Agger left Liverpool for Brøndby after Brendan Rodgers rift

Brøndby defender Daniel Agger has revealed he left Liverpool due to a rift with manager Brendan Rodgers.

The Denmark international, 29, returned to Brøndby in a deal worth £3 million following the arrival of Dejan Lovren from Southampton in the summer.

Rodgers’ capture of Lovren came just one year after he lured Mamadou Sakho to Anfield from the Parc des Princes in Paris, highlighting a potential rift between the Agger and the highly-rated manager.

Although Rodgers repeatedly insisted there was no rift, Agger has now admitted the two were not seeing eye-to-eye.

“Let me put it this way, me and the manager were perhaps not on the same page last season. For most of the season at least,” Agger told TV3 SPORT.

“He and I maybe went wrong with each other because I am very direct. I say things as they are, so I expect people will be the same to me. Maybe it’s wrong to expect this sometimes.

“There was much [distance] between us, and for me it was just enough. I felt he didn’t appreciate the things I could do and contributed. When I feel that, then it’s time to move on.”

Agger continued: “When you are a part of the starting 11 for several games in a row and the team have performed well, and you feel that you have played well, then you are left out of the team and don’t feel appreciated, it starts to prey on your mind and you wonder.

“Then at the same time you see the statistics from your game – which are so important all around the world of football – and you don’t understand why you weren’t used more often.”

Despite falling out of favour with Rodgers at Anfield last term, Agger was the subject of reported interest from Barcelona prior to agreeing to return to his boyhood club.

The Catalans ultimately decided to bring in Thomas Vermaelen from Arsenal, a decision that has yet to pay dividends, with the Belgian currently sidelined because of a niggling hamstring injury.

As for Agger’s relationship with Rodgers, the Dane conceded the Reds’ manager is more than “competent.”

“I think he is an incredibly talented manager. You can’t take that away from him. He’s good in the way he trains and he is clever in the way he sets the team up. He’s an extremely, extremely competent coach,” added Agger.

“The things that went wrong between us is that I say things the way they are and I expect others to treat me the same way. Maybe it is wrong to always expect this.”