Liverpool FC Forum

[bigmick]

This threads got some interesting stats and thoughts on formations and who plays where BUT having watched b'ugger all of Fulham in recent years can someone fill me in on our their preferred formation under Hodgson ? . I imagine it'll be odds on that he'll employ those same tactics and ethic with LFC .

It's an interesting question Woof, and I decided to do a little bit of digging. It turns out that Roy has a few more strings to his tactical bow than many would have you believe, and in fact has been very adaptable throughout his career.

For his crucial group A game with Switzerland in the 1994 World Cup, Roy adopted a 4-5-1. For the final of the UEFA Cup 1996 first leg (Hodgson took Inter to it after rescuing them from relegation the previous season, they were to be eventually be beaten on penalties), Roy went with a very Italian "cattanacio" system, employing a librero, three midfielders and asking the fullbacks to push on. Before taking over at Fulham, Roy was national coach with Finland and narrowly missed taking them to Euro 2008. Unusually for Finland, they were still in with a shout with one game to go, enhancing Hodgson's reputation as a footballing God in scandinavia. For the final qualifier (Serbia Away), Roy went with a 4-4-1-1. His time at Finland probably explains the rumours of Sami Hyppia coming back to Anfield. After a difficult start with Fulham, Hodgson went for a 4-5-1 in order to make them more difficult to beat. This arrested their steep decline which had begun under Sanchez, but crucially as time was running out Roy went back to a 4-4-2, pairing Jimmy Bullard with Danny Murphy in central midfield and puishing a fit again Brian McBride up top.

More recently, Roy had much success with Fulham by returning to a 4-5-1 after he rescued the career of Bobby Zamorra. Being forced to sell easily his best player (Jimmy Bullard) didn't stop him, and he got Fulham up into their highest ever league position (7th) the following season. Fulham have played an interesting blend of 4-5-1 and 4-4-2 with Clint Dempsey kind of flitting between the two roles.

Throughout his career Roy has been flexible, and has an excellent record in the transfer market. Even his big money flop which is always quoted (Kevin Davis 7.5 million) has subsequently proved himself to be a very useful player, and signings at Fulham such Mark Schwartzer, Brede Hangelund, Bobby Zamorra, Zoltan Gera, Paul Konchesky, Chris Smalling etc etc have proven to be extremely astute buys. Given the sale of Smalling and Bullard, Hodgson is almost certainly in credit on transfers, and players such as Hangelund and Zamorra have greatly enhanced their value since Roy picked them up.

Tactically though, I think we can expect some flexibility and a system which Roy feels best suits our personel.

[Fauxy]

Never seen his record in the transfer market.. and going by that it looks pretty impressive.

[Benny The Noon]

Well Chris Smalling has a long way to go yet and could well prove to be another big money flop for manure , either way it's good money for fulham to sell him for so much after just a couple of appearances . The GK was a great Bosman for them and Hangeland is a very good solid CB who I expect to go to Arsenal . Other players like Gera and Zamora are decent players who played well wih the way Fulham set up . The only time Hodgson was able to spend big was with Blackburn and Davies was a massive flop for them - only scored one goal i think - so I guess that is the only barometer to go by when looking at biggish money purchases .

[stmichael]

As others have said he genarally played 4-4-2 at home with inverted wingers. He tended to play Duff on the right cutting in onto his left foot with Dempsey on the left who is really a striker. Away from home he tended to play Zamora upfront on his own a lot of the time.

Anyway I was more interested by what he said upon his arrival in terms of his proposed style of play. He was certainly saying all the right things that's for sure. He emphasised his desire to get back to the Liverpool tradition created by Shankly, Paisley, Fagan and Dalglish.

He said: “All the things I’ve always liked are the things Liverpool were famous for in their heyday.

“Pass and move, always move it quickly and once you lose it get back in to position.

“That was the mantra which took Liverpool through their great years.

“I like a high-tempo passing game. I like players to work hard, I like players to get back in position. Those are my principles. I was influenced by the Liverpool team which dominated the 70s with all its great players and *playing the football they played.

“Also the Arsenal team of 1970-71 with Don Howe, who I thought was an exceptional coach, and the Chelsea team around about the same era of Dave Sexton.

“All those teams, for me, played football the way I was hoping to coach a football team to play.

Despite this vow, I still expect him to first and foremost make us hard to beat. His teams have always been difficult to break down, but not at the expense of playing decent football. On the zonal marking thing, I don't have a problem with it aslong as it's carried out properly. It was yet another stick for the media to bash Rafa with imo. Nobody ever mentioned it when were were winning ames left right and centre on 08/09.

[bigmick]

Well Chris Smalling has a long way to go yet and could well prove to be another big money flop for manure , either way it's good money for fulham to sell him for so much after just a couple of appearances . The GK was a great Bosman for them and Hangeland is a very good solid CB who I expect to go to Arsenal . Other players like Gera and Zamora are decent players who played well wih the way Fulham set up . The only time Hodgson was able to spend big was with Blackburn and Davies was a massive flop for them - only scored one goal i think - so I guess that is the only barometer to go by when looking at biggish money purchases .

