Rodgers: 'We should have won'

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has claimed that his side should have beaten Manchester City following their 2-2 draw in the Premier League on Sunday.

Goals from Daniel Sturridge and Steven Gerrard saw the Reds lead at the Etihad Stadium after Edin Dzeko's opener, but an error from Pepe Reina allowed Sergio Aguero to earn a point for the champions.



"It should have been a win for ourselves, I thought we played terrific and were the dominant team," Rodgers told BBC Sport. "We scored two wonderful goals and I am disappointed with the goals we conceded.



"The template of our game is improving, we need to cut out the mistakes and we can challenge at top of the league.



"We have come to the home of the champions and dominated. We know we can be better."



The result means that Liverpool stay in seventh place in the table.

Rodgers: Suarez is Liverpool’s Messi

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has placed Luis Suarez in the same class as Barcelona’s Lionel Messi following the Uruguay international's match-winning display against Sunderland.



After setting up Raheem Sterling's opener, the 25-year-old put two goals past the Black Cats on Wednesday night to seal all three points for the Merseyside outfit.



And Rodgers was liberal in his praise for the striker, suggesting that he can maintain his form through playing as many as three games a week, such is his talent.



"Luis was sensational [against Sunderland],” he told the Daily Mirror. “His cleverness in finding space is incredible.



"He's a striker that has to play two or three times a week to be on top of his game - one game a week is no good to him. He needs to be playing.



"And you see the response you get from him. His work has never dropped. Like Messi he is a real team player and trains every day.



“He is never in the treatment room and then he comes out and performs. As the ball moves he finds the spaces. He's a wonderful talent, and it will be fantastic to see him develop here."



QPR boss Harry Redknapp also echoed Rodgers’ comparison to Argentina international Messi after the London outfit’s 3-0 defeat to Liverpool on December 30.



“I was talking with Harry Redknapp after our game at QPR,” Rodgers explained. “He said Luis is a Messi-type character,”



Adamant that a challenge for Champions League football is still possible, Rodgers has admitted a good run of results could build up enough momentum to propel the club into the prestigious top four come the campaign’s end.



"I believe the second half of the season we can up the tempo and kick on as we have always hoped to do.” he continued. “You could see it in our performance tonight [against Sunderland], we have the capacity to do that. It's about consistency from now, and I hope we can get that.



"We were disappointed with the performance against Stoke, but six goals and two clean sheets is the perfect reaction to that, and it's nine points from 12 over the difficult Christmas period."

Kevin Gameiro on Liverpool list

Manager Brendan Rodgers had originally lined up the Frenchman as an alternative to Sturridge, in case the deal for the England striker faltered.



But he is now keen to add even more striking power to his ranks and hopes to sign Gameiro as well to revamp his attacking options.



The 25 year-old would be a versatile addition to the squad, able to play in a variety of forward roles. His age also fits the profile of the club’s American owners, who have made it clear they do not want to sanction expensive deals for players in their late twenties or thirties.



Gameiro was one of the most highly sought after attackers in French football when he moved to PSG for £9 million in the summer of 2011. He scored 14 goals last season, and is also a France international.



But the arrival of Zlatan Ibrahimovic at PSG has limited his opportunities during this campaign.



Liverpool are not the only side interested in the player, but Rodgers will hope a fresh start on Merseyside will enable Gameiro to recapture his best form.



Sturridge’s signing will be confirmed this week, but it will be too soon for the £12 million purchase from Chelsea to make his debut against Sunderland on Wednesday. He has already completed a medical and agreed personal terms, but he will not be registered in time.



The 23 year-old has been pencilled in to face Mansfield in the FA Cup third round on Sunday.



Negotiations for Blackpool midfielder Thomas Ince have temporarily stalled after fraught discussions with the Championship club. Liverpool’s valuation of around £4 million – for a player who left Anfield last season for £500,000 and is available for free this summer – was considered ‘too low’. There is no prospect of Liverpool bidding any higher since Ince will be out of contract in the summer.



After similarly difficult negotiations when Charlie Adam made the same move – a deal which actually led to Ince moving to Blackpool – Liverpool are wary of overpaying again. Ince’s heart is set on a return to Merseyside.



