“The slip happened at a bad time. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about if that hadn’t happened. Would things have been different?”
They were not Brendan Rodgers’s words, but Steven Gerrard’s. Speaking in June, arguably Liverpool’s finest ever player admitted the infamous moment when he lost balance and the ball and Demba Ba ran away to score for Chelsea will haunt him for the rest of his days.
Gerrard’s Liverpool career never recovered from that slip. Neither did Rodgers’s. Each has now left Liverpool, neither as a Premier League champion. When Chelsea arrived at Anfield in 2014, each stood on the brink of an extraordinary achievement. For Gerrard, it would be the culmination of a great career. For Rodgers, the start.
That instant, just before half time, represents a sliding doors moment in Liverpool’s recent history but, more particularly for the sacked Rodgers. Before Chelsea, his team had won 32 of 47 Premier League games, scoring 123 goals. Beginning with Chelsea, they only won 22 of the next 49, scoring just 65 times.
They went from being the most viscerally thrilling sight in English football to a mismatched mess, occasionally enlivened by individual excellence or haphazard defending, but sometimes simply descending into dullness.
Poll: Klopp? Ancelotti? De Boer? Who should Liverpool appoint as their new manager?
Comment: Manage expectation and carry the weight of history: The challenges that await new Liverpool manager
Rodgers, who had seemed to showcase a futuristic brilliance with his inventive tactics, capacity to improve players and high-octane brand of football, lost his reputation as a far-seeing figure. His frequent changes, of personnel and formation, which had been seen as inspired experiments, now began to betray hints of desperation. Liverpool never recaptured the same spark without Luis Suarez, even if injuries invariably prevented Rodgers from picking all of his premier players.
By the end, he travelled a familiar path. There are managers who are hailed as visionaries upon their appointment. They show some signs they will be transformative figures. Yet when, exhausted and increasingly unsuccessful, they are dismissed, it is harder to say what they stand for.
“Death by football,” to use Rodgers’s phrase? Seven teams have had more possession than Liverpool this season. Brilliant, blistering counter-attacking? Only Watford, West Bromwich Albion and Newcastle United have scored fewer goals. Training-ground expertise? That did not extend to defenders, who continued to commit glaring errors and who, as individuals and a unit, showed few signs of progress.
Mentions of a philosophy can sustain managers when their debut campaign is a season of progress. They cannot when they have entered their fourth year at the helm, when the majority of the team arrived during their reign and they have forged a reputation for failing in the transfer market.
At Liverpool, the fault does not lie with Rodgers alone. Not considering the transfer committee’s errors. They are sprinkled not just across the squad, but across Europe, with several dispatched out on loan. Yet having displayed their ruthlessness, owners Fenway Sports Group also have to show some honesty. Liverpool’s group of players do not comprise a top-four squad. Should Rodgers’s successor steer them back into the Uefa Champions League, he will have overachieved, just as the Northern Irishman did in 2013/14.
That title tilt was a spectacular one-off, a wonderful mirage. Rodgers contributed, tactically and by taking Suarez, Daniel Sturridge and Raheem Sterling to new heights, but his subsequent inability to replicate it suggests the Uruguayan will go down in history as the catalyst. The Northern Irishman’s revival always had a hint of fragility because he only ever had half a top-class team, but they came agonisingly close. Stellar attackers acquired momentum, displayed chemistry and destroyed all-comers, until Jose Mourinho ventured north with a weakened team and a superb game plan.
A former mentor turned destroyer. An ally — and Gerrard continued to praise Rodgers even after his move to LA Galaxy — accidentally began the process which ended in his removal. The tide of history turned against both men.
Gerrard left with his greatness enshrined on what proved an extended, if at times ignominious, farewell tour. The hero of Istanbul is rightly revered. Rodgers exited with the majority of supporters pleased to see him go.
He nearly conjured Liverpool’s most remarkable league title. Instead, he was Anfield’s nearly man, destined to forever wonder if things could have been different.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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TV: World Cup Qualifier 2018 matches will be aired on on OSN Sports HD Cricket channel
UAE squad
Esha Oza (captain), Al Maseera Jahangir, Emily Thomas, Heena Hotchandani, Indhuja Nandakumar, Katie Thompson, Lavanya Keny, Mehak Thakur, Michelle Botha, Rinitha Rajith, Samaira Dharnidharka, Siya Gokhale, Sashikala Silva, Suraksha Kotte, Theertha Satish (wicketkeeper) Udeni Kuruppuarachchige, Vaishnave Mahesh.
