Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has a habit of saying things that sound like David Brent quotes and after his side’s 2-1 loss to Aston Villa in the FA Cup semifinals, he added another line to the collection.
From Liverpool’s official website:
“I think sometimes you can want to win too much and the focus comes away from what allows you to win.”
That’s a bit like saying in a job interview that your weakness is caring too much, but to Rodgers’ credit, he also said that Villa deserved to win.
“You can always lose a game, but you’d hope you can play well and give yourself an opportunity. I thought we were second best today, to be honest. They were better than us. We had some chances but Aston Villa were better than us today.
“There’s an obligation here to fight right until the very end. We have come close now in two competitions but failed to make the steps. Hopefully in the future we can learn from that.
“I thought our energy was low today. Aston Villa had a good start and I felt we were too passive in the game. I had to change the system, it got us some joy, we started to control the game a little bit and then we got in front – but we didn’t keep the lead long enough.
“We were too passive on the side of the field, Fabian Delph skips through way too easily and they got back into the game. Second half, we hoped to play better but we just didn’t create enough today.”
Saying that they wanted to win too much doesn’t really jive with the assessment that they were too passive, but you really can’t think too much about the things Rodgers says.
Meanwhile, this loss sealed the dubious distinction that Rodgers is now the first Liverpool manager to not win a trophy within his first three seasons.
What do you think to this stat, Liverpool fans? http://t.co/XGsjjmWI2S #LFC pic.twitter.com/AuasAULIsB
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) April 19, 2015
That fact excludes the good work he did to finish second in the Premier League last season, giving Liverpool their first shot at the league title in years. But maybe if he convinces himself to want to win trophies less than he does, it’ll finally happen for him?