It's crunch time for Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers, starting against Leicester City

Rodgers has been very bullish in the past wee about the fact that he thinks he is the right man for the job, the perfect manager for Liverpool at this moment. Well, I don’t think he should be coming out with statements like that.

He already has the job and it comes across as insecure. He seems like a man who is a bit concerned about his future. Don’t start trying to justify your position or explain why you are right for the job – you’ve already got it, so just get on with things. In football, there is always someone who can come in and make things better, and to make statements like that doesn’t wash as manager of Liverpool.

When someone like Juergen Klopp is available it would be remiss of the board to not even consider him as a replacement for Rodgers. If Liverpool had won something this season then Rodgers would be immune to such speculation, but the way the campaign has panned out means he can’t feel secure about his position.

Klopp managed a blue-collar club and won two titles as well as taking them to the Champions League final, all the time facing a formidable opponent in Bayern Munich. Liverpool are also a blue-collar club – working class, proper people – and Klopp would be a natural fit.

Rodgers, meanwhile, has had three seasons as Liverpool manager and they haven’t won anything. He’s the first Liverpool manager to suffer that fate since the 1950s. He has gone close – but many a good manager has gone close and hasn’t been good enough for a club of Liverpool’s standing. Even Kenny Dalglish, in what was a difficult second spell as manager, managed to win the League Cup.

And now he’s coming out with the statement that he thinks Liverpool can win the league next season, when in truth they’ll probably come around sixth. It’s a stupid claim, because the points difference to make up will be huge, and he won’t have Champions League football to coax in the biggest names.

Rodgers always comes out with buzzwords and he is always bursting with positivity, but claiming Liverpool can win the league next season made him look foolish and naive. It’s just like his constant claims that Steven Gerrard is playing brilliantly when the evidence in front of your eyes tells you that isn’t the case. I think Liverpool fans would respect him more if he just told the truth. You can’t fool the punters all the time.

It’s going to be very difficult for Rodgers to rescue something from this season. Winning the FA Cup would have been his salvation and that’s why the semi-final defeat to Aston Villa was so crushing. A trophy would have made the overall picture look a lot better, but as it is, the current problems are laid bare on the surface.

Champions League football has slipped away from them as well. Although Manchester United have lost two on the bounce, they have enough distance to keep Liverpool at bay. Liverpool haven’t been good enough this season when it has really mattered and that run after Christmas going unbeaten really just papered over the cracks.

They overachieved last season because of one player, and they put themselves under so much pressure to go again this season that I think it got to Rodgers. Remember, he is not really an experienced manager at this level.

At a time when they need every point they can get if they are to finish in the top four, Liverpool drew 0-0 with West Brom and looked very blunt in attack. It’s not the first time either. Liverpool are reliant on free-kicks and you could see how many times they were falling over on the edge of the box trying to get set-piece situations.

You can see from Liverpool’s approach at the moment that they are really lacking quality in depth. They have gone out and spent money on a load of players but the quality hasn’t really materialised. Now we hear Rodgers say that he might only buy two or three players this summer, but they need more than that. They might also need a new manager.