The Hodgson bubble bursts early, but it could be a good thing.

On Tuesday night I watched on with many others as a poor Liverpool team got brushed aside by a poor Man City team. Of course, levels won’t be at their required rate just yet but what’s certain is Man City will improve with each passing week, where Liverpool go, that’s a question for Roy Hodgson.

Before the match, Andy Gray and Richard Keys did their best Statler and Waldorf impressions by mocking Rafa Benitez before a ball had been kicked. Thinly veiled swipes at his 4-5-1 tactics and marking philosophies were cringeworthy enough. It occurs to me that it didn’t occur to them that should Joe Cole have been fit, Liverpool would’ve lined up 4-5-1. Nevermind the fact that City scored from a corner, and when Andy Gray was asked why man marking went wrong, he simply replied ‘well it happens’. Thanks Andy, your insight was outstanding, shit does indeed happen no matter what marking system you play.

The game itself was no spectacle from a reds point of view and I won’t dwell too long, I don’t want to provoke some unwanted shudders while you read. Hodgson quite simply got his tactics all wrong, his record of 4 away league wins in 2 seasons could be understood with his line up. Starting a crunch game away with 4 strikers on the pitch is only going to lead to trouble.

The prerogative for any team like us is to build on small things. A series of early defeats could be very damaging come the usual winter fixture pile up. While the loss to City was unsurprising for most, enjoyable for some and deflating for the rest, again the most worrying for me was the tactics. Lucas, while a player I like and admire, cannot hold the midfield against Barry, Milner and Toure.

Back in Muppets studio, Gray found the vocabulary to praise Hodgson for his bravery in playing 4-4-2, again reminding us that a manager like Rafa would not have done this. Well, our outnumbered midfield and wingless strikers were food and drink for a combative midfield trio in sky blue. Gerrard played in his ‘best position’ though, which was well worth the defeat.

It seems that a spot of contradiction was being served at Sky Towers, their dynamic duo in the same breath called for Gerrard to play central midfield, while drooling over the fact Gerrard and Torres could potentially be back among the goals together. Hmm, I’m sure when Gerrard and Torres were firing on all cylinders, Stevie wasn’t playing central midfield. Forget that though, this is the wonderful world of media! In HD, Yeah!

The repercussions from this defeat are not that great, in a way, I was relieved we got a reality check early on. The goal posts can be shifted so to speak, and as a club we could do a good job out of the ‘lime light’ of the fight for 1st with the new ‘Big 3’.

With Mascherano proving to be as unprofessional as he is fiery on the pitch, we must concentrate on getting our house in order off the pitch before things improve on it. On this topic, I don’t understand why the player was allowed back to training at all. His behavior has been despicable and if he truly did refuse to play, breaking his contractual obligation in the process, Liverpool should be free to dock him wages for his remaining time at the club.

The change in manager has proved to us only, thus far, that the more things change the more they stay the same. Let’s hope this ‘secret but not so secret’ bid comes through and we can attain some certainty in our future.

Our fixture list has not been kind, a win against West Brom and then Birmingham is important if we are to have any confidence enough to go to Old Trafford and then potentially on to the rest of the season.

So, the question falls to ‘Mr Roy’. Everybody expects us to take it to the likes of West Brom, especially at Anfield. The match should be a given, but will Hodgson be able to bring the big away results we need to reach the tables summit? I hope so, and I don’t doubt that he will learn fast.

At the City game the away fans were chanting Rafa’s name, I can’t see this as helpful to Hodgson’s cause (although I did raise a smile in acknowledgment), but it does raise the question, are these the same idiots who were calling for his name last year? Who knows, but Hodgson will need our full support from here on in, not to mention a lot of patience.

Liverpool FC - The building blocks that could lead to a title?

With the season bearing down on us like some starved beast ready to gobble up all our attention, it’s worth a moment of calm in your day to stop and consider the journey we have come on in the last few years.

Within a decade, we’ve rode our luck in 5 major cup final triumphs and seen hope and promise fade away into almost regular disappoint in the form of the Premier League. The statisticians will tell you that besides ‘that season’, otherwise known as last season, we’ve made decent progress, which is true.

