LFC Passion

I for one can’t wait for the forthcoming season to begin. I want to see how Hodgson is going to go about managing us tactically. Will we be narrow and defensive like the way he had his Fulham team playing or will we be more open and expansive with us having more resources and better players. I think maybe somewhere in the middle is most likely especially at the beginning.

I wonder whether he’ll allow his wingers to attack the corner flag occasionally, which Rafa clearly didn’t allow. I like to see wide players go both ways but I tend to think Roy will favour the cutting in method like so many managers today. I understand that having a winger cutting in frees up space for the full back to overlap but I also think that if a winger attacks the corner flag then the full back could make a run inside providing an option. A bit of both is the way I’d like to see us go but I’m not expecting it. At Fulham he had Duff cutting in from the right most of the time and to great success so maybe he can get the right players in and make it work.

Where will he play Steven? I ask. I could see him playing him deeper but I could also see him playing him in a more advanced position. Either way you need another two central midfield players if you’ve got him in the centre or you win nothing. People moaned a lot during Rafa’s time here because he would rarely play him in a central midfield pair but tell me, Has Gerrard ever played in a successful team as part of a central midfield pair? The answer is no but don’t get me wrong in home games against weaker opposition I’d go that way but not always. I know everybody wants us to go 4-4-2 but I’m usually a 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 man as I just think you get better flexibility that way. You may think this is how Rafa lined us up but I just think that Rafa went too far with it and didn’t allow the two holding midfielders enough freedom. I would only have one holding midfield and would have two more attacking players in Gerrard and Aquilani in front with defensive duties when we don’t have the ball.

Mascherano has to go because his attitude stinks, he can go and join his teacher in Milan. That will mean we’ll need a defensive midfielder and I think we need the Hamann style of midfielder who will not cover so much ground but will have good awareness and positioning. This player also has to be good on the ball so he can link the defence and attack, which is something we lacked after Alonso left.

We need two wingers whichever way we chose to play so we’ll have to see what happens in that respect but if we line up against Arsenal on the 15th August with Kuyt playing on the right then I won’t be amused. As for Torres, Will he stay? Will he go? Your guess is as good as mine. If he stays I’m confident of at least a top four finish.

A new chapter in our history began on Thursday with the appointment of Roy Hodgson as our new manager. I for one am ecstatic and hugely confident that he will enjoy a successful time here winning a lot of trophies and being the man who leads his team out for the first game in our new stadium (when it is finally built). One thing that I like about this appointment is the fact that he is well liked in England unlike Rafa who wasn’t taken to at all by the media or general public. We may be liked and respected a little more which is nice.

I think this is a very good time for Roy to come to this club because the instability may lend him more time to get it right on the pitch. I don’t expect us to win the league this season and I wouldn’t expect many of our fans to either so a top four finish would be a great success and I’m very confident we can achieve this with Roy at the helm. Players may leave but I would expect a few players who were seriously thinking of leaving might be having second thoughts now that Roy’s in charge.

Will Gerrard, Mascherano or Torres leave us? These are the three that the media are linking with clubs and it seems that our future depends on them staying. I for one think Mascherano should be sold because of the lack of respect he has shown us. Let him join his teacher at Inter Milan but lets have £30 million for him. He isn’t that good and can easily be replaced in my opinion. In some ways Mascherano is a liability because he never shuts up, even after he’s been booked you can see him mouthing off at the referee and I have no time for that. Don’t get me wrong he’s a good player but his heart is not in Liverpool so he should go.

Now Gerrard should definitely stay. He has previously had times when he could have left Liverpool and he has always decided to stay in the end. This time I’m not so sure and we can’t really blame him because he could leave and get his league winners medal, which will complete his full swoop of club honours. It wont mean the same to him though winning the league at another club so that’s why I think he should stay. I also think he could win the league with us with Roy in charge.

As for Torres, I’ll leave that for another day but if his World Cup performances don’t improve he won’t be able to go elsewhere. He looks unfit which is to be expected after his injury torrid season but clubs will surely be concerned about the amount of injuries he picks up. He should stay anyway because we love him.

Welcome Roy, I’m very happy to have such a gentleman in charge of my beloved redmen.

Adios

According to researchers at Durham University wearing the colour red in sporting events means that you may have an advantage over your opponents. The researchers claim the effect could be down to a deep-seated evolutionary response that works subconsciously to put opponents on the back foot. They believe that wearing the colour red could suppress the opposition’s testosterone or boast the testosterone of the individual wearing red. They claim that more studies need to be conducted on the matter before any firm conclusions can be made.

This has interested me and the first thing that came into my mind was that if you look at all the football cities in England you will find that usually the team wearing red has been a lot more successful in terms of winning trophies. In Liverpool I think it is fair to say that we have been more successful than Everton. Manchester is the same with the red team winning more than the blue team. Also north London has Arsenal and Tottenham and Arsenal have been the more successful of the two teams. Another thing to note is that England won the World Cup playing in red and most fans seem to prefer to see England playing in the red kit than the white.

The researchers have found that the theory also works in amateur boxing as it was found that boxers wearing red had won significantly more fights than those wearing blue. They claim that wearing red might tip the balance if two opponents are similarly matched in terms of ability. They wonder whether there should be some kind of regulation on what colour clothes sportsmen can wear. One thing to note here is that one of the researchers is a Chelsea supporter so he probably has his own agenda. Maybe he should do some research into the advantage some teams have because of their geographical location.

They couldn’t possibly stop sportsmen wearing red I mean I couldn’t imagine Liverpool playing in any other colour. Of course if these finding were proven accurate then you have to understand that in football I don’t think there is any rule regarding what colour a teams home kit has to be so all teams could just change their home kits to red if they wanted. I have no doubt that these findings will be well received in every city by fans of the team that has had to put up with watching their red rivals winning more than them. Also as a Liverpool fan I welcome these findings because a certain Bill Shankly changed the Liverpool kit to all red whereas before they used to wear white shorts. On doing so he claimed that the all red strip would frighten the lives out of Liverpool’s opponents. People found it quite funny but maybe he was right all along. When you think about it red is a very strong colour.