Roy Hodgson's 13 wins in 82 away fixtures

[King Binny]

Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson has had six seasons in English football in the last 15 years. In all of that time though he has a quite incredible statistic of racking up only 13 away wins. Here are the stats shown below:

1997/98 – Blackburn Rovers - 5 Away wins – Finished 6th
1998/99 – Blackburn Rovers – 0 Away wins – Sacked when 20th
2007/08 – Fulham – 3 Away wins – Finished 17th
2008/09 – Fulham – 3 Away wins – Finished 7th
2009/10 – Fulham – 1 Away win – Finished 12th
2010/11 – Liverpool – 1 Away win – Currently 9th

To be fair, three of those seasons (1998/99, 2007/08 and 2010/11), have seen Hodgson not able to play all the away fixtures as he was sacked by Blackburn Rovers in December 1998, he was hired by Fulham in December 2007 and he has only had six away fixtures in the league this season with Liverpool. It still means though that in 82 Away fixtures in the Barclays Premier League, Hodgson has only been on the winning side on 13 occasions. A 16% win ratio which is not sustainable for a top four club that Liverpool aspire to be.

The win over Bolton Wanderers on October 10 was Hodgson's first away victory in the league since the opening day of the 2009/10 season when his Fulham side beat Portsmouth. Of course Hodgson had more success in the Europa League beating sides such as FC Basel and Wolfsburg away from home, but from a Liverpool point of view, it is slightly concerning that his away league record is so poor.

The subject reared its head again after Liverpool drew 1-1 with Wigan Athletic on Wednesday night and in yesterday's 2-0 defeat at Stoke.

What is apparent about Hodgson’s tactics is that he tends to sit off teams more often than pressing the ball high up the pitch like his predecessor Rafa Benitez.

This is not a flaw in itself as different managers have different approaches but it becomes a problem when you begin to sit deep and allow the opposition too much space.

This can especially be problematic away from home when home sides tend to keep the ball better and try to get at the opposition. Going by his record, Hodgson's style does not really work away from home, and there must be something in the fact he has only won 13 matches in 82 away fixtures in the Premier League.

Hodgson’s defensive tactics are not conducive for going long stretches of the match without the ball.

When tiredness sets in, this leads to giving the ball away too easily, and then Liverpool sit off the opposition as instructed, defending too deep and putting themselves under pressure in the process.

Hodgson has to change tact fast if he wants his away record to change.

 

[737Max]

Somebody tweet that article to John W Henry. Hopefully NESV will get the message and fire him ASAP

 

[Judge Jules]

Alan Green was going on about this the other day. Annoying as he can be at times, the guy's a Red and it showed.

 

[doctor_mac]

Yeah, as fans of statistics, you'd imagine this one might stick out a little.

 

[Judge Jules]

I'll bet you say that to all the boys. 😉

 

[ZhaoYun]

everytime I see his face appear on the camera, I really wanna smash my TV.

 

[doctor_mac]

[quote author=Judge Jules link=topic=42765.msg1218080#msg1218080 date=1289732222]
I'll bet you say that to all the boys. 😉
[/quote]

Ha

 

[King Binny]

Roy Hodgson defended Liverpool's away record in the Premier League this season whilst also underlining the importance of Sunday's trip to Tottenham Hotspur.

Travel sickness has been an ongoing problem for the Reds with four defeats, two draws and a solitary win seeing them take only five points from their opening seven games on the road.

The statistic that Liverpool have only won twice away from home since a 1-0 win over Aston Villa in late December 2009 does not unnerve Hodgson as he reflected on the club's form in all competitions as cause for optimism ahead of the clash at White Hart Lane.

"If you look at our record and take in the games we've played in the Europa League then we haven't done that badly," he said.

"Five defeats in 25 games is not that appalling but of course we did have a very bad start that saw us in the relegation zone, and that's something which Liverpool fans aren't particularly used to seeing or wanting to see.

"Luckily we seem to have pulled away from that precarious situation, but the league is still very tight and unfortunately you're three points from the top and three or four from the bottom so every game still has a vital importance.

