Brendan Rodgers: Liverpool Owners are behind me

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has said he is paid to make bold decisions at Liverpool, stressing that the club's owners are fully behind him.

Rodgers was criticised after dropping a number of players, including Steven Gerrard and Raheem Sterling, to the bench for the 1-0 Champions League defeat at Real Madrid on Tuesday.

However, Liverpool's owners, Fenway Sports Group, and chairman Tom Werner -- who gave Rodgers his full backing ahead of Saturday's game against Chelsea at Anfield -- have not questioned his decisions.

"The owners have been brilliant," Rodgers said. "The only people who matter to me are the people here at the club, the players and supporters.

"You become a manager and know the criticism will come. Whether it is deserved or not, you take it.

"Tom spoke to me, and straight away they [the owners] see the courage in playing a different team and younger players and how I have dealt with my situation here. They have always been supportive and great for me."

The travelling Liverpool fans at the Bernabeu also backed the manager -- who steered the club to within a whisker of a first league title since 1990 last season -- repeatedly singing his name in Madrid.

Rodgers said he knew he was taking a gamble with his selection, and that the criticism would have been far worse had Liverpool lost heavily.

"The only thing I showed the other night was the trust I have in the team," he added. "I never feared that if I play this team we are going to end up losing 7-0 or 8-0 and what would be the consequence of that.

"You have to be bold enough to make the decisions as a manager. That is why you are paid the money you are paid. If you make more wrong ones than right ones, you will be out of work.

"I have never gone into a game in my life and felt that we are not going to get a result. But the thinking and the strategy that goes behind it is deep in terms of analysing the opponent.

"It's a big risk, but I'm happy with the decisions I make. My players were magnificent. I know there is a little bit of criticism about the selection, but it does a disservice to the players who played."