It seems the Oldham defeat has proven a particularly difficult pill for the Liverpool boss to swallow as he continues to express his disappointment at some of his players.
Following the FA Cup exit on Sunday, Rodgers said:
“Our mentality was poor and it ended up costing us. But I was really disappointed with our young players.
“We are trying to give them experience and let them see what it’s like to play for Liverpool, but you’ve got to be able to be competitive and part of a group that is going to challenge for trophies. If you are going to win trophies and go far, then you need to come to places like Oldham and win. We were not good enough.
Many Liverpool fans who endured the game highlighted an incident which saw Jack Robinson swear at captain for the day, Luis Suarez, who was reprimanding him for taking on a wild shot instead of passing to the Uruguayan.
Rodgers has continued to express his disappointment at some of the youngsters who threw away a great opportunity to impress:
“I’ve had people telling me all my life ‘I want to be in your team, I want to do this and that.’ I go ‘fine, no problem'. But the minute they are out of the door I look to see what they do physically because that’s your commitment mentally.
“You get players who tell you they want to be this or that, who are one of the last in in the morning and first out in the afternoon.
“If you’re a young player here, who’s going to get a chance, you have to step up to those demands. You have to adapt very quickly to the demands.
“They have to understand that with opportunity comes responsibility — that you have to perform in every game.
“Being young doesn’t exempt them from criticism.”
Looks like it may have been a miserable few days in training for the players.
Good.