Rodgers' delight at Borini display
Brendan Rodgers hailed the performance of Fabio Borini after the Italian netted his first Liverpool goal in the 3-0 victory over FC Gomel on Thursday night.
Borini hammered home a loose ball on 21 minutes to the delight of the Anfield crowd and Rodgers insisted the youngster's capacity to find the back of the net and link with teammates means he will slot seamlessly into the side.
"He's an intelligent boy and a good kid," said the manager. "He is fitting in very well and I thought he took his goal brilliantly as it was a difficult finish.
"The ball was up in the air and he showed good technique to get over it and finish it well. For strikers it's important to get off the mark early. They are normally judged on goals in games and that's why I brought Fabio here because I know that he can score goals.
"He's only 21 years of age and he's still got a lot of improvements to make but his work rate tonight and his ability to press the ball was excellent.
"He'll fit into our team very well. You can see that he links well with players, especially Steven Gerrard. They have got a good relationship both on and off the pitch.
"I thought he did very well along with all the others in the team."
The manager was also full of praise for Borini's strike partner Luis Suarez, who was a star performer on the night, using all his skill and guile to torment the Gomel defence.
"Luis Suarez is an incredible player," insisted the manager. "He's come back and looked great in training, and I thought on the night his imagination and creativity in and around the box was magnificent. Not only that but his pressing when we lost the ball was very good.
"He's the type of player I love. This is a guy who's in love with football. His passion for the game is immense and he is a great reference for the team. You see his brightness and his cleverness.
"I must give a mention for Stewart Downing as well because he gave us good width on that side and worked very hard as well. They were a real potent attacking force and scored three and could have had more."
Meanwhile, Rodgers was keen to thank the home crowd for giving him a warm reception on the night he took to the Anfield dug-out for the first time as Liverpool manager.
"On the record I would like to say a big thank-you for the welcome I received," he said. "Liverpool is a very special football club and each day I get to know that even more. So to walk out into Anfield for my first home game was very special.
"Hopefully we can have many more special nights. The supporters are a big strength of ours. We want to make Anfield a real fortress this season. It was important to put on a performance that would get us off to a good start tonight."
The Reds secured a place in the Europa League play-offs with their 4-0 aggregate win and Rodgers was pleased to see an improvement in the team's performance from last week's clash in Belarus.
"I thought the players were excellent," added the boss. "Last week we were only four weeks into our pre-season and we had 18 shots against us. You can see the result of our work over the course of the week because Gomel only had one shot on target tonight.
"I was very pleased with the pressing, first and foremost. In order for my teams to pass well, it's important that they press well and two of the opening three goals came from good pressure. I was very happy with the structure of the team.
"I thought the movement and the intelligence and the interchanging of the front four was terrific. And I think our positional game has been getting better day by day.
"We've still got a lot to do. There are a lot of improvements still to be made but I thought our performance was very encouraging tonight."
Meanwhile, asked about Daniel Agger the manager said: "There's nothing new to add. He's very important for me. I like to have a playmaker at the back. With Daniel, this is his game - building from behind, stepping out with the ball and making passes and you see his commitment to the cause.
"For me there's no update because we don't want to sell him. He's a player who is very important for me and it will remain that way."
http://liverpoolfc.com/news/latest-news/rodgers-delight-at-borini-display
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