Last night Liverpool succumbed to their first defeat to Wolves for 27 years and with it Roy Hodgson’s time at the club looks set to be over. Liverpool fans do not want him to stay on as manager, and after his rant at the Liverpool fans who have had to experience such dour football this season, Hodgson must accept his time is up. However, last night was not about Hodgson. He made a few tactical errors, but last night the players must take responsibility for such an embarrassing display.
Roy Hodgson spoke well when he accepted that everyone had let the fans down last night. However, turning on the crowd will only make him more unpopular. What on earth was he thinking? If Hodgson had been more direct and blamed the players, he may have a little more sympathy this morning.
“The fans have left angry and that’s understandable. We’ve let them down,” said 63-year-old Hodgson.
“I have to hope the fans will become supporters because we need support. We are not deliberately losing games.”
The players are the ones that go out and have to get the job done. Whether Liverpool fans agree or or not with the manager’s tactics or team selection, there was enough quality on show last night to beat Wolves at Anfield. However, it looked like certain individuals didn’t want to know, that has to infuriate Liverpool fans. It is very easy to pick on Fernando Torres because he is Liverpool’s best player, and the expectation is that he should score every game. Of course that is ridiculous, but Liverpool fans deserve better from their talisman. He offered very little in terms of movement, and John Barnes was spot on when he said the striker was happy to be marked all game. His all round application was poor last night. He was not the only one, but when times are tough, you learn a lot from your top players. I am not saying Torres played poorly on purpose, and not for one minute was he the only one, but when a player is that good, and Wolves’ defence so leaky, Liverpool fans have every right to expect better.
The first half summed up the way Liverpool approached the game. I lost count how many times they passed the ball back to Pepe Reina, how many times they gave the ball away and how slow they moved the ball. Against a side at the foot of the table it is obvious that you need to get at them quickly, and break their already fragile confidence. It can’t be done by using Pepe Reina as a play maker and drilling balls up to the forwards. Liverpool had no game plan, no way of breaking Wolves down. Without a doubt, Wolves played well but it was made easy for them. Some Liverpool players just didn’t want to know last night, and that is a key reason why they are only three points off the relegation zone. The squad may lack quality, but it is lacking character as well at the moment. Character and determination can only come from the individuals. No manager can give a player the passion for a club that Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard have for Liverpool. It is in their blood, and you can only hope that it spreads through the team. In the past it has. Players in the mould of Sami Hyypia would never have accepted such an abject Liverpool performance, and the way he played the game would have shown us that. Do Liverpool have enough leaders on the pitch? Is this just another easy excuse to shield players from criticism? Although a lot of the boos that rung around Anfield last night were directed at Roy Hodgson, a lot of them were towards the players as well. Roy Hodgson’s time at Anfield is coming to an end. It is obvious to see, and it is ending bitterly. The fans and the manager are at war and some players are showing no passion to get Liverpool out of this current mess. The players must accept a share of the responsibility, it is not all Roy Hodgson’s fault. There are first team players at Liverpool that are showing themselves to be surplus to requirements. Hopefully NESV are watching and are willing not only to invest in January but ship some of these players out of the club. John W. Henry and Tom Werner need to negotiate some kind of exit plan for Hodgson and some of these players before everyone gives up at Anfield.
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