UAE tour of Zimbabwe
All matches in Bulawayo
Friday, Sept 26 – First ODI
Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI
Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI
Thursday, Oct 2 – Fourth ODI
Sunday, Oct 5 – First T20I
Monday, Oct 6 – Second T20I
Dubai World Cup Carnival card:
6.30pm: Handicap (Turf) | US$175,000 | 2,410 metres
7.05pm: UAE 1000 Guineas Trial Conditions (Dirt) | $100,000 | 1,400m
7.40pm: Handicap (T) | $145,000 | 1,000m
8.15pm: Dubawi Stakes Group 3 (D) | $200,000 | 1,200m
8.50pm: Singspiel Stakes Group 3 (T) | $200,000 | 1,800m
9.25pm: Handicap (T) | $175,000 | 1,400m
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
UAE tour of the Netherlands
UAE squad: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Shaiman Anwar, Ghulam Shabber, Mohammed Qasim, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Chirag Suri, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Mohammed Naveed, Amjad Javed, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Fixtures and results:
Monday, UAE won by three wickets
Wednesday, 2nd 50-over match
Thursday, 3rd 50-over match
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Zayed Sustainability Prize
The years Ramadan fell in May
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Q&A with Dash Berlin
Welcome back. What was it like to return to RAK and to play for fans out here again?
It’s an amazing feeling to be back in the passionate UAE again. Seeing the fans having a great time that is what it’s all about.
You're currently touring the globe as part of your Legends of the Feels Tour. How important is it to you to include the Middle East in the schedule?
The tour is doing really well and is extensive and intensive at the same time travelling all over the globe. My Middle Eastern fans are very dear to me, it’s good to be back.
You mix tracks that people know and love, but you also have a visually impressive set too (graphics etc). Is that the secret recipe to Dash Berlin's live gigs?
People enjoying the combination of the music and visuals are the key factor in the success of the Legends Of The Feel tour 2018.
Have you had some time to explore Ras al Khaimah too? If so, what have you been up to?
Coming fresh out of Las Vegas where I continue my 7th annual year DJ residency at Marquee, I decided it was a perfect moment to catch some sun rays and enjoy the warm hospitality of Bab Al Bahr.
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
If you go
The flights
Return flights from Dubai to Santiago, via Sao Paolo cost from Dh5,295 with Emirates.
The trip
A five-day trip (not including two days of flight travel) was split between Santiago and in Puerto Varas, with more time spent in the later where excursions were organised by TurisTour.
When to go
The summer months, from December to February are best though there is beauty in each season
MATCH INFO
Serie A
Juventus v Fiorentina, Saturday, 8pm (UAE)
Match is on BeIN Sports
ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA
Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi
Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser
Rating: 4.5/5
Poland Statement
All people fleeing from Ukraine before the armed conflict are allowed to enter Poland. Our country shelters every person whose life is in danger - regardless of their nationality.
The dominant group of refugees in Poland are citizens of Ukraine, but among the people checked by the Border Guard are also citizens of the USA, Nigeria, India, Georgia and other countries.
All persons admitted to Poland are verified by the Border Guard. In relation to those who are in doubt, e.g. do not have documents, Border Guard officers apply appropriate checking procedures.
No person who has received refuge in Poland will be sent back to a country torn by war.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
Zayed Sustainability Prize
'Downton Abbey: A New Era'
Director: Simon Curtis
Cast: Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Maggie Smith, Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter and Phyllis Logan
Rating: 4/5
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CREW
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Abdul Jabar Qahraman was meeting supporters in his campaign office in the southern Afghan province of Helmand when a bomb hidden under a sofa exploded on Wednesday.
The blast in the provincial capital Lashkar Gah killed the Afghan election candidate and at least another three people, Interior Minister Wais Ahmad Barmak told reporters. Another three were wounded, while three suspects were detained, he said.
The Taliban – which controls much of Helmand and has vowed to disrupt the October 20 parliamentary elections – claimed responsibility for the attack.
Mr Qahraman was at least the 10th candidate killed so far during the campaign season, and the second from Lashkar Gah this month. Another candidate, Saleh Mohammad Asikzai, was among eight people killed in a suicide attack last week. Most of the slain candidates were murdered in targeted assassinations, including Avtar Singh Khalsa, the first Afghan Sikh to run for the lower house of the parliament.
The same week the Taliban warned candidates to withdraw from the elections. On Wednesday the group issued fresh warnings, calling on educational workers to stop schools from being used as polling centres.
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