Football
ESPN staff 9y

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers: 'If the owners want me to go I will go'

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers conceded that his side were "very poor" in the 6-1 defeat to Stoke and claimed that if the club's owners Fenway Sports Group want him to depart, then he will.

The Reds' failing campaign was encapsulated in 45 minutes with Mame Biram Diouf scoring a brace, Charlie Adam, Jon Walters and Steven Nzonzi also on target before the interval -- the first time Liverpool had conceded five first-half goals in top-flight league since 1976 against Aston Villa.

Steven Gerrard pulled one back on his last appearance for the club but substitute Peter Crouch made it 6-1 late on and Rodgers was left to reflect on a terrible day for his side.

"I have always said if the owners want me to go I will go. But I still feel I have a lot of offer here. There is a lot that's happened there this year that has made the job tough. Performances like today don't help me and I'm fully aware of that.

"We made too many mistakes defensively and individually. We were beaten too easily and were not competitive enough. We were very, very poor in that first half.

"It was always going to be a big job in the summer and today's result would certainly ratify that. We understand the job ahead and we will be much better than today going forward.

"We have got to be much better than we have been for the last six or eight weeks. We will work tirelessly to look to put on a better show next season."

A run of eight points from their final nine matches saw the Reds drop to sixth, eight points off Champions League qualification -- the target set by the owners at the beginning of the campaign.

"For everybody connected with Liverpool, we are all embarrassed by that today," he added. "We have to be much better than that. They (the fans) deserve an apology.

"They were angry at half time -- and rightly so -- because that was awful, absolutely awful. The only way you'll get support from them is by winning games, and we haven't won enough games."

Rodgers also revealed why he chose to leave Raheem Sterling out of the starting XI, with the saga surrounding his new contract ongoing.

He said: "It's been a difficult few months for him [Sterling] and we felt other players might be able to contribute that bit more."

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