Jose Segura's philosophy

Liverpool FC Goals EPL 08 09

The Season Liverpool 1987- 88

Rodolfo Borrell interview

Contrast this interview with one of the 'passionate'!!! Hodge Podge ones. Can't think of one Spanish player we've got or had who didn't see what our club was about, this guy is as clued up as the Spanish players and our ex Spanish manager. Ta very much Rafa for bringing him to our club. Oh and for bringing our new manager also. You've left the club in good hands.


In the latest column from the Academy, U18s coach Rodolfo Borrell discusses Kenny, Messi and the Ballon d'Or...

I have to say I have been completely overwhelmed by the wave of positivity that Kenny Dalglish's return to the Liverpool dugout has created.

There is a real feel-good factor reverberating around every corner of the club at the moment and it says a lot about the presence of the man.

It is no secret that Kenny is a legend for what he has achieved at this club and I have huge respect for him. That's not just down to his outstanding record of success. It is also because of what he has done for me on a personal level since I arrived here.

When I moved to England he was of great support to me and always looked to help with the biggest humility. He was the Academy's ambassador for a season and a half and I am delighted that he has been able to realise his dream of returning as the manager of the first team.

I am really happy that we have a boss who knows about the very fabric of this football club. He won countless trophies and is one of the greatest players in our history - that instantly commands respect from players, staff, supporters and everyone associated with Liverpool FC.

At his Anfield homecoming last Sunday I made sure I got to the ground early. I knew it was going to be a special day and I wanted to savour the atmosphere. I didn't want to miss one second of the reception Kenny was about to enjoy. I understood that it would be a moment I would never forget.

I wasn't disappointed either. I don't think there are a group of supporters in the world that are as passionate about their club as ours are. I have never experienced anything like Anfield. The fans are so supportive even when the team is not playing as well as they would hope.

Every time I attend a home game the fans are unbelievable because their loyal support is unwavering. That is the difference between Liverpool and all of the other clubs around the world.

You could never question the backing of that crowd. The fans are quite simply Liverpool's gold. It is occasions such as the Everton game that make me so proud to be able to say I work for this club.

In Spain you would not have a crowd so eager to assist when things do not run smoothly. That is why I try to explain to the people sitting around me that this support is not normal - it is special.

As for Kenny, well returning to the hot-seat has not changed him one bit.

He has been in charge less than two weeks and I have seen him here on at least three separate occasions.

On Tuesday he even found time to sit beside me on the bench for our U17 friendly with Shrewsbury. That's almost unheard of nowadays but it isn't anything new here. You must remember he's been doing that sort of thing since returning to the club.

Our admiration has not changed now he is the main man. We have always felt this way about him.

I am a young coach looking to improve all of the time and to be able to tap into Kenny's knowledge is invaluable. I have much to learn.

I am always striving to improve and it is massive for me to be able to call on Kenny for advice from time to time. I am very lucky to have had his support from day one, even though he may not have known how good a coach I was. I will always appreciate that.

I was also very pleased to learn that Kenny was taking some of our players for a week of training at Melwood. That is a massive step for them but it is also just as important that we keep their feet on the ground. We must choose the right individuals to go there and I think Kenny has done that.

Suso is a great talent and Conor Coady is the captain of our U18s. They both deserve their chance to train with the likes of Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres.

When they return to us, it will be our job to ensure they understand that they must work just as hard so that one day they go to Melwood permanently.

The rest of the lads had been looking forward to Saturday's mini-derby at Everton, but unfortunately that has been postponed due to their involvement in the Youth Cup. It means we have a spare weekend which is something we do not need after the weather forced us to cancel so many games before Christmas.

With that in mind, we sought out another friendly that we played on Thursday morning.

I wanted the lads to face a real test. They have all enjoyed the good publicity following the Youth Cup wins over Notts County and Crystal Palace, as well as last week's 3-1 victory over Bolton. So, we set up a match against Accrington Stanley. They brought a mix of first-team and reserve players but unfortunately we had to settle for an eight-a-side indoor match because of the fog.

We lost the game 6-3 but I was delighted with the exercise. I think the players learn much more in this type of clash. They were physically strong and it proved to be really difficult for our lads. I wanted them to experience the problems that posed and to understand that they are far from the finished product. I think such a test will be just as beneficial as playing well and winning at Anfield in the Youth Cup. It's all about experiencing the highs and lows of football and controlling your emotions.

Finally, I would like to take a moment to congratulate Lionel Messi on his recent Ballon d'Or success.

Having coached him at a tender age I was obviously very proud to see him win and that he was on the shortlist alongside two other products of Barcelona's youth system.

I also worked with the runner-up, Andres Iniesta. Xavi had progressed by the time I arrived at the Barcelona Academy but the nominations once again highlight the great success they have had with their youth system.

