for a new manager is underway and we hope to make an appointment in a decisive and timely manner.”
The final picture just says it all a dejected Rodgers almost knew he had gone once the Everton goal had gone in.
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| Rodgers looks like he knows he has seen his last goal conceded |
All the best to Brendan Rodgers a nice man, just out of his depth at this level of football.
As I said in yesterday's blog before the game, he was a dead man walking. The owner's thinking was probably "we are only six points behind and going in to an international break". Which is why I would be very surprise if they've haven't got the next manager on board. It might also be that with the way we are playing there is a possibility Coutinho and Sturrigde.
ReplyDeleteIn the match itself I thought we were quite good in the first half without creating much and were pretty much non-descript in the second-half.
Also, as Souness intimated, he should have gone when they asked if he coaching staff (Marsh and Pascoe) and were good enough as that was slight on him.
DeleteWhen they left I remember Jan Molby saying it left him exposed and that it was "a final roll of the dice".
He was a dead man walking from then on, if he had any pride he would have walked then.
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