Liverpool v Arsenal: Brendan Rodgers rues failure to sign Alexis Sanchez

Liverpool v Arsenal :Brendan Rodgers rues failure to sign Alexis 

Liverpool manager admits missing out on forward has proven ‘critical’ blow for side which lacks player capable of producing work-rate and goal threat of Suarez

Brendan Rodgers has revealed his "bitter disappointment" at failing to persuade Alexis Sanchez to reject Arsenal in favour of Liverpool after admitting the Chilean had been identified as the perfect replacement for Luis Suarez.

Sanchez completed a £32m move from Barcelona to Arsenal following the World Cup, despite strenuous attempts by Liverpool to hand the 26-year-old the opportunity to fill the void left by Suarez, whose move to the Nou Camp signalled Sanchez’s departure from the Spanish club.

The former Udinese winger has since scored 14 goals in 24 appearances for Arsenal and emerged as the outstanding player in Arsene Wenger’s team this season.

And Rodgers admits that missing out on Sanchez has proven to be a ‘critical’ blow for Liverpool due to the team’s inability to replicate the form of last season caused by the lack of a player capable of producing the work-rate and goal threat of Suarez.

“I think if you look at how I ask the teams to play, it is critical,” Rodgers said, when asked about the impact of missing out on Sanchez. “Not just with the ball, but the intensity with the pressing.

“When Daniel Sturridge was injured in August, I think everyone who knows football should hopefully be able to see that our game has become much deeper because of personnel.

“But Sanchez was identified for us as someone who would have been a key signing and really just a roll on to what we had with Luis Suarez.

“He (Sanchez) is a world-class player and was regarded as somebody who could come here and be perfect for us.

“He is a brilliant footballer with outstanding quality and even bigger work-rate, so to not get him was obviously bitterly disappointing.

“But once he was gone that was it. We just had to focus on what we had.

“It doesn’t matter (if I think he made the right decision). He made his decision, the best option for him, but he will probably give you that answer in 20 years.”

The sale of Suarez and thigh injury suffered by Sturridge, which has restricted the England forward to just two appearances this season, have combined to leave Liverpool floundering in mid-table this season, having almost won the title last term.

And with Sanchez proving to be a talismanic figure for Arsenal, Rodgers insists that the lack of a player of his talents has denied Liverpool the chance to play with the same breath-taking pace that defined their title tilt earlier this year.

“If you look at the team the other night against Bournemouth and having that pace in the central area of the field, first of all it allows you to press and it means that your game can be much more aggressive,” Rodgers said.

“You press the ball in the high areas of the field and, because of that pressure and suffocation of opponents, we can get the ball back higher up the field.

“It gives you more chances of a goal if you are winning it higher up the field, 25-30 metres from goal.

“The types of players I have, the technical players, they have the skills to deal with the ball in tight areas, but we haven’t had that (pressing).

“We brought in (Mario) Balotelli, who has had an opportunity to play in that role but that isn’t his game.

“Big Rickie (Lambert) has come in and he was brought here for a reason and a purpose.

“He has great qualities, but that isn’t what he does and when you don’t have that and press high up the field, you cannot then break at breakneck speed and flood forward like we did last year because we are not that explosive.”

Despite ending Liverpool’s recent slump with a 3-1 Capital One Cup victory at Bournemouth which secured a two-legged semi-final against Chelsea, Rodgers presided over a tense press conference at Melwood on Friday ahead of the visit of Arsenal.

When asked whether a victory against Arsenal, in the wake of last Sunday’s 3-0 defeat at Manchester United. 

Source : The Telegraph