[quote author=SummerOnions link=topic=42125.msg1187786#msg1187786 date=1286145148]
If Rafa had left him with a decent squad there wouldn't be this much of a problem.
[/quote]
Bollocks. THe bulk of the squad that was left was good enough to finish 2nd in the League 2 season's ago.
The problem is , not only is Hodgson repeating the failings of Benitez, he's magnifying them
The defense is all over the place because Hodgson has decided to change the system. Skrtel is all over the place at the minute. He's fucking up the midfield by playing slow, uninspiring central midfielders that aren't renouned for their passing ability and then compounding it by filling the wide areas by other central midfielders who avoid the touchline like it's the plague, constantly come inside and make us so narrow ist unbelievable. Added to that, our midfield ineptitude leaves an off-form Torres increasingly stranded, making our tactics look like "keep it tight lads and wait until Torres either wins a free Kick / Penalty or does something magical on his own".
I feel sorry for Johnson. The poor bastard is practically the only one giving us any width, he's practically patrolling the right side by himself doing all the attacking and defending.
We started against Blackpool with Cole on left, Kuyt in the centre & Meriles on the right, Torres in front & Gerrard & Poulsen behind. Poulsen aside (who's just not up to the pace of the League yet - and may never be), the attacking 3 are all playing out of their best position.
It's absolutely no suprise that we improved as a team when we took Poulsen off and moved Meriles back in to the centre alongside Gerrard and reshffled the atacking 3 to have Jovanovic on the left, Cole in the centre & Kuyt on the right.
Gerrard & Meriles will work, certainly in the league. They need to be our central pairing. End of. Hodgson can always bring on Lucas or Pulsen if he fancies loosing games.
Cole should not be played on the left. Someone made the point that he should be, because that's were he plays for England. There's a reason he's been consistently shite for England and can't hold down a regular starting position. He won't off you any sort of width and with no decent full back to overlap and least give you that option it's a big problem. In the centre, off the striker, in the hole - that's were he will be most productive.
Kuyt we know all about. On the right, he will at leaqst stay out there and offer some width. He works well with Johnson and it's no suprise either, that Johnson's best displays have generally come when Kuyt's workrate helps cover the defensive duties. We also know that Kuyt can play on the left - he does so for Holland - and is effective there, moreso than he is in the centre where there is less space and he get's caught out more with his variable first touch.
Ultimately the left is a big problem. If Kuyt goes out there then we'd be looking at the hopelessly out of form Maxi on the right. Alternatives on the left are Jovanovic & Babel. Jovanovic might be worth sticking with because he is a left sided player & his work rate might be what's required to help get us through this period. However his final ball if pretty horrendous at the moment. Babel we know all about adn if ever there was a time for him to prove he can do it - it's now. Instead we'll see him come off the bench form time to time, show some pace and thenreturn to form and start running into full backs and bouncing off like some human dodgem car.
It also seems that Hodgson has a Plan B for when things aren't quite going to plan - unfortunately it seems to be stick The Greek upfront and hump the ball long to him. It really hurts that we had to resort to that sort of thing to get a point out of playing Blackpool at home.
Let's hope Torres' injury isn't too bad as well.
If Rafa had left him with a decent squad there wouldn't be this much of a problem.
[/quote]
Bollocks. THe bulk of the squad that was left was good enough to finish 2nd in the League 2 season's ago.
The problem is , not only is Hodgson repeating the failings of Benitez, he's magnifying them
The defense is all over the place because Hodgson has decided to change the system. Skrtel is all over the place at the minute. He's fucking up the midfield by playing slow, uninspiring central midfielders that aren't renouned for their passing ability and then compounding it by filling the wide areas by other central midfielders who avoid the touchline like it's the plague, constantly come inside and make us so narrow ist unbelievable. Added to that, our midfield ineptitude leaves an off-form Torres increasingly stranded, making our tactics look like "keep it tight lads and wait until Torres either wins a free Kick / Penalty or does something magical on his own".
I feel sorry for Johnson. The poor bastard is practically the only one giving us any width, he's practically patrolling the right side by himself doing all the attacking and defending.
We started against Blackpool with Cole on left, Kuyt in the centre & Meriles on the right, Torres in front & Gerrard & Poulsen behind. Poulsen aside (who's just not up to the pace of the League yet - and may never be), the attacking 3 are all playing out of their best position.
It's absolutely no suprise that we improved as a team when we took Poulsen off and moved Meriles back in to the centre alongside Gerrard and reshffled the atacking 3 to have Jovanovic on the left, Cole in the centre & Kuyt on the right.
Gerrard & Meriles will work, certainly in the league. They need to be our central pairing. End of. Hodgson can always bring on Lucas or Pulsen if he fancies loosing games.
Cole should not be played on the left. Someone made the point that he should be, because that's were he plays for England. There's a reason he's been consistently shite for England and can't hold down a regular starting position. He won't off you any sort of width and with no decent full back to overlap and least give you that option it's a big problem. In the centre, off the striker, in the hole - that's were he will be most productive.
Kuyt we know all about. On the right, he will at leaqst stay out there and offer some width. He works well with Johnson and it's no suprise either, that Johnson's best displays have generally come when Kuyt's workrate helps cover the defensive duties. We also know that Kuyt can play on the left - he does so for Holland - and is effective there, moreso than he is in the centre where there is less space and he get's caught out more with his variable first touch.
Ultimately the left is a big problem. If Kuyt goes out there then we'd be looking at the hopelessly out of form Maxi on the right. Alternatives on the left are Jovanovic & Babel. Jovanovic might be worth sticking with because he is a left sided player & his work rate might be what's required to help get us through this period. However his final ball if pretty horrendous at the moment. Babel we know all about adn if ever there was a time for him to prove he can do it - it's now. Instead we'll see him come off the bench form time to time, show some pace and thenreturn to form and start running into full backs and bouncing off like some human dodgem car.
It also seems that Hodgson has a Plan B for when things aren't quite going to plan - unfortunately it seems to be stick The Greek upfront and hump the ball long to him. It really hurts that we had to resort to that sort of thing to get a point out of playing Blackpool at home.
Let's hope Torres' injury isn't too bad as well.