Liverpool v FC Utrecht: Roy Hodgson says more cash is best way to help struggling Anfield club
Roy Hodgson on Tuesday agreed with Liverpool’s owners that the club’s performances this season have been unacceptable but insisted no replacement would be able to do any better without a major injection of money.
By Rory Smith 11:00PM GMT 14 Dec 2010
Proof that Hodgson is conscious of the need to improve Liverpool’s campaign — as spelt out by John W Henry and Tom Werner during a phone-in on the club’s official television channel — comes in his decision to include Fernando Torres for Wednesday night’s Europa League dead rubber against Dutch side Utrecht.
Though it marks a substantial shift from his policy of resting his biggest stars in Europe’s secondary competition, Hodgson is well aware both that the striker requires game time to boost his confidence and that his team need a victory to lift morale.
“Fernando wants to play and it would be good for him to play alongside Ryan Babel for at least part of the game,” he said. “I am hoping he will have a good game that will improve his confidence. I have told him that we believe he is a very fine player, one of the best in Europe, and the fact that he has not played at his level over the past couple of months does not change that.
“There is also an element that we did not have the best of games on Saturday at Newcastle. Here is an opportunity at home to get ourselves back on track and make sure that, come [the visit of Fulham on] Saturday we are fully firing.” Hodgson’s determination not to waste that opportunity proves that the warning from on high that immediate improvement was required has been heeded.
Though the 63 year-old understands the complaints of those fans who called for Henry and Werner to demand his dismissal — “if I was on the phone, I’d have said the same thing” — he is adamant he does not harbour “any fears, worries or concerns” over his job. That confidence, he says, is down to Fenway Sports Group’s common-sense approach as much as his own belief that relieving him of his duties would have little or no impact on results.
“[Dismissal] happened to Chris Hughton and Sam Allardyce,” he said. “We are all in that situation. But I will not go down that road because unless there is a major influx of players, whoever takes my place will be doing a similar job with similar players.
“I cannot do more than I am doing, I cannot work harder, I cannot work better. The owners have made it clear they are going to be patient. They realise we cannot turn things around overnight and they realise the team I am working with is not the team I put together.
“I did not come here to be mid-table. I came here to be in the top four, in the Champions League and winning things. I am hoping they will help me, especially in terms of recruitment, get the team in the top four.”
Liverpool (probable, 4-4-2): Reina; Kelly, Kyrgiakos, Wilson, Aurelio; Cole, Shelvey, Poulsen, Jovanovic; Babel, Torres.
Utrecht (probable, 4-5-1): Vorm; Cornelisse, Schut, Wuytens, Nesu; Duplan, Silberbauer, Nijholt, Maguire, Mertens; van Wolfswinkel.
