There is no denying that the first two months of Liverpool’s season has been nothing short of disastrous. Disappointing results coupled with mediocre performances has led to a Liverpool side, looking to fulfil their ambitions of a top four finish, languishing in the relegation zone compiling a pitiful total of just 6 points from 7 Premier League games; resulting in the worst league start for the Reds in 57 years. So, who should take the blame? What is the overwhelming reason to explain why our team has been playing in such an uninspiring way? Do we blame the manager? The owners? The players? Or is it a bit of everything? For me, there’s a few factors that have played their part in the depressing start that Liverpool have made.
Many people, including a fair few of the players themselves, have quickly put the unacceptable performances down to the fact that the club is in a transitional period with a new manager only 3 months into his tenure as boss. However, regardless of the club being in a period of change, defeats against teams such as Northampton and Blackpool at Anfield are simply unthinkable and justifiably unsatisfactory for the fans and followers of the club. I don’t think all of the blame can be placed on the shoulders of Roy Hodgson as, for the majority of his time at Anfield, the gaffer has picked the strongest possible eleven available to him at the time. On the other hand, there have been a few peculiar selections made by Hodgson that have baffled me and many others. For example, Roy’s consistent positioning of Raul Meireles out on the right side of midfield is, in my opinion, a waste of a talent as it is clear to see that the Portuguese midfielder is evidently best positioned in the centre of the field and is ineffective as a winger.
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I agree Meireles must play centre with stevie, but more importantly, in my opinion, the defence must take priority. The current back four is by far the worst we’ve had since gaining promotion. Johnson, for want of another word, is crap! Carragher is past it, too slow, Agger’s good with the ball at his feet, but can’t head it, and skirtle is just the opposite. I’m at a loss for words about left back, top european club…. no left back… what a joke, ones always injured, and the others about as much use as Johnson. It also worries me that Hodgson has Poulson to protect them, well that’s not going to happen is it, yet another waste of cash. Oh… and we have one striker, who clearly must be moving on in January, he looks like he wants out anyway, probably forced to stay (with promises). Now that’s why we’re on such a bad run, it’s not form, it’s the quality.
Toataly agree withe Woy sorry a mean Roy”kidding mate” Your spot on its quality weve needed to add for 2 seasons now think of the players weve let go Alonso Masch Arbeloa & who has come in to replace them??? Crap Crap & Crap BOARDS FAULT. Meireles was our dearest signing & hes played out of position ROYS FAULT. Johnson is a defender found wanting ie “BLACKPOOL” at fault for the 2 goals,but Roy will play him there again!!! So really its everyone at the clubs fault but Crap always filters from the top down doesnt it?
For me we badly need to spend big and this can only happen with new owners I know some of these players could come good but I have had enough of this mediocrity and we need to sell Aquilani£13.5m, Insua£4.5m, Lucas£6m, Babel£8m, Krygiakos£3m, Poulsen£4m, Aurelio{free}, Jovanovic£5m, Rodriguez£5m, Degen£1.5m, Itandje{free}, El Zhar{free}, Ayala£2m, etc. we need to be looking to buy the best like Lassana Diarra£9m {available at a knockdown price like Van der Vaart was and could actually replace Mascherano unlike Poulsen who is a good tackler but he does not have the pace, energy or passing ability Mascherano had. Bastian Schweinsteiger£30m {would be a phenomenal signing he can control a game like Xabi did}, Edin Dzeko£34m{ a power house who has exactly what we need and like Nando can guarentee goals}, Fabio Contreau£17m{this guy will in my opinion be the best left back in the world within two or three years as Cashley starts to fade and he can also play left wing},Keisuke Honda£12m{had a great world cup and was described by Arsene Wenger as a footballing genius but even before the world cup this guy was hugely impressing and I think it is time to snap him up, he can play in the hole or on either wing, he is great on the ball and would add a much needed creative spark , he also has one hell of a left foot and he always look likely to score from set pieces}, Ashley Young£21{a natural winger who can also play in the hole , Young is what Babel could have been a fast tricky winger who adds a goal threat from wide and gives great delivery into the box ,Liverpool is crying out for a good winger ,the team looks very narrow and we hugely lack pace}, Gary Cahill£12m{a good English defender whi could start ahead of Carragher who is losing his legs , he reminds me of Sami as he reads the game superbly and is great in the air} so in NEW OWNERS {who will splash like City but just once} Martin O Neill , Striker-Edin Dzeko, Wingers-Ashley Young,Keisuke Honda Central Midfielders{worthy of replacing Alonso and Mascherano}-Bastian Schweinsteiger,Lassana Diarra} Left Back-Fabio Contreau Centre half-Gary Cahill , chance of all these changes happening are 0.000000000001% so there is a chance but we are still being linked with some of these players along with the likes of Banega,Gomez,Turan and Mata who I would all welcome with open arms but short answer is the owners
