Rodgers: Show some fighting spirit

06 June 2012 07:47

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers expects his players to work hard and contribute to a 'cause worth fighting for' as he seeks to turn around the club's fortunes.

For all the praise Rodgers' teams have received for their easy-on-the-eye style, he knows first and foremost he has to get them winning regularly again - and that will only come with effort.

He insists significant, whole-hearted commitment is the very minimum he requires from his squad. The 39-year-old said: "I have conditions to work in. I create a framework and the players come in and adhere to."

"I hear people talking about working hard but for me it is an obligation, it's not a choice. We all work hard in our everyday lives as people and for players it is no different.

"It is quite simple. You come in and do a hard day's work. You make sure in training and on match days you come in and you can take your top off and wring it out and it will be soaking wet.

"It is that honesty you want. If you can work hard and you have got talent it takes you a long way.

"That will be the emphasis for me here, to try to reinforce that and ensure that commitment to the cause is important because we have a cause to fight for here."

One of the players who will be looking to impress Rodgers will be Joe Cole, whom Lille coach Rudi Garcia does not expect to see again after his loan spell ended.

"Joe Cole will stay at Liverpool," the Ligue 1 side's coach told Canal+.

"The new staff have decided to keep him. We will remember him very fondly as a player but also as a man."

Source: PA