Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson apologised to Reds fans after the abject display against Northampton Town last night:
“I don’t think we came anywhere near what I hoped to see apart from in the last 15 minutes of extra-time when we made a superb effort after going 2-1 down. All I can do is congratulate Northampton and apologise to everyone; the fans came expecting to see us win and I expected us to win but it wasn’t to be. These players have to accept responsibility. I accept responsibility for changing a lot of players in the team, I did it because I honestly thought the players I put on the field were good enough to win the game and they weren’t.”
Although there are many things that Roy Hodgson could be blamed for in the last night’s display, his team selection should not be one of them. The starting eleven that played against the Cobblers should have been more than enough to see off the League Two side easily; something that Roy was very clear to say after the match. It would be hypocritical of me too to criticise the selection, after all I, like many other fans, have talked about the inclusion of youngsters in more first team matches. The inclusion from the start of Dani Pacheco, Jay Spearing, Martin Kelly and Danny Wilson as well as Jonjo Shelvey, Tom Ince and Nathan Eccleston, coming off the bench in extra time, shows that Roy was showing faith in youth. That the ploy backfired won’t get criticism from me, but more of a concern, is the lack of performance from four of Liverpool’s most experienced players. It was a concern Roy also had when speaking after the game:
“The obvious conclusion to that was I shouldn’t have changed that many players but we should have been strong enough to get a result. We must all take our responsibility. I am just bitterly disappointed that the team I had so much faith in did not repay that faith this evening with the exception of one or two performances. . . They (the players) will have to do a lot of work to get themselves back into favour, but it’s early doors for some of them. Some of the players who played tonight are still quite young. But it’s enough for me to say I am very disappointed and you can see that on my face. . .I will learn an awful lot from this defeat tonight about an awful lot of people. It’s not just myself who will be disappointed and upset that things didn’t go our way – there are lots of players who played tonight who will be disappointed as well.”
So who was he talking about specifically? It is probably unlikely that he was speaking about Milan Jovanovic or David Ngog who scored the two goals on the night. The most likely candidates are:
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RASH DECISIONS rob am scouse norris green born and bred lad brought up on kenny d. what do you expect ! yes never liked him made up he is going cos i hate fergie and his bum chums like fat sam and moyes and roy “blackburn” hodgson and walter the hun smith ,we just want kenny and the prem back wilson/cole apart the players he bought are shite left back were no better midfield worse and at the back/worse some man manager agger should be back 3 at the back johnson rwb and anyone ov the leftbacks lwb cos he has not got a sound one in poulson no better than lucas konchesky can’t pass at 29 he never will
spearing, kelly, eccelston, just so many poor youth prospects that are still hanging around. they will be lucky to be playing pro football next year. if thehavent broken into a first team of our low standard by 19 then simply they are not good enough for the pl. roy wasnt wrong to give them a chance, they just proved their value.
Hey guys
Let’s face the fact. This is not a online or computer based game to make changes as we wish and move forward. The fact is, there is more to team selection than what we see as fans. I am not a top class coach but for the small team I manage, at least that is what I can say. There are things as a manager you cannot say out. There are times your plan simply does not work out. Alex Ferguson succeeded because he was given time and took 7 years to shape the team he wanted. Give Hodgson time. If we keep changing managers, our key players are going to leave and it certainly shows our lack of planning and organisation. Get real .. soccer management is more than just seeing what he players are doing in the field, buying and selling players and sacking managers at will … there is more than what the naked eyes could see. Liverpool will be back and it will be back more fierce than ever before. My fear is not Man Utd or Man City but Chelsea because the team is quite established now (not due to recent results but the team is really settled). However, if we can give ourselves some time, we can be right there with a team of experience and youth, ready to bring forward the club for years to come.
You’ll Never Walk Alone!
And if you still think it is about sacking managers … first Rafa, then Hodgson, then maybe Kenny and the list goes on .. here is my suggestion … why not you just sack yourself as supporter of Liverpool and go and support some other clubs?
a.finnigan i was brought up on kenny and keegan and tosh before that ,having supported lfc for 40 years and been going to anfield for much of the 70s and 80s till i moved away,i long for the glory days but that is gone for now and with kenny at the helm in the short term it might work but as much as i love the guy and his affinity with anfield i believe he has been away from the game too long,in the long run we will need a younger manager and personally i think that roy should begin with kenny to groom carra for that role ,we do have good players and i agree that konch ,lucas and poulsen are shite as is babel,maxi and sotos but were stuck with them for now and they will prob go in january/next summer (not poulssen though as he just got him),yes johnson shud be moved forward and aurelio/konch on the other side with carra agger and skrtel at back as it wud give us width we desperately need ,cole shud be behind torres and have stevie ,meireles and a.n.other in midfield ideally,we can see this but for some reason he cant but we cant play them every match ,so we have to put up with it till we get new owners and then we will see real changes at all levels,he has to give the reserves/kids a go in other less important matches .i hate ol’ bells nose as much as anyone for the influence he seems to have on other clubs,managers,refs,the fa and the shit he gives us etc and know the last thing he would want is kenny at the helm cos we know that he would shit his pants on the spot as kenny IS the only man he is scared of,fergies time is almost up and when he goes so do the mancs so i wouldn’t worry about them . i didn’t want roy i wanted kenny as well but were stuck with him so its make the best of a bad situation ,when we get new owners he will go,but we will struggle to get the kind of manager we need that understands what lfc is about so kenny may get it,then and hopefully he can help choose the next man,as long as its not o’neill or any other current prem manager cos their shitehouses as well ,thats why getting rid now would be a rash decision, .hope this helps
YNWA
I don’t think you can change that many players and expect them to play as a team. Other clubs can do it because they ‘learn’ how to be a player for that club and then fit into the system as they mature. We’re instilling new plans and new faces at the same time.
