5 things Brendan Rodgers can do to benefit from the Europa League

Brendan Rodgers is a man in need of a plan right now, writes Thomas Bolton as he provides five things that the Liverpool boss should use the Europa League for.

With careful thought the Northern Irishman can get the most out of the notoriously taxing Europa League to play people into form, work out a winning formation and give youngsters vital experience.

Here’s five ways the under-fire Liverpool boss can ensure he and his squad benefit from the competition and not find it a hindrance.

1. Give his first team outcasts a chance through Europa to regain first team status

Rodgers has considerably talented players not being given a solid chance in the struggling Liverpool first team. Too often players in the past few seasons have come and gone through the Anfield gates without being given much of a chance to make an impact.

Tiago Illori, Ousamma Assaidi, Luis Alberto, Samed Yesil and Suso are just a few names that made 25 or less appearances (even Fabio Borini only made 25 appearances). One way to give players outside of the first team a real incentive to play well and place pressure on the underperforming XI is to offer first term contention to Europa overachievers.

While it’s a pity that Lazar Markovic cannot make use of this avenue to stake his claim, forgotten defenders Mamadou Sakho and Alberto Moreno could remind Rodgers’ of their presence and talent. Rodgers should reward strong performances from either of the duo or even the aging Kolo Toure with the possibility of a return to the first term, which is in serious need of an injection of form.

2. Use Mamadou Sakho more

The marginalisation of Sakho has caused much debate among fans (admittedly a pretty one-sided debate). The gangly Frenchman, when injury free is an accomplished centre-back and his distribution has markedly improved through the seasons he has been at Anfield. He regularly passes the ball forward which bucks the annoying trend of Martin Skrtel and Dejan Lovren sending the ball back to the feet of Simon Mignolet at the slightest hint of pressure.

Sakho has not been given a chance this year despite Euro 2016 looming and the assertion by many fans that he is a much tidier and more reliable centre-back than Lovren. Not only does Sakho have clear talent and a desperate need to force his way back into Laurent Blanc’s plans he also boosts a considerable CV of European experience.

Sakho was captaining PSG to Europa League victories 5 years ago aged just 20 – back when Lovren was still breaking through for Dinamo Zagreb. Sakho has played 24 European games, but only two in the last few years at Liverpool, and desperately needs a break under Rodgers. Not only that but his talent could be a godsend to the under fire Northern Irishman.

3. Approach the competition in the right way

A contentious point as the Europa League is a fickle mistress. Do well in it and receive little kudos as it is widely perceived as a “lesser trophy” but fail to perform and the pressure surrounds from all sides.

Also there is the effect of the “continental hangover” to consider. Rodgers should treat the Europa League for what it is; a distraction with a very large silver lining.

If he keeps his clear first teamers away from the competition (eg Coutinho, Milner, Henderson, Skrtel and Benteke) he can avoid the vital components of his squad from being affected by trips to France and Russia.

But on the other hand the competition needs to be taken seriously enough to progress, and can provide great experience for players such as Moreno, Emre Can and Jordon Ibe.

Also Rodgers, especially in the group stage can experiment tactically, trying his beloved 4-3-3 and other tactics he has been contemplating and hopefully find a winning mix to bring back to the Premier League.

The competition offers Rodgers a technical “sandbox” without much at stake and good experience for his players not in touch with the first team. He must see it as useful without being too high a priority. Hopefully all benefit from it. (Ed note: Rodgers is expected to play 3421 in Bordeaux tonight).

4. Blood Youth and bring players back from injury through the Europa League

The Europa League could also provide a springboard for talented players such as Ibe, Can, Divock Origi and Danny Ings to play into form away from the glaring Premier League spotlight. Ibe and Origi especially are younger and more raw talents and early continental experiences against cultured opposition should impact positively on their development and hopefully allow them to develop a winning mentality.

Whilst the Europa League is considered to be a ‘lesser league’ Bordeaux are six-time Ligue 1 winners, Rubin Kazan have been consistent performers in European competition as well as the Russian Premier League and FC Sion won the Swiss Cup earlier this year.

