Source: Team_Talk
Hodgson must emerge from Benitez's shadow
TEAMtalk's Simon Wilkes feels Roy Hodgson must emerge from Rafa Benitez's shadow and be braver with his Liverpool team selections.[LNB] Excuse me if I'm wrong but I could have sworn Liverpool appointed a new manager earlier this summer.[LNB]A manager who favoured a fluid 4-4-2 system with wingers and two strikers up top at his previous club.[LNB]I must be mistaken as we're now four games into the 2010/11 Premier League season and the Reds are still playing with two slow defensive midfielders - home and away.[LNB]Captain Steven Gerrard, fresh from two stunning displays in central midfield for his country, is playing off lone striker Fernando Torres - the set-up which so infuriated Liverpool fans under Rafael Benitez's tenure.[LNB]Torres and Gerrard are Liverpool's 'X-Factor' players - but they're spending most of their time chasing shadows and looking increasingly frustrated.[LNB]Thank god that their other 'star' player brought his A game to St Andrew's, as without Pepe Reina, Roy Hodgson's Reds could have been left feeling blue, with the Spanish goalkeeper pulling off two world-class saves to keep Alex McLeish's battling Birmingham boys at bay.[LNB]Last season's seventh-placed finish was quite rightly deemed unacceptable - hence the departure of Benitez and arrival of Hodgson at Anfield - but the Reds are 13th in the table at the moment and their only league win was a slightly-fortuitous one over a West Brom team who outplayed their more illustrious opponents but were undone by a moment of Torres magic.[LNB]Hodgson has the players at his disposal to field an attack-minded line-up, which is why Reds fans are slowly starting to grumble about the former Fulham gaffer's selections.[LNB]You could hear the groans of discontent sweeping across Merseyside and in the away end at St Andrew's when a midfield pairing of Lucas Leiva and Christian Poulsen was announced over the tanoy - and even Messrs Gerrard and Torres gave the impression they weren't too impressed as they produced poor first-half displays in the Midlands.[LNB]Something needs to change quickly if Liverpool are to get their season back on the right track - and it'll be interesting to see if Hodgson has the courage to emerge from Benitez's shadow and put his own stamp on the team.