That decent progress though, has been sabotaged by some other team who have the audacity to jump ahead of us in the queue for the league title. Greedy teams like Man United and Chelsea have decided that since Arsenal’s last triumph in 2004, nobody else can have the title unless you’re prepared to spend massive amounts. Enter Man City, in an almost carbon copy of what Chelsea did 7 years ago, they’re buying all the top available talent from around the world.

From what I can see, they’ve bought pretty well and effectively. They will obviously be the new kids on the block next season and will have to deal with a lot of pressure, which may or may not be to their undoing. Behind City, United and Chelsea though, we have the slow and steady group; Tottenham, Arsenal and of course Liverpool.

We three teams have been able to spend pretty well, but only if we sell 1st, which means while the three respective managers are busy plate-spinning, teams who aren’t selling are winning the league. It doesn’t take a genius to realise that the biggest spenders with the highest wages win the league every year. That philosophy of course doesn’t count for cup competitions because anything can happen, but for a 38 game season, you basically get what you pay for (competent management permitting).

Liverpool have gradually been creeping up on the big guns for years now with all the subtlety of an Elephant. Constantly talked about and hyped about, we’ve failed to deliver what the press say the fans deserve. A league title. Whether or not we ‘deserve’ one or not is for more debate. One thing that is clear though, the expectation will never change.

Through the 90’s til now, Liverpool fans have felt like there’s a party going on on the top floor but we’re not invited, we’ve tried everything but just can’t get in. We went French, we went Spanish, now we’re going English. Of course, nationality doesn’t mean anything as long as you can speak the language, what counts is the gradual evolution of the team into a squad and then into a club.

Houllier’s team was average at best, and with that team we achieved many average things. A penalty shoot out win against Birmingham City, an improbable turn around against Arsenal and a flukey golden goal against Alaves ensured Houllier went away with his head held high. He did leave us a few gems in the form of Sami Hyyppia and Didi Hamman, so give credit where it’s due.

Off the pitch though, Houllier’s legacy was in the academy rejuvenation. Apparently he was shocked at the standard of facilities Liverpool had (which would be later echoed by Rafa Benitez being shocked at the standard of players at said facilities). The work was completed and Liverpool had their brilliant new academy, but we had no-one to put in it. All those bright young English starlets were yet to be picked up and the FA still hadn’t put together a grass-roots plan to right the wrongs.

The answer it seemed came from abroad. Youth players were snapped up with vigour, a whole host of young French players came to fill the academy and reserves but it seems someone was at fault. Our slightly above average team was now unbalanced as it was supported by a below average reserve squad.

As we know now (silly old us) squads and rotation, yes rotation, are vital to any league triumph. Liverpool’s team simply couldn’t sustain a strong title charge so despite a few enjoyable wins over United, we fell away time after time, reaching a peak of 82 points and a second place to United.

With the fans beginning to lose all hope, the board acted, Houllier was sent packing and a new man was brought in. Enter Rafael Benitez.

When Rafa came he was greeted as a conquering hero, he had just broken up the duopoly of Spain with Valencia, twice in three seasons. The spaniard had also replicated Houllier in winning the UEFA Cup. In this guy, we thought we had the answer.

I won’t dwell on it, because we all know what happened, but Liverpool won the Champions League. This diverted our attention away from another terrible season in which we finished below a progressing Everton side. Nobody blamed Rafa of course, because we all knew it was Houllier’s fault. In that season, Rafa had introduced us to a few Spanish players who divided fan opinion, in Alonso and Garcia he had two great buys, but in Josemi and Nunez, he had handed the ammunition to the future firing squad.

Away from 1st team matters Rafa had set a priority in galvanising the youth set up. With the new facilities, Liverpool rearranged their scouting department and scoured the world, instead of Africa and France, for new talent. Millions were spent on youth players to kick start our academy, with which we’re only now beginning to see bear fruit.

On 1st team matters, Rafa encouraged us on the pitch. In 2005/2006 Liverpool were promising, hope it seems, had returned. Despite the press’ love affair with some Portuguese fella in London, they did afford some attention to Liverpool, if only to compare him to the big spending Chelsea. The endless comparisons and Fergie v Wenger v Mourinho v Benitez stats on Sky Sports News were driving some kopites to despair. Why were Liverpool suddenly branded one of the big boys when we had no right to be so?

