Garry Monk has backed Brendan Rodgers to turn around Liverpool’s fortunes by describing his former manager as “the perfect man” to be in charge at Anfield. Speaking about Monday’s Premier League fixture at Liverpool, Monk said that Rodgers possessed the mental strength to pull through in times of adversity and was an inspiration to his own managerial career.
Monk, who captained Swansea during Rodgers’s highly successful two-year stint at the Liberty Stadium, remains in regular contact with the Liverpool manager and called him a few days ago to arrange to use the club’s Melwood training ground before Saturday’s third-round FA Cup tie against Tranmere Rovers at Prenton Park. The Swansea manager joked that the agreement would be nullified if he triumphed at Anfield.
“I spoke to Brendan this week,” said Monk, whose Swansea side are eighth in the table, one place and three points above Liverpool. “After we play QPR [on Thursday] we travel straight up to Liverpool and I asked if we can use the facilities there. He said it depends on the result between us!
“He’s a great guy, someone I look up to. He’s a fantastic manager and a person. He’s someone I speak to regularly – we have chats, not just about football but about everything. It is someone to try and aspire to. Look at what he’s done in his career, from where he was at Reading and Watford and within a couple of years of coming here he was managing Liverpool, so he’s definitely an inspiration to someone like myself.”
Asked whether Rodgers had the mental strength to get through the problems he has experienced at Liverpool this season, Monk replied: “For sure. He is one of the most mentally strong people that I know. Before the win at Burnley he stated he is only nine points off a top-four spot, and I know that’s what he’ll be pushing for and what the club will be pushing for. He is the perfect man for that job. Every manager will go through difficult moments – I know I will – and he is coming through that period strong now that he is producing good results and the team are playing a lot better.”
Swansea will travel to Anfield with extra motivation following their chastening defeat in the Capital One Cup in October, when they led 1-0 but conceded twice in the last four minutes – the second goal coming after Federico Fernández was harshly sent off. The red card, for a challenge on Philippe Coutinho, was rescinded on appeal.
“Anfield is a great place to play football,” Monk said. “We can go there with belief and confidence, especially after the last game there. We didn’t deserve to lose, but knowing we can perform like that, we take that belief.”
With 28 points on the board already, Swansea are ahead of schedule compared with their tally at this stage in their three previous seasons in the Premier League. Monk, however, has challenged his players to look beyond safety and reel in those above them in the table. “The first reference is getting to that 40-point mark, that secures the club. But we are in a very good position right now,” he said. “It is about creating expectation for the fans and the players but without getting carried away.
“I said to the players in the buildup to this period that I don’t want to be that team that has to look over their shoulder as we have done in the past, worrying about what is coming up behind us. We have to be mindful of it. But I want the players to have the mentality of always looking above, pushing on and hunting the teams down in front of us – take that into games. And I think you can see that.”
