5 things Brendan Rodgers must do to salvage Liverpool's ailing campaign

Brendan Rodgers: The Pressure mounts...From being the league leaders last Christmas to a lowly 10th position this one, from comparisons with the legendary Bill Shankly to being next in line for a sacking -- what a difference a year makes. A slip and then the fall, sigh. Playing the most sizzling, exuberant brand of football Brendan Rodgers guided Liverpool within inches of their maiden title triumph in only his second season in-charge of the club. He was young, attack oriented and definitely one destined for success. Naturally comparisons were rife with some of very best in the business, most notably the iconic manager Bill Shankly who had took charge of Liverpool when they were in the second division and rebuilt them into a major force in English and European football.Fast forward six months though, and he is tipped to be in line to lose his job sometime before the next season. It has been a disappointing, almost frustrating season at Anfield. Stuck languishing in the middle of the top half and bottom half of the table in tenth position with 22 points from 17 games, a whole 20 points adrift of table leaders Chelsea just about sums it up.Rodgers is coming in for criticism from all angles, be it his tactics, substitutions or even his man-management skills. There is no dearth of question marks and Rodgers finds himself with plenty to do. He can now no longer ignore the issues in front of him and failure to make necessary changes at this stage may lead to paying for it with his job seem a genuine possibility.A big task awaits the Northern Irishman but here are five things he can begin with to salvage his team's fortunes -- and his job.

#1 End the Goalkeeping Farce

Simon Mignolet: End of the Road?

A penalty save on debut, the first of three consecutive clean sheets, dislodging the previous number one – you couldn’t have written a much better script even if you’d tried. Simon Mignolet started off with a bang in a Liverpool shirt. His first four months at the club were a resounding success, but that, alas, was the end of it. A career that began so promisingly could be on the verge of a premature end.

Mignolet impressed greatly with his shot-stopping ability even during his Sunderland days but even there were doubts over his ability to command the area and organise the defence ahead of him. These weaknesses have been exposed time-and-time again with soft goals being conceded from inside the box. To his credit Mignolet makes some great saves at vital moments but his aversion to crosses and set-piece frailties are problems which often results in sloppy errors at the back costing more than just a goal.

As underwhelming as Mignolet had been, dropping him for Brad Jones was utter madness. To his credit Jones has been a loyal No. 2 for years but his quality is questionable. With Brendan Rodgers giving to contradictory statements in the press, and pressing on with Jones in the lineup, Liverpool need not one but two decent quality goalkeepers as a matter of urgency. Ahoy, January!

#2 Increased Focus on Defence

When you spend around £60 million over the last two window solely on the defence, wonder what excuses one can come up for the sort of defensive errors Liverpool have been committing this season?

Since Brendan Rodgers has been at the club Liverpool have conceded 167 goals, which is roughly a goal-per-game. Defence was Liverpool’s Achilles heel even last season, but regular outscoring of the opposition and smashing teams for four, five or six goals often masked some pretty dire defending. Sure Liverpool scored 100+ goals last season, but conceding another 50 for a side challenging for the title is hardly appealing.

With no Suarez and Sturridge to bale them out this season, this same problem has been exposed. There is a lingering feeling sometimes that Rodgers does not simply take the defensive side of things seriously enough. He has also come in for major criticism for declining a defensive coach on his roster, which surely is another major error.

Defending during set-pieces is simply woeful, with slack marking and inability to command the box often the reasons. With around a dozen defenders having come in and out during his two and a half year reign at Anfield, Rodgers continues to struggle for the ‘perfect’ combination.

If and only if Rodgers starts focussing on the defensive side of things as much he does to the attacking ones, Liverpool would continue to struggle. Hiring a defensive coach wouldn’t hurt for starters, surely?

#3 Spend Better in the Transfer Market

Another aspect where Rodgers has to improve significantly is his transfer window activity. Of all the signings he has made since his arrival at Anfield, only the £20 million price tag paid for the duo of Daniel Sturridge and Phillipe Coutinho can be called somewhat close to being a success. Losing Suarez was always going to be a massive blow this summer, but the money from his sale could’ve been utilised to a much better and effective use.

It would be harsh to term his summer signings a failure this early as almost all of them are fairly young and have a long way to go still. But what Rodgers made a big mistake in putting faith solely on youth. With a view to securing the future, in one way or the other, it compromised with the present. What really needed was a perfect blend of both youth and experience. Rodgers needs to learn from his previous transfer ordeals and improve on this aspect considerably in January.

#4 Utilise Squad Depth

One of the most bizzare and annoying aspects of Rodgers’ management has been his decisions to freeze certain players out of the team setup for no particular reason as such. Pepe Reina, Daniel Agger, Nuri Sahin and numerous others have faced the wrath under Rodgers’ reign sometime or the other, for no reason whatsoever.

Although he missed a major chunk of fixtures through an injury, Mamadou Sakho has often been overlooked in favour of an appaling Dejan Lovren this season. It was only recently against Arsenal that Sakho was handed his first start in the league since August, that too owing to the fact that the latter was ruled out with an injury. He is without a shadow of doubt the best central defender at the club, but for some reason looks to have lost the trust of the manager.

The same applies to Emre Can, who after having probably his best game in a Liverpool shirt against Chelsea at home has had only a bare 15 minutes of league football to his credit. With the demanding fixture schedule, the Liverpool manager’s inflexibility and continued resistance must change for the better if he is to keep his side as fresh as possible, thus enabling his side of coming through the festive period with something worthwhile to show.

#5 Reinstall a winning mentality again

Last season cannot be replicated, but some elements of it can: the pressing, the quick counter-attack and the movement off the ball. Some of the players are just a shadow of what they were last season. That hasn’t been helped by Sturridge’s prolonged absence of course, but there is no reason whatsoever why Liverpool have looked this lethargic and sluggish as they have this season.

In midfield, the fervour and finesse of the Phillipe Coutinho through-ball has been replaced by aimless passes and shots straight at the defenders, Jordan Henderson has struggled since being handed the vice-captaincy and his running has little purpose and meaning these days, while Steven Gerrard continues to adapt to his ‘new’ deeper midfield role.

Losing the title race in such painful fashion didn’t help either, but this season has been an altogether new low. The sizzle and style of last season is gone, and the team is terribly short on confidence. How to get that confidence back is a massive test of Rodgers’ man-management skills.