Liverpool And Roy Hodgson's "Mission Impossible" Begins Against Sunderland

If only an investor had kept their bet on Northampton against Liverpool in the Carling Cup fixture they would have made a massive fortune. On a night when almost no team which scored first won the game, Roy Hodgson and Liverpool's debacle was still a stand-out story.

Before the match Liverpool had only once lost in the fashion they did against the cobblers, i.e., through the tie-breakers. Also, it was Liverpool's worst defeat in all forms of the competition since their loss to Worcester City in 1959.

There is no second way to put it. The Reds were disappointing on the night. However, if anybody watched the Liverpool Vs Steau Bucharesti match up at Anfield , they should have known that without Joe Cole's exceptional performance that day, Liverpool were just as ordinary with a second string squad.

If the defeat at Old Trafford was bitter, this one was a shocker. 

However, the indirect outcomes of this defeat could well be a little different than just a gloomy story mentioned in the newspapers.

Roy Hodgson had said upon his arrival that he wanted to see out every potential academy/reserve player to see whether they really had the flair to match their rave reviews. He further said that only after such introspection would he be interested in looking into the transfer market prospects.

Going by his words, Hodgson thought the Carling Cup kick-off as a perfect opportunity to test them.

As it turned out, the bench didn't deliver and what the shocker thus implies is an end to the massive experimentation that Roy had the luxury to in the League Cup.

Roy Hodgson and Liverpool will have to move on though, and what he has at hand is a sequence of extremely pivotal fixtures against Sunderland, Blackpool, Everton, Blackburn, and Bolton before moving on to a tough game against Chelsea on 7 November.

With only five points in five matches , which also includes frustrating performances against Birmingham City and West Bromich, Roy Hodgson's Liverpool have more than one cause for worry ahead of the seemingly easier oppositions.

Liverpool need to repeat their display against Sunderland in May to really remove some of the doubts that has been cast upon both the ability of the squad and Roy Hodgson.

With just one comparatively tough fixture against Everton at the Goodison Park, in the coming five weeks Liverpool need to score much more than what they managed so far and more importantly score as many "3-pointers" as possible.

With Manchester City, Tottenham and Aston Villa all ready to fire in full cylinders, Liverpool just cannot lag behind anymore if they want to keep any of their dreams alive for the Champions League football next season.

Anything less than 10-12 points out of a probable 15 in the coming five matches could easily spell doom for Liverpool, as they may finish mid-table twice in a row after a long time

After the sad tale of Carling Cup exit, Roy Hodgson's "Mission Impossible," which should have been considered to have ended after the tough fixtures,  may just have begun.

The need of the hour needs to be addressed at the earliest and the team needs a proper skeleton to bank upon. As of now, nobody in the team seems to know which is his position of play really .(Barring Torres and Reina). 

The players can well expect a more iron-hand approach from Roy now. Milan Jovanovic hasn't done a hell lot playing in his preferred position at the left wing, so he should may be given a chance to share the attack as he did in Standard Leige, leaving the left back position to Ryan Babel (if Roy really sees a future in him).

Maxi really has switched off after his decent outing against Bucharesti and seems to do good only as a substitute. This might leave Joe Cole and Steven Gerrard to decide upon the second striker position and right wing until Kuyt comes back fit. Meirles may well be given the job to shoulder the mid-field operations besides Poulsen/Lucas.

In defence, Konchesky, and Johnson are certainties besides Carragher, but I think Agger must be given a fair chance to display his abilities though.

As for Skrtel, he has got away with far many fouls in the box without the referee's notice. Thus, even if played, he must be warned as such behavior has already cost us a penalty against Manchester City and a repeat of that could be decisive especially if the recent games surrounding Sunderland are kept in mind (against both City and Arsenal).

All said and done, its up to Roy Hodgson to prove his mettle as time is fast running out, and unlike Fulham, at Liverpool, he won't be given a go ahead with one dismal finish after another.

There surely would be a lot of off-field the field concerns, as October is a very important month for Liverpool's cause with the monumental issue of ownership to be settled; however, the players and Hodgson would do well to keep as aloof as possible from those and deliver the goods for the club. 

Finally, it's time to find out whether the massive changes that occurred at Anfield including sacking Rafael Benitez this summer has taken the club forward or backward.