Brendan Rodgers has admitted Liverpool’s play has been left ‘a little broken’ by the significant overhaul of their squad this summer.
The Liverpool manager, who believes a win in Saturday’s Merseyside derby will ignite their campaign after a poor start, signed nine players during the transfer window and sold Suarez to Barcelona.
Liverpool have lost three of their five Premier League matches, with their performances being hampered by poor defending and the Liverpool boss is aware of how low the team’s standards have dropped.
He now feels his team has to get back to the basics that worked for them last season and is encouraged by his team’s willingness to learn from mistakes.
‘I think at this moment in time we are re-focusing and reintroducing principles into our game that has brought the win ratio we’ve had in the last 18 months,’ said Rodgers.
‘Apart from the Tottenham game (won 3-0) we have moved away a bit from that.
‘Our game is based on fast pressing, a real high intensity and also the speed of our football. We put a lot of hard work in during the first six months that we were here and a lot of those processes became natural — the consequence of that is winning.
‘When you introduce a raft of new players and lose the core of players, that’s obviously a factor and then it becomes a little bit broken. That’s how our game has looked for me for a big part of the season. Where I am fortunate is that I have a group of players here that identify with that.
‘We are all in this together and we need to get back to re-focus on what has allowed us to win games consistently over the last 18 months to two years. That has been about the way we play and imposing our style and strength on our opponents.’
Rodgers reckons that a win against Everton will be a boost ahead of their Tuesday’s Champion’s League game against Basle.
‘Derby games give you a chance to be a hero and the players here are well aware of that,’ said Rodgers.
‘It’s a massive game to the supporters, a very special game. But it’s also for me about getting back to performing well. It’s important we get a victory and that will give us confidence.’
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