UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE:GROUP K Liverpool V Steaua Bucharest: ROY HODGSON has dismissed concerns over Liverpool's early-season form and is prepared to risk further criticism by making wholesale changes in Europe before Sunday's visit to Manchester United.
Liverpool host Steaua Bucharest in their opening Europa League Group K fixture tonight with Hodgson adamant changes are necessary as he continues to assess the squad and with the trip to Old Trafford following three days later. Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres, who the Liverpool manager says is in “good mental condition” despite a subdued display at Birmingham City last Sunday, are likely to be rested against the Romanians, who are joint top of their domestic league after seven matches.
“What we will do is pretty much what Sir Alex did against Rangers,” said Hodgson. “The day you stop looking forward to games because you are too afraid of criticism if it doesn’t work out is the day you have to walk away from the job.
“We have a lot of new players. I came from having two and a half years with the same team, same players and same philosophy (at Fulham). Now I am at a club where I am trying to put a team and a philosophy together. Every training session and match is a learning curve.”
Hodgson has lost only one of eight matches as Liverpool’s manager so far but the level of performance has been inconsistent. “The style of play will get better,” said the manager. “Birmingham was not one of our better games but the style of play wasn’t a problem against Arsenal. Nothing has changed other than the fact we have lost one or two players through injury.”
The Liverpool manager admits his team “need to be more creative, need to improve defensively and need to be better at set-plays”. That, believes Hodgson, will enable Torres to recapture form as well as fitness, with the Spain striker described as “diabolical” and looking “fed up” against Birmingham by the former Liverpool captain Jamie Redknapp.
“He certainly isn’t fed up,” responded Hodgson. “I think it is very wrong for people to read someone’s state of mind from watching them play 90 minutes’ football. You have to be some wonder psychologist to be able to do that.”
Despite scoring three times in his previous two matches for club and country, that did not stop wild theories being spouted about the 26-year-old being unhappy and regretting his decision to remain at Anfield this summer.
Having learned his lessons from his run to the Europa League final last season with Fulham, Hodgson is keen to avoid the pitfalls of over-playing people too early in the campaign. “It is up to me to try to choose a team tomorrow which will win the game and possibly give some of the players (who are) needed to play against Manchester United a well-deserved break,” he said. “I will use games in Europa League and Carling Cup in order to try to get a better knowledge of he players to make certain, as time goes on, I have no doubts what our best XI is.
“Dirk Kuyt (shoulder) is out and Fabio Aurelio (Achilles) we have to wait for but we are not picking up injuries so I have quite a big squad to choose from. Everyone in the country understands that to play the number of games we and teams like ourselves have to play you have to change the team. What I don’t really understand is how every time you change the team and they do not win the selection is criticised.”
The manager pointed to a number of factors which are contributing to making it a difficult period for him and his players but insisted they would get better given time. “We’ve played eight, won five, drawn two and lost one (in all competitions) – I don’t think that is a bad start to the season by any stretch of the imagination,” said the 62-year-old.
“It is a new team and it has been a tough start to the season in terms of the programme. Like many teams we have fewer points than we would have liked and are firmly stuck in a group of teams between six and four points, which takes into account 90 per cent of the league. Of course, it is a time of transition which is always difficult – even if there is no change in the club itself. Even if you move to a club where things have gone very well and all the players are in place there is still a period of transition.”
Guardian Service
Venue:Anfield
Kick-off:8.05pm
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