After Liverpool’s 2-1 win against Blackburn Rovers yesterday, Reds boss Roy Hodgson explained one of the reasons for the sudden improvement in the team’s performance:
“We made it clear to everyone: this is our game, we’re going to take it to you, we’re going to make certain we put you under pressure, we’re going to be quick to pressurise when we lose the ball. I thought the passing and movement was as good, if not better than it’s been but we were more incisive. We got in more crosses, got more bodies into the box for crosses, we had an enormous number of corner kicks and looked dangerous from those corner kicks, which is nice to see.”
The slow passing and the lack of pressing high up the pitch are two of the biggest problems I mentioned about Liverpool’s start to the season in a previous article last week. Whether he had a long discussion with his players about his tactics, or he realised a change of tact was needed, the change to quicker passing and high pressing had an immediate impact. The contrast in the performance yesterday compared to previous Premier League matches was a big as night and day as the ball was fizzed around so to not let Blackburn settle into their defensive positions, while off the ball, Fernando Torres led from the front to pressurise Blackburn players into giving the ball away.
All of Liverpool’s best performances in recent years have come when they have played with high intensity and high tempo. Every single player contributed off the ball yesterday, not allowing Blackburn players time on the ball to pick out a pass. In stark contrast to previous home games against Blackpool and Sunderland, the away side was under constant pressure rather than being able to settle into a good passing rhythm. As I have said before with Roy, he is more of a continental style manager than English, as his default setting is to keep the team shape, limit space in behind but rarely press high up the field. This has especially had detrimental effects on the team’s home displays as opponents have seen the Reds stand off them and allow them time to settle. It is something that Roy clearly realised he needed to correct yesterday, and the team looked to have the shackles taken off them as a result.
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STELLA ARTOIS WORLD DRAUGHT MASTERS
it’s only taken him 3 months to clock onto what we’ve (mostly) all been saying since the beginning of the season. Genius…
About 90% of us have also been telling him to man up and leave. Hope he clocks onto that one too…
🙂
don’t get carried away everyone! this was a v poor blackburn side who conceded from the start. the truth hurts, and thats why roy got upset when a foreign journo questioned the lack of service to torres! the journo was right. there’s been no service to el nino. but, when there is, he invariably delivers. roy, do us all a favour and go. if not now, then keep your opinions to yourself in the meantime. your comments are embarrassing! imo.
maybe he should be given a fair crack?
judge him after 10 (league?) games he said – one more brilliant performance will leave him with a ratio of 2 positive performances out of 10. Hmmmm…
1) Blackburn were really awful
2) Cant credit Roy, performance, tactics very similar under Benitez
3) Roy should still go
4) New owners, what are you waiting for?
hodghwalk or watever u kol yasef,go away now
pliz roy hodgson go away now,u are too plain,for liverpool, too barren,too old,too small,too,i can go on,just go.u are a man u fan who is coaching liverpool.otherwise how can u support feggie wanting to poach tores?
mr henry,if u want to write your name into anfiled folklore fast,just fire roy
better late than never