He added: "I've had six or seven away games and we've only won one of them, but having said that we've travelled to quite difficult places and we're travelling to a difficult place again.

"I don't think we feel ourselves hampered in any way. We don't go to Tottenham fearing that we're not going to win the game. We go there believing we can and that's what we're going to try and do."

 

[Squiggles]

You would be "surprised" if we won, you dithering muppet.

 

[manwithnoname]

I enjoyed that off-the-cuff anger from Squiggles

 

[Oncy]

I really hate this stat.
I dont care how many away games he won in charge of a poor Fulham team and a transforming blackburn. Its irrelevant. We dont sing his praises for games won with other clubs or goals scored or anything so why state his away form before he came to us.
His away form is dire here so why bolt on how shite it was with two shite teams that importantly, arent us.

 

[peterhague]

[quote author=Herr Onceared link=topic=42765.msg1224311#msg1224311 date=1290799415]
I really hate this stat.
I dont care how many away games he won in charge of a poor Fulham team and a transforming blackburn. Its irrelevant. We dont sing his praises for games won with other clubs or goals scored or anything so why state his away form before he came to us.
His away form is dire here so why bolt on how shite it was with two shite teams that importantly, arent us.
[/quote]


because when the trend's that clear it becomes relevant? it seems like it's a major problem for him as a manager, and given he's now our manager, his problems are our problems = relevant.

 

[mark1975]

Yeah but it's been posted like a million times, we all know the stat, what's new?

 

[manwithnoname]

Yeah, what kind of loon would ever look at past results and metrics in order to inform their opinion on anything. It sounds fucking mental to me.

 

[mark1975]

I think the defensive thing is overplayed and unfair as far as lineups go.


If the team is right in Oncy's thread, then we're going away from home with a 442 again, we're also not bottling it against one of THE in form players in Europe by playing the defensively shit but offensively great Glen Jo, which suggests we'd rather give Bale something to think about rather than be concentrating solely on trying to just stop the fucker, as would have been the case under Rafa, probably.

 

[mark1975]

[quote author=Brendan link=topic=42765.msg1224319#msg1224319 date=1290800911]
Yeah, what kind of loon would ever look at past results and metrics in order to inform their opinion on anything. It sounds fucking mental to me.
[/quote]

Yup, but like I said, it's been common knowledge for ages.

 

[King Binny]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/nov/27/liverpool-roy-hodgson

Tomorrow's visit to White Hart Lane may well suit a side with a contrary nature but history, particularly Hodgson's history, explains why even Liverpool's hardcore support now travels with trepidation.

At least Hodgson cannot be accused of shying away from a record of only nine victories from his past 70 away matches in the Premier League, a sequence that stretches across six seasons and three clubs – Blackburn Rovers (where he lost only one of his first 10 away games in charge in 1997), Fulham and now Liverpool.

"I've had several bad experiences," he said. "Even at Halmstad in the 70s, in the year we won our second championship, it took until the second half of the season to win our first game away and that broke a record going back two seasons. We went over two seasons without winning an away game, which is quite strange for a team that won the league in '76 and again in '79."

Liverpool's results flip home and away this season – won four, drawn two and lost one at Anfield, won one, drawn two and lost four away – but Hodgson, who secured Fulham's Premier League status thanks largely to three away wins in 2007-08, when the Cottagers had to go for broke, denies his tactics are the root cause.

"There is certainly no difference in the way we approach the games," he said. "We don't have a home approach and away approach. We want to do the same things with the ball and without the ball home and away. You can't deny that at Anfield the crowd is an advantage and that it spurs people on. Also, you can't deny that decisions go in your favour more when you are at home. That is a fact of life. But if you take away those minor caveats the most important thing is to be more positive, have more confidence, get more balls into the box and for people to help Fernando [Torres] get in behind defences. These are things we work on all the time."