Liverpool are also keen to loan out Uruguayan defender Sebastian Coates. Napoli, Juventus, Lazio and Santos are interested.



Rodgers is looking at 21-year-old French defender Nicolas Isimat-Mirin from Valenciennes, but Liverpool have also rejected a potential swap deal involving Joe Cole and Lille’s Salomon Kalou.



The Liverpool players were given Monday off to avoid the spreading of the illness which affected Rodgers on Sunday. The club’s pre-match press conference ahead of their Sunderland fixture was also cancelled, but the players are scheduled to return to training on Tuesday.

Fourth spot still a realistic aim for us, says Rodgers

Liverpool are confident of finalising deals for Tom Ince and Daniel Sturridge.



Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers believes a top four finish is “absolutely, absolutely” a realistic aim for the 12-placed club and says he is taking heart from the fact that nobody has pulled away in fourth spot.



“Let’s be honest – it is a big ask; a massive ask,” said Rodgers, ahead of his side’s meeting with Southampton at Anfield today. “But [fourth] has to be our target. We are going to look to try and get as close to that as we possibly can.



Rodgers, whose side are 10 points off fourth-placed West Bromwich Albion, was bullish about the club’s potential activity in the January transfer market, at the end of a week in which he agreed that the managerial uncertainty at Stamford Bridge may make a move for Daniel Sturridge easier. Liverpool are confident of finalising a £6m deal for Blackpool’s Tom Ince as well as adding Sturridge for a further £12m.



Asked if he was looking at one or two signings or as much as he could achieve, Rodgers replied: “As much as I can do, really. [But] we have got a real good group here. I have always thought that if you have three-and-a-half goal-scorers in your team, you have got a chance. We have got Luis Suarez. Steven Gerrard will get goals. He has been terrific this season and taken on an even greater responsibility with the juniors. But he will get goals. There is no question of that. If we can add a couple more that you know are goal-scorers, who instinctively get into the box and get goals, with the domination that we are having in games, then we have got a chance in the second half of the season. We are going into a month that if we can



Lucas Leiva is expected to make his long-awaited return return today, having been rested from the rigours of the midweek game at Tottenham to be ready for a game which Rodgers needs to win. That will provide rigour and free Gerrard to advance more, after a disappointing few months by his standards.



Another of the disappointments for Rodgers has been Nuri Sahin, who has not proved tp be the stand-out player who was expected when he opted for Anfield rather than the Emirates, arriving on loan from Real Madrid this summer. The manager admitted that the tempo of the Premier League was something the 24-year-old was struggling to adapt to.



“His attitude has been first class. I always look at the midfield players and their goals and assists. I look at tackles won and with Nuri he has come in and played more games than he has probably thought. But he is a good guy who is working hard. It is just about the balance really. I don’t think he has struggled with the physical side of it. He has played in Germany. It’s just the tempo here is greater. You have to respect that he has come back from nearly a year out of it. This first six months he has played quite a number of games. I have had a chance to assess him and see where he is at. But if you are out of the team, you just have to continue to work hard. If your chance comes, you have to take it.”



Liverpool’s lack of a striker has clearly contributed to them slipping four points behind Swansea City and three points behind Stoke City in the Premier League, but Rodgers insisted that this had not been a wasted five months.



“I would never say managing this club is a waste,” he said. “I’ve got to say it’s been a privilege here and I’ve learned a lot. I spoke to Stevie [Gerrard] after Tottenham and he said it was the best Liverpool have played there in 12 years going to White Hart Lane. That shows you with the lack of experience in the group but it’s also about getting results and I have total faith that we will do that. As I said, from the first six months, it was really about improving that unity in the group, trying to find different solutions. I believe that will grow even more. We are creating enough pressure and getting enough of the ball. If we can the right profile of players… the last five months have highlighted the need for that even more. If we get one or two to finish it off we can go on a great run.”



Liverpool face what they would historically have considered to be an easy run until mid-January - meeting West Ham, Aston Villa, Fulham, Stoke City, QPR and Sunderland before they meet Manchester United at Old Trafford on January 13.




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Rodgers: Liverpool not far off top four rivals

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers reckons his side are on the right path towards matching Tottenham and challenging regularly for Champions League football again.



Rodgers can guide his side into the top half of the Premier League for the first time this season with a win at White Hart Lane on Wednesday night.



