What a season it had been for the Reds!
Liverpool will now end year 2010 at the 12th placing with
22 points in 18 matches and 8 defeats in the league, a place
below arch-rival Everton and 16 points behind 1st place Man United.
The Reds suffered another humiliating defeat in Anfield in
the hand of last-place Wolves with a 0-1 scoreline.
I think Hodgson won't get pass the January transfer window
as Liverpool manager as he is now walking on a very thin
thread and any undesirable result against Bolton at Anfield
this Saturday New Year fixture may well be his final match
in charge of the Reds. He has been Clueless, Aimless and Witless
dealing with the opponents and I think he is more suitable for the 2-tier teams.
Yesterday, while watching the live match, I keep wondering
why is right-footed Kuyt playing as the left-wing when we have
Maxi, Jovanovic and Babel as the natural left-sided wingers.
Hodgson had played Cole as the left-winger and his performance
had been woeful and so predictable to the opposing defenders.
Then he played Kuyt on the left-wing which cemented my view that
Kuyt had past his prime and should be sold in the coming days and
week when he is still worth about 8 million if my guess is correct.
When Babel was substituted into the squad and played in the
left wing, there is a huge improvement in the flank attacks and
crosses. Why didn't Hodgson start Babel or even Maxi in the match?
Meireles had a great scoring chance in the first half to calm the
nerve of the team when a quick-wit free-kick by Torres found him
in a one-on-one situation, but somehow he shot right at the goalkeeper
and the ball went out for a corner. This is the best scoring chance
for Liverpool in the entire match, other than the speculative half-chances
taken by a handful of players.
Have the team rested far too long in the 2 weeks (18 days) break that they
have lost the match fitness and awareness? Even with captain Gerrald
back from injury, the team failed to perform infront of the home fans
and the passes and crosses were terribly below-par. Wolves played
a well-planned pressing game and they were rewarded with decent
midfield possessions which limited how the Reds midfielder can deliver
crosses and passes to Torres and Ngog at the front. Lucas was virtually
anonymous throughout the match except for his sudden appearance with
reckless tackle which earned him a deserved yellow card.
Skrtel and Kyrgiakos made a mess of themselves in dealing with a
simple pass by Wolves and allow Stephen Ward to score in a one-on-one
situation with Reina and this is his first Premier League goal. The back-four
played a forgettable match and I expect Agger to be in the line-up against
Bolton and either of the central-defender replaced. Johnson looked tired
yesterday and his supporting play was clearly missed as he made few attempts
to support the attacking play. Konchesky don't deserved to wear the Reds jersey
as he is always out of position and find wanting by the opponent attackers.
Aurelio played better than him when he was replaced in the 2nd half.
With regards to the 2 foward upfront, I think Torres touched the ball
less then 20 times yesterday and Ngog lacked the experiences and skill
to trouble Wolves defenders and goalkeeper. If Torres is not willing to
strive for the team and deliver what he is being paid for, then it maybe
a great time to cash him out. He is worth a stunning 60 million and the
money can be put into good uses since John Henry may just give the
team a 10-20 million to spend in the transfer window.
I am very disappointed with the team's performance yesterday as
I was expecting a perfect 6 points from the 2 home matches against
Wolves and Bolton. Now, there is another 3 points that the team
can strive for this New Year day. Hodgson deserved to be sacked
and go into the history book as the first manager the Reds have fired
before the season is over. I am still as always behind the team and
players but I am not behind the woefully lousy Hodgson to continue
as the manager. Sack the man! Bring King Kenny back!
I leave this posting with a article on why Hodgson must GO now!
Roy Hodgson's Liverpool reign hit a new low last night with defeat by Wolves, catcalls from the Kop and ill-advised criticism of fans for their lack of support, Here are six reasons why the Anfield faithful want him sacked - and fast.
Torres turmoil
It's slowly becoming clear that for whatever reason - and Liverpool supporters should look to their beloved striker as much, if not more, than their beleaguered manager - Fernando Torres isn't doing it for Hodgson or isn't willing to do it for him.
