Rodgers not for change

Reading 0 Liverpool 0

Nigel Adkin’s side had conceded 63 league goals going in to Saturday’s match at the Madejski Stadium but Liverpool, with a forward line containing Luis Suarez, Daniel Sturridge, Coutinho and Steven Gerrard, could not breach the home side’s goal.

Much praise for Reading’s resilience justifiably went to goalkeeper Alex McCarthy, who was in impervious form after six months out with a shoulder injury, but it was clear Liverpool were desperately short of ideas once the Berkshire side negated their initial offensive play.

“It’s straightforward, when you believe in something inherently it’s relatively straightforward, and if you ask the players they will tell you they have enjoyed the season’s work,” Rodgers said. “There haven’t been too many games when we haven’t played well, I could count them on one hand, the likes of Arsenal at home, but performance-wise a lot of play has been good.

“The team had problems scoring goals last season, that hasn’t been the case this season, we’re one of the highest scorers in the league, so it shows the balance and creativity is getting better and I feel if we can add quality to the ranks in the summer that can take us on again.

“The players had good opportunities, defended the counter-attack, and were on the front-foot for most of the game. Reading are fighting for their lives, they’re not out of it yet, they’re still putting their bodies on the line, and they have a goalkeeper who probably produced the best goalkeeping performance anyone in this stadium has ever seen in their life.

“I was sat in the changing room with the staff and said I couldn’t remember being at a game where a goalkeeper has made a performance like that, either as a manager, coach or spectator. Normally goalkeepers make one or two saves that make a difference, but he made an incredible number of saves and when he was beat it was cleared off the line. It was a brilliant goalkeeping performance.”

The grim fact that Liverpool failed to penetrate the most permeable back line in the league was compounded by the fact their €41m record-signing striker Andy Carroll was 45 miles away scoring for loan club West Ham against Southampton.

Rodgers gave no sign the towering forward, who has scored five goals in his last seven league matches, would return to Anfield to offer a different attacking option, instead he preferred to reveal the Merseyside club will be looking to buy even more talent in the summer.

“We’ll be in a much better place at the start of next season,” he said. “Everyone can see we have improved and got better. We’ve got some top players but you need quality throughout the team and once we bring in that quality we’ll move up to the next level.

“We’ll look at it in the summer, every club will bring in more players and we’ll aim to bring in that quality that will improve the group.”