Seriously? Rodgers has done well for Liverpool. In his first season he had a poor first half of the season due to settling in and the fact that the board wouldn't let him spend money on a striker. But the second half he did a great job although the damage was already done for the season. You can't finish second by fluke he overpreformed but it wasn't a fluke. The squad wasn't good enough for the title yet we almost did it. He got the best out of Suarez. Dalglish never did that and he has managed players like John Barnes to league titles.
Even this season. This season hasn't been great. But has Rodgers underperformed? No. In Europe yes. But in general no. Look at Liverpools squad and tell me that squad should be getting top 4 or challenge for the title. No chance at all. City and Chelsea are miles ahead. Arsenal have a better and more balanced squad. United have played poor but have world class players like Rooney and Mata to bail them out something Rodgers does not have.
To say Rodgers has underperformed is just not acceptable. He overpreformed last season. And because of that this season will always be judged against last season.
Liverpool have lost 2 to 3 key players from last season. Suarez. Sturridge been injured most of the season and is just starting to come back. Plus after last season not many would have predicted Gerrards poor form. Last season Gerrard had weaknesses especially defensively but they were more protected. Gerrard looked finished under Dalglish but Rodgers managed to get him going again for at least another 2 seasons. Last season he had the most or second most assists in the league. In terms of forward play he was incredible and he was integral for his set pieces. This season he doesn't have this. Perhaps because there are no quality strikers to receive his passes but also because he has been playing poorly and his defensive weaknesses are now more evident.
To lose 3 players like that. 2 of them in Sturridge and Gerrard were unprecedented, it takes a massive hit on the team. The fact that we have managed to challenge for top 4 without a proper striker for half the season is a miracle.
Don't get me wrong Rodgers has faults. We failed in Europe. Although no one was arsed about the europa league. Rodgers is young and so he is naive he makes mistakes. He didn't know his best team at the begining of the season which hurt us especially in Europe. He also says weird things to the press. Sometimes he handles then well he is handling the Sterling saga well in the press. But mostly the things he says about players maybe to motivate them doesn't work maybe he should say it to them privately. But tons of managers say ridiculous things to the press look at Mourinho. Even Fergie claimed Ashley Williams attempted to murder Rvp.
Of course Rodgers has a lot to learn but let's be honest he did well at Swansea and yes Liverpool is completely different to Swansea but he has done a good job at Liverpool too. This season we have struggled because we over achieved last season and our current squad just isn't good enough for top 4. We are still within a chance of getting top 4 but will probably finish 5th. We were unlucky to lose to Chelsea in the league cup semi final. We are still in the Fa Cup. Considering the state of the squad and the fact that 3 key players last season have mostly disappeared, Suarez leaving pernamently, we have done a decent job. The teams above us all have top strikers. Chelsea have Costa. City have Aguero. Arsenal have Giroud and Sanchez. United have Rooney. Even Spurs have Harry Kane who is doing everything right at the moment.
So the problem seems to be the state of the squad. Liverpool need to improve it. The issue is we struggle to improve it due to two factors. One we don't have the money other clubs have. Two Liverpool have a good reputation but they also have a reputation of finishing outside of the top 4 and falling away at the end. If a team you think might finish outside of the top 4 doesn't offer you top money other clubs offer you then why go there.
We got a decent amount of money from selling Suarez. But would we ever be able to spend 60 mil on Di Maria and give him 200 or 250k a week. No. We can't compete with the spending power of Chelsea or City or United. Liverpool cannot sign world class player due to money and the fact the players often have better options. As a result Fsg who own Liverpool enforce a philosophy of signing young talents and developing them into top players. So a player like Emre Can in a few years might want to leave and we could easily make back the money we spent on him. Or alternatively he will want to stay and be a key member of the team. It is a win win for Fsg but not necessarily for Liverpool. Liverpool have a young squad they all need a few seasons to settle in and develop. So it is obvious we need a 'now' player an already top player. Areseal sign young players but they are also willing to sign a now player in Sanchez. And Liverpool not signing a player like Sanchez isn't through lack of trying. Rodgers tried to sign Sanchez couldn't get him. I imagine he tried for others such as Cavani and whoever. But there wasn't really much of a market in terms of top forwards last season. Add the fact that Liverpool struggle to entice the players and don't have the money other clubs will offer, Liverpool will always miss out on top players to other clubs. Hence why the club either signs young kids of experienced players who will join cheap such as Lambert or Toure.
It appears that failing to improve the squad is the main issue with Liverpool and this is not solely Rodgers fault. Yes he makes some bad signings like Lovern and Borini. But he is also very restricted in who he can sign. He didn't want Balotelli but it was him or nothing. I doubt he even signed Aspas and Assaidi as he refused to play them. Rodgers makes some good and some poor signings and it is something he needs to work on but if you think Liverpool should be signing a Di Maria or a Benzema then you're deluded they ain't going to join Liverpool at the moment and that isn't Rodgers fault. It isnt Rodgers fault that Fsg failed to do more in January last season. If we had signed konoplyanka or Salah maybe we would have won the league. Rodgers isn't to blame there but Fsg are. I'm not saying liverpool need new owners as that might not even help. BIt Rodgers isn't the sole problem in terms of signings. Plus he couldn't have prepared for sturridge's injury or even Gerrards poor form and signed players to cover those issues.
You have to look at the context and Rodgers has done a good job at Liverpool. Aside from a few mostly idiots or trolls but some who do genuinely feel Rodgers isnt the answer, but most Liverpool fans want Rodgers to stay. Rodgers isn't the sole reason we lost to Arsenal so heavily. The players were shite. There were a lot of injuries and those who played even the regular players were poor. It is just easier to blame the manager. It wasn't Rodgers fault that Gerrard got sent off, or Skrtel, or Can. We just went on an unbeaten run where everybody thought Liverpool could get top 4 but the damage was done at the begining of the season. But during that unbeaten run everybody was full of praise for Rodgers. We lose 2 games to teams with superior squads and now people are saying he is shite.
The bottom line is Rodgers has not underpreformed this season. In fact he has done well given the state of the squad and injuries. If Sturridge was not injured for so long Liverpool would certainly have top 4.