FK Rabotnicki v Liverpool: Roy Hodgson in dismay as rebuilding work hits a snag
After just 28 days, Roy Hodgson’s honeymoon at Liverpool seems to be over.
Despite a period of positivity at Anfield – securing the arrival of Joe Cole, the faith of Steven Gerrard and, apparently, Fernando Torres – the storm clouds returned on Wednesday.
When he should have been eagerly anticipating his first competitive game in the biggest job of his career, he had the air of a man on his way to the gallows.
When he might have chosen to bask in the afterglow of those victories in the early skirmishes of his Anfield tenure, he seemed irascible. When he had previously been open and honest, he was cagey, even confrontational.
Perhaps it was naive to believe that Hodgson’s arrival would do any more than provide temporary relief from the troubles that have ailed Liverpool for so long.
Certainly, the complaints which seemed to weigh so heavily on the 62 year-old’s shoulders will be eerily familiar to any observer of the antics at Anfield over the past few seasons.
It is, in Hodgson’s defence, not hard to understand his anxiety. Liverpool will start their season under-resourced and underprepared, the manager believes. Many of their senior players are absent.
Their ability to ready themselves for Thursday night's Europa League third qualifying round tie against FK Rabotnicki in Macedonia has been undermined by the lack of time between the draw, made last week, and the match itself.
Surprising as it is to hear a Liverpool manager play down his side’s chances against a team of such limited reputation, Hodgson admits he is “far from certain†his ersatz team can emerge unscathed from what should, on paper, be a mismatch.
That he is unimpressed at the prospect of facing unknown opponents in an unfinished stadium with an unfinished team is evident.
“I could not have envisaged at the start of my time at Liverpool a more difficult situation than the one I find myself in,†he said. “It would have been nice if the game was played later and we could field what we think is our strongest team, but we cannot. It would have been complete folly to try to play 90 minutes of football in an important competition in difficult conditions with players who have been training for just four days.
“In World Cup years it is a tremendous burden on the senior teams from countries like England, Spain, Italy and Germany to have to play the third qualifying round matches on July 29. Everybody, most of all Uefa, knows you cannot bring people off the beach, give them three days training and throw them into a first-class game. We have had no choice but to do that.
“We know the value of this competition and with 13 players returning from the World Cup and most not here, this is not the Liverpool team you will see most of the season. We have learned as much about Rabotnicki as we have been able to learn in a week, and we will be trying to win, but I am far from confident that will be the case.â€
Such concerns, though, do not quite explain the sea-change in Hodgson’s mood. Questions over his preferred formation and how heavily the need to infuse Liverpool’s squad with English players to meet new Premier League regulations were affecting his thinking were given short shrift.
He refused to discuss the £2.5 million bid Liverpool have had accepted by Aston Villa for full-back Luke Young or the future of Maxi Rodriguez, the Argentina international who impressed in his first six months at Anfield but has, reportedly, been informed he would be allowed to leave should a suitable offer be received.
Perhaps a clue as to the root cause of his mounting frustration lay in his offhand reaction to an inquiry about what, if any, discussions had been held with Liverpool’s hierarchy over the place the Europa League held in the club’s list of priorities. “All we ever seem to do at Liverpool is have discussions,†he said. “So I am pretty sure those discussions have taken place.â€
So much for the brave new world supposedly heralded by Hodgson’s arrival. Those words could have been taken from Rafael BenÃtez’s book of cryptic comments made during his six years at the club.
All talk, no action. Maybe Hodgson has simply needed a few weeks to realise that, at Anfield, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/liverpool/7915372/FK-Rabotnicki-v-Liverpool-Roy-Hodgson-in-dismay-as-rebuilding-work-hits-a-snag.html
I can understand Roy's frustration, do the board talk more than act?
After just 28 days, Roy Hodgson’s honeymoon at Liverpool seems to be over.
Despite a period of positivity at Anfield – securing the arrival of Joe Cole, the faith of Steven Gerrard and, apparently, Fernando Torres – the storm clouds returned on Wednesday.
When he should have been eagerly anticipating his first competitive game in the biggest job of his career, he had the air of a man on his way to the gallows.
When he might have chosen to bask in the afterglow of those victories in the early skirmishes of his Anfield tenure, he seemed irascible. When he had previously been open and honest, he was cagey, even confrontational.
Perhaps it was naive to believe that Hodgson’s arrival would do any more than provide temporary relief from the troubles that have ailed Liverpool for so long.
Certainly, the complaints which seemed to weigh so heavily on the 62 year-old’s shoulders will be eerily familiar to any observer of the antics at Anfield over the past few seasons.
It is, in Hodgson’s defence, not hard to understand his anxiety. Liverpool will start their season under-resourced and underprepared, the manager believes. Many of their senior players are absent.
Their ability to ready themselves for Thursday night's Europa League third qualifying round tie against FK Rabotnicki in Macedonia has been undermined by the lack of time between the draw, made last week, and the match itself.
Surprising as it is to hear a Liverpool manager play down his side’s chances against a team of such limited reputation, Hodgson admits he is “far from certain†his ersatz team can emerge unscathed from what should, on paper, be a mismatch.
That he is unimpressed at the prospect of facing unknown opponents in an unfinished stadium with an unfinished team is evident.
“I could not have envisaged at the start of my time at Liverpool a more difficult situation than the one I find myself in,†he said. “It would have been nice if the game was played later and we could field what we think is our strongest team, but we cannot. It would have been complete folly to try to play 90 minutes of football in an important competition in difficult conditions with players who have been training for just four days.
“In World Cup years it is a tremendous burden on the senior teams from countries like England, Spain, Italy and Germany to have to play the third qualifying round matches on July 29. Everybody, most of all Uefa, knows you cannot bring people off the beach, give them three days training and throw them into a first-class game. We have had no choice but to do that.
“We know the value of this competition and with 13 players returning from the World Cup and most not here, this is not the Liverpool team you will see most of the season. We have learned as much about Rabotnicki as we have been able to learn in a week, and we will be trying to win, but I am far from confident that will be the case.â€
Such concerns, though, do not quite explain the sea-change in Hodgson’s mood. Questions over his preferred formation and how heavily the need to infuse Liverpool’s squad with English players to meet new Premier League regulations were affecting his thinking were given short shrift.
He refused to discuss the £2.5 million bid Liverpool have had accepted by Aston Villa for full-back Luke Young or the future of Maxi Rodriguez, the Argentina international who impressed in his first six months at Anfield but has, reportedly, been informed he would be allowed to leave should a suitable offer be received.
Perhaps a clue as to the root cause of his mounting frustration lay in his offhand reaction to an inquiry about what, if any, discussions had been held with Liverpool’s hierarchy over the place the Europa League held in the club’s list of priorities. “All we ever seem to do at Liverpool is have discussions,†he said. “So I am pretty sure those discussions have taken place.â€
So much for the brave new world supposedly heralded by Hodgson’s arrival. Those words could have been taken from Rafael BenÃtez’s book of cryptic comments made during his six years at the club.
All talk, no action. Maybe Hodgson has simply needed a few weeks to realise that, at Anfield, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/liverpool/7915372/FK-Rabotnicki-v-Liverpool-Roy-Hodgson-in-dismay-as-rebuilding-work-hits-a-snag.html
I can understand Roy's frustration, do the board talk more than act?
