Quality over quantity key for Rodgers

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is eager to remain focused on quality over quantity in his close-season recruitment.

Rodgers has been quick to bolster his squad since their second-place finish last term – bringing in Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana, Emre Can and Lazar Markovic.

The new arrivals have added undoubted strength in depth to Liverpool’s squad, but the departure of Luis Suarez to Barcelona has removed Rodgers’ most potent attacking option.

Suarez scored 31 goals in just 33 Premier League games last season and Rodgers recognises that replacing him will require a shrewd approach in the transfer market.

“We felt last year we just never had the depth and we are in the Champions League this year, so we have to ensure we have as strong a squad as possible,” he told the club’s official website.

“We are getting the right type of player in. But we certainly won’t spend just for the sake of spending.

“It has to be the sort of player who is going to improve us.”

Rodgers also sought to downplay suggestions that Liverpool’s goal threat would now come solely from England international Daniel Sturridge.

He scored 24 times last season, but Rodgers feels the whole squad must shoulder attacking responsibilities.

“In the times Daniel has played up there without Luis he has shown his qualities,”he added. “But the onus is not really on one player, the strength of us has been the team.

“When I came in, people talked about how Luis didn’t score regularly, how he didn’t
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get enough opportunities or take them. In the last two years we’ve proved with the number of chances we create you can get goals.

“We scored 101 goals last season and [Suarez] got 31 of them. We have goals all across the team and will bring in players we think can assist with making them.”