Brendan Rodgers was right to criticise Liverpool's youngsters

“If they are bright enough, they will learn from a role model like Steven Gerrard,” stated Brendan Rodgers after the Oldham Athletic defeat last week.

The boss launched a broadside at his ‘young players’ following the dismal 3-2 loss to the League One struggler's which dumped the Reds out of the FA Cup, and he was well within his rights to do so.

Rodgers has come in for some criticism from certain parts of the fanbase after the defeat, but Liverpool took to the field at Boundary Park with a team that was more than capable of beating a side who sat just one point above the relegation zone in England’s third tier.

Raheem Sterling, Luis Suarez, Daniel Sturridge, Fabio Borini, Joe Allen, Martin Skrtel and Jordan Henderson were all on the pitch and the Reds played over 35 minutes with Stewart Downing and captain Steven Gerrard.

Quite simply, the result should not have happened and Rodgers did not pull his punches in the aftermath.

“[Oldham striker Matt Smith] has come out of university football and come up against the two big units we’ve got playing centre-half [Martin Skrtel and Sebastian Coates] and we have made him look like Didier Drogba,” fumed Rodgers.

“You need resilience when you travel to places like Oldham. You know what you’re getting. It’s not a Premier League game, you need to roll your sleeves up and fight. It was too soft. If they want to have a career here, they need to be tougher.”

The Reds have been accused of being too soft before, particularly after the capitulation at Stoke City on Boxing Day.

On that occasion, a Steven Gerrard penalty had put the Reds 1-0 up before the Potters had even had a kick. A stirring comeback saw Tony Pulis’ side run out 3-1 winners, but even with Stoke’s unashamedly rugged approach, they are still playing in England’s top tier and are comfortably established as a Premier League outfit.

Paul Dickov has had to work three jobs at Oldham, after the majority of his backroom staff were sacked by Latics’ chairman Simon Corney.

Rodgers for his part has said that the performance will not mean the players will not get a chance to atone for the defeat, but said that he will think more carefully about selection in future.

“We never leave them hanging out to dry,” said the Northern Irishman.

“We will look at where they need to improve, but they have to understand the responsibility of playing for this club. Oldham was a rude awakening for some of our young players.”

“They have had great support since the first day I walked in here, but you can’t be too nice to young players, especially the modern player.”

The defeat at Oldham will no doubt have hurt the players, Joe Allen admitted as much at the end of the game on Sunday.

The Welsh midfielder said: “Everyone in the dressing room is completely devastated. It's the worst feeling in football.”

 However, the disappointment of an FA Cup exit aside, Rodgers’ point behind the criticism was to make sure the side learn – learn, or suffer the consequences.

“If they are bright enough, they will learn from a role model like Steven Gerrard and hopefully be here for a long time. But if they don’t, they might find themselves playing in League One later on their life and regretting the opportunity they missed looking at a world class player every day and learning.”