It is not just down to their talent as players. It is also thanks to the hard work carried out by a lot of people who are striving towards the same goal. The result is that these world-class players are now key to the triumphs of their first team.

We are hoping to have a similar success here at Liverpool in the years ahead. Like I said in my last column, it is not about copying Barcelona. If we can nurture young players that go on to have a huge impact on our history then we will be seeing the end result of everybody's hard work.

I now feel we are all working as one at this club and we are seeing some good progress here in Kirkby. Who knows, maybe one day we will see three players who came through Liverpool's ranks up for the Ballon d'Or.

Of course, that is very much a distant dream but I can assure you that we remain 100 per cent committed to ensuring the best talent in the English game emerges here in Kirkby.

Liverpool's struggles are nothing to do with me, insists Rafa Benitez

Source

Rafael Benitez has rejected suggestions that Liverpool's struggles are partly down to his management, insisting: 'It's not my fault, sorry'.

The Reds endured a poor season last year as they finished a lowly seventh under Benitez, before the Spaniard departed and was replaced by Roy Hodgson.

Liverpool's fortunes have plummeted even further since then, however, with Hodgson gone and replaced by Kenny Dalglish with the team currently four points above the relegation zone.

Benitez, who joined Inter Milan in the summer but left before Christmas, told Five Live Sport he acknowledges not all of his moves in the transfer market were successful.

'I agree, so we know we made some mistakes,' he said. 'Sometimes, maybe one player is a good player and after he doesn't settle down, but if you see, we have a net spending of between 10, 12 million. 'So I think that this, for a top side...it's not big money.

'And still I would say to you that we are not happy with some of the signings but we are really pleased with the majority of them.

'In the team now, Pepe Reina, Glen Johnson, Martin Skrtel, Daniel Agger, Fabio Aurelio, Lucas Leiva, Fernando Torres, Maxi Rodriquez, Dirk Kuyt, so it's a massive, massive team.

'I am not taking all the credit, I think the team is good, the problem may be the mentality. So I think Kenny can change these things and will hopefully be good for the team.

'But the other thing is that Christian Purslow (former managing director) and Hodgson, they signed seven players.

'Seven players is enough to change a squad, so you can take responsibility for signings in the past but seven players can change a squad. So you cannot continue with this story about the legacy.

'It's not my fault, sorry.'

Benitez believes Dalglish can turn around the club's fortunes.

'They will be much better with Kenny because he knows the club, knows the fans and what they want,' he said. 'He can talk with the players and they will feel and understand what it means to be Liverpool football players.

'I feel that Kenny has been a very good appointment and hopefully will be successful.'

Eric C*NT Cantona

Is Defense The Greater Crisis That Liverpool Needs To Deal With?

Source

By

Abhijit Raja

(Correspondent) on January 17, 2011

Liverpool have been on a downward slide for two years now after the near-league victory two years back.

The fingers were pointed at the lack of creativity in the midfield following the departure of Alonso. In all fairness, Liverpool did have an exceptional season in 2008-09 when they scored 77 goals.

Last season Liverpool scored 61 goals which was blamed for Liverpool's dismal showing in the league. Lets look at the figures from the previous years and the number of goals scored by Liverpool and compare it with the league standing in that year:

2007-08 : 67 Goals (3rd)

2006-07 : 57 Goals (3rd)

2005-06 : 57 Goals (3rd)

So, 61 Goals in a season does not seem to be too bad comparing it with the three seasons prior to 2008-09 when each year the team managed to finish 3rd in the league. This year Liverpool have scored 27 in 22, owing mainly to the loss in form of Torres and the defensive tactics used by Roy for a major part of the season.

So, where did it all go wrong. Lets compare the corresponding figures for goals conceded and clean sheets. (GC = Goals Conceded , CS = Clean Sheets)

2009-10 : 35 GC - 17 CS

Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

2008-09 : 27 GC - 20 CS

2007-08 : 28 GC - 18 CS

2006-07 : 27 GC - 20 CS

2005-06 : 25 GC - 22 CS

One can clearly see the difference in the goals conceded in the last season, which was somewhat greater than the previous seasons. This year, the defense seems to be in absolute turmoil with the team already conceding 31 goals in 22 games, which is more than the season totals in the previous five season barring the last one. Pepe also has managed only 6 clean sheets to date in 22 games and seems to be headed nowhere near the 15+ clean sheets he has always been able to manage since moving to Anfield.

Agreed, that goal-scoring has been a problem this year, but the bigger concern, going by the statistics seems to be the defense.

So, what changed in the last two years in the defense? Sami Hyypia was released from his contract, and Liverpool lost a great deal of experience as a result. Agreed that younger players were required in defense, but Liverpool could have done more to have that bit of extra experience in the dressing room, especially in the unforeseeable absence of Carragher due to injury this season.

