Liverpool's 1/3rd Season Review: It's third world football – Part 1
One third of the Premier League season has gone now and Liverpool have failed to win even a third of their 13 games played so far. That’s how dire it is at the moment for Liverpool fans.
Roy Hodgson had boldly stated, “Judge me after 10 games”. The judgement of 3 wins in 10 games is poor indeed. In the next three games, Liverpool won only a solitary match. One doesn’t have to notice carefully to see that there is a pattern developing.
Interestingly, Roy Hodgson sees the defeat at Britannia Stadium as a ‘blip’, but when you have managed only 4 wins from 13 games, then those few victories appear to be ‘blips’.
He appears to be a man who has spent more time as a big fish in a small pond. After the Chelsea game, critics somewhat cooled down on Roy, but only until the next ‘blip’.
The morale was high after the Chelsea game. The upcoming matches against the likes of Wigan, Stoke and West Ham were a chance for Roy to send a strong message to his critics. However, after taking the lead against Wigan, watching Roy’s team play was utterly
unbearable, until the last minute of the Stoke game.
We agree that these were two games in 4 days time, but the performances were so depressing- like many before the Chelsea game - that these seem to be the rule rather than exceptions.
The change in Liverpool's fortunes, when they bagged four wins on the bounce, was due to the NESV effect when both John W Henry and his wife Linda made the appearances at Anfield. It was a buzzing Anfield, welcoming their new owners and pushing their team
in the big games against Napoli and Chelsea in particular.
Liverpool did not get a similar and usual new manager effect when Roy Hodgson took over. This usually happens during the first 10 games when all the players are up for it and looking to impress the new boss. However, the reality was far from it.
After the Chelsea win, Liverpool were heading into a comparatively easier list of fixtures than their rivals. 6 wins from 9 games would have put Liverpool in a decent position, with a total of 10 wins from 20 matches. A 50% win ratio would have been a fraction
above Rafa’s worst full season figure of 45% in 2004/05 (the season Liverpool won the Champions League). Last season’s win ratio was 47% and Rafa’s best win ratio was 66% both in 2005/06 and 2008/09 seasons.
However, the 9 match period started in a woeful manner; a tame draw with Wigan and a shameful defeat to Stoke City. 6 wins from 7 will be required now to reach the 50% win ratio target. On current Liverpool will do well to maintain their current win ratio
of 31%, which is unbelievably worse than Roy’s record at Fulham.
Fulham’s last season record in front of the goal was far from inspiring, averaging a goal a game in the league (39 in 38). This isn’t good enough even for a mid table club like Fulham. However, Liverpool’s record is even worse; it’s exactly a goal a game.
Compared to Zamora’s, Murphy’s and the Dempsey’s, Roy has the likes of Torres, Gerrard, Cole and Kuyt at his disposal here at Liverpool. Only two teams have scored fewer goals than Liverpool, which is a reflection of Hodgson’s playing style.
Hodgson’s tactics are far too negative at the moment; Possession has been a lot worse this season compared to previous ones. Defenders are sitting deep and the holding midfielders hardly join up the attack.
Full backs provide little or no support to the wide players, leaving a couple of front men to do all on their own. These tactics might just work against the likes of Chelsea, where fans would allow their team to be a little negative to carve out results.
But, against week oppositions who too are willing to sit back, fans can’t be blamed for voicing their anger against such negative tactics.
Continued in Part 2....
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