Buck stops with Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool

It is difficult to recall a more invigorating recent Liverpool debut than Brendan Rodgers' at Anfield yesterday. Polished, commanding, humble and armed with a ready supply of emotive quotes to stir the soul of the most cynical Kop veterans, each utterance seemed to cleanse the Anfield air which has often seemed contaminated by recent traumas.

The new manager's flawless first impression may be limited to words rather than deeds, but there were moments when it seemed Fenway Sports Group had indeed appointed a man of gravitas and vision.

This was never more apparent when, sensing the muddled perceptions of the 'sporting director' model Liverpool continued to champion, Rodgers intervened to create absolute clarity. For those still obsessing about multi-tiered management structures, here is the reality in plain English: Rodgers is Liverpool's new boss.

Technical, medical and scouting expertise will 'underpin' him. If that is not quite what FSG had in mind on starting their recruitment process a fortnight ago, that is what they have now signed up to.

"If you want to have a sporting director, get him in and then you can pick your manager from there but if you do I won't be the manager," said Rodgers, with striking authority. "It's very simple — you've got a manager and in and around that you've got different departments.

"I can't do everything, that's nigh on impossible, and that's no different to any other top manager. They'll manage their club and then they'll have a chief scout and heads of recruitment and heads of medical and he will manage that. Then obviously these people will go out and identify targets that fit the identity of the club and bring a list of three or four names, we'll look at the value and worth and then you'll make the decision as the manager because it's absolute madness if you are the manager of the club and someone else tells you to have that player.

"I've had total clarity with that. It was for this reason that I didn't want to say what I've said and then in three weeks' time Louis van Gaal walks in the door. It does not work. I am better when I have control. I am not a power freak. But I need to feel that I can manage it in terms of the team and I have a direct clear line through to the owners. Once that becomes hazed and grey, for me there is a problem."

Liverpool's recruitment process was thorough enough to recognise compromises were required to get the right man. Rodgers' background checks were exemplary, and his mentoring by Jose Mourinho undoubtedly assisted his cause. Rodgers received a text from Mourinho urging him to take the job.

Since accepting, the 39 year-old has called Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, both of whom are excited by the pro. Liverpool's senior players always unconditionally support new managers rather than undermine them. Gerrard, on England duty, registered his approval. "I've been kept in the loop all along by the board and the owners, and he was first-choice so take no notice of Dave Whelan," said Gerrard. "I'm very excited. I spoke to Brendan for quite some time. I'd heard great things from the Chelsea boys. Hopefully he can progress the team and stay for a long time. It's good to work with a manager for a long time. You get used to him and into a rhythm."

There have been times when heading to and from Anfield has felt like a chore, the club appearing to be either debilitated by civil unrest or imprisoned by its past. This felt like a belated welcome to the 21st century.

History is never far away, though. At a club where the thoughts of Bill Shankly decorate the walls as philosophical truths, Rodgers revealed himself to be a man with a poetic grasp of Anfield romanticism.

"When you come to a club like this one the shirt weighs much heavier than any other shirt. The weight of expectation is phenomenal," he said. "My job next year is to try and lift some of that weight off the shirt. I'll take the pressure. The players can just go and concentrate on performing and if you do that you'll get the result eight or nine times out of 10 because of your talent.

"I want to use the incredible support to make coming to Anfield the longest 90 minutes of opponents' lives. That's the idea. I want to see great attacking football with creativity and imagination, with relentless pressing of the ball. This is a club that is historic for the identity, style and DNA of its football. They are an educated group of supporters at this club and, OK there might be watered-down versions of the style of play, but you can't come to Liverpool and play a direct game, lumping-it-style.

"The reality is that this is a club where I need to align the playing group with the supporters. There is an imbalance at the minute. You've got some of the world's best supporters here and the playing group is not quite at that level yet.

"You've got some wonderful players here, wonderful talent, but the work over the next number of years is to see if we can get that aligned. It is going to take a bit of time. There are some big, talented players here but there is no doubt that to get the team to play how I want to play I'll need to bring in others. To play the offensive, attacking football we did at Swansea we had to make changes in terms of recruitment. What excites me is the motivation to get that level back up again and that is why I came here."

If his teams perform as he did, the latest heralding of a new Anfield era will finally come to pass.