So abysmal was the striker against Wolves, one of a string of downbeat and disinterested displays in a season briefly illuminated by his heroics against Chelsea, that serious consideration must be given to shipping either he or his manager out in January.
It doesn't matter whether the reasons for El Nino's slump are tactical, personal, fitness-related, whatever. Liverpool simply can't go on with an undroppable player playing as badly as this week-in and week-out. Something has to give.
Terrible transfers
With a few notable exceptions, Liverpool's last two managers didn't have much luck in the transfer market, especially in the latter days of their reigns. Yet amid the mountains of mid-budget dross, Gerard Houllier managed to unearth gems like Sami Hyypia, Dietmar Hamman and Gary McAllister, while Rafa Benitez's big-money moves for Torres, Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano paid off sufficiently to give the 'Being Back Rafa' campaign amnesia about him spending £56.5m on Robbie Keane, Alberto Aquilani and Glen Johnson.
Hodgson, meanwhile, has had no luck - or shown no judgement - at all so far. Joe Cole was a questionable gamble after a lost couple of seasons at Chelsea, Brad Jones has not played, Christian Poulsen has not inspired and Paul Konchesky has not been anything other than a nightmare.
The sensible thing to do after his mother's Facebook outburst against Liverpool fans would have been to quietly drop the former Fulham defender, but Hodgson has kept him in the fold. As such, Konchesky could end up being Hodgson's John McGovern - the Derby player who became a terrace hate figure during Brian Clough's 44 days at Leeds and whose continued presence in the side despite a string of poor performances hastened Ol' Big 'Ead's Elland Road dismissal.
Missing man-management
Joe Cole's stay on Merseyside has so far been an unmitigated disaster. But there's surely no-one in the country who believes the former Chelsea and West Ham man would be playing so badly if he were now at Spurs, where Harry Redknapp - who was outbid by Hodgson in the summer - is a master of putting an arm around players short on confidence and bringing them back to their best.
Hodgson, by contrast, has always been more stick than carrot - after going 2-0 up in a match during their struggle against relegation, one Blackburn player recalls him strolling into the dressing room at half-time and jokingly asking, "what are you going to do to f** this one up?" His public criticism of Cole, Glen Johnson and Daniel Agger, while certainly justified in the first two cases, can't have gone down well in a tight dressing room. And, again, he has failed to bring the best - or anything approaching it - from Torres.
Backroom unrest
Not even Hodgson claims Liverpool is a happy ship at the moment. In addition to the player issues detailed in the previous point, gossip suggests that some Melwood backroom staffers - though crucially not yet their boss Daniel Commoli - view Hodgson's tactics, training and attitude to scouting unfavourably next to Benitez's precision and attention to detail.
If you believe "informed" talk from fan websites, the players' jury is certainly out on first team coach Mike Kelly, a Hodgson friend for over 40 years.
Tactics and personnel
While Hodgson must be given credit for making Lucas look like a footballer at last, the deficit column of his account is mounting up by the match. Torres' lacklustre form might be down to his head not being right, but some of it is surely to do with the switch from a 4-3-2-1 system with two players to support him.
Despite Daniel Agger's protests that "I'm here to play football and not to unload", it is too strong to call Hodgson a long-ball manager. But his desire for the ball to be played quickly to Torres will not pay off when the forward continually finds himself isolated even when he successfully holds play up. Meanwhile Liverpool's 4-4-2 makes them look among the Premier League's slowest and narrowest teams - no wonder Hodgson wants Ashley Young in the window - while fans are rightly baffled by their manager snubbing Agger and Fabio Aurelio, and either dropping Maxi Rodriguez and Raul Meireles or playing them out of position. It's a mess.
The final straw
Hodgson's remarks about the missing Anfield roar sound much worse in isolation than they did during his fairly reasonable post-match comments. However, he just shouldn't have gone there.
Remember David O'Leary's throwaway remark about Villa's "fickle" crowd and the subsequent "we're not fickle, we just don't like you banner". Where is O'Leary now? And where will Hodgson be in a fortnight?
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