Brendan Rodgers believes Liverpool’s young players have proven they will be able to handle life without Steven Gerrard.
Liverpool’s talismanic captain will move to LA Galaxy at the end of this season but Rodgers is adamant Gerrard will continue to put his stamp on big games and hopes the 34-year-old will recover from a hamstring problem to face Manchester City tomorrow.
Gerrard was injured against Tottenham on February 10 and while his recovery has gone smoothly, he has been forced to sit out games against Southampton, Crystal Palace (in the FA Cup) and the Europa League double header with Besiktas. Rodgers, however, has been impressed by the way some key figures have started to emerge in Gerrard’s absence, most notably Emre Can.
‘Steven is still a big influence,’ said Rodgers. ‘But you have to prepare the team going forward. Stevie has made his decision, and if you look around the squad there are a lot of young exciting talents.
‘For us, life will go on but he still has an influence on this team. Stevie is a still a wonderful player but we have got a lot of young talented players that want to step up and take on that mantle for the future.’
Rodgers is sure that the penalty shoot-out loss to Besiktas will not leave a mark on the squad. He said: ‘You can’t afford to dwell on it. This phase of the season is very much psychological as well as physical so I try to prepare the players mentally for this period.’
The manager also expects Daniel Sturridge to feature, even though the England striker left the field gingerly in Turkey. ‘He is getting game time and you could see late in the game against Besiktas, his legs had gone,’ said Rodgers. ‘But this is part of his rehabilitation. He is fine.’
As if going out on penalties was not bad enough, a delay at Istanbul Airport meant Liverpool didn’t get back to John Lennon Airport until 4.20am yesterday.
That was good news for City boss Manuel Pellegrini. ‘Of course it’s an advantage to us,’ admitted the Chilean.
‘When you arrive back on Friday it is not the best way to prepare. But if we think we are going to win the game only because Liverpool arrive late, that is not the reason. We must play very good because they also have a strong squad.’– Daily Mail