B. Rodgers: Overpaid players damaging football

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers believes there are too many "bang average players who swan about on big money" who are making the game more difficult by distorting the transfer market.

The 39-year-old coach takes his side to QPR on Sunday, with his opposite number Harry Redknapp having stated that a number of his own players are over-paid while the club struggle at the bottom of the table. 

And the Anfield manager thinks little will change until wages become more geared towards performance-related payments - and says he will not sign players who do not want to play for the club. 

"If it's top quality then you don't mind paying for that quality, but the point Harry made was right," he told reporters. 

"There's a lot of money spent on bang average players, that's the killer in it all. There are players that swan about on big money and they're not really bothered if they win or lose. 

"There's no real feeling because they know they're going to get paid. At the end of the month they look at their bank account and the money's there - there's no performance-­related part to it." 

The Northern Irishman has been buoyed after a difficult start to the season by tying Luis Suarez down to a new long-term contract, and is on the lookout for like-minded stars. 

"I don't want players who don’t want to be here. This is a club that pays top ­dollar for top players. Steven [Gerrard] has been ­terrific for me, Suarez has been great, Daniel Agger outstanding. They have committed to the cause and feel the model will work. 

"I don't worry about Luis Suarez wanting to move on. He had the perfect chance to go last summer to Juventus and probably a number of other teams." 

And while Rodgers feels some players will take advantage of the wages that inevitably follow a big move to simply coast along, he is ready to take the flak to find players who are committed to Liverpool. 

"I know what we want here but I was understanding coming in here that I wasn't going to get this large cache of money, so we would have to grow along the way. 

"I'l have to take a bit of stick for that and sometimes talk about my ­frustration, but I'm clear on the ­vision of where we’re going. 

"If we can have the courage to stay with it - the supporters, the owners and the players, who have been brilliant - then in three years when I come to the end of my deal we can fairly assess it and see whether it's worked or not."

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Source: Goal