There are times when managers tighten up before a big match night and tension fills the air. Brendan Rodgers is no exception.
Minutes before the Liverpool coach took training here before their Champions League tie against Basle, the names of Daniel Sturridge and Steven Gerrard were enough to get him going.
It was passionate and protective, absorbing to listen to as he defended Gerrard’s honour and instructed England’s head coach Roy Hodgson to leave Sturridge out of his squad.
Sturridge is not here, out of action since he injured his thigh on England duty last month.
Tomorrow, as the forward nears a return to action this weekend against West Bromwich Albion, Hodgson intends to select him for Euro 2016 qualifiers against San Marino and Estonia.
This, as everyone involved in these untidy club-versus-country spats is aware, is dangerous territory. Rodgers, though, is resolute.
‘I have not spoken to Roy since the injury,’ admitted Liverpool’s manager. ‘We have good dialogue and he knows that he can call and speak about any of the players.
‘Hopefully he will have found everything I have ever said about the Liverpool players working with England to be helpful. I have only ever been honest.’
Then there is the delicate issue of Gerrard, with Rodgers responding to criticism of the captain’s form with a robust and forthright explanation of his role within this Liverpool team.
Gerrard, who scored the last-minute winner against Ludogorets, went on to have his say in last Saturday’s Merseyside derby at Anfield. He scored a peach of a goal, a free-kick from the edge of the area and then claimed ‘people took it too far and say “he’s 34, he can’t run and he’s finished”.’
Spiky stuff, indeed.
Rodgers said: ‘Some of the criticism Steven is taking shows you the level he is playing that teams deem him to be man-marked.
‘As a footballer and a human being, as captain, every football person will know the qualities and influence he still has and he is a real catalyst for everything the team has done in the last 18months.
‘It is something we are looking at as a club. He is still in a real good physical condition, 34 years old, never needs a day’s rest, and this is a genuine superstar, a world-class player consistently for so many years.
‘He will play and prepare himself right the way through to the very end. When he still strikes a ball there are not many like him, both his passing and his shooting. It is something to respect and behold.
‘The younger players look how calm Stevie is and they know he has been at the level before and gone right the way through and won the tournament. They can draw inspiration from that.’
These days Gerrard is stationed just in front of the back four and he will be expected to dictate the tempo against Paulo Sousa’s side this evening.
‘He is right in the thick of it, he is right in the centre of it, that is the position I have put him in so that he can orchestrate the team. That is something he has done magnificently and the players respond to that,’ added Rodgers.
Gerrard remains a valuable member of the Liverpool team, something Mamadou Sakho will do well to remember. He has been left behind with a diplomatic injury — code for axed — after he left Anfield on Saturday before a ball had been kicked in the Merseyside derby.
Has he been disciplined? ‘It’s all in-house,’ added Rodgers, which translated as a hefty fine for the Liverpool defender.
As for the rest of this squad, Rodgers made it clear he is right behind them.– Daily Mail