Brendan Rodgers rules out prospect of becoming Manchester United manager

The 43-year-old was sacked at Anfield and replaced by Jurgen Klopp in October

Brendan Rodgers

Former Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has appeared to rule out the possibility of replacing Louis van Gaal at Manchesater United.

The 43-year-old was sacked at Anfield and replaced by Jurgen Klopp in October after failing to win a trophy in three seasons with the Merseyside giants.

The Northern Irishman lost six of his eight matches against the Red Devils with Liverpool and, speaking to talkSPORT, suggested his previous employer history means he can never manage United.

“When you manage Liverpool you know the Manchester United job is gone,” said Rodgers, who has been linked with the Aston Villa and Swansea City jobs recently.

“I see a lot of the criticism he gets but there's no way that Louis van Gaal is sending the players out to have that few amount of shots on target. This is a guy who's been around a long time and he built a team in '95 at Ajax that everybody talked about for years, it was a real attacking blend of football.

“I think it's a lot about the players as well. You look at United, do they have the players that can excite like what they had did before? That's part to do with it as well.”

Speculation is rife that Van Gaal will be dismissed if the United fall to defeat to Derby County in the FA Cup fourth round tie at the iPro Stadium on Friday night. The 64-year-old’s side have already been dumped out of the Champions League and Capital One Cup at early stages.