Agree that Meireles should be playing next to Stevie. Both of them are the more consistent players so far. On the matches so far, there just don’t seem to be cohesiveness in midfield and particularly defence – where we have been letting in too many silly goals. How i wish we still have Hyypia!! The worst performers to date are Johnson(can’t defend and can’t pass) & Lucas(no creativity and can’t pass). Carragher is also a big disappointment and not up to mark. Our attacking options lack creativity which I tot should be improved especially with Joe Cole around. If the players are not giving 100% effort, there’s just no point saying we should be wining this match and that. Hope the manager explore those options if we are to start getting out of the rut.
Roy
I disagree; Mereiles should be played with Lucas behind Gerrard in a 4-2-3-1. It’s clear to anyone with football knowledge that gerrard is tactically inept and often vacates his position to the detriment of the team. He is guilty of too many Hollywood balls often giving away possession. He would be better utilised in the hole in a free role, because he just doesn’t have any game intelligence. I include Lucas because everyone can now see he‘s a better option than Poulson, and with Mereiles that is a more fluid line up.
Now with regards to Johnson, I think you’re harsh in your assumption he’s rubbish. Johnson will not perform until we have a more mobile centre half beside him. That would mean removing Carragher and replacing him with Skyrtl which will allow the team to push higher up the field helping Johnson when he’s attacking. We play to deep because Carraghers lack of pace, and Johnson is often caught out because the defensive line is always too far behind the play.
So I would play Johnson, Skyrtl, Agger and Aurelio (hopefully when fit) at the back with Mereiles and Lucas in the midfield with Gerrard in front just behind Torres. Out wide I would play Cole and Kuyt. This I believe is a good enough team to get us out of trouble we’re in, if they are given the right instruction to press high up the field and not give the opposition any space.
The players you mention, should they be transfer listed you would probably be surprised by the teams that would come in for them. It’s not the players it’s the tactical instruction they receive from the manager.
Therefore this is Roy fault completely.
elliot tunstull meirieles has played in the hole since being at liverpool. the only time he has played out on the right was the last ten minutes against scumchester so unless ur sure of ur facts then dont make us listen to all this crap ur writing
JJ
Are you on drugs?
Half the players you mention are gone, and for a lot less money than you’ve quoted. Do you also realise we are stuck up the creek without a paddle and have no money.
Just out of curiosity did you start supporting Liverpool FC yesterday?
cman were did Poulsen play in that match? Lucas is better than Poulsen hes utter crud.
dj – your comments mirror my thoughts. I actually could have written this. well said mate.
conman.. even hodgson himself came out with an explanation as to why he has been playing meireles on the right, therefore, why would he do that if he’d only played him there for ten minutes? you talk about crap writing but you seem like a crap supporter if you don’t notice things like this.
@JJ
haha!again,this is not a Video game.
just stop saying stupid things
“Just out of curiosity did you start supporting Liverpool FC yesterday?” hahahahaha!that’s right
I think it’s harsh to blame it all on Hodgson, he’s clearly a very competent manager and is no fool althogh granted playing Meireles out wide seems pretty sensless, yet this is how he works; he WILL NOT compromise team shape and discipline for individual flair, as shown by his time at fulham where he was very defensive, and played defensive wingers who defended narrow and kept shape. Is this working for us? No. But is it worth giving him time? Yes. Also Carragher is a ledgend and deserves suppourt from us. He played great against Arsenal and still has it in him, althogh his pace has gone, but since when has defenders become redundant without pace? If Johnson or Carragher have to compromised or compromise their own game, then it should be Johnson. Hodgson needs to help him develop his defensive game. Poulsen appears to be a poor signing, but Hodgson hardly had millions to spend did he? And the great Rafa made a few dodgy signings( and that’s a understatement!) Give Hodgson time, he, Gerrard, and at somepoint Torres, WILL get us out of this mess.
