Rodgers: Players in "Harmony" Despite Suarez Saga

With rapt attention focused on Gareth Bale, Real Madrid, and a ridiculous amount of potential transfer money, the media's lidless and unblinking eye is currently distracted by something even more deliciously dramatic than Luis Suarez and his ongoing will-he-or-won't-he transfer status. The timing is convenient given that new angles on the story have been drying up, leaving only one aspect of the saga relatively unexamined.

A tempest of the sort Suarez and the club find themselves in reverberates well beyond the player in question, though, and Brendan Rodgers sought to clear up any ideas people might have about his team being agitated by what's been happening in the last two months.

"It could have unsettled them but it hasn't," Rodgers told the Liverpool Echo. "It's two fold really. Firstly, it says a lot about their professionalism. The environment that we're creating is that the star will always be the team. We want to have top players here. But if for whatever reason we don't, we will always know we can rely on the team and each other.

"Secondly, it's also testament to Luis. He hasn't been moping about. It's obviously difficult when you come back after a break, but he has settled in and has been working well. The harmony in the group is very good. The spirit is strong. Right across the club there is a one club mentality. If we can keep it that way we can have a great season."

Body language enthusiasts may disagree with the assertion that Suarez hasn't been moping around, but it would be silly of Rodgers to air any dirty laundry between the Uruguayan and his teammates to the press. As slightly unfathomable as it is that everything is just hunky dory despite the gargantuan elephant in the dressing room, Rodgers is right to present a united front to the public in order to protect a team that spent much of last year with a fragile psyche.