Furthermore, Glen Johnson was bought from Portsmouth for a mammoth 17 million. He may be a England international, but he always has been better going forward than as a defender. His shortcomings in the defensive department has been exposed more than once in the last two years.

Which Position in the defense needs the most urgent reinforcement

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Daniel Agger, who is still highly rated as a center-back, has spent more time dealing with injuries than the opposition forwards and hence has not been able to make the impact that the team expected him to make.

Jamie Carragher, in spite of his age has been a leader in the defensive unit and was crucial in marshaling the defense. His injury this season has left the Martin Skrtel as the leader of the defense at center-back. Skrtel seems to be too ill-equipped as a defender against top forwards and the number of glaring mistakes he has made this season are unpardonable.

Kyrgiakos, to be fair to him was only a backup center-back and was called upon this season only due to the injuries to Agger and Carragher. He is good in the air but lacks the technique against top quality attacking units.

Liverpool had somehow managed with Aurelio and Insua at LB over the last two years following the departure of Riise but this year with Konchesky coming in and Aurelio still battling his injuries, the problem has been exploited by most teams.

Martin Kelly seems to be the only bright spot in an otherwise dismal picture for the Liverpool defensive unit. The form he has shown in the matches that he has played, has endeared this young lad to the Liverpool faithfuls already.

The glaring difference this year seems to be the departure of Javier Mascherano. He was the wall that often stood between the opposition midfield and the Liverpool defense. He was never shy of making those hard tackles and taking cautions from the referee for the team. Lucas, has tried to fill those boots for the team this season and has managed to put up some decent performances, but has been far too inconsistent to provide the kind of impact that Mascherano was able to make.

Jamie McDonald/Getty Images

Liverpool have bought a young CB in Wilson from the Rangers but seems to be some years away from being a starter at Anfield.

So, Liverpool seems so in need of urgent enforcements in the defense if they want to get back on track . They need at-least two players, namely a LB and a CB to reinforce the squad. There have also been talks to bring in Van Bommel to fill up the void in the Defensive Midfielder department.

All the transfer talk or gossip has been focussed far too much on the attacking reinforcements. Hope that the owners and Kenny don't neglect the crisis in the defensive department as well, which seems to be a bigger problem and in more urgent need of new signings.

The position that the new owners and King Kenny find themselves in is not an enviable one. But all the Liverpool fans hope that they are well-equipped to help the great club to weather the storm and make the right decisions for the club.

Andre Villas-Boas interview

Living the dream, the man who stood up to Mourinho

The Times
Matt Hughes

Once a protégé of the Special One, Porto’s successful coach is now being eyed by the likes of Liverpool, Matt Hughes says

The remarkable story of André Villas-Boas could have been taken from The Boy’s Own Paper or the myriad similar publications aimed at daydreaming youngsters in the more innocent days of the previous century, which would have been appropriate because he seems to possess an English fairy godmother. Or two, to be precise.

Without the friendship between Margaret Kendall, his English grandmother who moved to Portugal to start a wine business, and the late Sir Bobby Robson, Villas-Boas may have been watching tonight’s match between Beira-Mar and Porto from the press box rather than the visiting team’s dugout. With respect to many friends and colleagues in the Fourth Estate, that would have been a waste.

The most extraordinary aspect of Villas-Boas’s journey, however, is not its unusual origins, but the distance he could have left to travel. At the age of 33, in his first full season in coaching, he possesses the best record in Europe, superior during this campaign to those of Sir Alex Ferguson, Pep Guardiola and his other mentor, José Mourinho, one of the many reasons they are no longer close. The idea of future battles between master and apprentice appears to have been too much for Mourinho to contemplate.

Under the leadership of their rookie coach, who was appointed after only 23 matches in charge of Académica last season, Porto were the last team to be beaten anywhere in Europe this season, their solitary defeat at the start of this month coming in the League Cup. As a result they are eight points clear at the top of the table, having won 14 of their 16 matches, a huge improvement from last season, when they trailed in third behind Benfica and Sporting.

Villas-Boas was a curiosity among Mourinho’s backroom staff when he joined Chelsea’s twilight zone of opposition scouting in 2004, where his youth and English links would have given him an interesting tale to tell had he been allowed to speak, but he has since developed into a leading figure in his own right. Liverpool are likely to consider an approach if Kenny Dalglish does not stay on as manager beyond the summer, while several Italian clubs are also monitoring his progress. Having been given the job of his dreams only recently, Villas-Boas is in no hurry to leave Porto, but he will hanker after new challenges before too long, particularly a return to England.

“My expectations are to have a career I can be proud of,” he said when we met in Oporto yesterday. “I want to win this championship, I want to win more competitive leagues, but I also want to explore different leagues. I like other types of social and cultural behaviour, and am looking for that kind of stimulus.

