Daily Express: Rodgers lights Anfield torch

The Olympic torch by-passed Anfield as it wound its way through the streets of Merseyside yesterday, though Liverpool still unveiled a new flame of their own.

If Brendan Rodgers did not so much as bat an eyelid when it was put to him that owner John W Henry's ultimate target remains winning the Premier League title, it was only because he shares ambitions just as lofty.

The final flashbulb capturing his coronation had popped when the 39-year-old set about explaining his shimmering vision for Liverpool's future.

Yet it was when Rodgers delved into the past, recalling the night he sat next to Jose Mourinho and Chelsea's Champions League hopes were vanquished in front of The Kop for the first time in 2005, that it became clear just how he plans to achieve it.

"The [Chelsea] players said they had never experienced support like that," said Rodgers, who was reserve team manager under Mourinho.

"That was ultimately what won the game. I want to use the incredible support to make coming to Anfield the longest 90 minutes of an opponent's life. I want to see great attacking football with creativity and imagination, with relentless pressing of the ball.

"I know what it's like because I had a team like that at Swansea. That was with a terrific little club and a terrific group of players. When people came to Swansea, it was probably the longest 90 minutes of their life. So after 10 minutes, when they hadn't had a touch of the ball, they are looking at the clock and seeing only 10 minutes had gone. It's a long afternoon."

It was an impressive speech. The sort that would light up a dressing room and helped paint a picture of a man Liverpool's players will want to put their bodies on the line for. Yet after the visionary, Rodgers played the realist.

His Swansea side had out-Liverpooled their hosts at Anfield back in November and beaten Kenny Dalglish's side on the final weekend of the season, just four days before the Scot was sacked.

He is aware of the traumas they have endured despite claiming the players are better than the eighth-place finish they mustered. "When you come to a club like this one, the shirt weighs much heavier than any other shirt," he said.

"The weight of expectation is phenomenal. My job next season is to try and lift some of that weight off the shirt. I'll take the pressure.

"The players can just go and concentrate on performing and if you do that you'll get the result eight or nine times out of 10 because of your talent.

"The reality is that this is a club where I need to align the playing group with the supporters. There is an imbalance at the minute.

"You've got some of the world's best supporters here and the playing group is not quite at that level yet. What excites me is the motivation to get that level back up again and that is why I came."

Rodgers' philosophy - despite the text messages he has received from former mentor Mourinho this week - has more in common with Pep Guardiola's approach during his time at Barcelona.

It is a model that demands a strong mental approach, unstinting concentration and, above all else, hard work. It applies to Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, both of whom Rodgers telephoned on Thursday night, as much as Andy Carroll and Jordan Henderson.

"I think every player will tell you they would love to play that way," said Rodgers. "The question is, does every player want to work that hard to play that way?

"For me, a lot of our game is based on pressing. Our game at Swansea was talked about a lot and lauded. What people didn't recognise is that to have the ball for 65-70 per cent of the game you have to get it back very, very quickly.

"So our transition in the game and positioning to get the ball back became very good and that allowed us to beat Manchester City, to beat Arsenal, should have beaten Chelsea, and to beat Liverpool."

Replicating that will require patience from Henry's Fenway Sports Group. "It's not starting from scratch but tweaking. I don't think it is a total rebuild," he said.

"Obviously I have a philosophy in terms of where I want to get to but that won't happen on the first day. What we will need to do is make a number of adjustments and bring in players for key positions that will allow us to play that way.

"You can't come to Liverpool and play a direct game of football, lumping-it style. This is a club that is historic for the identity, style and DNA of its football."

It is a DNA that Rodgers also has pumping through his veins. FOOTBALL: LIVERPOOL'S NEW VISION.

Source: Daily Express