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View from the Kop

Roy Hodgson: A Case for his Defence and Prosecution

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The Case for the Prosecution:

Roy Hodgson was appointed on July 1st. His first aim was to secure the futures of Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard in which he succeeded in doing. It however took him a great deal of time to assess the rest of the squad. He sent Alberto Aquilani out on loan without any guarantee of a sale, and we started the campaign with only one recognised left back in Fabio Aurelio, despite it being plainly obvious when he took over that it was a problem position. He only managed to purchase another in the guise of Paul Konchesky on the last day of the transfer window. In the mean time, the saga over Javier Mascherano continued, and although the club could be said to have been held to ransom by Barcelona and the player, the deal should have perhaps been concluded earlier to allow more time to find new signings. While Raul Meireles was signed however, no new striker was brought in to support Fernando Torres.

On the pitch, things have followed a familiar pattern, with a poor away record and a lack of cutting edge in the final third. The lack of genuine wingers in the squad has meant we have had to rely on forwards such as Milan Jovanovic and Dirk Kuyt in the positions where they don’t offer much width to stretch opposition defences. The selection of both Lucas Leiva and Christian Poulsen in some matches indicated a defensive mentality without ambition to go forward and win matches. Even during matches against Birmingham City and Manchester City, Hodgson refused to change players or the formation to adjust to changing circumstances during the match and allowed both matches to slip away. The start of the campaign is more worrying, not necessarily because of the results, but the manner of the performances we have put in. So far, there hasn’t really been a sign of any improvement, and question marks are being raised about Roy’s capabilities of managing the team.

Verdict: At the moment, my opinion is very much in the former camp. Patience is key, and especially during this time of transition for the club. The time to judge will be in the second half of the season, not only when Roy has had time to implement his style of play but when he has been given more time to assess his team and begin shaping a team of his own.

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13 comments

  • stan howard says:

    if the media, players and agents are to be believed woy would in big trouble – how could we have paid for the eleven strikers he bid for on the final day – what if they had all said yes ?

  • Stevie G says:

    Sorry, I cannot agree. Hodgson is simply not good enough manager to take Liverpool forward. He was supposed to steady the ship, not sink it!! If I didn’t know better I would say he is a spy within the camp trying to destroy the great club of Liverpool FC. Also, in this interview with Purslow, he said Rafa left by “mutual consent” in answer to the question was Rafa sacked. Well, answer the question Purslow, because mutual consent means that that board wanted him to go and Rafa wanted to leave. Well, we ALL know that Rafa had no intention of leaving – so who sacked Rafa, Purslow, Broughton or Ayres or all three. It was obvious that Rafa’s position became untenable therefore he had no option to leave. Now we are stuck with Roy who will take us into a relegation battle, take the price at the bookies now for Liverpool to be relegated because Hodgson is a disaster!!

  • stan howard says:

    woy cudda got us up high
    if he could buy
    he cudda bought big and got us up high
    if he could buy
    but now we are so bloody low
    and woy knows why
    cos he cant buy,cos he cant buy, cos he cant buy
    dada da dat dat dat da
    we could have been at the top
    if woy could buy
    we would not now be a flop
    if woy could buy
    we are playing like a load of crap
    and woy knows why
    cos he cant buy, cos he cant buy cos he cant buy.

  • Liam says:

    Last season, the squad had quality but not quantity hence all the pundits and articles criticizing Rafa for not having enough depth in the squad

    Now with practically the same squad, with a few changes made by Roy (besides Mascherano), suddenly the team lacks quality but high in quantity?

    So by your own words, Roy got rid of quality players and filled up the squad with fillers? Thats your case for defence?

  • Dan says:

    The main thing is: we have a British manager.

  • steve mcauley says:

    he hasn’t had time to assess his squad? liverpool football club because of it’s (fast eroding) staure in the game, is constantly under scrutiny and analasys, everybody in football and every armchair fan knows what liverpool is all about, we don’t need to assess them, it’s been obvious over the past 2 years who are world class (pepe, SG and nando) and who are not fit to wear the shirt(too many to mention).
    i was an advocate of both rafa’s removal and hodgson’s appointment but, although i will never regret the ousting of bungling benny, i do regret roy’s appointment! he’s clearly a very nice bloke but unfortunately, even this early in his tenure, i think it’s pretty obvious that the job is simply too big for him. i agree that the side he fielded last night SHOULD have won the game but the fact he had no ‘big guns’ on the bench, should the unthinkable happen, says it all!
    i was hoping when benitez left, the negativity would follow, obviously not!
    i also thought his postmatch comments at st. andrews were disgraceful, he didn’t expect to win! WE ARE LIVERPOOL FC, WE EXPECT TO WIN EVERY MATCH! we are not foolish or conceited enough to believe we WILL win every match but we have to EXPECT to and believe we CAN!
    like i said, roy is a nice bloke and i like him but i am afraid he has to step down while there is plenty of time for a new man to save our season, i have thoughtabout what i’m saying and it’s not a knee-jerk reaction, i just believe it’s very obvious that roy, unfortunately, hasn’t got what it takes!

  • Akash Super Star Fc says:

    .
    .
    .
    Play attacking game after this games all…
    .
    Play 4-3-3 formation…
    .
    .
    ——————————Reina————————————-
    .
    .
    .
    —————–Carragher——-Skrtel/Agger——————–
    .
    Johnson——————————————————-Aurelio
    .
    .
    .
    .————Gerrard——–Meireles——–Cole——————
    .
    .
    .
    —————–Kuyt———-Torres———Babel / Jova——–
    .
    (Im Akash here)
    (Anybody give comment please about this formation)

  • Matt Castellian says:

    please give Akash the job – he might do a better job than Hodgson. If not at least he’ll make us laugh!!!

  • Richy rich says:

    simply sack roy n appoint king kenny .. and oust those yanks out of our club. That’s all.

  • Dan says:

    After all: we have a British manager.

  • red2death says:

    Hodgson doesn’t believe in Liverpool.

    He has no faith that the players can go out there and win.

    He has no faith we can even finish 4th. He treats the team like he’d treat Fulham – and as a result we play like Fulham, take comfort in grinding out draws like Fulham, and are scared of the “big boys” like Fulham.

    Nevermind the boardroom antics or the lack of funds. We’ll excuse that, it’s not his fault. What’s inexcusable is a lack of ambition and lack of faith in Liverpool as a team.

    There’s no defence for that.

  • Sng says:

    woy is just not good enough. we can all say thanks to the ignorant fans who called for rafa’s head. thanks to the LFC board too.

  • Dan says:

    Appoint Mr.Akash as new liverpool Manager

Comments are closed.