I have lost count of the amount of times I have heard pundits on the TV or the radio state that Roy Hodgson was left a poor squad by Rafa Benitez. Considering the frequency of its use I am inclined to believe it is only reason, other than Roy’s own ineptness, they can think up to explain Liverpool’s terrible season. By now, certainly some Reds fans have begun to believe this fallacy but there is a certain statistic that belies media portrayal of Liverpool’s squad.
It was announced yesterday that FIFA had paid a sizeable amount to clubs in compensation for letting their players go to the World Cup. At the top of the list was Barcelona who were given £557,000 worth of compensation; no surprise there. Barca were followed in the list by Bayern Munich and Chelsea with figures close to £500,000. But who came fourth? Was it Real Madrid? AC Milan? Manchester United? Inter Milan? Arsenal? No, it was none other than Liverpool Football Club. They were paid £449,000 in compensation for the amount of stars they let go to the World Cup. They were just ahead of Real Madrid in the list.
Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean Liverpool have the best squad of players in the world, but it does show there are a good number of players in the squad who are good enough to play in the World Cup. It also belies the myth that the Reds squad is so bad that no other manager could do a better job than Roy Hodgson with the side 12th in a league with nine defeats in 20 games. Roy said this about the squad last month:
“Basically speaking unless there is a major inflow of cash into the club and the team is going to be changed from one moment to the next then whoever takes my place will be doing a similar job with similar players.”
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This week it is former Liverpool WAG Gisela Molinero!
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I know that Liverpool is a team of nearly all internationals, but they are not playing like it. Is that the managers fault? Possibly, but seeing as the majority of the same players under performed last year too, I think the buck should stop with the players. Non of them have played anywhere near the level they should be, and that can’t all be down to the manager. They have to have some pride and belief in themselves that got them to the level they are supposedly at, they can’t just carry on like this. The 2nd half at Bolton should be the minimum they perform.
Change the manager maybe, but what if they don’t play for the next chap after a few months, change again?
A manager has to inspire confidence in and motivate his players.
He also has to play them in the right position. He also dictates the style of play.
I could go on.
If the buck stops with the players then perhaps there is no need for a manager.
chelsea under scolari
same team under hiddink
same team under ancelloti with zhikov only addition. they all got different results. so the bulk of the blame goes to the coach
We aren’t Chelsea, are we. The players didn’t put in the performances under Rafa, at least last season, so I am with Jan here. Many of our current players obviously don’t play for the shirt. Hardly any of them takes responsibility on the pitch. That has to change, but it may rather be a question of personality than of manager.
its not just results another manager wont continually insult the fans and history of our club. as for torres he has stabbed us in the back, there is no excuse for not giving 100%. we should sell him if we can get £50 million, the wonderful fernanodo torres who graced anfield is no more, at least for this manager.
Change the Manager?
I would say YES. We have a good group of players capable of producing good preformances on a weekly basis. yes we need to buy a few players and yes we need a new manager. did you see roy when we where 3 nill down to blackburn. He looked shellshocked and had no idea what to do might as well have gone to the bus!!! Do you remember Rafa when we where 3 nill down in Istanbul(seems so far away) cause I do up there with the lads telling them where to be and what to do thats what we need aomeone with belief in the team as good as it is thats what we have got and thats the way it ia gonna be by the looks of it.
So yes i believe if Roy does not believe he can do any better than it is time for him to go and some one like Thompson(a motivatior who believes in his team) to come in and help this team preform to the best of its ability, and not someone who says this team is preforming as good as anyone could make it cause that is not true!
Lets take this one step at the time before we start talking about sacking the next manager
first we need to sack this one!!!!!! LFC YNWA
As much as we sometimes forget footballers are only human and if they hear enough people say they’re average they tend to start believing it! i still think our biggest problem last year and this is down to formation. rafa wanted to prove that lucas and masch could play together but everytime one was dropped for whatever reason and stevie or aquaman came into the centre we actually played well again and won more games. this season roy is trying to play 4-2-2-2 as he has no width when the players he has would be perfect for 4-3-3.