This labeling proved a heavy burden in seasons to come as the clamour and hunger for domestic bragging rights grew with what appeared to be every passing month. Rafa continually tried to convince us that we were not ready and 2005 was a huge over achievement, but many wouldn’t listen. In what turned out to be a stroke of genius in 2007, Rafa signed a Spaniard by the name of Fernando Torres. For all his playing down of expectations on the club, Rafa couldn’t curb the wave of expectation that came with Torres’ goal exploits.

At the time of his signing, not many were keen on him since Eto’o and Villa were favoured instead (it would take a brave man to admit that now though). His incredible goal ratio set the bar high for us though and with a new cult hero, the fans started to ask the questions once more, where is this damned title?

Back to the reserves, and Rafa had gradually built up a strong team and decent squad. If you want an inkling into the skill of the scouting department, you should have a look at the price difference from the signings Rafa sold to when he bought them. Profit was the name of the game, which encouraged two new owners to splash out on our old club and promise us that our dreams would come true!

I won’t dwell on the two owners because we’ve probably heard enough, this article is about retrospect on the pitch not politics off it. Anyway, where was I? Ah, yes, money!
No thanks to a shameful display of arrogance at the press conference, George Gillett promised us signings, anyone we wanted. Benitez however, was being told a different thing all together in the boardroom.

A tug o’ war was going on in the boardroom and over the last 3 years of Rafa’s reign, the waters were muddied at Anfield. As soon as the media became a weapon in the struggle for both sides, things started to go badly. The fans became polarised as stories came out against Benitez and the board alike. Many didn’t like Rafa, but they hated the board more.

On the pitch, Liverpool managed to take the premiership by surprise in 2008/2009. Favourites for the league at one point and racking up some famous wins against Madrid and Man United all seemed to be going well. At this point though the wheels were turning and rumours of Rafa leaving started to appear more and more. Despite finishing the season extremely strongly, it wasn’t enough to overhaul United and we spent another summer picking up the pieces.

One piece never got picked up though, and that was Xabi Alonso. His exit caused a right stir and many fans accused Benitez of wasting talent despite the move being instigated by Alonso (although the damage was done the previous year, which was the year Alonso didn’t play so well). Anyway, the following season proved to be a disaster, the great team/decent squad thing was pushed too far by injuries and Liverpool never got any kind of rhythm going. A 7th place and UEFA cup semi-final was a bit too ‘2003’ for most people and so off went Rafa to Milan.

Now, present day and if you haven’t noticed a few similarities in the last 2 regimes, you should start to see them now. Blind optimism gradually eradicates caution when a new manager strolls in. An easy win and decent performance from Joe Cole later and we’re talking ourselves up again. I fear, history may repeat itself.

The only difference I can see now, is that, as one of those ‘slowly but surely’ teams we’ve actually created a very strong foundation to build upon. The last 2 managers have certainly played their part. Houllier laid the foundation and Benitez built the house, all Roy needs to do is decorate the thing and off we go! Right?

Well, one obstacle to our slow yet steady progress would’ve been the American duo at the top. As luck would have it, Liverpool ‘need’ to be taken over, and are just about ready to be so. This, coinciding with a new manager allows a unique opportunity to re-evaluate our position. Whereas once I would’ve preached about caution, it’s now difficult to do that without knowing the intentions of any new owner clearly. I doubt that any takeover can influence transfers in this window, so ignoring the off-field events I will try to focus on the football as it stands.

Liverpool have found themselves at a cross roads it seems. In Roy Hodgson they have someone who can make the fans happy, but who’s record at the very top is sketchy at best. However, with such a strong team and burgeoning youth set up, great strides forward are now possible.

While many of us still nurse the wounds of last season, it is worth bearing in mind that this is still the basic set up that scored 86 points 2 years ago and set the league alight with goals. Chelsea and Man United have chosen to stick with their hand this summer, meaning Liverpool have a chance to make that 5 place gap shrink to none.

In a way, riding behind the pressure of new boys City could help us sneak our way back into contention and dare we dream it, is a title on the horizon? Although, I’m sure I’ve heard all this talk before... ah yes, every season in the last 10 years!

This is why, in finishing on a positive, I think it’s good to remind ourselves of the ups and downs we’ve faced in the last decade and how often things seem to repeat themselves. We need to break out of our mould, this is clear, but we must also remember our history lest we are doomed to repeat it.

By Chris Severs

Liverpool FC get ready to administer preparation H.

