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Brendan Rodgers says he owes Jose Mourinho everything. The Liverpool FC manager insists he wouldn’t be the manager of such a prestigious club if it was not for the grounding and advice the Chelsea boss gave him in their time together at Stamford Bridge.

Rodgers says he learnt everything about how to be a manager by studying the Champions League winning boss and now employs many of the same methods as the mercurial Mourinho.

But there is one aspect of the Portuguese’s make-up that Rodgers has not copied: the use of mind games.

Rodgers, who was head of youth development at the London club, smiles and laughs when hearing the latest quote from Chelsea’s master of spin.

"I had three days to work tactically, on everything I wanted to work on,” said Mourinho after Monday’s draw with Arsenal.

"It was a special week for us. It was the kind of week Liverpool has every week. You know what I mean?"

Mourinho believes Liverpool’s lack of European football this season is the reason they are just one place and a point behind his side heading into this weekend.

“Don’t worry I know all the games,” said Rodgers.

“For me it’s one where I would have loved to have inherited a squad that was in the Champions League and up there challenging. There is nothing more any coach would want than to take over that level of club.

“I came here into a club that was eighth; an institution unrivalled in this country so the challenge is a totally different challenge. Our task is to arrive in there.”

Asked if Mourinho’s mind games would have an effect on Sunday, Rodgers said: “Christ no.

“He is a good man and we communicate a lot.

“Where he was brilliant is he would never hold you back if you were hungry to learn. He opened up the pathway to managers like myself who had no big playing history and career in the game. That was something that was not looked on as favourable in this country. I have big respect for players who’ve played for a long time. They are given the key to the door but people like myself have to find the key, and then be good enough when you get there. He has given us the credibility that if you’re professional and can man-manage, communicate with players and coach and show you can create teams, there is an opportunity for you.”

Rodgers says he and Mourinho hit it off on their first meeting and despite the differences on the use of mind games, they share a common belief.

“We are very alike, but different,” said Rodgers.

“I’ve always had confidence and trained and worked hard and studied for many years to arrive where I have.

“It’s similar to Jose and how we’ve seen football as a profession, a way of life.

“It was not just turn up in the morning, watch a bit of training and then go play a round of golf, it was throwing your life into it – it’s a life’s work.

“There is no fear (facing him), I just have ultimate respect for him because I know the opportunity that he gave me because I had friends at the time at other clubs who were not given that opportunity and I always look back on that and the course my life could have taken a different challenge if I was not supported and given that opportunity by a top-class manager.

“He had what I called the x-factor, he had so many elements to him.”

* Reds are title contenders and not just because of Suarez, says Mourinho