In mitigation Liverpool are under new management and have travelled to Manchester City, Birmingham City, Manchester United and Everton this season, all tough places to visit, although Hodgson's overall record indicates deep-lying flaws. "It could be the type of players you have, I don't know. The reason we have not done well enough away is that we have not created enough chances. But that is certainly changing at home. We are getting behind teams more, we are getting our crosses in, our strikes in and Fernando is coming back to his best. We did sprint tests the other day and he came out on top, which is good for us and him to know. We are getting there.

"It might also be to do with mentality and maybe there is an underlying sense that a point away from home is enough because we will win at home. That is a very dangerous mentality but maybe it is a subconscious factor and, if there is, it is up to us to remove it. If we are a good enough team to beat Spurs then we should beat them home and away and if we are not good enough we should lose home or away. We go into the game with confidence even though we know we are playing a very good team and we know the problems that Spurs will cause us."

Hodgson admits his target "is not to be divorced from the top teams" by the mid-way stage of the season and, in that respect, Jamie Carragher's 450th league game for Liverpool is a key moment against a Tottenham side only three points above them. That point was reinforced by José Reina yesterday, when the Liverpool and Spain goalkeeper called on fans to "support Roy 100%" but conceded big players will be likely to leave should the team fail to rise.

"We have to finish this season in a better position than we are at the moment and make sure we build for the next years and try to be competitive. If not, it's going to be difficult to keep these kind of players. We are not probably as strong as Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham can be so that's why we have to make sure we build a better squad. At the moment, it's almost impossible to compete for nine months against Chelsea, for example, and that is what I want."

 

[KopPoNok]

Actually I don't really care about him anymore, I don't read anything about him, I don't watch his interview, I just treat him as a nobody.

 

[mark1975]

Why? Did he savage your village and rape your wife?

Jesus Christ.

 

[Judge Jules]

Now there, with respect, it's you that's going OTT, mark. You've become very vocal in your criticism of those who keep aiming personal abuse at Roy over and over again, and though I want him out I have a degree of sympathy with you on that, but I don't see any problem with KopPoNok's alternative approach. Nor should any personal sympathy for Roy be allowed to cloud the fact (and it IS a fact) that the man is not cut out for the LFC job, and that his occupation of it is preventing the club from making the progress it needs to make.

 

[mark1975]

Apologies, no offence was intended, I'm just fed up logging in and reading the same guff by the same posters (not a dig at KopPoNok just in general). Half the time people don't even bother to read what's written, they just read a headline and jump on it.

Anyway, hope we win tomorrow.

 

[Halmeister]

I skim read that article, but how can a team go 2 seasons without winning away and win the league? Unless I've misread it.

 

[KopPoNok]

Thanks Judge Jules, I just can't be arsed with old roy anymore.

It's like someone show you the stats of Poulsen (Lucas or any of the deadwoods), mentioned how many acres of grass he covered, made how many tackles per game, sucessful passes and etc, deep down you just know that he's not good enough for us, no matter how good (or bad) is the stats show. It's just plain time wasting looking at those rubbish.

 

[King Binny]

Hodgson was at pains to point out that Liverpool's travel sickness extends beyond his five-month spell in the Anfield dugout.

He said: "The away form has been bad for a long period of time, not just during my five months – it goes beyond that, unfortunately. We haven’t done well away from home in terms of results.

"It would be wrong to say I am not concerned about it, but strangely enough, we have actually produced some quite good performances away from home, but the results haven’t followed.

"I have got to hope we can keep performing well and then the results will follow."

 

[Asbo]

[quote author=Binny link=topic=42765.msg1227682#msg1227682 date=1291307890]

Hodgson was at pains to point out that Liverpool's travel sickness extends beyond his five-month spell in the Anfield dugout.

He said: "The away form has been bad for a long period of time, not just during my five months – it goes beyond that, unfortunately. We haven’t done well away from home in terms of results.

"It would be wrong to say I am not concerned about it, but strangely enough, we have actually produced some quite good performances away from home, but the results haven’t followed.

"I have got to hope we can keep performing well and then the results will follow."

[/quote]

Yeah he thinks the Everton game was a good performance.

Roy, we played good from home ONCE last week-end v Spurs and thats IT.