“The Premier League is one of the most exciting leagues in the world. It’s not new for me what the Premier League means as I was there before. To get a job in the Premier League, you have to show you have quality, and I feel I still have to learn and evolve to get that kind of job. I want to work in other leagues, but this is a position I always wanted in my life and am not ready to give it away easily. I know I’m lucky that I got my dream job so quickly.”

That dream was born after a meeting with Robson, who invited him to attend Porto’s training sessions and even arranged for him to attend coaching courses at Lilleshall while under-age, but really developed after Mourinho joined the club in 2002 and gave him responsibility for compiling scouting reports on the opposition. There is a slight sadness in the air as he discusses the cooling of their relationship, which he is unwilling to address in detail, although that is offset by the sense of liberation at being allowed to be his own man.

“I’m associated with José, naturally, because I worked with him, but it’s not something I promote,” Villas-Boas said. “We have different personalities and different views towards the game. I respect José, but don’t want to be a Mourinho clone. I want to be able to work freely, without restraint, without worrying what he thinks.”

The shadow of Mourinho will hang over him until he starts to win silverware of his own, despite his insistence that their similarities are superficial. Although they rarely speak after Mourinho took umbrage at his decision to leave Inter Milan and was further annoyed by his return to Porto, Villas-Boas is full of praise for a man he believes will be remembered as the best coach of all time.

“There’s curiosity in two careers that look the same, but are not,” he said. “José is a PE teacher. I was unable to go as far in my studies as him as I took another route. To go back to university would have taken time and I was excited by the stimulus of an early start.

“We both coached young guys, but evolved differently. José went into professional football in a position on the pitch, whereas I observed the game. It’s very easy to compare things, but if you look at our personalities and what we have achieved, it’s very different. I don’t see myself reaching that level of success.

“José is a person who extracts the best from you. He expects you to be the best at what you do, which keeps you on your toes. You have to constantly perform for him so he can perform and bring success. I was happy to be part of such a technical set-up.”

Villas-Boas was always going to follow his own path, with sources at Chelsea recalling that the redheaded twentysomething was the only member of Mourinho’s coterie prepared to challenge him in public. Whereas the rest of his coaching staff would leap up from the dinner table at the first sign of restlessness from the boss, Villas-Boas would often stay and linger over his coffee, an early — if trivial — sign of defiance.

His footballing philosophy is also different, one closer to Arsène Wenger’s view of the game as a grand spectacle rather than Mourinho’s grim, strategic battle. This more relaxed approach has been welcomed by Porto’s young players, who had little time for the authoritarian style of his predecessor, the 64-year-old Jesualdo Ferreira.

“I love creativity in my players and the unpredictable part of the game,” Villas-Boas said. “I believe that for the players to express themselves to their full potential, they must be able to take choices during the game. I’m not a dictator. I give them freedom of choice, bearing in mind the foundations of our organisation. I believe that with freedom the players can achieve their potential and make better decisions.”

This attitude chimes with Robson’s oft-expressed belief that football is a simple game, while the former England manager would also have been heartened by the progress of an unknown career coach with no playing history in this celebrity-obsessed era.

“Bobby gave me the stimulus to start my career,” Villas-Boas said. “I was planning to go into sports journalism, but had the opportunity to confront him about my club, how they were doing and the way the team played. Only an open-minded person like Bobby would accept such arrogance from a young kid.

“This is the job I always wanted to have. It’s my own club, my own town and the club I always defended as a boy. It will always be a gamble for someone as young as myself, but I was sure I’d be able to give the club success. I think there’s a new respect for coaching. As José used to say, you don’t have to be a piano to be a good pianist. People can rise in the game via various different routes.”

Whatever his future holds, Villas-Boas has already demonstrated that some boys’ dreams do come true.

Life and times

• Born in Oporto on October 17, 1977

As a 16-year-old met Bobby Robson, who arranged for him to watch Porto training sessions and take his FA coaching badge at Lilleshall

Began coaching Porto’s youth teams at 17 before spending a year as director of football of the British Virgin Islands, at 21

Appointed head of the opposition observation department at Porto in 2002 by José Mourinho, whom he followed to Chelsea and Inter Milan

Left Inter in 2009 to take his first coaching job in Portugal at Académica, averting relegation

Appointed coach of Porto, where he has set a club record of 36 matches unbeaten this season

Background

Both men are from wealthy families, with André Villas-Boas boasting a count and a baron among his relatives, although he was not born into footballing aristocracy like José Mourinho, whose father was a Portugal goalkeeper. Villas-Boas’s chief advantage in life has been his intelligence and industry, as well as having the sheer nerve to approach Bobby Robson at such a young age.

Image

If not a natural pin-up like Mourinho, the younger model possesses a similar sense of style, usually wearing dark suits and white shirts, with a hint of stubble adding gravitas to his youthful complexion. At 33, he is 14 years younger, but the sensible side-parting in his auburn hair is reminiscent of Robert Redford, in contrast to Mourinho’s silver fox likeness to George Clooney.

