Roy Hodgson's Spell at Liverpool FC: Giving Credit Where It's Due
As Liverpool succumbed to yet another defeat to a newly promoted side, Newcastle United at St. James Park, the Roy Hodgson era headed for another serious setback just at the moment it seemed that the Reds were moving from strength to strength.
The defeat is sure to bring back the calls for Roy’s head, however a closer look should suggest that such things are only the tip of iceberg. So lets have a complete look at Hodgson’s spell at Liverpool to find out more.
At the end of the 2009-10 season, Liverpool FC’s management diagnosed the club with chronic down-grading syndrome.
The only remedy to the problem they found: a capable English manager. Enter Roy Hodgson, a manager who may have had success earlier in Europe but whose hiring at Liverpool can be solely due to his recent success with Fulham, which—even with due respect to it—still is an otherwise anonymous club in Europe.
Roy's Transfer Market Performance
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Roy Hodgson kicked off his spell at Liverpool off-the-pitch impressively in the transfer market. Joe Cole and Raul Meireles were both linked with top clubs in the Premier League before Hodgson and Liverpool managed to convince them to a future with the Reds.
Although Hodgson had his own failings with buys like Christian Poulsen and Paul Konchesky, who were clearly bought for much more than what they were worth, there are reasons to consider that such buys were reasonable to a manager like Hodgson. Even when Rafa Benitez joined Liverpool , he bought with himself players from Valencia, his former club and Spaniards, with whom he is at greater ease. It is easy to spot that Hodgson too did likewise.
The difference though as many people will argue lies in the quality. Whereas Hodgson went for a 29 year old Konchesky, a consistent performer for Fulham, Benitez in his spell had gone for Aurelio, who was one of the best left backs in the La liga, although he was crocked with injury when he arrived.
Although incompetent till now, Poulsen too was an option which may have been triggered by the lack of funds under the then prevailing Hicks and Gillette era and Mascherano’s infamous exit. Also the fact that Roy seemed to have an eye on Miereles already meant that the funds available for any player in that position may have been limited.
Hodgson thus, may have missed the point while going for gamble buys in the way that hiring for Liverpool was a step up from the resources he was plunging into. But shouldn’t the management have expected it ?
Now, with new and apparently more passionate owners Hodgson’s ability in the transfer market will surely be tested. Although, he has Damien Comolli to accompany his exploration now, whether he really manages to bring in jewels or failures again can only be answered in due time.
Forgettable Beginning : (First 10 Games, 12 Points )
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Although the Reds finished off their preseason rather precariously, they were off to a dynamic start against Arsenal at Anfield and were a couple of minutes away from a victorious start to the season, when Liverpool’s ever dependable Pepe Reina had a lapse in concentration to let Arsenal in.
Liverpool soon faded badly and soon recorded their worst possible start in more than half a century as Roy Hodgson’s words, “judge me after 10 games” backfired. It was only against Blackburn at Anfield that the Reds rediscovered some form and started a mini revival .
This initial spell under Hodgson can be termed as “torturous” to the say the least. Not only did Liverpool lose points but they played unimaginably below average, so much so that at a point they really did look like relegation fodder!
It was also during this time that Liverpool FC lost for the first time in 43 years to Blackpool at home and for the first time in about a decade to a newly promoted side. They also had to suffer an inexplicable loss to a struggling League Two club in Northampton Town!
Statistics were pouring from all sources and nothing looked optimistic . Roy Hodgson enforced an overtly defensive ploy time and again as if to emphasize the fact that repeated pursuance of a ploy would ensure success even if it proved incompetent for a spell of successive matches.
Hodgson’s practices meant that Fernando Torres was severely isolated and coming back from an injury it did not help him either way. Liverpool looked stifled and Hodgson looked all over the place both with his tactics on the pitch and with equally amateurish press conferences.
An unprecedented roar amongst the fans to replace Hodgson looked very reasonable.