I don’t think Roy wanted to be in the League Cup and I can’t say I blame him. He’ll do the same in the FA Cup as that too as he’d ideally like to get in the top four instead.
I really glad we lose this game. By these Liverpool will know their second stream capabilities reach till what level. It is time to test the youngster & reserves players. Who should leave who should stay is the time to just now. I don’t expect Liverpool to win any silverware or Champion league this season. All i want to see is a new look Liverpool for the next season who will challenge the top team not only in English league but Europe. Give them a time, this is a transformation period for Liverpool.
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Play attacking game after this games all…
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Play 4-3-3 formation…
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——————————Reina————————————-
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—————–Carragher——-Skrtel/Agger——————–
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Johnson——————————————————-Aurelio
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.————Gerrard——–Meireles——–Cole——————
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—————–Kuyt———-Torres———Babel / Jova——–
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(Im Akash here)
(Anybody give comment please about this formation)
We can do ourselves a favour by selling Lucaas, Sotoris, and i dont understand how Agger has gone out of the team, i think he is better than Carra – who clearly is playing because of his allegiance to the Club and not so much because he is still a feared Defender.
We only have to sell Lucas and get 2 wingers, Liverpool should stop worrying so much about the other team scoring, sowhat i mean by that play 2 strikers for god sake. N’gog is ok holds the ball up and compliments Torres pretty well. Then Babel could play on the right in place of Kuyt. Babel is not a flop, play the guy on the right wing and leave him there for 5 weeks i bet he will destroy teams. He is right footed, hence when he plays on the left he always cuts in rather then playing wide. Jovanovic is ok on the left but maybe he should play up front. We need a left winger. Every other position is ok. Let this team gel together it will come good. Too many fans too negative, Last week i thought ZRoy got his tactics wrong in the second half we looked good and better than United at home. We are a just a bit short from changing to good. This year we will see alot of teams drop alot of points from so called lesser teams. Maybe for except Chelsea. Alot of people talk negative bout the mighty reds, but one team faring alot worse than us is Man City and they have money and spent alot and look at them. So money isn’t always the answer. Go reds and judge us in May 2011!!!!!!!!!!!
Players are still being played in wrong positions. The most blatent of these is Babel.When he is eventually sold and gone o a team that will play him on the right he will blossom. Until then RH will continue to play him on the left thereby giving opposition an easy option when planning game strategy by being able to neutralise him from the start. His best bet for the team is not playing at all!
I also think we should play a 4-3-3 with gerrard miereles and poulson in the middle
birmingham poor man u limp northampton embarrising i went to all three games and i sat listening to the wonderfull support north had and was embarresed by the lack of support we had the team and the manager this has got to be ryans last ever game for lfc
Look how many people are bashing lucas, if you actually went to a liverpool game once in a while you’d see what the real fans think of lucas, everyone thinks they are a top class coach who knows the best formations, players, its an easy job when your just sat in front of the PC screen. Lucas is the most promising young midfielder we have had since stevie (FACT)Lucas is more dedicated and technically gifted than poulsen and hes 8 years younger. Babel is a joke needs to be moved on swiftly, I would personally like to see some of the younger players given a chance playing with the first team, not a la carling cup where we put out the reserves. Its harder to show you belong with the top class players when you never play with them. Martin Kelly for example was included with the first team and really hit the ground running. David Amoo should get a similiar chance on the right wing. In my humble opinion i would like to see a genuine left winger and a new center back come in. We missed a trick not signing Ben Arfa aswell. Ashley Young in on the left and Scott Dann at the back.
4-4-1-1. glen,carra,sktel,agger. kuyt,poulsen,meireles,gerrard. joecole- torres.
gv RH time..n livpool owner need change….prove the fans RH,,u can win 10 games started 2moro.so every 1 will shut up……
ryan babel, i will show what i can do – take 42, yaaaawwwnnn !
One poor match. Let’s take a deep breath and move on. This is the squad and manager we have until January at the earliest. Let’s get behind our team and take stock in a few months. All this whining does nobody any good and makes us look like tits (well not me of course).
its ok if you see liverpool making a mistake and losing a cheap game. the problem is far more severe here. liverpool dont play like “liverpool” anymore. even games with teams like west brom, blackburn etc have become 50-50 games now.i think pointing out players is not a solution here. liverpool need someone like mourinho or sir alex to get them out of this mess. sadly i dont think Hodgson is the right man for liverpool.
There is one manager fans are loosing patience with!
I’m not saying constant changing of managers is the answer, but neither is Hodson.
He should go before he makes more damage.
It’s hard for Liverpool when the owners are the club’s biggest threat right now.
famous kopite:-im sorry mate but you are dillusional if you think lucas is the next stevie g., stevie wonder maybe but dont even try to compare him with a legend who would run hot coals for the club,IF lucas was any good he had the perfect chance to show it on wednesday against a team in the bottom six of the bottom tier of english football,if he cant do it against them then he aint gonna is he and believe me after his screamer the other night i thought he might just be starting to get there but as usual he showed his true colours ,HE IS SHITE FACT ,as is babel who had the same chance ,as for ben arfa he is as bad as babel ,his last 2 moves came from going on strike at the respective clubs who employed him cos he was left on the bench a few times ,do you really think we need a player like that at this moment in our history NO we dont,he is another babel a big baby who cries when he isnt teachers pet, i agree on the kids thing but thats all, kelly is class and the next carra, amoo and ngoo are the next digger ,both good on the wing and ngoo is a great striker as well,ashley young again is like babel showing up once a month if villa are lucky,we dont need scott dann as we just got wilson who is another class act waiting in the wings, all in all nothing will be sorted till professor bunsen and beaker finally blow themselves up so until then we will just have to suffer
YNWA