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Blackpool are not the smallest club to have ever beaten Liverpool at Anfield in fact they are not even the smallest club this season to do so but the defeat they inflicted upon the club and its supporters yesterday afternoon has greater significance than possibly any other result for the last 50 years.
The result meant that Liverpool remained in the bottom three of the Premiership with no games in hand, this after 7 games of a season is completely new territory for all but the most elderly and experienced Liverpool supporters. Supporters, like my Father, who were there, standing on the Kop when a fiery young Scot by the name of Bill Shankly first walked into a division 2 club called Liverpool and set in motion an almost unstoppable blood red steam train that first conquered England, then the world. It is heart wrenchingly sad that we could now be witnessing that steam train finally coughing out its last few desperate vapours and rolling slowly to a halt before it lays to rest, rusting on the tracks.
Whilst it may seem dramatic, whatever start Liverpool have had, to herald the demise of the club after only 7 league games, in this case I think the great deal of fear, sadness and anger that is currently blighting the lives of all Liverpool fans all over the world, this time, is extremely well founded. Liverpool find themselves with just 6 points from those opening 7 games and are arguably somewhat fortunate to have accrued that many, for many this is the most worrying aspect of the current predicament. Performances to date, suggest a team lacking quality, playing badly and in real danger of being sucked into a relegation battle, not an unlucky team who will surely start winning games. Factor in the lack of funds available to try and turn this around with in January and it all adds up to a very big problem.
This of course did not happen overnight, things have been getting steadily worse for Liverpool for the last 2 years or more, a bad start like the one the club has had this season would never in a million years be remotely acceptable but fans would be less inclined to press the panic button if it was just that: a bad start. The fact is that Liverpools plight on the pitch is symptomatic of much deeper problems which have been festering and deepening and show no sign of letting up. This perhaps means that the bad start the club has endured is likely to continue. It is for this reason that the outlook, and supporters feelings alike, are so bleak.
With Hicks and Gillette’s troops on the ground Purslow and Broughton still apparently no closer to finding a buyer for the club, you start to wonder exactly how they are filling their days now that they no longer have the ‘troublesome’ Rafael Benitez waging war upon them. Exactly where the stories in the press of player unrest and Benitez losing the dressing room at Anfield were coming from is perhaps now, a little more obvious given the fact that the anticipated wave of player euphoria and anti Benitez sentiment has never really materialised post Benitez. In fact the current squad if anything, appear far less interested and motivated playing for Roy Hodgson than they ever did for Rafa. It has Purslow and Broughtons fingerprints all over it.
I think there is more than a fair chance that the only people Rafael Benitez had really, irreparably, upset within the club were Tom Hicks and George Gillett primarily and then in turn Christian Purslow and Martin Broughton who, on behalf of Hicks and Gillett, sacked him. They then in turn appointed Hodgson safe in the knowledge that they have a man in place who has always dreamed of managing one of Englands elite clubs and will take whatever shit they roll down the hill to him with a smile on his face. Furthermore, the way Purslow and Broughton attempted to sell Hodgson as the right man for the job back in June is now with each passing day looking more and more like what it actually was, a smokescreen hiding another starred and striped, super-sized helping of Uncle Tom’s bullshit. They simply eliminated their biggest problem. Now there would be no dissenting voices from within the club at least.
The sacking of Rafael Benitez might not have been such a problem to Liverpool supporters had a new manager come in and in some small way improved the team either with its style of play, or by achieving good results on the pitch. After all, Benitez made his share of mistakes, something he freely admits and perhaps it is true to say that things had become a little stale under his leadership. Sadly though we are still waiting for one even reasonably good performance from Roy Hodgsons team and results so far, on the whole, have been nothing short of appalling.
Hodgson at this stage cuts a pathetic, bumbling figure who looks more like a condemned man with each interview he gives, he appears overwhelmed and lost in a job in which for the first time since he managed Blackburn Rovers almost 20 years ago, he finds himself in the intense glare of a media spotlight scrutinising him and everything he does. Fulham this ain’t.
