If the doom-mongers and significant critics are to be believed – not very much is the simple answer. However, scratch below the surface and things are not as bad at Anfield as some would have you believe (Liverpool 10/3 – Top 4 Finish).

First of all, the season is only three games old and pundits and fans alike would do well to remember that 12 months ago Arsenal had just suffered a thoroughly embarrassing and humiliating 8-2 defeat at Manchester United and were in the bottom three with just a solitary point to their name.

Strangely, Liverpool went to the Emirates and won 2-0 at the end of last August during that period as well so, bearing in mind how the respective clubs’ seasons’ eventually turned out, it is worth informing those tipping Liverpool to finish in the bottom half and the Gunners to go on a title charge, that nothing is ever won or sorted out in September (Liverpool EVS – Top 6 Finish).

There is, to quote an oft-used phrase, a long, long way to go yet.

Not that Rodgers’ Reds aren’t deserving of some criticism for their performances so far. The way they folded so badly against West Brom on the opening day was pitiful (especially as they had been the better side for 55 minutes) while basic, costly, individual errors from the normally-reliable Martin Skrtel, Steven Gerrard and Pepe Reina have been rightly slammed too.

Also, the club’s failure, for whatever reason, to sign a replacement for Andy Carroll last week was bad business in anyone’s books. Rodgers now has very few attacking options and will need to keep his fingers crossed on a large block of wood that no more key men follow midfielder Lucas into the treatment room over the next few months.

But, despite all this, there are positives. It was always going to take the Northern Irishman plenty of time to get his methods to work at Anfield and to judge him and his new-look side so early on in the season is ridiculous.

They were well beaten in the end by the Baggies and the Gunners but that is not taking into account the first hour or so of both games when Liverpool could argue, without too much complaint, that they had been the better side and had definitely created the better chances without converting them. Of course that, in itself, is becoming a major problem and needs addressing if things are to improve.

Then there was the 2-2 draw against champions Man City that Liverpool largely dominated but again failed to get a reward from. A win looked a certainty until Skrtel’s inexplicable back-pass presented Carlos Tevez with a gift of a goal in front of The Kop. So, the Reds have just a point so far and face difficult games next at Sunderland away and then there’s a home clash with arch-rivals Manchester United to follow.

Hardly the sort of games any side wants as they aim to kick-start their season. However, if they cut out the errors, take the chances they are creating and get key men like Reina, Gerrard and Skrtel back performing to their best, don’t bet against Rodgers’ side having seven points in the bag come September 23. The critics might not be so vocal then.

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Liverpool

Despite those in the Reds hierarchy, in particular chairman Tom Werner, claiming the Swansea manager was always their first choice, the way they seemed to publicly chase Roberto Martinez, and also Louis van Gaal , casts some doubts over the claims Rodgers was number one on their shopping list.

But it is Rodgers who all the Liverpool fans will hope ends their long-awaited title drought and end their fall from grace. There is no doubting the history of Liverpool, how great they were in the 1970s and 80s, but this Liverpool is completely different and anyone thinking their new boss can transform them into a side capable of challenging Manchester City and Manchester United straightaway is from another planet (City 11/8, United 2/1 – Premier League Outright Winners 2012/13).

Rodgers leapt to people’s attention when Jose Mourinho head-hunted him to run the Chelsea youth team, then the reserve team, and he took his first senior managerial role at Watford in 2008. The Northern Irishman did well enough to guide them to safety but within eight months his eyes flickered elsewhere and he was off, jumping at the opportunity to take over at Reading (11/10 – Premier League Relegation 2012/13).

It was a shocking time for Rodgers at the Madejski Stadium and he was given the boot before Christmas 2009 after a string of terrible results, and then he spent seven months unemployed. This was a period where he failed to get an interview for a League Two position he had applied for. Ask any Liverpool fan back then if they would ever want this man to manage their side and you would have got laughed off Merseyside.

Finally, Swansea (5/2 – Premier League Relegation 2012/13) took a punt on Rodgers and handed him the lifeline and that started a rise to prominence that resulted in him getting the Anfield hot-seat. It is true that he got Swansea playing great football and they have over-achieved during his time there, but it remains that Rodgers has got a massive job after only one season of managing in the Premier League and the pressures at Liverpool will grossly increase compared to the Liberty Stadium.

There is a lot of work to be done at Liverpool and it would require a miracle if he can get the current crop at Anfield playing the same type of football he won plaudits for in Wales. The likes of Andy Carroll, Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing have been highly derided and Rodgers will need to make the decision of whether to stick with the struggling troops or kick them out the Anfield exit door.

The Liverpool board are likely to throw money at the problem – like they have always seemed to do in recent years – and there remains the chance Rodgers could go the same way of Roy Hodgson.

If the Reds are struggling down the table come Christmas then the fans are likely to start screaming for the manager’s head again. The hardest thing Rodgers has to do is to calm down the expectations of the Liverpool fans – a top-six finish would be good, top four amazing, but winning the title nigh on impossible.

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