By the time NESV took over at Liverpool, the club had won more cases in the court than matches on the pitch!
The Mini-Renaissance?
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Although John Henry’s first match as owner of Liverpool FC was as forgettable as a few of the other Reds performances preceding that, Hodgson’s men turned around big time and even went on to beat the League leaders, Chelsea, at home.
Liverpool’s upturn was short-lived, though, as they fell on their face again against Wigan and Stoke away. Whereas the Reds managed a lucky draw at the DW after taking a very early lead, at the Britannia they looked in tatters once again as Stoke never looked troubled throughout the match and won by a 2-0 easily.
However, in all fairness to Hodgson even though the performances weren’t acceptable, those two matches meant Liverpool had to play three games that week and with such limited bench strength, the squad may have over-exhausted themselves.
The downs then took a back seat for sometime and Liverpool soon found rhythm back as they took on West Ham, Spurs and Aston Villa. Liverpool won both the first and the last encounter and even though they lost their encounter against the Spurs, they had every reason to believe that it was one of their better performances.
The immediate calls for Hodgson’s head took a dip for sometime.
Then came the match against Newcastle. Another away match, another forgettable outcome under Hodgson.
Now let's analyze Hodgson’s spell in this spell.
Although I never thought Roy Hodgson was the man for a club of Liverpool’s stature and maybe should have never been considered for the role in the first place, I think just blaming Hodgson for all the outcomes is just making scape-goat of the former Fulham manager.
Liverpool made forgettable errors in their defense and upfront kept missing goals that were easier to score than miss really! Now if fans have a fair review of both of Liverpool’s last two league defeats, away at Spurs and away at Newcastle, Maxi Rodriguez and Fernando Torres kept missing chances which no international footballer in their positions should miss, let alone players who deserve the Reds jersey!
Now, football is a funny game and if you are a little unfortunate, those misses can come back to haunt you. Liverpool’s away form this year has been atrocious, to say the least.
Final Opinion: 5.5/10 ??
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Roy Hodgson, to me, has been a very slow learner for a club of Liverpool’s stature and although his spell at Liverpool look eerily similar to those at Fulham in terms of points and matches won, I think after the last thee or four matches it would be wrong to dismiss him as a hopeless manager.
I know many a Reds fan would disagree with me, but then I am just giving credit where it is due. Roy Hodgson cannot be asked to go and score for the club! His tactics have worked off late and it would be wrong to say that in either of the matches after the Stoke game that Liverpool were thoroughly outplayed throughout the match.
All of this suggests that Liverpool were improving, however, naïve finishing and abysmal defending have let them down from reaching a Top Four spot even at the moment!
There maybe statistics which suggest that Liverpool as a team have not really done as well as a team as they should have, but electing Hodgson to the post wasn’t really his own decision and after the ominous start Liverpool look to be an improved outfit sans that added edge when it comes to finishing away games!
I would give Hodgson a 5.5 out of 10 for the comeback he has managed after the disastrous start because I think he is doing fairly well at his job and if the players wearing the Reds jersey are not motivated enough wearing them, it is only normal for Hodgson to repent why did not go on to sell most of those whom Purslow had prescribed him to!
Liverpool FC’s so-called stability may not have come under Roy Hodgson, but then they have of late gelled well as a team and although a better manager would be welcome, what the Liverpool fans are really asking for is to improve upon their away form and thus they are in greater need really of a luckier one!
Somebody under whom Torres and Maxi wouldn’t miss those very easy chances, because if not for those we would have been fighting for a Top Four position already! Moreover, we may have a manager of Mourinho’s ability or stature to come over, but we must remember we don’t have a sugar daddy like Roman Abrahimovich to meet his fancies!
Thus, Liverpool really need to be smart with everything they do, the options seem limited and unless NESV are ready to spend big and soon, Liverpool FC may struggle to even better their last year's performance. Sorry sir, but there is just too much to do, Mr. Henry!
