Jurgen Klopp and Carlo Ancelotti are the leading candidates to succeed sacked Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers, according to reports in the British media on Monday (Oct 5).

This combination photo shows former Borussia Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp (L) and former Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti. Juergen Klopp and Carlo Ancelotti are the leading candidates to succeed sacked Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers, according to reports. (AFP/GERARD JULIEN)

Rodgers, 42, was sacked on Sunday after a 1-1 draw with Everton left Liverpool 10th in the Premier League table, albeit only three points below the Champions League places, following a sixth-place finish last season.

Klopp, 48, has been out of work since stepping down at Borussia Dortmund at the end of last season, while 56-year-old Ancelotti, who previously worked in England with Chelsea, was sacked by Real Madrid last May.

Several news outlets, including Sky and the BBC, reported that Klopp was the frontrunner, having led Dortmund to two Bundesliga titles and a Champions League final appearance in 2013.

Announcing Rodgers’ departure, Liverpool’s American owners Fenway Sports Group said: “The search for a new manager is under way and we hope to make an appointment in a decisive and timely manner.”

Rodgers, who took over in June 2012, led Liverpool to a second-place finish in the Premier League in 2014. But Liverpool have since lost Luis Suarez, Steven Gerrard and Raheem Sterling, and despite significant investment in new players, Rodgers struggled to reproduce a winning formula.

“Liverpool need a manager who is big enough to handle the pressure, without thinking he is bigger than the club,” former Liverpool defender Mark Lawrenson wrote in an article for the BBC.

“Whoever it is will have to buy into the mindset of the American owners – they want success, but their model is to try to get that by signing younger players they can train up and, sometimes, sell on.

“Jurgen Klopp is the favourite to get the job and he would fit the bill. At Borussia Dortmund he built a team that were in your face, with good players that he was making better, but he also knew he would have to sell one or even two every year.”

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Liverpool sacked manager Brendan Rodgers on Sunday (Oct 4) following a year of disappointing results that culminated in a poor start to the current season.

Liverpool’s Northern Irish manager Brendan Rodgers. (AFP PHOTO/OLI SCARFF)

The announcement came just hours after Liverpool had held Everton to a 1-1 draw in the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park with another unconvincing performance.

Rodgers, 42, took Liverpool to the brink of the Premier League title in 2014, but they finished sixth last season and are currently 10th in the table with 12 points from eight games.

“We would like to place on record our sincere thanks to Brendan Rodgers for the significant contribution he has made to the club and express our gratitude for his hard work and commitment,” said a joint-statement from principal owner John W Henry, chairman Tom Werner and president Mike Gordon.

“All of us have experienced some wonderful moments with Brendan as manager and we are confident he will enjoy a long career in the game.

“Although this has been a difficult decision, we believe it provides us with the best opportunity for success on the pitch. Ambition and winning are at the heart of what we want to bring to Liverpool and we believe this change gives us the best opportunity to deliver it.

“The search for a new manager is underway and we hope to make an appointment in a decisive and timely manner.”

Rodgers arrived from Swansea City in 2012 with a reputation for expansive football and built a team around Luis Suarez, Daniel Sturridge and Steven Gerrard that captivated neutrals by making a thrilling tilt at the title in 2014.

But after a costly slip by Gerrard in a 2-0 defeat by Chelsea, Liverpool lost out to Manchester City and Rodgers’ subsequent attempts to re-shape his squad proved unsuccessful.

He spent around £192 million on new players over the last 16 months, but high-profile signings such as Lazar Markovic, Dejan Lovren and Mario Balotelli have failed to pay off, while Suarez and Gerrard have both left along with Raheem Sterling.

Former Borussia Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp and former Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti, both currently out of work, have been linked with the Liverpool job in recent weeks.

Wenger ‘sad’

Speaking before news of his dismissal had broken, Rodgers said: “I don’t feel any pressure. I can honestly say that. There is pressure to sell newspapers and make stories and I understand and respect that. People will want to put pressure on for different reasons. I don’t feel it, I don’t want it, but anything externally, there is no drama.”

Rodgers’ position came under scrutiny at the end of last season, after Liverpool were humiliated 6-1 at Stoke City on the final day in Gerrard’s last game before joining the Los Angeles Galaxy.

FSG came out in support of the Northern Irishman, who formerly worked alongside Jose Mourinho at Chelsea, but obliged him to make changes to his back-room staff.

