Rodgers under scrutiny as Liverpool crowd starts to turn

The Northern Irishman has now overseen three defeats in a week, shuffling his team selection and attracting increasing criticism of his decisions.

Seven months ago, Brendan Rodgers was the most revered manager in the Premier League. His Liverpool team was waltzing towards the title, and the style of play that he had introduced at Anfield was the talk of world football.

But since Steven Gerrard’s now infamous slip allowed Demba Ba a free run at goal to give Chelsea the lead on Merseyside in late April, very little has gone right for the former Swansea boss. And while there are mitigating factors, his position as manager at the five-time European champions is starting to come under real scrutiny.

The sale of Luis Suarez to Barcelona was almost inevitable, while the double-injury suffered by Daniel Sturridge could certainly not have been envisioned when the transfer window shut just days before he was first stricken while on international duty. 

But other decisions made by the Northern Irishman have seen him questioned by media and supporters of other clubs alike. When Rodgers was booed by the majority of the 44,698-strong crowd for replacing Philippe Coutinho and Emre Can with the Reds chasing the game against Chelsea, though, it was the first sign that the Anfield faithful are starting to wonder, too.