All three teams are successful to some degree and getting consistent game time against that calibre would be beneficial and present an opportunity for players such as Ibe, Origi, Ojo and Teixeira.

Furthermore, the competition’s games would provide good chances for players such as Jon Flanagan, Joe Allen and Daniel Sturridge to sharpen themselves ready from Premier League action in the latter stages of their recovery from injury.

All three would be hoping for a return to the first XI but given Flanagan’s lay off, the crowding of the midfield and Sturridge’s recent patchy form none of the trio could expect to walk back into a settled team and the Europa League could prove a good chance to show they deserve to be there.

5. Know when the competition’s usefulness is at an end

Similar to approaching the Europa League in the right way, Rodgers must understand that unless winning the competition becomes a more serious prospect there will be a time where he must choose to prioritise the Premier League.

Rodgers must understand the effects that playing a long away trip to Turkey or Russia and losing would have on a group of players who must then play a few days later to try and secure three vital points in the Premier League.

Unless the Reds reach the quarter-finals, Rodgers must be prepared to rest his Premier League first team if an important domestic game and a latter game in the European competition occur in close proximity.

Whilst Champions League can be secured through the Europa the competition can also be notoriously taxing and Rodgers must be weary of that.

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Liverpool’s Jordan Rossiter hoping to repay Brendan Rodgers’ faith in him

Jordan Rossiter is hoping for another opportunity in the Liverpool first team to show the world what he’s capable of and “repay the faith” Brendan Rodgers has shown in him.

Rossiter is part of the Reds’ squad to face Bordeaux in their opening Europa League game of the campaign on Thursday night, almost a year after he made his debut for the club.

After making a goalscoring debut against Middlesbrough in the League Cup last season, the 18-year-old played the final 14 minutes of Liverpool’s goalless draw at Arsenal in August and is now eyeing his European debut.

“If my time comes, I want to show what I can do and hopefully repay the faith the manager showed in me in the Premier League a few weeks ago,” Rossiter told the club’s official website.

“It’s a dream come true. I have been working since the age of six to be up at Melwood training. But I just know I’ve got to keep my feet on the ground.

“I’ve still got a long way to go and I need to keep improving every day and hope for the best for the future.”

A win for Liverpool in France would certainly give them an edge in their Europa League group, with Russia’s Rubin Kazan and Switzerland’s FC Sion the other two opponents.

Jordon Ibe is seeing Thursday’s game at Bordeaux as a chance to turn things around after back-to-back underwhelming defeats in the Premier League.

“Getting a positive result in the away game would help us nicely,” Ibe told LiverpoolFC.com. “Then coming home, with the fans helping us, we should do well.

“The last two games have been disappointing so it will be a chance for us to get some points and do well.”

Bordeaux vs. Liverpool gets underway at 6pm on Thursday 17th September. Keep an eye on This Is Anfield throughout the day for more updates and follow us on Twitter @thisisanfield:

BORDEAUX vs LIVERPOOL PREVIEW

• OPPOSITION – lowdown, tactics and key players
• DEBATE – How should LFC approach the Europa League?
• QUIZ – LFC in the Europa League

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Adam Lallana says Liverpool players will not be affected by off-field talk

Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana insists criticism of the team will not affect the players as they seek to get things back on track.

Back-to-back defeats against West Ham and Manchester United have put the squad under the spotlight heading into their Europa League opener in Bordeaux. However, the England international does not believe that will impact on the players.

“It is our job to play football and no matter how we do – good or bad – people are always going to have their opinions,” he said.

“At times it is best we just concentrate on doing our job and let people speculate as to whether it is good, bad or indifferent.

“We have to focus on our job and our next job is a tough game.

“We have to get a positive result and then it is a quick turnaround for the next Premier League game (at home to Norwich on Sunday).

“We have to keep focusing on our job because at the end of the day that is all we can do.

“I’ve got an immense amount of confidence. We have to stick together through good and bad times.”

Lallana is back to fitness after a month on the sidelines with a thigh injury and he is looking to make up for lost time after a second successive injury-interrupted start to a campaign.