Temperament

As with many redheads, Villas-Boas possesses a fiery temperament, with a Mourinho-esque disdain for authority. Frank Rijkaard tried to punch him after one of Chelsea’s volatile clashes with Barcelona and it was Villas-Boas’s testimony that led to the infamous Anders Frisk affair at the Nou Camp six years ago. He has been outspoken in his criticism of Benfica in Portugal this season, although his language is less colourful than Mourinho’s.

Playing style

Villas-Boas has stayed faithful to the 4-3-3 formation that has brought Mourinho success in four countries, but places more emphasis on attacking football. Villas-Boas shares Arsène Wenger’s view of football as entertainment, with his players given freedom to express themselves and Porto’s wingers encouraged to play farther up the pitch in support of a central striker.

Trophies

Given that Villas-Boas is in his first full season of coaching, he cannot hope to compete with Mourinho’s extraordinary haul of two Champions League titles, a brace of domestic championships in Portugal, England and Italy as well as several cup triumphs, but he has not started badly. He has broken one of Mourinho’s records, helping Porto to set a club record of 36 matches without defeat. Silverware should follow.

Kenny Dalglish hails Rafa Benitez for reviving Liverpool FC youth set-up

Source

by Richard Buxton. Published Thu 20 Jan 2011 13:36

Kenny Dalglish today paid tribute to Rafael Benitez for his part in reviving Liverpool's youth academy.

Conor Coady and Suso, two mainstays of the current under-17 squad, were being familiarised with Melwood, the club's training ground, this week as part of plans to blood more youngsters, from the previously ailing centre of excellence in Kirkby, into the senior ranks in the long-term

Kirkby underwent a significant transformation in the summer of 2009 when Benitez, then manager of the Reds, enlisted the services of Rodolfo Borrell and Pep Segura - key figures in Barcelona's La Masia academy set-up.

In addition to recruiting his compatriots, the Spaniard also brought one-time chief scout Frank McParland back to his former club to oversee the progression of Liverpool's rising stars.

And Dalglish has hailed Benitez, who left the club acrimoniously last summer, for his efforts in restoring the Anfield production line following more than a decade of decline.

He said: "I wouldn't go and say there are any kids who played in the Youth Cup against Crystal Palace are going to be first team [yet] but the progress at the Academy in the last year and a half has been absolutely fantastic.

"That's great credit to Rafa who brought in Pep Segura, Rodolfo Borrell and Frank McParland. He reorganised the whole Academy and you can see the benefit in the kids now. It's fantastic to see.

"The reserve team's average age has been drastically reduced. Whether we get them through or not, we'd never put that pressure on them, but we're clearly encouraged by the work that's being done there and it's a work in progress."

Roy vs Rafa: Endgame

Source

Following on from his comparisons between last season and this, Andrew Beasley looks at the final 20 league games of Rafa Benítez and Roy Hodgson. A lot was made of the fact that Liverpool weren’t very good in 2010 before the change took place, so this piece examines that belief.

As we all know, Rafael Benitez was sacked as Liverpool manager having finished 7th in the league, which was deemed unacceptable.

The highest position Liverpool managed in the league at any point under Roy Hodgson was 8th, with an average placing of 12.35. He has now also been sacked, after 20 league games.

After writing articles earlier in the season comparing Roy’s early efforts against Rafa’s in 2009 (the same fixtures) and 2004 (so both were judged as the new manager), I thought it would be interesting to compare some statistics from their final 20 league games. Obviously in Roy’s case, these were his first (and only) 20 too.

Inevitably in a comparison of this nature, there are differences between the circumstances that the two managers faced which could be used to defend or attack them. For example, Benitez had bought all of the players (aside from the home grown lads) in his squad himself, whereas Hodgson had not.

On the other hand, the ownership issue was resolved during Roy’s tenure, so he should have had a ‘bounce’ from both that and his ‘fresh start’ status as the new manager; Rafa’s position was rapidly becoming untenable due to multiple issues within the club and his management influence had probably grown inevitably stale after nearly six seasons in charge.

Needless to say the fixtures weren’t identical, but both managers played ten home and ten away games, and some of the traditionally big fixtures (Manchester United away and Chelsea at home, as well as matches with Arsenal and Everton).

Understandably, there has been a lot of discussion here and elsewhere about the change in tactics between Rafa’s favoured 4-2-3-1 and Roy’s 4-4-2. More specifically, the shift in emphasis between pressing high up the pitch and defending deeper. But do the possession stats illustrate this at all?

Whichever way you look at it, Benitez’s team had more of the ball than Hodgson’s, and the difference in the two manager’s tactical approaches must surely be the primary reason for this.

