On Monday night I watched on with many others as a poor Liverpool team got brushed aside by a poor Man City team. Of course, levels won’t be at their required rate just yet but what’s certain is Man City will improve with each passing week, where Liverpool go, that’s a question for Roy Hodgson.
Before the match, Andy Gray and Richard Keys did their best Statler and Waldorf impressions by mocking Rafa Benitez before a ball had been kicked. Thinly veiled swipes at his 4-5-1 tactics and marking philosophies were cringeworthy enough. It occurs to me that it didn’t occur to them that should Joe Cole have been fit, Liverpool would’ve lined up 4-5-1. Nevermind the fact that City scored from a corner, and when Andy Gray was asked why man marking went wrong, he simply replied ‘well it happens’. Thanks Andy, your insight was outstanding, s**t does indeed happen no matter what marking system you play.
The game itself was no spectacle from a reds point of view and I won’t dwell too long, I don’t want to provoke some unwanted shudders while you read. Hodgson quite simply got his tactics all wrong, his record of 4 away league wins in 2 seasons could be understood with his line up. Starting a crunch game away with 4 strikers on the pitch is only going to lead to trouble.
The prerogative for any team like us is to build on small things. A series of early defeats could be very damaging come the usual winter fixture pile up. While the loss to City was unsurprising for most, enjoyable for some and deflating for the rest, again the most worrying for me was the tactics. Lucas, while a player I like and admire, cannot hold the midfield against Barry, Milner and Toure.
Back in Muppets studio, Gray found the vocabulary to praise Hodgson for his bravery in playing 4-4-2, again reminding us that a manager like Rafa would not have done this. Well, our outnumbered midfield and wingless strikers were food and drink for a combative midfield trio in sky blue. Gerrard played in his ‘best position’ though, which was well worth the defeat.
It seems that a spot of contradiction was being served at Sky Towers, their dynamic duo in the same breath called for Gerrard to play central midfield, while drooling over the fact Gerrard and Torres could potentially be back among the goals together. Hmm, I’m sure when Gerrard and Torres were firing on all cylinders, Stevie wasn’t playing central midfield. Forget that though, this is the wonderful world of media! In HD, Yeah!
The repercussions from this defeat are not that great, in a way, I was relieved we got a reality check early on. The goal posts can be shifted so to speak, and as a club we could do a good job out of the ‘lime light’ of the fight for 1st with the new ‘Big 3’.
With Mascherano proving to be as unprofessional as he is fiery on the pitch, we must concentrate on getting our house in order off the pitch before things improve on it. On this topic, I don’t understand why the player was allowed back to training at all. His behaviour has been despicable and if he truly did refuse to play, breaking his contractual obligation in the process, Liverpool should be free to dock him wages for his remaining time at the club.
The change in manager has proved to us only, thus far, that the more things change the more they stay the same. Let’s hope this ‘secret but not so secret’ bid comes through and we can attain some certainty in our future.
Our fixture list has not been kind, a win against West Brom and then Birmingham is important if we are to have any confidence enough to go to Old Trafford and then potentially on to the rest of the season.
So, the question falls to ‘Mr Roy’. Everybody expects us to take it to the likes of West Brom, especially at Anfield. The match should be a given, but will Hodgson be able to bring the big away results we need to reach the tables summit? I hope so, and I don’t doubt that he will learn fast.
At the City game the away fans were chanting Rafa’s name, I can’t see this as helpful to Hodgson’s cause (although I did raise a smile in acknowledgment), but it does raise the question, are these the same idiots who were calling for his name last year? Who knows, but Hodgson will need our full support from here on in, not to mention a lot of patience.
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people were going too far in their praise of Hodgson for his accomplishments of securing a free transfer, keeping hold of Torres & Gerrard and defetaing some second rate teams while giving a chance to a few reserves. After his ridiculous decisions regarding Aquilani and the Man City game, the pendelum appears to have swung all the way back to the doom and gloom that we were in at the end of Rafa’s tenure.
