Football
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Brendan Rodgers: Liverpool players train on recovery days

LIVERPOOL -- Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has defended his coaching methods after they were questioned by England boss Roy Hodgson amid the Raheem Sterling controversy.

Sterling was dropped to the bench for England's 1-0 Euro 2016 qualifying win in Estonia last Sunday, with Hodgson suggesting afterward that the player was "tired."

England's manager subsequently expressed concerns that Sterling was being hindered by Rodgers' argument that some players needed a two-day recovery period after games.

But Liverpool's manager says that his players still train during recovery days and that his methods not only help young players, but have also helped the senior members of his side.

He said: "In terms of my methods, there's probably one thing to clear up. I've seen a lot written about this second-day recovery.

"I think a lot of people will be looking at that and thinking that on the second day, Liverpool players are sitting at home on the couch with their feet up watching Sky Sports, which is far from the truth."

The issue of recovery came to light after striker Daniel Sturridge picked up a thigh injury during an England training session on Sept. 5, two days after playing 89 minutes for his country in a 1-0 friendly win over Norway.

Rodgers hinted at the time that he believed Sturridge had been over-trained with England, adding that the second day after a game would normally have been set aside for recovery.

In the wake of Hodgson's questioning of such recovery times, the Liverpool boss explained in detail what he meant.

He said: "Our game demands a high physical level, so the recovery of each individual player is different.

"But to clear it up, our second-day recovery is a technical session."

"On the first day after a game, players at every club will recover. Some will do it inside in the swimming pool, some will do it outside on the field, some will do it on bikes. There are various ways to recover.

"The second day recovery is something that I see as very, very important in players, and in particular young players.

"But not every player goes through the same recovery on that second day.

"We have a technical session outside, and the key to it is its intensity and the density. So the spaces available are very small. It still allows me to do the technical and tactical work required.

"But as the manager, I have the ability to determine the pitch size and the training model.

"So that enables me to have a second-day recovery session. That has worked for me right the way through my life working with young players, who are always fit and fresh going into games.

"And it's something that, in my time here, I believe has helped Steven Gerrard, Daniel Agger when he was here and Glen Johnson to play the number of games that they have.

"Recovery is vital. It's not just mental, it's the physical side of it as well. That's something that I and my great team here have a big focus on.

"I'm not waiting to read a thesis in 10 years' time to give me evidence. We're at the leading edge of the game. We need to be creating the evidence ourselves.

"It's something that will work differently for other clubs, but for me and how I work, it's allowed my teams to produce performances.

"I hope the players will feel that as well, which is the most important thing."

Rodgers, meanwhile, has warned of the dangers of asking top footballers to play too much.

He feels that Sterling is not alone in feeling tired so early in the season after a demanding World Cup summer.

On Thursday, Everton boss Roberto Martinez noted that striker Romelu Lukaku has not been at his best since his efforts in helping Belgium reach the quarter-finals in Brazil.

And Rodgers said: "I think the demands on international players is huge. The Germans talked about it themselves, coming back after winning the World Cup, and the expectations on them now as world champions, and the demands at club level.

"The game is getting quicker each year. That's the reason why we have to help recover players. As a manager, it's key that you have your best players playing. And they cannot play every single game at the top level -- in particular young players.

"You can break a young player. If they get too many miles on the clock as a youngster, then you will break him, and he will end up finishing his career at 26 or 27. His best years are gone.

"So our idea here is to protect the player, to maximise the number of games that he can play in, but also to have a strategy going forward, so that they can play."

Sterling is eligible to play for his country at the European Under-21 Championships next summer, and Rodgers refused to rule out the possibility, saying: "We'll assess that towards the end of the season."

However, he insisted that, despite losing a number of his players to injury while representing their countries season -- including Sturridge, Joe Allen and Emre Can -- that Liverpool were not trying to keep their players away from international duty.

He said: "Right the way through the age bands at our football club, we've got many young players representing England.

"We ask them to be responsible. We ask them when they go to England to think only of their country, and not their club.

"So this is a club that's very much about club and country, not club versus country.

"And certainly, people who know me well enough as a coach will know that Liverpool aren't a barrier to England or any country.

"We want them to do well. We know the pride at stake when players feature for their country, and I will continue to work for all nations, with the players I work with, to improve and develop them.

"When they move on to play for their countries, I hope they will be better players from working for us here at Liverpool."

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