A new wave of optimism is sweeping the streets of Liverpool, Nando is staying, and Kenny Huang looks like a spot on fella! Hooray! From what I can tell though, everybody has a sense of reservation about the whole thing. As usual with Liverpool FC, it’s impossible to anticipate what kind of mood you’ll be in by the next week, reds fans, welcome to the world of bipolar.

While some fans have been foaming at the mouth at the thought of Cole becoming the player he always should’ve been and Roy Hodgson playing the way ‘we should be playing’, the majority of fans are treating this whole revolution like someone who’s been burned on one too many 1st dates. A mistrust’y mist hangs around Anfield at the moment and I for one don’t blame anyone for it.

‘The gruesome past’ has been confined to history, despite it being only 3 years ago, and it’s hard to avert your eyes from the bright light from the East which promises so much! The over-riding feeling is one of an anxious wait. We were swept up in the glee of the dollar in 2007 as those brave new custodians swaggered and boasted in front of the camera.

Now, we’re battered, bruised, divided but not quite conquered. Somehow the fans kept their heads (mostly) and we can look to the future. Martin Broughton seems to have delivered on his promise, although I still recall DIC being hours away from a takeover and look how that left us. I’m going to declare myself ‘cautiously optimistic’ about the whole thing, but I’m already thinking of football matters.

If this nice Chinaman swoops in with a week or so to go before the transfer window shuts, should we expect a transfer flurry? I’m not so sure. We have to remember that although Mr Huang won Philanthropist of the Year in 2009, he’s a businessman, not an oil rich Sheik. His main aim, and which I fully understand, will be securing the stadium construction. A new stadium would be key to any potential deal because that is the revenue maker. The lure of sponsorships and corporate boxes is very tempting to a man of astute business intelligence.

As a businessman, I think we’d be in good hands off the pitch. As a footballer, I think there will be no squad overhaul so it isn’t worth fantasizing about. If it wasn’t for that devilish nemesis of ours, ‘the injury’, we’d have a fantastic 1st team, this is still the core of the squad that finished 2nd two years ago, if not with added flair. If Hodgson gets them playing well together, which would require great man-management (which he seems to have in abundance) then we could have an exciting season.

From what I hear, Maynor Figueroa is the next signing, and that would be a decent appointment indeed. Surely all we need is an experienced back-up for Torres, but they’re few and far between, maybe Mr Kuyt can stake a claim?

I have no doubt that we can dispatch any team at Anfield, but when it comes to playing away from home, I hope Roy can give a better showing for Liverpool than he did for Fulham. They had a shameful away record under his tenure, but that all seems to have been forgotten! Who cares anyway?

The season is only around the corner and I can’t wait to see regular football again, it’s not as though I’m ‘expecting’ anything, not a lot of Scousers are, but I’ve missed all the talking points. We may have to have our hard hat on though because there’ll be an even bigger focus on Liverpool over the next month than we’re used to, and that means regular bombardments of horrendous punditry.

Liverpool have been the club on everyones lips for ages, whether as victims of mockery, jealousy or adoration. The slanted London media love to stick the boot in whenever possible, but with their number 1 target Rafa leaving, and the darling Roy in, it will be interesting to see how we’re portrayed. The potential of a new ‘accepted’ owner will of course quieten things down and I also wonder what the future holds for those relying on protests for publicity.

Will the protest groups and SOS retreat to their corners? I hope so. I also hope Chris Purslow will stay out of the limelight. He’s been far too prominent in the last year or so and I don’t like to think of myself as too old-school but when it comes to football, the only thing that should be in the press is the football itself. No comments from some board member, no tip offs, inside scoops, no ex-players spewing bile to gutter-press papers. Just pure and simple football, the way the great man wanted it.

Two weeks to go then and all to play for, on and off the pitch. I expect, should Huang take over, a barrage of information about the guy that will simultaneously worry and relieve, accompanied by a bucket-load of Liverpool-Chinese puns in which I invite comments below to pre-empt the headlines.

It’s no understatement to say the current ownership has been the equivalent of severe hemorrhoids on the backside of the club, so bring out Kenny Huang to take the pain away. Once they leave us (for good), it will be a welcome relief to be able to sit in peace and watch football the way it was intended to be watched; in an over-priced, uncomfortable seat, in the rain, listening to morons all around shouting rubbish at both teams...

Ahh, the beautiful game!

By Chris Severs