As the Chelsea fans were letting everyone know on Sunday that they were European Champions, the Liverpool fans responded by singing ” We’ve Won It Five Times”.
So what do those Liverpool fans think when they hear that their manager say after the Chelsea match that finishing higher than eighth in the Premier League this season would be “fantastic”.
“The reality is we’re a long way off in the league,” said Rodgers. “We finished eighth last year. If we can improve on that, it’ll be fantastic for us.”
When did Liverpool settle for mediocrity? Since finishing second in 2009, Liverpool have been on a steady decline and last season’s eighth place finish equalled their lowest top-flight finish since they were relegated in 1954.
After eleven games, Liverpool are currently thirteenth in the table with just two wins from those eleven games and 12 points. Even Roy Hodgson had more points at this point in the season in 2010 (15 points) on the way to getting fired.
The Kop has been incredible patient with Rodegrs, but make no mistake the upcoming run of games are crucial to him and the club.
These are Liverpool’s next ten games, which takes them to January 1 and the opening of the winter transfer window:
- Wigan (H)
- Swansea (A)
- Tottenham (A)
- Southampton (H)
- West Ham (A)
- Aston Villa (H)
- Fulham (H)
- Stoke (A)
- QPR (A)
- Sunderland (H)
Except for the trip to White Hart Lane, and maybe Swansea away, Liverpool should be favoured in the rest of these games. Ten games and 30 points at stake. If Liverpool can get 24-25 points out of 30, the storm clouds over Anfield will disappear and Rodgers can get on with the job of rebuilding one of British footballers biggest clubs.
But if Liverpool pick up 15 points or less, will the knives start to come out for Rodgers as they did with Hodgson?