Why Brendan Rodgers’ Man-Management Skills Have Led Liverpool To The Top

It is timely that this article comes on the day a manager at Liverpool’s greatest rivals’ manager departs from his desk. Perhaps also timely that this time last year, Roberto Mancini, a man who led Manchester City to success, was on the cusp of being sacked due to his continuous feuds with players.

Man-management has become a key part of the modern day game. Rewind years and years ago, when players would play for a penny and run bare-foot just to play a game of football. An arm would rarely come round the shoulder, notifying you that you had put in a shift of the finest order. In-fact, you were more likely to be told you had played badly, than you would receive praise from your boss.

However, money has entered the game and priorities have changed hands and that is why man-management has become an integral part of the everyday game. Something that has been perfected to the very inch by a man on Merseyside; Brendan Rodgers.

Three games from greatness, the Northern Irishman has led his red army from the despair of mid-table obscurity to the romance between Europe’s elite.

He exemplifies what every manager should possess in this day and age. Passion, elegance, know how and most importantly, a great speaker.

His handling of the Luis Suarez transfer saga in the summer was a masterclass; a pivotal component in what would later become one of Liverpool’s finest seasons since 1990. He never turned on the Uruguayan, but instead made him feel part of the team. He found a balance between caring to the forward’s needs, but also ensuring no one would walk over him – no man was bigger than Liverpool Football Club.

Sterling has found a new leash of life under Rodgers

He ensured young Raheem Sterling curbed the natural instincts which affected him so much off the pitch. A talented, pacey and exciting winger – how many times have we seen them go down the drain? Rodgers put the now England international on the right track, displaying his belief in the 19-year-old. Players celebrate goals in all different ways, mainstream or commercial, but Sterling’s celebration for the first goal against Norwich spoke a thousand words. Running over to to his manager, he was like a young kid who had just found his mentor.

He took a young and energetic central-midfielder, who ran with a ‘straight back’, into one of the most dynamic and talented players in the league in Jordan Henderson. His reinvention of Steven Gerrard, taking one of the most prolific attacking-midfielders in the game, to now one of the best controlling dictators in Europe.

Rodgers successfully reintegrated the talent Daniel Sturridge had shown during his youth days, put one arm around him and turned him into one of the most fearsome strikers in the league.

Rodgers is a natural communicator, able to get his message across in a calm and sophisticated manner, without making any player feel lesser than the other. A man who remembers the simple things, like remembering your name and greeting people with a smile.

Brendan Rodgers has helped Jordan Henderson revive his career

His man-management skills are astute and clever. If you believe in his methodologies, he will believe in you. Many managers across the Premier League have failed to muster this simple, yet elegant attribute. Mancini came and failed. Pellegrini seems to have tasted it, but perhaps prefers other methods. ‘The Special One’ is not one to be questioned, considering the success he has achieved, but it is little wonder why he manages to come across difficult circumstances regarding individuals at every club he has been at.

He stands out from other Premier League managers, Brendan Rodgers, and in a race which is so tight at the top of the Premier League, it is these vital attributes which make the difference.

Rodgers will take his pantheon amongst the elite group of managers that have graced Liverpool, whether he wins the league or not, but with every day he stays, the players at Liverpool have a friend to turn to.