Of course there should and will be time for Hodgson to turn this all around, after all exactly who at the club would have the authority (or the inclination) to sack him? and perhaps a trip to Goodison Park on the resumption of the Premier league in two weeks time will be just what the club needs to kick-start its season and jolt the players out of their collective coma. Hodgson though, needs to use the 2 weeks to make some decisions about how his team play and how his personnel are deployed, not least in midfield where, currently, teams are getting the better of Liverpool both home and away from Anfield.
The cagey, containing, long ball football we have seen thus far is neither acceptable nor palatable to a club whose supporters in footballing terms are amongst the most knowledgeable educated and cultured in the world, it simply will not wash. A decision also needs to be reached on formation, be it 442 or 451, one needs to be chosen and stuck to at least in the short term, to try and recover some stability. Hodgsons hand may now have been forced on this issue by the injury to Fernando Torres and of course his lack of urgency in signing another striker in the summer.
A central midfield comprising Lucas and Poulsen is also non starter, regardless of who the opposition are and frankly of the two, arguably Lucas is the superior player and one that still has the greater potential to grow and develop. Poulsen conversely peaked some time ago and wasn’t that great then, indeed, love him or hate him, were he still at the club, Javier Mascherano with his ferocious tenacity would more than likely have stopped the ball ever having been played through for Blackpools second goal on Sunday, Poulsen however, just yards away, was strolling back into position and watched it happen. It is this sort of sloppiness that needs to be stamped out and Hodgson needs to find the right balance of creativity coupled with a good level of protection for his back four. Poulsen provides neither.
Glen Johnson, at fault for both of Blackpools goals on Sunday, is also an issue which needs to be addressed. Whilst many supporters feel that perhaps he may provide the answer to Liverpools current desperate lack of width, Johnson is a full back and not a winger. The two positions are entirely different disciplines and for Hodgson, re training a player to play an entirely new position in the middle of what is turning out to be a hugely disappointing season, may prove to be far too risky a strategy.
Dropping Johnson altogether for a while whilst the team gets back to basics may represent a more sensible option for Hodgson to consider. He is increasingly looking like a luxury that Liverpool cannot presently afford. Were you to transplant Johnson into a successful Chelsea or Arsenal team his apparent inability to defend might not be such a big problem as the players around him would provide cover. But in what is a massively underperforming Liverpool side he is exposed, particularly away from home where Liverpool more often than not this season, find themselves under the cosh. Johnsons apparent lack of confidence and poor attacking contribution of late does, of course, compound the problem. Perhaps a run in the team for Martin Kelly at right back might provide the solution.
Hodgson, on a personal level, may also benefit from something of an attitude adjustment himself, criticising the Sons of Shankly protests and allowing his team and Fernando Torres to be savaged in post match interviews by Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford without riposte has put him down a notch or two in the eyes of many Liverpool supporters. At best he misunderstands the club and its fans with actions such as these, at worst he is in contempt of them.
He needs to learn very quickly that being Liverpool manager is not just about clocking in and doing a job, it is a lifestyle choice. The clubs supporters and traditions must be of paramount importance to any manager who is entrusted with the post, even if it means sacrificing old friendships like the one he has with Fergie (especially the one he has with Fergie) and even if it means he damages his popularity with the clubs cancerous board.
In a nutshell, there has been nothing but bad news for the club for what seems now like forever. It is no revelation to say that the people to blame for these problems are Tom Hicks and George Gillette, it would also not be a revelation to point out that they are greedy businessmen who saw the club that means so much to so many people as one more revenue stream to add to their bulging portfolio’s. It is bad, very bad, but it has happened and as long as they have control of the club, bad things will continue to happen.
So until the Americans finally leave our club and return to hide underneath whatever filthy rock it was they crawled out from, the problems at Anfield will continue and without serious investment relegation, incredibly, does now appear to be a real possibility. In the meanwhile there is plenty that the supporters can do to pressure them, not least withdrawing funds from RBS accounts should they re-finance the loans in 2 days time (make sure you tell them why you are doing it) and relentlessly emailing anyone who might even consider helping out Tom or George to keep control. Liverpool FC doesn’t want parasites anymore.
Lets hope the darkest hour is just before the dawn. YNWA