Dr Peters: LFC has platform for success
Dr Steve Peters believes Brendan Rodgers has built a backroom team that has given Liverpool every chance of success in the coming years.
The sports psychiatrist is credited with helping Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton win Olympic gold medals and now works with Liverpool one day a week.
He has been impressed with the direction Rodgers is taking the club.
"I'm only at Melwood once a week," Dr Peters told Liverpool FC magazine. "I'm not full-time at the club so it's a good insight as an outsider looking in, I suppose.
"It's very clear to me that the backroom team here functions very well. As one piece of the puzzle, I can see the rest of the jigsaw. It's very strong all-round.
"The foundations are there for success."
Despite his belief that Liverpool are building a platform for glory, Dr Peters - who recently helped Ronnie O'Sullivan win a fifth World Snooker title - cautions that football is more unpredictable than many individual sports.
"You can never guarantee anything in football," he said. "I have seen games where the team plays well, dominates but loses. It's not an exact science.
"Having everything in place off the field just increases the chance of probability that the club will gain strength and therefore be more successful."
Dr Peters has worked with players such as Craig Bellamy in the past, earning huge praise in the Welshman's recent autobiography for his 'Chimp Paradox' theory.
Bellamy says Dr Peters 'took the anger' out of him and helped prevent the 'chimp' element of his brain taking control during matches.
While such insights are foreign to many of the footballing old school, Dr Peters has found Rodgers to be a receptive colleague.
He explained: "Having worked with a couple of Liverpool players in the past independently, they were keen for me to meet Brendan. From our first meeting, it was clear that Brendan was unusual in a sporting sense. A lot of people at the top don't have a psychological perspective or even insight. But Brendan does.
"It was clear that Brendan was a man who listened.
"He is very big on teamwork. It isn't a case of me coming in and telling him what to do. Instead we discuss matters as a group and arrive at a consensus."