NBC on Yahoo SportsPremier League: Rodgers, Kompany preview Manchester City vs. Liverpool
In the latest edition of Premier League Download, NBC Sports’ Premier League studio host Rebecca Lowe caught up with Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers (see a clip of that interview, above) to talk about the Reds’ hopes for the season and life without Luis Suarez. In the jam-packed episode, Lead announcer Arlo White also got the Man City perspective as he caught up with their captain, Vincent Kompany, ahead of the monster clash on Monday.
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Below are a few snippets from the interview with both men, which you can see live in full from 12 p.m. ET on Monday afternoon on NBCSN before Liverpool travel to play Manchester City at 3 p.m. ET. There’s also a chance to see an exclusive interview with Steven Gerrard in full during the latest episode Premier League Download.
Rodgers on Luis Suarez and how they will cope without him…
It was a great privilege to work with Luis. He is a world class performer. I think he will be the first to tell you that when he first arrived at Liverpool, a lot of people hadn’t heard of Luis Suarez. Then, obviously he left as a world class star. Liverpool was very good for Luis, also. Time will tell [if they can cope without him] but it was time to move on. For us he was a wonderful talent but that part of our story has gone now. We have got other fantastic players. You can never replace like for like, you have to find other ways in which to do it.
Rodgers on last season’s title race coming up just short and how he dealt with it…
Over the course of the season you have to say, the best team won. Manchester City had two more points than us. There were games when we were fantastic but we only draw and other games where we showed spirit and won when we could have lost…. That’s just the job. It can be a lonely place being a manager. When you arrive as a manager at any level you have something in you that makes you a leader. Part of that leadership is the ability to go again.
Kompany on winning the title last season…
It is a dream come true. You can’t realy describe it. No money in the world, no words in the world describe or represent what this feeling is all about. As a kid you dream of lifting trophies, you dream of playing the game you love. You are happy in life. It is a weird description. It is like a wedding or the birth of a child for some people. You have to put those above or on a par. It is as intense.
Kompany on his manager, Manuel Pellergini…
He has his own philosophy, he is a very calm man and he doesn’t really let emotions come too much into play when it is about the game. The only emotions he wants to see is positive, attacking football. That’s why I keep mention the word philosophy because, at times, we could have changed the way we played. We had to be honest, it did make us vulnerable at times because we are looking to score as many goals as we can. We were sometimes playing with eight offensive-minded players, which I don’t see any team in the league doing apart from us.
