Roy Hodgson admits his approach had few takers at Liverpool
Speaking to The Overlap Extra (h/t Liverpool Echo), Roy Hodgson has revealed that mirroring Rafael Benitez proved to be his undoing at Liverpool.
The Spaniard is a cult hero at Anfield and is among a handful of managers to win the European Cup with the Reds. Benitez’s spot in Liverpool folklore is fixed, meaning whoever replaced him would have a difficult task to follow.
Hodgson is a pedigreed manager but the Liverpool job was unlike any other he had previously undertaken. Amidst off-field uncertainty, the club yeared for success on the field, something that Roy wasn’t able to bring about.
Hodgson attributes arriving at a club that lacked vision and direction as a major handicap to his plans. While the Englishman did appear to be a poor fit, it is fair to assume that he was always going to function from a disadvantageous position at Melwood.
Hodgson’s Liverpool reign began with a 2-0 win over FK Rabotnicki that the Reds won 2-0. The Premier League campaign began with a promising 1-1 draw at home to Arsenal but Liverpool failed to put together a series of results and were soon closer to the relegation spots than the top of the table.
“To have any chance of success at all, from the first game, I had to start winning, getting results, and playing good football, rather than struggling as we were near the middle of the table. It was always going to be an uphill battle from that.”
Having got the job over Kenny Dalglish, Hogdson was always going to be under the scanner. He was also told by Jamie Carragher that adopting a rigid style of management that mirrored Benitez did him little favours. Carraher said:
“You’ve come in and done the same thing. You’d have been better off adopting a different approach.”
Hodgson would fail to see out the season and was replaced midway through the campaign by Dalglish. What the club needed at that point of uncertainty was a unifying figure and Dalgish plays the role to a tee, unlike Roy. The change in ownership also saw the club take another path.
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Looking back at his reign, Hodgson could argue that he was put in an unwinnable position and he might as well be right. We do not wish him any ill and are glad to see him do well at Crystal Palace. Unfortunately, he was a poor fit for Liverpool and the fans have never shied from making it known since his first day at Anfield.
