Liverpool: Rodgers Quick To Praise Team Ethos

Reds boss Brendan Rodgers was happy to finally see his team enjoy a comfortable afternoon at Anfield as Wigan Athletic were brushed aside...

Liverpool's 3-0 victory over Wigan Athletic yesterday was only the side's 4th Premier League win on home soil during this calendar year and ended a run of 5 matches without victory over the Latics.

The first half was an even affair and it wasn't until the second 45 minutes that the hosts took control, unsurprisingly with Luis Suarez again the centre of attention. The Uruguayan scored twice and had a hand in the third converted by Spaniard Jose Enrique.

Suarez now has 10 league goals for the season but Kop chief Brendan Rodgers was quick to praise the performance of the team as a whole.

"I think there are superlatives for the team today. I thought the team was outstanding, in particular second half," the Northern Irishman told his post-match press conference.

"Luis took his goals very well, his movement again was outstanding, but today was very much about the team. The ethos and the spirit of the team, the pressure that we applied as a team, was very strong. Today was a result for everyone and I was delighted with that performance.

"We're very much a team - Luis is a very big part of that and you see his goals today."

Part of the reason for the improved second half showing was a tactical change towards the end of the first half when Rodgers sent on Jordan Henderson at the expense of the lively Suso.

"I felt that the organisation at the front end of the field wasn't what I wanted really, and you make a decision in the game," explained the former Swansea City manager.

"You can let it run but I always try to use my intuition and what I feel is best for the team at that moment. Suso had some nice touches, he nearly scored but that's a part of the game. I just felt that I'd flip the triangle around.

"We were playing two and one, and I felt that it wasn't so good for us when we didn't have the ball. Then just flip the triangle round and two players going to join in, and that seemed to work well for us."

Despite the overall collective performance and the impact of Rodgers' bold tactical tweak, the headlines will no doubt again belong to Suarez as he moves clear at the top of the scoring charts.

In the face of continued claims that the Reds are over reliant on the striker, Rodgers confirmed he's working hard on and off the pitch to rectify the situation.

"What we're working on, on the training field and in getting certain profiles of players in, is to then try to get into the spaces that he leaves," analysed the 39-year-old.

"That's something that's going to come and that's the excitement of this group - they're improving all the time and Luis is the pinnacle up there and getting the goals. It's fantastic."

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