Hopefully Roy does actually know what he’s doing and we see some worthwhile signings walking into Anfield before the window closes. As long as the window remains open, there remains cause for optimism as far as I’m concerned!
The defeat was worrying because Hodgson seemed ignorant to the fact that starting Kuyt, Lucas and Ngog in the same team is disasterous. Hodgson needs to look at Liverpool’s deficiences last season and not do the same mistakes all over again.
He already looks like a man feeling the pressure. If we were to lose at Old Trafford I could see a Blackburn situation for Roy.
I wanted Benitez out but like most fans did not want Roy Hodgson. He has his chance now at a superclub it’s up to him to prove he isn’t a 2nd or 3rd rate manager.
a poor man city team ?
what bubble has burst ?
if we had played thet teams chelsea have we would have 6 points and roy would be the best thing since sliced bread.
i usually like the content on this site but this is ott rubbish.
Alan – even worse than his starting selection, was the fact that he seemed so ignorant to the fact that his system wasn’t working. Mourinho used to be proactive and make wholesale changes at half time if his team was losing/underperforming, leading to a record breaking team.
Rafa was more patient and usually waited until the 67th minute to make his first sub, even if the team was right under the cosh (although he may make some small changes to the formation being adopted).
Hodgson took it to the furthest extent and did absolutely nothing until the 78th minute, with our team being held comfortably and losing 3-0!? He’s going to have to grow some balls and start pro-actively managing the team, because no matter how good the team is (which we clearly aren’t) you’re always going to have some matches where Plan A isn’t working and a change is needed
Time for a dose of realism. We will not compete at the top again until the yanks are gone and some billionaire decides to throw millions at us.
Until then Roy’s job is to keep us in the premier league and I am at least optimistic he can do that.
Without a sugar daddy the long term prognosis is steady decline. Second place under Benitez will be the high water mark for a few years to come.
If too many fans carry on with unrealistic expectations then it will only serve to damage the club further.
well said brian .realistically we are going to do nothing till the yanks are gone.top 4 is possible but the players we have are going to have to work very hard to achieve this .i reckon top 6 is gonna be achievable without a problem but only if we can go through the season with minimal injuries .we shouldnt think either that when the club is sold it will solve all our problems cos it is a complete rebuild internally and even if and it is a big IF we have an endless pot of money things wont happen overnight, we should expect 2-3 years before we can challenge for the title and by then torres WILL have left and gerrard WILL be past his best so it is upto the younger players to get in that squad asap and build NOW for the future.all that being said roy is the right man to do it but has to quickly realise that 4-4-2 away at the bigger clubs is not going to work as we saw on monday.I for one am 100% behind him and so should all other LFC fans cos whether you like it or not hes here to stay for at least 3 years and he will do his best for us .
YNWA
@ Brian, true, a dose of realism is needed. But what is not needed is Roy throwing what little money we do have on Semi retired has beens and nobodys. This has a sniff of the old rafa tenure in that he is not buying wisely, and not looking at the general needs of the squad. Why buy poulsen and then go after Diarra.??
When what we really need is quality wingers and some creativity (Hmmm loaning aqua, good move) and get rid of Lucas, im sorry, but he is pure fucking shite. He would be a good in the 3rd or 4th division, but liverpool come on. And you can bat on about how he was consistent last year and blah blah, we came 7th, reality check. He is shit.
We need quality wingers with genuine pace, the ability to beat players, who can dribble, pass and move. Kuyt is just using valuable space in the squad, at best put him on in the last 15- 20 and let him run rings around himself.
Im sorry, but with money being thrown at useless players like poulsen and konchensky, when what we really need is width, and skill, we will not be able to challenge for the forth spot for cl next year. We will be lucky to secure Europa qualifications with the performance of monday night….
