Brendan Rodgers Denies Rumors Of Dressing-Room Unrest At Liverpool

Brendan Rodgers is using his bully pulpit to separate fact from fiction, as Liverpool’s season threatens to veer off course.

Rodgers responded to rumors of discord behind the scenes at Liverpool on Monday, saying his players have the drive and commitment required to finish the 2014-15 season strongly. The Mirror reported Sunday that Rodgers clashed with a number of players at a meeting during which the first team was reviewing Saturday’s 4-1 loss to Arsenal. Rodgers called the Mirror’s report a fabrication.

“We have lots of meetings here in terms of analysing performance, and it was no different to a whole host of meetings we have all year,” Rodgers said at his press conference ahead of Wednesday’s FA Cup quarterfinal replay against Blackburn Rovers, according to Sky Sports. “Those meetings helped us recover from the bad start we had to win 10 games out of 13.

“It was nothing really; it was just analysing performance, analysing where we are at and then feeding forward to the players. With seven games to go and an FA Cup quarterfinal, the objectives we can clearly achieve between now and the end of the season. It is just unfortunate something else was made up.

“I have a great bunch of players here who tirelessly, every single day, give me everything, and you can see that in how we play. We might be short in terms of several elements, but in terms of the commitment and work ethic, that is pretty clear and has been since I’ve been here.”

Saturday’s loss left the Reds’ hopes for a top-four finish in tatters, as they now sit seven points (and counting) behind their closest rival with as many games remaining in the season.

However, there’s no time for Liverpool to argue about missed opportunities. It has a chance to earn a measure of immediate redemption (and a trip to Wembley Stadium) on Wednesday in the FA Cup.