JK94
I believe the tactics you refer to are antiquated and not in the best interests of Liverpool FC. The best coaches around the world use high intensity forward pushing game to put pressure on the opposition, which then puts you in the best position to attack. Now Rafa always kept a rigid compact formation when we didn’t have the ball, but we pushed anyway to force the opposition. It then enabled us to attack quickly before the opposition had chance to reorganise. Teams are now so well coached that even the so called lesser teams are able at times to put most of the top teams under some pressure during a game, but when they lose the ball the formation Rafa generally used 4-2-3-1 was the best to take advantage to attack quickly. I think you will find it’s the quickest for players to get back into a defensive position when the attack breaks down as well. I think Hodgsons tactics are behind the times because it forces the team to play to deep inviting teams onto us with no pressure on the ball, and it’s slower to regain defensive positions if an attack breaks down, as is clear because Gerrard has been caught out of position many times this season already.
With regards to Carragher, he is of course a legend, but he is the reason I believe we do not see the best of Johnson. Unfortunately Carra is so slow now it is instinctual for him to be overcautious and play deep. If you have attacking fullback this stretches the game unfortunately to our detriment, and then if you only have 2 central midfield player with one on walkabout mean we’re in trouble, as has been the case this season.
Managers are in the job to make tough decisions, unfortunately Hodgson doesn’t have the courage to make that call. These decisions should never be based on what a player wants (where a player would prefer to play) or what status the player has at the club, legend or not.
I’m not getting into talking about signings, I’ve exhausted that one many times and I have strong views on that, except to say that Rafa signing have almost always made money for the club when they were sold, more than anyone can say about GH. All managers have made poor signing, but Rafa’s net spend of £80 million over 6 years (the telegraph figures) was very good money management in my opinion. I don’t blame Hodgson for buying Poulson and Konchesky (both poor players) because he can only spend what he’s given much like Rafa.
I think you gather Hodgson is not the man for me, so a subtle removal for a better manger in a month or so will do for me.
dj
What you say does make sense and I respect that the problems you pointed out do seem to be hindering us and because of that I can’t really argue the formation and startegy isn’t currently working. But I do stand by the fact you can’t become a bad manager overnight. I don’t feel it’s as black and White as the formation is too old and no longer works In modern football because it did with Fulham so well. But maybe it’s whether it suits us? Clearly at the moment it doesn’t, in which case we or Hodgson has to adapt.And as much as what you say makes sense, I do believe Hodgson is experienced and talented enough to learn from current mistakes and ultimately improve us. I was delighted with his appointment( after the initial dissapointment of deciding to get rid of Rafa) and I suppose I’m uneasy with turning on him so quickly. Granted he must turn things around fast or probably must be shown the door( I feel January we must be in top half or so) but i’d personally give him untill then. Hopefully this isn’t Blackburn all over again and he adapts and changes tactics or adapts his team in his mould ; makes us incredibly hard to break down and Efficient in getting wins. If he does either I’ll be happy, and I’m still hopeful he will.
jk94
I like your optimism, but I disagree and I think we’re in serious trouble if Hodgson remains in charge. If his record suggested he was a good manager I might be more accommodating, but I saw how Blackburn played, and it was truly awful.
Off the pitch he doesn’t inspire me either, and he just doesn’t seem to realise he’s managing LFC.
Good debate though.
Cheers mate and again, point taken-Off the pitch he isn’t always convincing, he does seem to feel he is still at Fulham at times when boring unispired performances like against Birmingham are considered a good away point! let’s just hope, with or without Hogdson, we get out of this mess quickly!