BRENDAN RODGERS NEEDS to be more like his old boss Jose Mourinho if he is to end Liverpool’s Premier League drought next season, Jason McAteer said.
McAteer was back in Anfield less than 24 hours after Manchester City clinched the title and left the Merseysiders empty-handed.
And he admitted: “As much as we should be celebrating the season, there is a lot of disappointment around the place.”
The former Ireland international was joined on Monday by 84 Reds fans who got the once-in-a-lifetime chance to play on the hallowed turf as part of Carlsberg’s #JoinTheGreats competition.
The lucky Irish winners were VIP guests at the final game of a rollercoaster season, a laboured 2-1 win against Newcastle on Sunday.
A fortnight earlier, that looked set to be the date of Liverpool’s biggest domestic triumph in almost a quarter of a century.
But a morale-sapping 2-0 loss against Chelsea and then a late capitulation in a 3-3 draw at Crystal Palace gifted the initiative — and ultimately the title — to Manuel Pellegrini’s men.
A draw against Chelsea would have kept control of the title race in Liverpool’s hands but, riding the 11-game winning streak that had catapulted them from no-hopers to title favourites, Rodgers set his stall out to attack.
Chelsea’s defence held strong though and after Steven Gerrard’s unforgettable slip proved to be a costly one, those tactics came under scrutiny.
McAteer feels that, given the chance again, the Kop boss would do things slightly differently.
“The table doesn’t lie,” he said. “[City] are top for a reason.
“They scored over 100 goals and I’d rather they won it than Chelsea.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of Mourinho. I think tactically he is very, very good.
“I think he has let himself down at times with things he has said – the stuff about Wenger was disrespectful. I don’t think Jose needs to be like that.
What I like about him is he doesn’t care how he wins – he will shut up shop and park the bus because he knows that will win him games. Brendan needs to be a bit like that.
“I know it was very difficult against Chelsea because Liverpool here have been brilliant. They play 100-mile-an-hour, fantastic, expansive football.
“But I think what he learned was that he didn’t need to win that game – he just needed to draw. If he had that time again, I think he would have said, ‘right, let’s park the bus here, I’m going to play out a 0-0 draw.’
“The crowd don’t like it but at the end of the season when they are holding that trophy up no one would remember that game.
Mourinho does that — he doesn’t care what anyone thinks as long as he wins. I think Brendan has learned a hell of a lot over those last two weeks. Palace as well, [when it's] 3-1, kill it.
“It’s a bitter pill to take but it will stand them in good stead.”
Gerrard cut a lonely figure on Sunday as he led his teammates in the traditional end-of-season lap of honour.
The taunts from the away end, reminding him of the price of his slip, would have still been ringing in his ears.
“Knowing Steven as I do, he’ll be devastated,” McAteer said.
He will say all the right things to the press, he will act in public like everyone expects him to act, but underneath it all he will be devastated. I know he’s devastated.
“I think he felt it was the strongest chance he had. Whether he gets that chance again remains to be seen — he’s 35 next season.
“But he’ll be here indefinitely. As a player I don’t know how long he’ll be around.”
Although they fell at the final hurdle, Liverpool’s season will go down as one in which they massively overachieved.
Now the biggest challenge for Rodgers is to build and improve again, and McAteer agrees that he could be the victim of his own success.
“The expectancy is there again now and it’s going to be so difficult.
If he doesn’t have a good start next season or he doesn’t get the players he wants to sign, it’s like the Moyes scenario.”
All the noise from Anfield suggests that US owners Fenway Sports Group are ready to commit to Rodgers by tying him to a long-term contract extension.
And McAteer said: “I think they have found someone who could be here for a very long time.
“He has bought into the philosophy of Liverpool going back 40 years with the boot room.
“Mike Marsh is here and I mentioned Steven Gerrard too. You are probably talking about two more seasons out of him and then what happens? Steven has to stay here and he could fill the role of Brendan in years to come. He could slot in there. I think Brendan sees that.
“That’s the future of Liverpool — the boot room and the progression of managers. They are kind of made before they are managers — they slot in like Paisley, Fagan, Dalglish and Evans and so on. I think Brendan has bought into that and I think that’s what will happen.
Going forward Brendan is definitely the man. He has got a philosophy of playing and he just has to find the right players.
“You don’t just buy someone because they are available. It’s like Barcelona. You can’t just become Barcelona manager and change it all. Messi has to play where he plays and you build that team around him.
“We haven’t been in this position for a long time, so it’s good that Brendan is a young manager and is hungry.
“The likes of Ancelotti doesn’t make mistakes – he’s made them all before. Brendan is still young, he is 42 and he has to make mistakes really.
“This bunch of lads have to make mistakes to know what to do when situations happen again. So in some ways it’s a tough lesson to learn, not winning the title, but it will stand them in good stead.”