In the twenty matches I looked at, Rafa’s Liverpool only had less of the possession in two games. As you’d probably guess, these were the games against Manchester United and Chelsea (a strange game with nothing really left to play for).

By comparison Roy’s team had less of the ball in nine of his twenty matches, and as you might assume, seven of these games were away from home. Ceding possession whilst down to ten men and leading for half a match against Arsenal might be viewed as acceptable, but to have significantly less of the ball against teams such as Wigan (42%-58%), and Stoke (a mind-boggling 36%-64%) is surely not.

Of course, possession alone does not win games. After all, Liverpool had more of the ball in the Merseyside derby this season, yet it made little difference as they lost tamely by two goals to nil. That said, by having more of the ball, it seems safe to assume that you’d be more likely to score and less likely to concede:

I must admit I was slightly surprised to see that the number of goals scored was fairly similar for the two managers, though clearly Rafa’s team was streets ahead defensively. Obviously these numbers have an impact on the figures regarding scoring and conceding first:

Whilst little of any major interest can be gleaned from these figures, it’s worth taking a closer look at the goals for and against by the same criteria (e.g. matches where they scored or conceded first):

Benitez’s team scored (on average) just over two goals a game when they scored first, which goes a long way to explaining why they won on ten of the thirteen occasions that this happened. Hodgson’s side conceded an average of over two goals whenever they conceded first, and this clearly contributed to the eight defeats from nine matches (the recent Bolton game stopped a complete whitewash of nine defeats on this front). A clear shift in defensive and offensive success had occurred, and if nothing else, this proves just how vital the first goal in the majority of matches is.

In view of this, who defended their leads the best, or clawed back any points from being behind?

Whilst Roy did recover four points from losing positions to Rafa’s zero, he did have eleven occasions (the nine where we conceded first, plus Sunderland at home and Tottenham away) to attempt and save the game to Rafa’s three, so it isn’t too much to be proud of. For the record, Rafa’s team led in thirteen matches to Roy’s eleven.

It wouldn’t be an article of mine without taking a look at the substitution info:

There isn’t necessarily a better or worse time to make a substitution, but the real issue here is one of media consistency. Rafa made more changes and made them earlier on average, yet you never hear accusations of Roy ‘managing by numbers’ or suchlike. I had to smile when I saw that Rafa’s average time for his first tactical substitution across these twenty games was sixty-five minutes, the exact time that Andy Gray et al accuse him of working to. So please don’t tell anyone at Sky what I’ve found!

As I have mentioned previously in match threads on this site, if anything, Roy seems to be guiltier of being limited with the scope of his substitutions. For four games in a row this season (from Blackpool to Bolton) the first substitute brought on was David N’Gog every time, and for three games more recently (West Ham, Spurs and Aston Villa) the first sub was Fabio Aurelio on 73, 74 and 76 minutes respectively. These may be coincidences, but these little statistics suggest to me that Roy had little in the way of a Plan B, which is what many of us suspected all along.

The basic match facts illustrate the two men’s differences as simply as anything can, and are, after all, the ultimate barometers of football success:

Extrapolated over a whole season, Roy would have earned 47.5 points and Rafa 68.4. If you use last season’s final table as a guide, Hodgson’s team would have finished 11^th (so slightly ahead of his average placing so far this season) and Benitez’s side would have been 5^th. The real point of interest here is that Fulham finished last season with 46 points and only one away win – sound familiar?

I have a multitude of other statistics I could throw at you, but they all basically illustrate the same point: even during arguably his worst period at the club, Rafa was a more effective manager at Liverpool than Roy, and I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that. At the end of the season, I intend to do a similar comparison between Roy and Kenny’s halves of the campaign.

Why Kenny’s So Right, and Roy Was So Wrong

Source

Roy Hodgson is a good manager. His relative success at certain clubs and his durability over 35 years proves that. However, he was never the right man for Liverpool Football Club.

If that seemed obvious to many of the club’s followers in the summer, it became unavoidable with his comments and tactics, both of which smacked of low expectations and mid-table mediocrity. If he remains a good manager, he proved that he is not a particularly adaptable one. And therefore, allied to his low win percentage in his three biggest jobs and lack of trophies at any of them, he’s not a great manager. Far from it, in fact.

This is a man who said in 2002 that he doesn’t believe in innovation (although perhaps he meant change for change’s sake), and who has proudly stuck to roughly the same methods for 35 years. Those methods – including a very British 4-4-2 formation – work well at clubs full of journeymen who need to be organised into a fighting unit and snatch the occasional victory, but as shown at Blackburn and Liverpool (and also Inter Milan), rather than see his results prosper, he seems to win the exact same percentage of games even when he steps up a level or two.

Maybe he would have adapted with time, but it’s unlikely. It’s baffling how someone with so much experience could make so many ‘rookie errors’ in every area of his performance; and at 63, and not a popular appointment to start with, how much time did he have? He managed to insult the fans, popular former managers and alienate supporters (with his words and his football) to the point where 10,000 empty seats for a New Year’s Day fixture told its own story.

