Rodgers draws line under last season´s trials at Liverpool

Brendan Rodgers insists Liverpool have taken important lessons from an at-times chastening 2014-15 season.

Rodgers’ team were unlikely title challengers in 2013-14, narrowly missing out to Manchester City in a Premier League title race that went down to the final day.

But star man Luis Suarez departed for Barcelona during the close-season and Liverpool started the following campaign in dismal form. A mid-season revival then petered out as they missed out on UEFA Champions League qualification and suffered a humiliating 6-1 last-day defeat at Stoke City.

The experience of a key player departing for big money has repeated itself this time around, with Raheem Sterling’s switch to Manchester City on Tuesday making him the most expensive English player in history following a protracted and often bitter transfer saga.

But Rodgers is keen to focus on his squad as a collective and was in bullish mood after Liverpool cruised to a 4-0 win over the Thai Premier League All Stars in their opening pre-season friendly.

“Last year we have learned from,” he told reporters. “The door is closed on last season. We move on from that. I’ve been really pleased with the quality and work of the players. 

“If we are going to improve, it is going to be about the team. A lot of our work will be done on our team and spirit and because we want quality.”

Divock Origi, who spent last season on loan with Lille after joining Liverpool from the Ligue 1 outfit, completed the scoring and won praise from his manager.

“Divock I thought he was excellent,” Rodgers added. “You can see his movement and what really pleased me was his persistence. 

“He had a couple of chances that he missed that he would want to score but he kept going and was very positive.

“He showed how good he is in the air, it was a great cross into the box and a great header that he scored.”