Pressure on Liverpool manager eased after victory over Aston Villa

Brendan Rodgers has been under growing pressure after his team failed to win in their last six games. But Liverpool’s 3-2 win against Aston Villa at Anfield Saturday will take some of the heat off.

Liverpool's Daniel Sturridge celebrates scoring their third goal Reuters

The club’s manager has been the target of much criticism lately, with some questioning whether he was indeed the best man for the job. Among them, former club captains Jamie Carragher, Graeme Souness and Jamie Redknapp have also criticised Rodgers, fuelling rumours that he could be replaced by a leading manager such as Carlo Ancelotti or Juergen Klopp.

Brendan Rodgers said that he would ignore those who do not want him to manage Liverpool.

"Of course there is a lot of hysteria and that continues. I'm pretty confident that there is a group of people who don't want me to be manager here,” he said after Saturday's win against Villa.

"But from my perspective, I look at it and in all competitions we have lost less games than Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal. We have lost two games, which is equal to Tottenham and Manchester United."

He and the players "stand very calm, work very hard every day", he insisted. 

"But I think it is clear. Sometimes we haven't lost a game but we haven't performed well and I think, from the hysteria around it, it is pretty clear there is maybe something else going on from behind. I'm talking about people outside of here."

Rodgers' position was galvanised by the return of England forward Daniel Sturridge, who scored twice to register his first goals since a hip injury laid him low last March.