Assistant manager Colin Pascoe and first-team coach Mike Marsh both left the club, with Sean O’Driscoll and former Liverpool midfielder Gary McAllister joining the back-room staff.

Rodgers spent around £80 million during the close season, much of it recouped from the sale of Sterling to City for £49 million, but Liverpool have struggled. They have won only one of their last nine games inside 90 minutes and needed penalties to beat fourth-tier Carlisle United in the League Cup.

“He was maybe fortunate to stay on at the end of last season,” said former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher, who played under Rodgers. “He’ll have known himself that he had to make a good start and he hasn’t.”

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger backed Rodgers to bounce back from the setback. “I am always sad when that happens because I think he is a quality manager,” said the Frenchman after his side’s 3-0 defeat of Manchester United. “But that’s the way it goes now and I wish him good luck. I am sure he will find a job again.”

Rodgers is the second Premier League manager to part company with a club this season after Dick Advocaat, who stood down at Sunderland earlier on Sunday.

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Arsenal produced a scintillating start to overwhelm in-form Manchester United 3-0 in the Premier League on Sunday (Oct 4) and give embattled manager Arsene Wenger something to smile about.

Arsenal’s midfielder Aaron Ramsey (R) vies against Manchester United’s midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger during the English Premier League football match at the Emirates Stadium in London. (AFP PHOTO/JUSTIN TALLIS)

Wenger was pilloried in the British press after Tuesday’s 3-2 home defeat by Olympiakos left his side struggling to avoid a group-stage exit in the Champions League, but five days on he presided over a win that equalled his best league result against United.

Alexis Sanchez was the hosts’ inspiration, scoring with a neat back-heel and an 18-yard howitzer inside the first 19 minutes to take his tally to six goals in three games after last weekend’s hat-trick at Leicester City and a midweek header against Olympiakos.

Mesut Ozil joined in the early onslaught, netting from Theo Walcott’s seventh-minute cut-back, as Arsenalsecured a win that took them up to second place, two points below leaders Manchester City.

United were seeking a fourth consecutive league win, which would have seen them return to the summit, but instead Louis van Gaal’s met with a defeat that saw them slip below Arsenal on goal difference.

It was United’s first loss at the Emirates Stadium since May 2011 and the manner of defeat raised questions about the durability of their title credentials, just as Arsenal were strengthening theirs.

Michael Carrick was one of two changes made by Van Gaal, the other seeing Ashley Young come in at left-back, and the decision to pair Carrick with his fellow thirty-something Bastian Schweinsteiger was quickly made to look suspect as Arsenal ran riot almost from kick-off.

The first goal arrived in the sixth minute, with Aaron Ramsey sliding a pass down the inside-right channel for Ozil, whose cross was brilliantly and inventively back-heeled home at the near post by Sanchez.

Barely a minute later it was 2-0 as Walcott found space behind Matteo Darmian on the Arsenal left and pulled the ball back for Ozil to slot a first-time shot past a statuesque David de Gea.

United had not had time to draw breath and soon Sanchez had added a third, gathering a pass from Walcott, stepping inside three defenders and slamming a thunderbolt into the top-right corner from 18 yards.

Non-existent

It was the first time United had conceded three goals in the first 20 minutes of a Premier League match.

With Wayne Rooney’s first touch betraying him, Memphis Depay running down blind alleys and Anthony Martial non-existent, United were not threatening a response and Arsenal could have extended their lead before half-time.

Santi Cazorla and Walcott shot wide, while Sanchez picked out Ramsey stealing into the box with a fine lofted pass from the left, only for the Welshman to miscue his volley and send the ball looping wide.

A chance finally fell the visitors’ way a minute before the interval, but after neatly gathering Darmian’s cross, Martial could only drill his shot against the legs of recalled Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech.

Van Gaal made two changes at half-time, introducing Antonio Valencia for Darmian and Marouane Fellaini for Depay, and farming the disappointing Rooney out to the left flank.

With three central midfielders on the pitch, United became a lot less porous, even if the decision to keep Morgan Schneiderlin on the bench was puzzling.

Belatedly, they began to make inroads, Cech repelling long-range efforts from Young and Rooney and then bravely diving to save at the feet of Schweinsteiger.

But Arsenal squandered opportunities of their own, with Ozil and substitute Olivier Giroud spurning presentable chances by sweeping low shots straight at De Gea.

A chastening afternoon for United was summed up when Rooney ballooned a shot well clear of the bar in the closing stages, prompting howls of derision from Arsenal’s gleeful fans.

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