3) Sterling’s non-appearance points to breakdown

Not since 1963 had Liverpool lost so heavily and, on the back of a dismal two-month period, the inquest after the 6-1 defeat at Stoke City focused on Brendan Rodgers’ future. Was the team and, by extension, the manager’s job prospects in a terminal state? As a consequence, Rodgers was only lightly grilled over his decision to drop Raheem Sterling, after the winger’s relationship with the club had deteriorated further last week. “With Raheem, I felt there has been a lot going on and I just felt that there were other players mentally better positioned to play in the game,” Rodgers said. On Friday, the sense had been that Rodgers was ready to include Sterling in his starting line-up but the non-selection revealed that the player’s thoughts are elsewhere. When a player has effectively lost the will or ability to do his job properly and/or the manager feels he cannot pick him, the road to reconciliation looks awfully long. David Hytner