People need to get a grip. No bubble has burst, one defeat and everything is all doom & gloom FFS over reaction isn’t in it. Oh and calling Man City a poor side is really taking the pi55 don’t you think?? At Eastlands this season I don’t think many teams will take three points. Poor article,
I agree with you jay
I am loosing respect for our fans at a rapid pace here…I know the majority of our fans have more respect and patience than the ones im talking about, but it seems that the attitude of these fools that are commenting on these posts change with every bit of news. we draw against arsenal and were back to the glory days we lose against city and were a sinking ship….similar to rafas reign we finish 2nd and were gonna win the league next year and rafas god we finish 7th and rafa gets hanged, drawn and quartered
I just hope Roy does the best he can and things turn around for us, but this will not happen unless fans live up to the words you’ll never walk alone and not just use it as something to end a long bitch letter with
rob,Antix1 cab’t argue with you, but given where we are…
Assuming Mascherano is gone and Kuyt stays I think the following should apply to games (especially away) against top 8 sides in premier league.
Poulsen and Lucas holding, Cole on the left, Kuyt on the right, Gerrard free role in the middle, Torres up front. Jova, Babel and Ngog fill in from the bench as necessary.
Cautious I know, but you have to play to your strengths. I’d love us to go out and do a Barcelona every week, but you can still win a lot of games with a fighting spirit, sound defence and the odd moment of magic from Torres/Gerrard/Cole.
Transfer fees for world class players require more money than our manager is likely to have for several years.
I really agree with the opinio expressed. I am not sure why people like Andy are so stupid and lazy to do some extra reading and research before they make foolish state,ents and sometimes even saying the opposite of the same topic in the same breath. Surely the principle isue is that Roy does not have money to spend as Rafa faced the same problem season in and out. Not that he failed to identify excellent and often at good price but the poor support he received from Rick Peri-peri and later the board or G&H.
But what surprise me mostly is Roy’s decision to get rid of Aquilani at this time of the market and especially as he was one of the players who did very well in the last months. I mean Monday night some one like him would have made a big difference, but why get rid of him if it is not for money???
Maybe he would have someone else in mind. The team looked very boring, low spirit and I do not know whther Torres heart is here or is ti only match fitness??
I agree with Brian and Antix1. People need to get real and realize that with our current financial position a repeat of 7th is the best we can realistically hope for. Roy inherited a very poor squad which looked virtually certain to be weakened even further. He’s done a reasonable job of stabilizing things under very difficult circumstances but the usual incoming summer collection of free transfers, cheap ageing journeymen and untested, inexperienced rookies were never going to challenge Man U, Chelsea and Man City for the title. Without any real money even the likes of Sunderland and Birmingham can comfortably outspend us. I do agree with Antix that Ngog, Kuyt and Lucas are fairly awful players and need to be cleared out asap. Roy should get as much as he can for Kuyt because he’s 30, practically useless (regardless of his workrate) and no other manager but Rafa would even consider paying anything for him. Lucas and Ngog are third raters and always have been. They may look okay against fourth rate Romanian nobodies will never perform adequately or consistently against top class opposition. Aside from clearing out this obvious chaff theres not much Roy can do because there is no money and any money from player sales will only go to Hicks and Gillet anyway.
what a ridiculous thing to actually believe that it was the Liverpool fans singing Rafas name, you may have heard laughs at the same time as City fans enjoyed their own banter as THEY were singing Rafas name. I was at the game myself so know this as FACT. This artical should be taken off this site as its a disgrace to the true Liverpool away following that are being accussed of such a outragous act. Silly boy Chris Severs and silly Liverpool fans that think so little of our real fans that are there week in week out at every game supporting our team that you would believe such rubbish written about them. I may not read this site again after this and trust me I wont be the only one
Brian –
If we choose to use our little money to buy yet another aging & average player with little resale value (Diarra, Trezeguet et al) then it will obviously make it more difficult to compete both short & long term. The American’s have failed the club big-time, but they’ve been used as an excuse for poor performances throughout the club for too long
We could definitely compete/have competed with thesmart use of our squad. Donating Aquilani to Juve and selling Riera for a pittance doesn’t really count as smart to me though and neither situation was enforced by the Americans. Their departure should have raised at least £25m to be reinvested, or they should have remained at the club. As it is, we raised £4m and have an inferior pair of older replacements (Jovanovich & Poulson). Ridiculous!