Scott Murray sums up Hodgson beautifully in The Guardian, and Dion Fanning once again hits the nail squarely on the head here. It almost doesn’t need me to add to either of those pieces, but as ever, there are some small details to focus on.

Upon his appointment, Hodgson claimed that he’d get more than his predecessor out of this group of players. Indeed, that was his line in the job interview. Unfortunately, those interviewing him – as non-football men – didn’t know what they were doing.

Hodgson immediately offloaded some skilful ball-players and brought in some mediocre plodders and has-beens. He left out talented individuals like Agger (at the start of the season when everyone was fit) and played his only good signing on the right of midfield, where he performed like a fish out of water. Even after ending Meireles’ torrid time out there, and seeing the Portuguese find his feet – and the team its balance – in the centre, he was inexplicably stuck out there again at home to Wolves, when the last vestiges of hope died in a quite dire display. With the players at his disposal (including five he brought in), he made a right mess.

In returning to the dugout, Kenny Dalglish doesn’t have to prove himself a tactical master; these things are more vital when all is going well, and you need to eke out something extra. Right now, so long as he is sufficiently positive in his approach, and surrounded by the right lieutenants, the key is lifting a black cloud.

Hodgson was our Eyjafjallajökull, smothering us and stopping us getting off the ground.

Reality, Not Romanticism

While it may seem to fans of other clubs that we are living in the past, this is not about romanticism. It’s about uniting the club behind one man. It’s about finding a manager that the players – for 18 months a split group – will get behind.

Last season, Benítez lost the support of some key personnel from as early as the first week of the campaign, while Hodgson never really had the support of others – and almost certainly lost the faith of some of those who were open minded until they encountered his methods. But it’s hard to see anyone objecting to Dalglish.

It’s also about exciting the Kop to produce its full motivational power, rather than finding increasing gaps around the stadium where fans (who had always turned up, even when losing) started to refuse to spend their time and money watching Liverpool play without style or ambition. You can excuse bad games and defeats – you get them in any season – but it was uninspiring, overly cautious stuff from the moment Hodgson arrived.

Let’s not feel sorry for the departed boss. He dug himself into a hole too deep to get out of. Nothing was going to work, because all faith had been lost.

It got to the point where even acknowledging and amending the error of his ways was not going to win over a public who’d seen and heard too much. Even Phil Thompson admitted that he’d not seen the team play particularly well at all this season. Last season was horribly inconsistent, and that ‘did’ for Rafa Benítez, but at least Liverpool won some games with style and something to spare, including victories against Everton and Manchester United. The team were scoring a lot more goals than now, even though it was generally a poor season. That tells you how bad this has been.

As expected, managers are queuing up to say what a travesty the removal of Roy is, with Gérard Houllier saying that it’s now “brutal” and that managers are in the firing line after “losing a couple of games”. The trouble is, in the league, Hodgson lost nine and won only seven, as well as overseeing the worst domestic cup defeat since before Shankly’s time.

Hodgson was appointed under previous owners, by a since-deposed chief executive who began to think himself a football guru. Hodgson made the mistake of trusting that chief executive with regard to player assessments, and between them they messed up the summer’s transfer business. Hodgson seemed to side with Purslow rather than the fans.

Some of the criticism of Hodgson was daft, such as the outrage when he smiled when passing Alex Ferguson on his way to a seat at the JJB last weekend. And some of it got far too personal, as did the attacks on the owners from a few lunatics for not yet having sacked him. Ludicrous stuff.

But when Hodgson should have been putting Liverpool FC before his friendship with Ferguson back in the autumn – when Torres was first called a cheat by the United manager, and then linked with a move to United – he failed to do so. Sometimes diplomacy ends up upsetting someone regardless, because sitting on the fence can imply acceptance of a situation that needs to be spoken out against. (If you refuse to say that your wife is pretty when someone asks, you’ve just insulted her.)

Arsene Wenger said that Hodgson is a ‘great manager’, but how many Arsenal fans would have wanted him to replace the Frenchman this summer if the Gunners had performed badly last season? Seriously, can anyone see that as a sensible approach?

And before people get too snotty and say Arsenal were/are light years ahead of Liverpool, remember that Benítez won a trophy more recently than Wenger, finished in the top two far more recently, reached a Champions League Final more recently, and did so at a club far less stable behind the scenes.

And that’s coming from a huge fan of Wenger, too … Which is precisely the reason why I couldn’t see Arsenal ever appointing someone like Hodgson, or wanting to change from their sensible continental approach ‘for the sake of it’. The knee-jerking at Liverpool was in the summer, in terms of the direction of the club, rather than from the fans or NESV. The knee-jerking was in thinking that because things had gone stale under Benítez, everything about him (or Spanish football) was wrong. Instead of choosing Manuel Pellegrini, the board consciously and deliberately went ‘English’. English manager, more English players. I said in the summer that this was a daft way to go about things.