“I am fully fit now,” the 27-year-old added. “I trained Friday and it was too soon for United but I’ve had three to four good days’ training.

“It was disappointing to have another setback, but these things you have to deal with as a footballer. Hopefully I will be fit for foreseeable future and the rest of the season.”

Lallana is back in contention for a start against Bordeaux and knows how important the Europa League could be.

“It is a huge competition,” he said. “It is a great chance to get back into he Champions League, which is where we want to be as we had a taste of it last season.”

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Brendan Rodgers not feeling heat ahead of Europa League opener

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers insists he is not under any greater pressure despite recent results but accepts he needs to find a way of re-implementing the principles which made his teams tick.

It is the manner of defeats – insipid performances against West Ham and Manchester United – not just the results which have brought increased criticism of the Northern Irishman.

Asked about the level of pressure, he said: “Same as it has ever been and probably what I’ve had for the last year or so.

“I don’t think it has increased at all. It is the pressure which comes with managing a great club.

“It says everything that you lose a couple of games and that pressure comes, but I’ve always embraced and enjoyed that.

“Nothing has changed in that way. I just need to concentrate on getting the team right.

“Pressure is something which is part and parcel of being manager of this club.”

Former professionals criticised, in particular, the performance at Old Trafford, which fell well below the standards expected in a match against their north-west rivals.

Many observers have remarked the current team is a pale imitation of a Rodgers’ team at their best, dominating possession and having a snappy passing game.

The team are struggling for goals and creativity and look a world away from the scintillating best they produced when almost winning the league two seasons ago.

“You can lose games but it is how you lose them and the last couple of games are not how you want to lose,” Rodgers said ahead of their Europa League opener in Bordeaux.

“I think it is good I have an identity as a coach and a way of working that is clear and I can see where any one making that comment would come from.

“I am confident we can get back to playing that way and it is something I along with the staff are working very hard to reinforce the principles of how we have worked here.”

Rodgers has left behind first-choice central-defensive pair Martin Skrtel and Dejan Lovren, right-back Nathaniel Clyne, midfielders Lucas Leiva and James Milner and striker Christian Benteke. However, he denies he is taking a gamble.

“My approach is what I did in this competition when I first came in: we played players who were needing games and it gives me a chance to look at some younger players and back then we finished top of the group,” added Rodgers, who confirmed Mamadou Sakho will make his first appearance of the season and striker Divock Origi his first start.

“We will pick a team to win the game. At this stage for me it is really about trying to get a performance level as consequently that will lead to us getting consistent results.

“Some players who I left behind will play (against Norwich on Sunday) but there will be players who play (on Thursday) who will play at the weekend and that opportunity is there.”

Midfielder Adam Lallana, back after a month out injured, admits it has been frustrating watching from the sidelines and seeing the side criticised. “I am a senior member of the team and I am delighted to be back,” he said.

“It is our job to play football and no matter how we do – good or bad – people are always going to have their opinions.

“At times it is best we just concentrate on doing our job and let people speculation as to whether it is good, bad or indifferent.

“We have to focus on our job and our next job is a tough game (on Thursday).

“We have to get a positive result and then it is a quick turnaround for the next Premier League game.

“We have to keep focusing on our job because at the end of the day that is all we can do.”

Bordeaux coach Willy Sagnol, whose side have had a similar start to Liverpool in their opening five matches, is taking nothing for granted despite Liverpool’s weakened squad.

“There are a number of Liverpool’s top-level players absent,” he said. “We do not change: our Benteke is missing – Cheick Diabate is injured (with a thigh strain).

“A good time to play Liverpool? When you are Bordeaux, I do not know if there is one.”

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Sakho, Toure, Origi to get first action of the season against Bordeaux

Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool kick-off their Europa League campaign on Thursday night when they take on French side Bordeaux. Ben Twelves previews the clash and takes a look at the potential team selection options.

Liverpool begin their 2015/16 Europa League campaign against Bordeaux, where the Reds will be looking to stamp their authority on a tricky Group B with immediate effect.

