Brendan Rodgers will overlook Liverpool’s defence if wins add up

Brendan Rodgers is less concerned about his team’s defence than he is about winning their way to a successful end to the season, beginning with Saturday’s match away to Southampton.

Daniel Sturridge, centre, and Liverpool's goal scorers have been able to offset the team's defensive lapses. Jon Super / AP Photo

Brendan Rodgers is less concerned about Liverpool's defence than he is about winning their way to a successful end to the season, beginning with Saturday's match away to Southampton.

Liverpool have kept just two clean sheets in their past 11 games, stretching back to mid-December, and have conceded seven goals in their past three matches. Their defensive record is the second worst of the top-11 teams.

By contrast, they are the Premier League's leading scorers, with 70 in 27 games, and their superior firepower in their past two English Premier League matches, against Fulham and Swansea, is what has kept them afloat in the title race.

"We obviously conceded disappointing goals last weekend," Rodgers said, referring to a 4-3 victory over Swansea, "but ultimately at this stage of the season it is about winning.

“We conceded one goal from a free kick, another was a penalty and another was an incredible finish by Jonjo Shelvey.

“We have put in some outstanding team performances over the past four to six weeks and been so exciting to watch going forward. It’s a collective effort. When we attack and score the goals we have it is because of the squad.

“If we’ve scored 70 goals and are the highest goalscorers it is because we are building a platform for the team to go forward and play. If we defend [badly] it is because we haven’t pressed the ball high enough at the top of the field and that is a consequence for the rest of the team. It is just [having] that composure and focus but it is not just the back four and goalkeeper. Ultimately, we won the game.

“This is a team evolving and improving all the time, and I will never move that to the side. You can never stop: performance is important for us because winning is a natural consequence of that.

“We won’t play perfect football but we have put ourselves in a great position with 11 games to go.”

That position is fourth, just four points behind leaders Chelsea and six ahead of fifth-place Tottenham.

Champions League qualification remains the No 1 aim and Rodgers believes his squad have the wherewithal to close that out.

However, Liverpool have lost their past two matches against Southampton and their previous three visits to St Mary’s.

Their manager, Mauricio Pochettino, said that Sourhampton’s rise is evident by the inclusion of four players from their side – Rickie Lambert, Jay Rodriguez, Adam Lallana and Luke Shaw – in the England side for the home friendly against Denmark on Wednesday.

“It’s very important that Southampton have four players in the England squad,” Pochettino said. “That’s a massive boost for this club, but it also enhances the prestige of this club, so it’s a very important thing.”

He said the club intend to keep Shaw, the 18-year-old centre-back who has excited interest in Manchester City and Chelsea. “That’s clearly our intention. We want to keep hold of our young players.”

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