Boss takes blame

25 September 2011 15:19
Hodgson holds hands up after Fulham draw Roy Hodgson admitted after Albion’s 0-0 draw with Fulham his tinkering with his side’s formation didn’t help the Baggies. The hosts started in an unfamiliar 4-3-3 formation with striker Peter Odemwingie playing as a winger on the right and Chris Brunt as a defensive midfielder. Fulham dominated as a result until Hodgson reverted back to a familiar 4-4-2 after the break. The Baggies were a changed side in the second half and were unlucky not to get the three points with Mark Schwarzer denying Peter Odemwingie and Chris Brunt hitting the woodwork in added time. But despite Albion’s improved show after the break, Hodgson admits his tactical switch hampered the Baggies. "In the first half, I don't think we played at all well," said Hodgson. "I take some responsibility for that. "We tampered with our system of play - not our principles of playing, but our system - and it didn't work particularly well. "I didn't even recognise some of the players in terms of the number of times we gave the ball away. "I also didn't recognise the side in terms of compactness when defending. "In the second half, we pushed Peter more centrally and Brunt out wide to go back to a more classic 4-4-2 formation and I thought we actually dominated the game." Hodgson continued: "I was grateful for Ben Foster's save towards the end, every bit as grateful as Fulham were that Schwarzer made a good save at the other end when Peter was one-on-one with him and looked likely to score. "There were instances like that in the game but I thought both teams defended well in patches. "Fulham defended well throughout and we defended well in the second half. "With Peter's chance, I would say their goalkeeper did extremely well to save because normally when a keeper is one-on-one with a player running at them, they make appalling errors. "They run out and attack the fella too early, or come too far out of their goal, or they don't come out at all. "Schwarzer got it just right. He got his position right, stood upright and said to Peter 'you can score here if you strike it perfectly in one of the corners'. "Unfortunately, Peter didn't do that." Is Roy to blame for Albion's stalemate? Have your say here at Baggies Banter.

Source: FOOTYMAD