A lot of mocking supporters of rival clubs seem to think that Liverpool have become the new Newcastle by appointing Kenny Dalglish, after the enmity shown towards Roy Hodgson from the Kop.

The problem was, Liverpool became the new Newcastle in the summer, by doing the classic ‘baby out with the bath water’ 180º u-turn. Undoing that was never going to be straightforward. Hodgson’s position became untenable – the atmosphere surrounding the club was getting unbearable – and in order to buy some time ahead of a permanent summer appointment, there needed to be the best possible kind of release of the building pressure.

Dalglish oversaw arguably the finest football Liverpool (or any other British team) have ever produced, winning the title three times in his five and a half years; and then, by spending money in line with (but not in excess of) Manchester United – see Pay As You Play for evidence – took the title to Blackburn in 1995. It was a long time ago, but it involved some absolutely fantastic signings, and a winning mentality. Even his short-lived time at Newcastle left them with Didi Hamann (sold for a big profit to Liverpool, whom he served with distinction), Shay Given, Gary Speed and Nolberto Solano. (Jon Dahl Tomasson, just a kid at the time, went on to prove what a great player he is over the next decade; it was just too early for him.)

Speaking on LFC TV, The Times’ Tony Barrett mentioned how Fernando Torres was nervous to simply kick a ball in the street with Kenny (following some promotional interviews the legends were doing), such is the awe in which he is held. If Kenny has the right people around him, then that respect, allied to the deep understanding of the game he possesses, can overcome any possibly issues of rustiness.

Modern Thinking

Two years spent at the Academy working with the ex-Barcelona FC gurus Borrell and Segura – where the tactics are far more modern than any Hodgson was implementing – will have brought Dalglish up to date, as will his conversations with Rafa Benítez, of whom Dalglish was a fan.

Indeed, anyone who has been following the youth team since Rafa overhauled the Academy in 2009 will know how much talent there is below the first team squad, and how progressive the approach is. On Saturday, the Reds tore apart a talented Crystal Palace side (top of their Southern league group, I believe, and victors over Arsenal 3-0) in the most one-sided game I’ve seen all season. It ended 3-1 to the Reds, but could have been a cricket score.

It was a beautiful exhibition of football – 4-2-3-1, passing and movement not so different from that of Barcelona – which revolved around the Spaniard wunderkind Suso (the side’s Messi), drifting in from wide areas. (Not saying Suso – who, thanks to Benítez chose Liverpool over Real Madrid – is, or ever will be, as good as Messi, just that, at this level, against boys up to 18 months older, he was on a different planet. Also, see this video clip from last year when, aged just 16, he was showing his talent against senior sides in pre-season friendlies.)

While Hodgson was happy to play some kids in his ‘B’ team, he rarely even picked the likes of Kelly and Pacheco for the bench in the Premier League, even though they are a year older than when they made their debuts last season. Dalglish is very much in touch with the up-and-coming talent on the books, and can link each section of the club. The comparisons with Keegan’s return at Newcastle are especially daft because while Keegan – an inferior manager – was noted for not even following football during his time out of the game, Dalglish has been following it closely.

And while Liverpool lost to Manchester United in Dalglish’s return, it was courtesy of a Howard Webb gift (Agger stuck out a leg but quickly withdrew it) and a moment of madness from Gerrard that left the Reds with ten men. (However committed Gerrard is in big games, he has to learn to stop diving in like that.)

The pleasing thing was that, as I’d expected, Dalglish set up in a modern 4-2-3-1, as opposed to Hodgson’s rigid 4-4-2. The Reds pressed higher up the pitch, even with just ten men, and showed greater movement. The side looked balanced, and everyone was looking to pass the ball. Agger strode confidently out from the back, and although Reina was the busier keeper, Liverpool came out of the game with their pride intact.

So, if Dalglish is a case of ‘going back to the past’, then it was mostly reminiscent of the Liverpool of 2008/09 that won 25 of its 38 league games and lost only two (as opposed to Hodgson’s antiquated, inhibited approach).

Above all else, Dalglish knows what Liverpool fans expect to see. When the Reds were 2-0 down at Manchester City earlier in the season, Hodgson didn’t make a change until the 80th minute, and in other games he left his substitutions very late (because he has never really had a Plan B). At Old Trafford, Kenny made two positive substitutions on 60 minutes.

Will it last beyond the summer? Quite possibly not. But if it goes better than expected, and the right people are brought in around him (Steve Clarke?) – as well as getting on well with Damien Comolli – then the Reds could do worse. After all, and much to our great pain, we’ve just spent the past six months witnessing just that.