It’s all about the players, says Rodgers

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers insists he is not driven by a personal desire to beat opposing managers — mainly because those battles are never fought on a level playing field.

Rodgers comes up against Jose Mourinho, the man who gave him a youth team job in his first spell at Stamford Bridge, in the Capital One Cup semi-final first leg tonight looking to end a run of three successive defeats against his old boss.

It is generally accepted the Portuguese had the upper hand when it came to tactics on each occasion but Rodgers believes that was only half the story.