His first five months at Anfield have been made trickier by the challenges of trying to improve a lop-sided squad short of top-class strikers on a limited budget. But even though he has seen Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas spend £57 million on six players, including Liverpool summer target Clint Dempsey, Rodgers is not envious.



The Liverpool boss was a target for Spurs as they looked to replace Harry Redknapp at the start of the summer, but insists he made the right choice by moving to Anfield in June.



"I was very happy in my work at Swansea," Rodgers said. "Harry had done a brilliant job there, and for whatever reason, the club decided that it wasn't to be and looked elsewhere.



"For me to leave Swansea was going to be a big ask, but I had the opportunity to come here, and I've not regretted any moment of it."



Asked if there had been contact with Tottenham over their manager's job earlier this year, Rodgers said: "It's irrelevant. Tottenham have chosen a manager. Obviously, Harry had done a great job there, and they decided to go down the route of Andre Villas-Boas.



"Andre's gone in, he's looking to continue the great work Harry had done. My only thinking is about Liverpool."



Rodgers found it hard to hide his disappointment at missing out on Dempsey, who wanted to join Liverpool from Fulham in August, only for the deal to fall through, with Tottenham signing him for £6 million instead.



By the time Dempsey's future was sorted, Rodgers had already allowed Andy Carroll to join West Ham on a season's loan. The Liverpool manager has since had to manage a chronic shortage of strikers.



"There was an offer to sign Clint," he said. "He was a player who had been terrific at Fulham, so we were interested in him, and I'm sure several other clubs were as well. The club felt they had done what they could to get the player. It wasn't to be, and he moved to Tottenham. Our life moves on."



Rodgers feels Liverpool are on the right lines, heading to White Hart Lane unbeaten in eight league games - although that run includes five draws.



"We know we're not too far away," he said. "We're very, very close to arriving in that zone that we want to be in. You only need to look at some of the things that have gone against us in terms of goals disallowed, for instance. If you take those points alone, over the course of a few games, that would be shooting us right up there.



"But we're just going to look to take care of our own game and keep progressing. We know we have the qualities to grow and arrive up in there."



Anfield has not hosted Champions League football since Liverpool were eliminated in the group stages in December 2009. Tottenham, on the other hand, reached the quarter-finals in 2010-11 before losing to Real Madrid, and would have qualified for this season's competition had Chelsea not won it in May.



Rodgers acknowledges that he will not be given the money by owners Fenway Sports Group to match Tottenham's spending, and so has to find other ways to improve Liverpool's fortunes.



"Tottenham have been building the group steadily, and they've worked their way up to become challengers for those Champions League positions," Rodgers said. "They have invested heavily and done it over a number of windows. We're trying to arrive in that position, and we're seeing what it sometimes takes to do that.



"But if you haven't got the investment, then you have to find other ways of doing it, and that's where we are at the moment. We look at our way of working. Can we be different in our way of playing? Can we develop young players and bring them through? Can we find a bargain somewhere?



"Of course, Liverpool always want to be in for the top talent, and this is a club that can attract those players. But going forward, a lot of players want to be in the Champions League. So they want to come in to hear that's somewhere we want to get to in the coming years.



"It's about getting young players through, finding players we can develop, players who are hungry, and players who really want to succeed in helping the club move forward."

Liverpool show an interest in Rossi

According to the Daily Express, Brendan Rodgers is looking to bring striker Giuseppe Rossi to Anfield in the January transfer window, despite the fact that he is out with a knee ligament injury right now.



The former Manchester United man has been out of action for 13 months now, but does seem to be on the road to recovery – so Rodgers would of course have to be patient with the Italian.



Rossi is highly-rated across Europe and if the Reds can bring him to the English Premier League, it would certainly be a fantastic bit of business.



The striker is currently plying his trade at Villarreal, who are in the Spanish second division right now after being relegated from La Liga last campaign, so it is likely that Rossi will be on the move when he returns to action.



The Spanish club will do all they can to keep hold of him though, or really cash-in on one of their most prized assets.



Liverpool need to add attackers to their squad and Rodgers is desperate to take some of the pressure of leading scorer Luis Suarez, who is the only recognised striker for the Reds boss to call upon at the moment.