Reds eye Klopp as Rodgers out
Liverpool manager cops blame for club’s major decline in form over past 18 months Inter held to draw as Fiorentina clear in top of Serie A
Brendan Rodgers was yesterday fired as Liverpool manager, paying the price for the club’s 18-month slump since almost ending their long wait for an English Premier League title.
Liverpool’s American owners, Fenway Sports Group (FSG), chose the day of the Merseyside derby against fierce rival Everton to announce that Rodgers’ three-year stint at Anfield was over. About three hours after the 1-1 draw at Goodison Park, Rodgers had his contract terminated. FSG’s ownership group said it had been “a difficult decision’’.
Liverpool said the search for Rodgers’ replacement was under way, with much of the media speculation centering on Juergen Klopp, who is on a break from football after leaving German side Borussia Dortmund at the end of last season.
The timing of the announcement caught many by surprise, but the upcoming international break means Liverpool’s next league game isn’t until October 17 — at Tottenham — giving the club two weeks to hire a replacement.
Liverpool are in 10th place in the Premier League after winning three of their first eight games.
Heralded as one of English football’s brightest coaches, Rodgers was hired in June 2012 to revive one of England’s biggest clubs after a period of financial and ownership problems. Initially, he proved the perfect fit.
With the prolific Luis Suarez pouring in goals for the side, Liverpool launched an unexpected title challenge in the Premier League in the 2013-14 season and came up just short, finishing two points behind Manchester City in second place. Inter Milan came from behind to rescue a 1-1 draw at Sampdoria and move briefly back to the top of Serie A yesterday.
Inter dropped their first points of the season last week in a 1-4 loss to Fiorentina but avoided a second successive defeat when Ivan Perisic cancelled out Luis Muriel’s opener.
Rodgers was admired for his style of football, his tactical awareness and his insistence on giving youth — and English players — a chance.
He also conducted himself well in all the engagements that came with the 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough Stadium tragedy, in which 96 Liverpool fans died during a crush at an FA Cup semifinal.
But things turned for Rodgers once Suarez left for Barcelona in July last year.
With fellow striker Daniel Sturridge spending half of last season out injured, Liverpool struggled for goals and ended up finishing sixth to miss out on the Champions League.
Rodgers’ gamble in signing Mario Balotelli failed and the mercurial Italy striker was loaned to AC Milan two months ago.
Rodgers had been the second longest-serving manager in the Premier League, behind Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger.
“I’m always sad when that [a firing] happens because I think he’s a quality manager,” Wenger said after being told of Rodgers’ dismissal. “The pressure is always bigger on the manager. He was very unlucky to not win the Premier [League]. But that’s the way it goes now. I wish him luck and I’m sure he’ll find a job again.”
Rodgers had said after the Everton game that he knew “there is pressure from outside, but there is nothing for me other than working well every day”.
FSG yesterday chose to retain the manager of the other team in its ownership — the Boston Red Sox — despite their disappointing MLB season under John Farrell.
But Fiorentina swiftly returned to the top of the ladder with a 3-0 thrashing of Atalanta to put them two points clear of Inter. That leaves Lazio in third, a point adrift of Inter, after their 2-0 victory over Frosinone.
Roma are another point back in fourth after winning 4-2 at Palermo.
Elsewhere, Sassuolo saw their unbeaten run end with a 0-1 loss at Empoli and Udinese drew 1-1 against Genoa. Udinese striker Antonio Di Natale, who had his head heavily bandaged following an earlier collision, scored his 208th Serie A goal.
Inter were looking to get back on track after seeing their perfect start to the season shattered last week but it was Sampdoria who had the best of the first-half chances. Joaquin Correa had the worst miss of the season in the 38th minute. Correa was one-on-one with Samir Handanovic and his effort ricocheted off the Inter goalkeeper to leave the Argentine midfielder in front of an open goal but he incredibly sent his effort wide from two metres out.
Muriel atoned for his teammate’s error early in the second half, volleying in a cross from 17-year-old Pedro Pereira.