Also, Newcastle United boss reflects on last season’s hammering from the Reds…
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has described Steven Gerrard as one of the best he has worked with and at the age of 33, insists he is still a world class player. Rodgers described the goal that sealed the win for England against Poland – and ultimately their place in the World Cup finals in Brazil – as ‘typical Gerrard.’
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He told the Liverpool Echo: ‘He’s a respected figure and a wonderful example for the other players. He takes a real responsibility within the group and he doesn’t just think about himself. Liverpool and England have benefited from that.’
The Liverpool boss has also said in an interview with the club’s TV channel that he gets a buzz from his training work at Melwood being executed perfectly on the pitch, and he feels that he has developed as a manager since his arrival at the club back in the summer of 2012.
Rodgers said: ‘It’s great when you see the work that you have done in training spill out onto the field; you see the movement patterns, the dynamics of your team and they take that into the field. That’s the greatest buzz I get from football.
‘I feel I get better in my job here every single day. The longer I’m here, the more I’m dealing with different pressures and different tasks to achieve. But there’s no doubt that the players and the club have made me a better manager.’
Liverpool travel to St James’ Park for a lunchtime kick off against Newcastle United, and Magpies boss Alan Pardew is determined to atone for the 6-0 drubbing his side received at the hands of the Reds’ last season.
Pardew said: ‘It was one of my worst days as Newcastle boss. If there isn’t an extra bit of fire in the bellies of some of our players this weekend then there’ll be something wrong.’
Onto transfer rumours and there are reports that Liverpool are prepared to offer Barcelona defender Martin Montoya a pre-contract. According to Bild, Liverpool are the front runners ahead of other European names including Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen.
image: © Sanjiva
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