Rodgers says Liverpool are ready for Chelsea clash

Brendan Rodgers says his Liverpool side are fully prepared ahead of their Capital One Cup semi final second leg against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

The tie is delicately poised at 1-1 following last weeks first leg at Anfield, and Rodgers said the preperations for the second leg began once the final whistle sounded against Bolton on Saturday.

Rodgers explained: “Like every game, we always analyse the performance. Normally, on a personal level, I’ll watch it afterwards, whether it’s on the way back or when I arrive home.

“I’ll always get the chance to analyse the performance, then with our coaching team and the analysts we’ll sit down and have a staff meeting.

“We look at the gameplan we went in with, both defensively and offensively, and in transition moments in the game – what our ideas were and were we effective in those areas?

“From that, we look at how the game itself went. Was there any remedial work from that game that we need to improve on? But also, very importantly, how we can reinforce the areas where were we very good.

“That was a game in particular that our possession of the ball was excellent, our positioning was very good, how we occupied spaces on the field was as we would want, and our attacking threat was a really high level.

“The only thing we missed was that finishing touch in the box. Straight after that, we analysed that and we had Bolton to prepare for; as soon as the final whistle went against Bolton, we were analysing and preparing for this game.

“We’re fully prepared for it. We have a meeting with the team to analyse and review a lot of the positive work that we did in the last game.

“Our presentation will then focus on little elements that we picked up from that game. Then we’ll have another couple of meetings before the game – all short, sharp, concise and to the point.”

The boss added: “I will look at two or three [starting] teams that they can play. They will obviously look at the game being at home and may want to take an extra defensive midfield player out and put in an attacker.

“That might leave the spaces open too much for us, with our numbers and quality. As the opposition coach, you’re always analysing – you’re thinking about ‘what if?’, ‘what will they play?’, ‘what might they play?’, ‘what could be the changes?’

“Likewise for your own team, how does the structure of the team set up? What if it’s not going so well, how can you adapt and change? As a coach, you’re always thinking about structures and formations, and ultimately to get a win.”