In defence of Roy and the legacy of Rafa
A number of people appear to slightly misinterpreted my last blog post.
It certainly wasn't a 'Get Hodgson out' plea, simply an observation of his management style since taking charge at Anfield. His comments and the way he has spoken to the media has concerned me a little but that doesn't mean to say I think he's a bad manager. Conversely, his record proves he is a very capable manager.
Wednesday's defeat to League Two Northampton Town was borderline farcical and Roy will inevitably come under scrutiny for his team selection and lack of recognised personnel on the substitutes bench. Nevertheless, the eleven that started the Carling Cup tie should have been more than good enough to see off a side struggling in 17th place in England's fourth tier.
In all, Hodgson's start hasn't been good. Apart from the opening Premier League fixture against Arsenal, it's difficult to pinpoint where the fresh impetus of a new manager has gone. It is customary for new managers to have a 'honeymoon period' so to speak, where players are eager to impress their new boss and are lifted by new ideas. That doesn't seem to have been the case so far.
Granted, the fixture computer wasn't too kind, but performances haven't exactly given supporters reason for optimism either.
Despite all of this, Hodgson deserves time to get things right and Liverpool may need to suffer a baron spell before he can really make his mark. In an age when success is demanded under intensified media coverage and increasing fan pressure, Hodgson must be given sufficient time to implement his philosophy on the team and recruit his own personnel.
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According to ex-Liverpool player Jan Molby, who was covering Wednesday's game for Radio 5 live, the Red's embarrassing defeat was mainly indebted to the 'legacy of Rafa Benitez' - an appraisal also carried by Mark Bright (who also added Milan Jovanovic was a Hodgson signing) during the BBC's highlights show.
It's lazy and pathetic punditry at its best and it stinks. How on earth can the Inter Milan coach be responsible for an abject display from a team he no longer manages? Did he pick the team? No. Did he set out the formation? No. Did he motivate the players for the game? No.
So how do we get to the conclusion that Rafa Benitez is culpable for all of this? Perhaps the fact that Hodgson is still seen as a 'media darling' probably means the finger needs to be pointed elsewhere.
Let's just hope Inter Milan don't win the European Cup again this season, because if they do, it will probably be down to Jose Mourinho.
7 Responses to In defence of Roy and the legacy of Rafa
by blaming the benitez legacy are people not just saying that benitez had in fact. By the end of his time at Liverpool assembled a squad that was further away from winning the title than we thought. The second place finish looks like in truth that the squad either over performed or that individual players played at the best they have done for many seasons.
Roy only looks like seventh may be his best possible finish at this rate. Which of course is too early to tell.
It was still Hodgson who picked the XI for Northampton and set out the way the team played - that's my point.
You can't really claim the personnel left behind wasn't good enough to beat a League Two side, because it was.
Roy Hodgson is a great guy, that's not up for debate. But the media coverage of his first two months in charge have been borderline patronising. "Oh didn't Woy do well with Wulham", yes he did but he's at a new club now in case you didn't realise. Bigger team, more pressure. What people have to understand is that the youth system at Liverpool has been almost non existent for some time now. Dare I say, even before Rafa. So it's hardly a big shock when a team that has no money and no youth bring in the likes of the mediocre Jovanovic. The reality is, Liverpool are now a rotting corpse with Manchester City and Tottenham just waiting to take a bite.
"Despite all of this, Hodgson deserves time to get things right and Liverpool may need to suffer a baron spell before he can really make his mark"
Not baron, but barren. We'd all like spells are barons now, wouldn't we?
Well written, and true. Although i still think Jovanovic has to show his best to us.
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