---
title: "Mark Pougatch Talks LFC with TBT"
canonical: "https://readliverpoolfc.com/articles/mark-pougatch-talks-lfc-with-tbt/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Dan Wilcox"
section: "Articles"
published: "2013-02-24T14:04:13Z"
modified: "2013-08-23T14:55:12Z"
---

# Mark Pougatch Talks LFC with TBT

###### Mark Pougatch is a freelance radio and television broadcaster, a journalist and author who works mainly as a sports presenter for the BBC. You may know him from BBC Radio 5Live.

**Is Brendan Rodgers the man to take Liverpool back to consistent Champions League football?**

“Only time will tell, but for certain reaching the Champions League is so much harder now because of Manchester City’s money and the consistency of Tottenham near the top.”

**Do you think Rodgers’ use of academy players was a forced hand?**

“A bit of both probably . Clearly Dalglish spent an enormous amount of money on players who simply haven’t given Liverpool a return, but there’s also a desire from the majority of even the big clubs to try to breed their own.”

**Last season, Liverpool had a good defensive record whereas this season the defence has looked susceptible at times, how big of loss has Steve Clarke been?**

“Goals conceded are often as much down to individual errors as a team malaise. Difficult to evaluate that as none of us were on the training ground last season and aren’t this.”

**Is there space in the midfield for both Joe Allen and Lucas to play together?**

“That’s a good question. I asked Kevin Ratcliffe a few weeks ago and he saw a lot of Joe Allen at Swansea . He could play further forward in a midfield three.”

**With Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher coming to the end of their illustrious playing days at Anfield, how do Liverpool compensate for the loss of their two ‘go-to’ men?**

“Defensively they’re doing that already with Skrtel and Agger, although Coates hasn’t convinced as a back up. How does any team replace a world-class player like Gerrard? With a great deal of difficulty, and you can’t load the expectation on the shoulders of young Coutinho.”

**Luis Suarez has always been part of the media storm, what do you make of the controversy that seems to follow him?**

“He’s been the architect of some of his own headlines of course – Evra and the Stoke dive – but he’s a magnificent player and no one wants to see him leave the Premier League.”

**Do you think Luis Suarez is in a team and a system that allows him to realise his full potential?**

“If you’re as good as Suarez then you can affect the game from any forward position as he has shown. But by definition, if he played in a team of even better players he would have the potential to shine even more because there would be more attacking opportunities for him.”

**Can Brendan Rodgers emulate a successful possession ethos in the premier league like Barcelona in La Liga?**

“It can’t be possession for the sake of it – as it has been at times this season – and it has to be possession that counts in the right part of to field. But it is players that win matches. Not systems.”

**Is renovating Anfield the right move or would a new stadium be more beneficial?**

“It’s the capacity that counts. Look at the huge advantage Manchester United have now and the position Arsenal are getting themselves into.”

**Looking at foreign ownership in the English game, how do FSG differ and are they doing it the right way, in terms of buying for future?**

“Well clearly they’re not writing a blank cheque like Abramovich or Sheikh Mansour but nor are they as fiscally stringent as Stan Kroenke seems to be \[at Arsenal\]. When it comes to your money, your way is the right way.”

**What are realistic targets for Liverpool for the remainder of the season?**

“Champions League is a definite no. Europa League at a push.”