If we choose to use our little money to buy yet another aging & average player with little resale value (Diarra, Trezeguet etc) then it will obviously make it more difficult to compete both short & long term. The American’s have failed the club big-time, but they’ve been used as an excuse for poor performances throughout the rest of the club waaay too much
what is wrong with you people, it was rafa who wasted money on crap signings in the past couple of seasons, replaceing class with crap, roy can see the weanesses that we all could see but unlike rafa he will do something about it. for the hundredeth time, football is a simple game complicated by fools, roy is no fool, he wont take torres or anyone else off if they have scored two goals, he wont field weak teams in the league, he will win the points we should have won against lesser teams, there will be no awful pathetic shows like some last season. we were unkucky not to beat arenal with 10 men yes arsenal not blackpool, we got beat by a club that has spent £300 million, we had more disruption due to the world cup than any other team, we have the whole press and other mangers trying full time to disrupt out club and players. an almost injury free season for torres and gerrard and we will score goals for fun, that means lots of points, so cheer up gloom mongers the gloom has in fact lifted.
would roy have bought a player to replace a world class player, knowing he would not be fit for most of the season ? whould any of you ? no no no and never.
WHO RECOMENDED THE TWO ITALIANS TO THE CLUB ?
IS THE IDIOT STILL WORKING FOR US ?
ANYONE WHO KNOWS THE FIRST THING ABOUT FOOTBALL COULD SEE AFTER ONE GAME THAT DOSSENA WAS NOT A FULL BACK. DID ANYONE BOTHER TO WATCH HIM ? AND HOW CAN YOU WATCH A GUY WHO HAS BEEN INJURED FOR MONTHS, THE MIND BOGGLES. SIMPLE QUESTIONS WHY DID RAFA LET THESE THING HAPPEN ?
knock Rafa if you like but he’ll probably be the last manager in most of our lifetimes to really challenge for the title or get us to the champions league final.
WHO WOULD LOAN OUT A QUALITY CREATIVE MIDFIELDER WORTH 20M?
WHO PLAYS 4-4-2 AT MAN CITY (WITH NGOG AND LUCAS STARTING)
WHO BUYS OLD S**T PLAYERS LIKE POULSEN?
WHO SELLS RIERA FOR 3M WHEN WE GOT HIM FOR 8M?
WHO SELLS OUR HOTTEST PROSPECT IN NEMETH?
WHO WOULD PLAY AGGER AT LEFT BACK WHEN WE’VE GOT AURELIO?
RAFA WOULD HAVE AT LEAST GOTTEN US A DRAW AT MAN CITY.
i feel why RH let Aquaman go was because he could not afford to take a chance on his fitness especially with the possibility of an extended season…yes he has limited funds so technically we cannot afford the younger and better players..also the bigger names want CL football which we can’t offer now…it doesn’t help also with the current owners holding out for a bigger payout…in anycase, being a TRUE LFC fan, it hurts anytime we lose be by 1 goal or more..but i will always be behind my TEAM….YNWA
eric here is the answers toall your questions.
aqualani is quality – Who bid for him ?
maherano forced the 4-2-4 at city
roy knows what poulson can do unlike rafa with the italians
reira called us a sinking ship
who loaned nemeth in the first place ?
johnon will show up 90% of full backs
rafa left us in 7th place
rafa is not beyond honest and constructive criticism. istanbul will never be topped rafa and the team will never be forgotten.