Brendan Rodgers salutes Liverpool's "dynamic" as Reds hope for Leicester | Soccer

SUnday is five years to the day since Liverpool lost a three-goal lead at Selhurst Park, prompting Brendan Rodgers, his coach at the time, to concede that their title challenge was over. According to Rodgers, Liverpool paid the price for attempting to play "Roy of the Rovers Football" against Palace by pursuing Manchester City's superior goal difference instead of focusing on the win.

There would be no end to comics for this Liverpool team, who scored two points behind after winning one of his last three games, and Rodgers was sacked 17 months later. In one of those strange football twists, Liverpool could afford a favor from his former manager, who takes his Leicester team to Etihad Stadium on Monday night, six days before the end of the season – exactly the same stage as this Wild game against Palace – and with a chance to become an Anfield hero again.

Still, if Rodgers even feels very sentimental about Liverpool, he's hiding it well. His main goal is to try to get a result for Leicester, he insists, while all the discussions about the parallels between the pursuit of the title of Liverpool in 2014 and their challenge under Jürgen Klopp are now quickly dismissed.

Rodgers says the club has a "different dynamic" these days and shares Luis Suárez's comments in an interview with the Guardian last weekend. The Barcelona striker had said that if Liverpool had won the league five years earlier, an even greater feat than if that team did it because they never had the same quality or the same buying power.

"I think you can not really compare," says Rodgers. "I was there at a time when everything was based on potential. Raheem [Sterling] was 17 years old, Philippe [Coutinho] was 19 years old, we had loan players. I think what has worked really well in Liverpool over the last two seasons is to recognize that if there is a gap to fill in the team and you really need it, you have to pay for that quality . Jürgen and I talked about the defense. What to do? Bang, put a world clbad player at £ 75 million and a world-clbad goalkeeper and that changes the dynamics.

"So, what Luis is referring to is that, at that moment, it never happened. It's just a strategy, how it was. At that time in Liverpool, when I went there, it took more than 30 million pounds from the game budget. When I arrived, we were eighth and lost players like [Alberto] Aquilani and Maxi Rodríguez, who was a leading player, because the strategy was to form a younger team and try to evolve it from there. We had Luis, who was fantastic, some other young players and we had players like Aly Cissokho on loan. So, it's totally different. Our trip in these two years has been great. If you look now, it's a question of investment and they're doing very, very well.

Rodgers will face one of the key figures of the 2013-14 Liverpool team on Monday. Sterling made his Premier League debut under Rodgers at the age of 17 – against Manchester City of all teams – and then formed a devastating three-part attack with Daniel Sturridge and Suárez during this race to conquer of the title.

"What I liked about Raheem was that, for a young boy, he knew what he wanted to be," Rodgers says. "When I ask young players what they want to achieve, he wanted to be one of the best players in the world – at that age. [17]. And that was where he was unique, because sometimes British players might not have that ambition.

"Off the field, he is an incredible child. He is very affectionate and supports his family. You see a lot of things he's doing, and it's not right now, that's how he was at the time. He had an excellent base in Liverpool and continued. He has pushed his game to a level where he is clearly one of the best players in the world. He is a great talent and a very good father. He would bring his daughter home to play. So, he is really a special player and a very good boy. "

Although everything turned sour at the time Sterling moved to City in the summer of 2015 for £ 49 million, Liverpool's £ 100,000 a week contract offer was flatly rejected. . Sterling handed Rodgers his jersey after City played Celtic in the Champions League, and the Northern Irishman refuses to believe that the player's desire to leave Anfield is at the heart of football.

"For Raheem, there has never been any question of money. If it was money, he could have stayed in Liverpool. It was to be the best that it could be. And at that time, there was an opportunity to go to Manchester City where they had first clbad players. He went there and grew to become a winner, which is evident in his game. I look at Pep Guardiola's team and it's not the same if he's not there. What a testament for a young English player. "

The challenge for Rodgers is to find a way to cancel Sterling and the rest of Manchester City. From Liverpool's point of view, the good news is that Leicester has been rejuvenated since the appointment of Rodgers, scoring 16 points in eight games to keep hopes low for the Europa League. Jamie Vardy has scored 11 goals in his last 11 games and Rodgers said Thursday he has "a match and a model that can beat any team".

Although the manager continued to give the impression that he had had little or no contact from people related to Liverpool this week, it is hard to believe that this will remain the case if the team of Klopp wins Saturday in Newcastle. After all, Rodgers has worked with many of Liverpool 's current players and still has many friends in Anfield as well as a home in Merseyside, which he' s recently renting to a German. Klopp, from every point of view, is an excellent tenant and always pays his rent on time. Maybe his owner could do something for him in return.