Rodgers: Change will take time
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has warned expectant fans they may have to be patient as realisation of his vision for the way the team play may be some time coming to fruition.
The Northern Irishman's strategy at Swansea - whose game was based on possession, passing and pressure - won him great plaudits, but he has stressed it is not something which can be implemented overnight.
He accepted that it may require the odd new addition here and there to bring his blueprint to life at Anfield.
"For me it is going to take time for how I want to play and the philosophy I want to introduce," said the 39-year-old, who met with Liverpool's scouting team just a couple of hours after he was confirmed as the new manager on Friday.
"My longer-term aim is to arrive there seeing how quickly we can do so.
"The principles of your game are based on the players you have and there is no doubt I'll have a look at that and see if there is anyone I need to bring in to improve that.
"We want to play winning football, effective football. But I know, inherently, what we need to play that way and win that way but ultimately that will be the job of the next period of time.
"It is about results and the progress of the team but we will make our first steps and hopefully that will improve over the next few years.
"What we need to do is improve the team and the quality of the team and hopefully over the next couple of years we will be ready to challenge and ready to compete."
The weight of expectation which burdens managers and players alike at Anfield is the club's gloried and decorated history.
However, with the last of their 18 league titles coming in 1990, bringing the championship back to Merseyside is less of an issue than making the club competitive again.
But Rodgers is keen to use Liverpool's past triumphs and the pride of such a renowned institution as one of the driving forces in turning things around.
"This is the heartland of football folklore," he added. "You can go back to the likes of Toshack, St John through to Dalglish, Rush, Lawrenson and Hansen, the modern greats of Gerrard and Carragher to the management of Shankly and Paisley.
"For me [the attraction] is to defend the principles of this great club - which are about offensive, creative football with tactical discipline - and to retain the values of the club.
"The tradition of this football club is about players playing the game in a stylish, relentless way with consistency at the very top."
But, for all the praise Rodgers' teams have received for their easy-on-the-eye style, there is a lot of ground to be covered by the players before they even get to that point.
"I have conditions to work in. I create a framework and the players come in and adhere to it," the Reds boss said.
"I hear people talking about working hard but for me it is an obligation - it's not a choice.
"We all work hard in our everyday lives as people and for players it is no different.
"It is quite simple. You come in and do a hard day's work. You make sure in training and on match days you come in and you can take your top off and wring it out and it will be soaking wet.
"It is that honesty that you want. If you can work hard and you have got talent it takes you a long way.
"That will be the emphasis for me here - to try to reinforce that and ensure that commitment to the cause is important because we have a cause to fight for here."