A positive start to the season has suffered a double blow following back-to-back defeats in the Premier League, but Rodgers’ men must respond strongly and bounce back to winning ways at Nouveau Stade de Bourdeaux – where the two sides meet for the first time since the Reds’ 3-0 win in 2006 – in order to start an extremely important European journey well.

The competition – which Liverpool have been knocked out of at the round of 32 stage in their last three campaigns – provides Rodgers’ side with the incentive of a return to the Champions League stage, and it therefore must be taken seriously by the Reds boss with his Anfield future potentially resting on qualification for Europe’s elite competition.

With the Europa League a notoriously difficult juggling act alongside the domestic season, Rodgers faces a difficult task to find the right balance to allow his side to compete to the maximum in both, but it’s a mission he must accomplish as the pressure increases.

The Team

Jon Flanagan remains an absentee while Jordan Henderson is set to miss out with a continuing heel issue which the captain has undergone specialist treatment on in America, and despite returns to training for Daniel Sturridge and Joe Allen, the game is set to come too early for either to take part.

Rodgers is set to welcome Adam Lallana back into the set-up however with the attacking midfielder also having made a comeback to full training last week, and Philippe Coutinho is available again after serving a one-match ban for the appalling loss to Man United last Saturday.

With the match to be the second of three in eight days for the Reds, Rodgers has decided to heavily rotate his squad and will afford match minutes to those who have so far seen their game time limited, while also taking a number of youngsters and resting key figures ahead of a now vitally important league clash against Norwich.

Mamadou Sakho and Kolo Toure are set to come into the side for their first appearances of the season, while Alberto Moreno is also likely to enter the XI at left back with Joe Gomez a candidate to switch to the right, following Rodgers’ decision to leave Nathaniel Clyne, Martin Skrtel and Dejan Lovren on Merseyside.

The midfield shape up is also set to change after Lucas Leiva and vice-captain James Milner were also left out, meaning Emre Can is set to continue in middle of the park where he could be joined by Coutinho and Jordan Rossiter – though fellow travelling youngster Cameron Brannagan will be hopeful of some match action too.

With options at his disposal to do so, Rodgers will freshen up his attack for the European opener after deciding to rest Christian Benteke with one eye on Sunday’s fixture, meaning Roberto Firmino, Jordon Ibe and Danny Ings will be hopeful of featuring, while Divock Origi could be set for his first Reds start.

The Liverpool XI

Rodgers is set to make changes to his side on Thursday night with personnel, but after watching his team turn in a lacklustre display, void of attacking threat and goals in a negative 4-5-1 shape, the Reds manager could opt for a more offensive out-look.

4-3-3 – the Liverpool boss’ alleged favoured formation – is likely to be utilised with the Northern Irishman preferring to operate without a strike-duo, and the system could be introduced along with five changes to the XI.

Toure, Sakho and Moreno are set for appearances and appear certain – alongside Gomez – to form a new-look back four, behind a midfield three that could see Emre Can partnered by Rossiter and the returning Coutinho.

An all-changed attacking line-up could also see a youthful trio of Ibe, Ings and Origi spearhead the Reds’ offense in Bordeaux and those changes to system and team could see the Reds line up like so on Thursday night:

However, within the same shape – despite a switch to a 4-4-2 diamond looking a logical move – Rodgers has the chance to name a slightly different looking side.

The back four seemingly picks itself with first choice starters absent, as does the midfield, but in attack, Rodgers could hand minutes to fit-again Lallana – if not Firmino – who could play at Ings’ expense in the front three alongside Ibe and Origi.

With those adjustments, Liverpool could look like this come 6pm kick-off time:

With a solid start having suffered a double set-back, it’s essential the Reds open an important Europa League tournament positively restoring confidence in the process, ahead of some vital upcoming games in all competitions.

The match is live on BT Sport in the UK, and live on Fox Sports 1 in the USA.

BORDEAUX vs LIVERPOOL PREVIEW

• OPPOSITION – lowdown, tactics and key players
• DEBATE – How should LFC approach the Europa League?
• QUIZ – LFC in the Europa League

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