Liverpool Transfer News, Rumors: Boss Brendan Rodgers Fields Familiar Players, Moves Against Hierarchy
Brendan Rodgers, Liverpool boss, had decided to field a team consisting of players who were members of the club last season in a match against the Ludogorets Razgrad in the Champions League. This is indication that Rodgers either doesn't trust the new players he had signed or is sending a message to the club's heirarchy.
Of the starting 11, the only new signings were Javier Manquillo and Rickie Lambert. Other new signings which included Adam Lallana, Emre Can, and Dejan Lovren were unused substitutes. Though Albert Moreno was introduced into the game, it was only done so at the last 10 minutes.
Apparently, it looks to be a statement against the Fenway Sports Group. When Rodgers was first introduced as the Liverpool boss in 2012, he refused to work with a director of football which prompted the FSG to abandon plans to implement a more European structure. The said structure was adopted by Chelsea, Tottenham, and Manchester City among others.
Due to the abandonment of the structure, FSG instead opted for a collective model of a transfer committee.
"We have a head of analysis, a head of recruitment, a first-team manager and myself. All of those people are all inputting into a process that delivers what a director of football would deliver," a source said.
Rodgers has also said that "the squad is very shallow," after using Brad Smith during a defeat against Chelsea last December.