THANK HEAVENS
Rodgers lives to fight another day . . . but Reds line up Ancelotti
LIVERPOOL scraped through a Capital One Cup third round tie against League Two Carlisle United on penalties at Anfield last night, but Brendan Rodgers is still fighting to save his job after owners FSG sounded out Carlo Ancelotti about replacing him as manager.
Rodgers, who retains some support from the decision-makers at Anfield, is now under massive pressure following the club’s poor start to the Barclays Premier League season, and his cause won’t have been helped after Liverpool had a narrow escape against lowly opposition last night.
Striker Danny Ings gave the hosts a 24th-minute lead but Carlisle equalised 10 minutes later through Derek Asamoah and then held on to take the tie into a penalty shoot-out. Goalkeeper Adam Bogdan proved to be Liverpool’s hero with three saves to seal a 3-2 win.
Ancelotti was fired by Real Madrid at the end of last season and has always maintained that he wanted to take a year-long sabbatical before making his return to management.
Although he privately stated that he wanted to manage in London again following his dismissal from Real Madrid, Liverpool are a club with history
IT doesn’t get any easier for Brendan Rodgers. It isn’t getting any better, though, and only the actions of an unlikely hero have prevented Anfield being engulfed in crisis.
Adam Bogdan, who arrived on a free transfer from Bolton in June, saved three penalties in a shootout with Carlisle United, to help Liverpool clamber into the fourth round of the Capital One Cup, in which they will face a home date with Bournemouth.
Yet this was not a night for celebration. Liverpool may have had 46 shots but they did not look 65 places better than their League Two opponents.
Liverpool were booed off both at half-time and full-time of extra time, as they huffed and puffed but never looked capable of blowing Carlisle away. Danny Ings opened the scoring but his header was cancelled out by Derek Asamoah in the first period of normal time and they deserved going the distance.
Unfortunately for Keith Curle’s men, they could not hold their nerve when it mattered and Danny Grainger, Luke Joyce and Bastian Hery all had their efforts saved by Bogdan, who made his debut.
Yet Liverpool were hardly proficient from the spot and both Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana saw their efforts saved. It was left to James Milner, Emre Can and Ings to successfully convert and ensure Rodgers did not suffer the same ignominy of Roy Hodgson, whose Liverpool side crashed out of the League Cup on penalties at Anfield to Northampton in 2010.
The nature of this performance, however, will ensure Rodgers remains under the most intense pressure and Fenway Sports Group, the club’s American owners, will undoubtedly be worried by the paucity of performances that have been produced so far this season.
Carlisle were outstanding, their energy, commitment and willingness to run even when their legs were burning in extra time. They defended as a unit, kept Liverpool comfortably at arms’ length and even threatened to win it with a couple of counter-attacks.
They have been inconsistent in League Two but, as was the case when they faced Queens Park Rangers in the last round, they rose to the occasion and deserved every bit of acclaim that came their way.
On another day, Carlisle would have stolen the headlines. But for Liverpool and Rodgers, the worries continue.
LIVERPOOL (3-5-2): Bogdan 5; Lovren 5, Skrtel 5, Can 6; Moreno 6, Milner 5.5, Allen 4.5 (Coutinho 66min 5), Firmino 5 (Origi 29 4), Clyne 6; Lallana 6, Ings 7. Subs not used: Gomez, Brannagan, Rossiter,
Fulton. Booked: Origi.
CARLISLE (3-5-1-1): Gillespie 7; Miller 7, Grainger 8, Raynes 7; Kennedy 6.5 (Gillesphey 73), Joyce 7, Dicker 7, McQueen 7, Sweeney 6.5 (Gilliead 64 7); Hery 8.5; Asamoah 7.5 (Ibhere 64 7).
Subs not used: Atkinson, Hanford, Balanta, Archibald-Henville.
Man of the match: Bastian Hery. Referee: Andrew Madley 6.