Well, three out of our back four against Blackburn were at the world cup, but I would put in one Samy Hyppia in his heyday for any of them and he was never during his entire career at a World Cup. So much for the credibility of having a starting eleven of players who played at the World Cup. BTW, not many of our players (if any) had even a half-decent World Cup.
Will be very interesting to see if you keep your negative attitude towards our squad if King Kenny inspires much improved performances as I’m hoping and expecting. I’m guessing you had faith in Roy to turn things around then? Bring in his Koncheskies and Poulsens? And get rid of our Toreses and Reinas who underperformed at the WC?
Just before anybody asks 4-2-2-2 is a formation i didn’t know existed till this season but is the only one i can think of to describe roys 2 defensive central midfielders with 2 offensive central midfielders bizarre formation!
Brazil used to use it and called it a “magic square”, but they were using Adriano, Ronaldo, Kaka & Ronaldinho instead of Torres, N’gog, Gerrard and Maxi/Kuyt…
You can always have a couple of players not putting in effort. But to have a whole squad who are indifferent means theres is an underlying problem. A manager does not just choose the tactics, he motivates, instills confidence and creates a winning attitude. It is the lack of all these traits in our current manager that is the reason why we are failing so miserably. The media is hypocritical to the point of being disgusting. It is so obvious they will make any excuse to prop up such a hapless person as Roy. I just hope some of our less than discerning fans don’t buy it just as they bought it when Benitez was in charge.
Well said Reded17
Spot on Jo Grech i stil have the half time team talk(video) the gaffer(RB) gave to the boys wen they were 3 nil that was one of the greatest motivational speech i ever heard.this gaffer seems he is in planet mars when he is losing(very confused and disorganised). we need a coach that will psych guys up. I mean very strong and active gaffer.
obinna,would love to hear that speech where can i acquire it?
So following your logic on, the worlds top managers will be queueing up to take charge of this fantastic squad of players.
Would be nice if it was true.
RED HEAD,
Do u remember chelsea under scolari and avram grant? remember how sucking they were? The same team without any addition under hiddink performed well. The same team following season under ancelloti won double with yuri zhikov only addition. Am not exonorating the players but the coach should b held responsible first before players.
Player being professional will not complain even if the coach tactics is negative. They cqn only obey or seek transfer which is what I think will happen in lfc unless we act fast.
LIVERPOOL FC HAVE CONFIRMED THAT HODGSON HAS LEFT THE CLUB BY MUTUAL CONSENT. KENNY DALGLISH TO BE IN CHARGE FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON.
hello to you all…whoever says that liverpool has a poor quad is just a complete fool.we’ve got the the likes of torres,gerrard,meireles,agger,reina,johnson,kuyt, jovanovic(yea he’s a good lad).you don’t need a team of 11 world star players to make a team.you need a team to make world stars!we’ve got tremendous talents coming through our ranks,like shelvey,pacheco,suso,wisdom,silva.they have to be made to play,even for some minutes.they have to understand what it means to be a liverpool player and the pressure that comes with it and maybe they will fall but i know that kenny is the man who can come to them and say”try again next time boy,you gonna make it!”but under rafa,he had only one thing in mind 4-5-1,yea he did us just right in the champions league which is a knock out tournament and it’s good.you put one goal and maybe witha bit of luck tha’s all you gonna need!the league is another completely different thing,you got 38 matches,38 mathes with only torees up front?!no wonder he gets injured so much!rafa never ever cheered when liverpool scored a goal.he never could lift the players moral.thats where he failed and for roy,honestly he never was good enough to manage liverpool.come on kenny!we all know what steel you’re made of and we’re proud to have you back.i never had the opportunity to see you manage a team and today a childhood dream will be fulfilled!you are the glue who gonna make those players a team!