By Kevin Koczwara
BOSTON – Brendan Rodgers doesn’t have a lot of time to prepare Liverpool for its first Europa League game on August 2nd. Even though the tournament has taken on the persona of the ugly step-sister to the Champions League, Rodgers isn’t taking it lightly. He hopes to have Liverpool prepared to win every game, including the Europa League games. That’s how he manages: he goes into every game and competition hoping to win.
“I always think that if you’re in a competition you’re in it to win it is the answer really,” Rodgers told the media. “I think every game, when you’re a manager or a coach at a club like Liverpool, you want to win every game.
“You can’t win every game. It’s impossible. You can’t do that, but certainly, like I said, it’s to be competitive, but of course the games have come a lot earlier than you hoped for. For me, I always believe you’re in it to win and to try and win it and go as far as you possibly can,” he continued.
I’d say that Rodgers intends to win every game rather than just “hoping”. Hoping isn’t a very demanding position. Winning league games is the first priority, but winning tournaments deserves equal effort.
He said he wants to win every game. He also acknowledges how hard that is and said it’s “impossible”, meaning not realistic. I personally like his realistic approach and find it refreshing. He said he wants to win, no matter the competition and I take him at his word.