Dead right. Forget about any good signings he's made, and just talk about Kevin Davis. When you talk about Kevin Davis, forget the fact that he's absolutely proven beyond any shadow of a doubt that he WAS actually worth every penny of the money Hodgson paid for him, and just talk about the fact he didn't have an instant impact. Forget about him buying Smalling from Bromsgrove or whoever the feck it was and selling him to Man Utd for 12 million quid, and instead specualte on whether or not he'll be worth it for Man Utd. Forget about him buying Hangelund, as it doesn't matter as he will go to Arsenal.

"The only barometer to go by" is the Kevin Davies six months.
I can see what fans mean by "backing the manager to the hilt" . Roy's going to have a tough job winning some fans over, particularly when some are already saying that if the team improves it's nothing to do with him .

[Thommo's perm]

Well Chris Smalling has a long way to go yet and could well prove to be another big money flop for manure , either way it's good money for fulham to sell him for so much after just a couple of appearances . The GK was a great Bosman for them and Hangeland is a very good solid CB who I expect to go to Arsenal . Other players like Gera and Zamora are decent players who played well wih the way Fulham set up . The only time Hodgson was able to spend big was with Blackburn and Davies was a massive flop for them - only scored one goal i think - so I guess that is the only barometer to go by when looking at biggish money purchases .

Dead right. Forget about any good signings he's made, and just talk about Kevin Davis. When you talk about Kevin Davis, forget the fact that he's absolutely proven beyond any shadow of a doubt that he WAS actually worth every penny of the money Hodgson paid for him, and just talk about the fact he didn't have an instant impact. Forget about him buying Smalling from Bromsgrove or whoever the feck it was and selling him to Man Utd for 12 million quid, and instead specualte on whether or not he'll be worth it for Man Utd. Forget about him buying Hangelund, as it doesn't matter as he will go to Arsenal.

"The only barometer to go by" is the Kevin Davies six months.
I can see what fans mean by "backing the manager to the hilt" . Roy's going to have a tough job winning some fans over, particularly when some are already saying that if the team improves it's nothing to do with him .

All jokes aside I honestly dont see what these people get out of being negative?
Is it because, if it all goes tits up they can say "I was right"?
Is it because they are frightened of being positive in case they are let down?
I cant think of any case in which negative thinking got anything done. A positive outlook will get more achieved and it encourages people to try harder:

"Positive and negative thinking are both contagious.
All of us affect, in one way or another, the people we meet. This happens instinctively and on a subconscious level, through thoughts and feelings transference, and through body language. People sense our aura and are affected by our thoughts, and vice versa. Is it any wonder that we want to be around positive people and avoid negative ones? People are more disposed to help us if we are positive, and they dislike and avoid anyone broadcasting negativity.
Negative thoughts, words and attitude bring up negative and unhappy moods and actions. When the mind is negative, poisons are released into the blood, which cause more unhappiness and negativity. This is the way to failure, frustration and disappointment."

Seriously, stop Fu*king moaning and trying to convince those of us who think this might be a start of something good that its not.
Youve had your say. We get it.

[Benny The Noon]

Mick if you read the post I have mentioned both Hangeland and Smalling - I used th Davies barometer for when he was able to spend big money and he do so with Davies who scored once all season and Blackburn got relegated with a team Hodgson assembled together - davies then went onto Southampton and scored a massive ten goals in 4 years and he finally became useful at Bolton as a thug and a battering ram - well done him . When Hodgson had a fair amount of money to spend at Blackburn he failed and was sacked as team got relegated - it's a fact that is hard to ignore

[Benny The Noon]

In fact looking more closer Hodgson spent 20 million during the summer of 1998 which back then was a vast transfer budget and the team got relegated

[Thommo's perm]

In fact looking more closer Hodgson spent 20 million during the summer of 1998 which back then was a vast transfer budget and the team got relegated

"Positive and negative thinking are both contagious.
All of us affect, in one way or another, the people we meet. This happens instinctively and on a subconscious level, through thoughts and feelings transference, and through body language. People sense our aura and are affected by our thoughts, and vice versa. Is it any wonder that we want to be around positive people and avoid negative ones? People are more disposed to help us if we are positive, and they dislike and avoid anyone broadcasting negativity.
Negative thoughts, words and attitude bring up negative and unhappy moods and actions. When the mind is negative, poisons are released into the blood, which cause more unhappiness and negativity. This is the way to failure, frustration and disappointment."

[bigmick]

well it shouldn't be a problem here because according to most he'll have 50p to spend . Seriously though, I understand you don't rate the manager and you remain to be convinced. It's OK. It doesn't mean you are a lesser fan if you don't rate the manager as much as somebody else does, it never has. I've looked into Roys record in some detail, and although like you I was unsure when his name was first mentioned, I now think we've got ourselves a really good manager.

In a few years we'll have a better idea who is right, but in the meantime I know you'll be cheering us on and getting behind the team because you hope he impoves us every bit as much as I do.

[Fauxy]

In fact looking more closer Hodgson spent 20 million during the summer of 1998 which back then was a vast transfer budget and the team got relegated

That was 12 years ago mate..

Since then , name some really poor signing's he has made.

[Redman in wales]

tbh - i really dont care how much money hodgson wasted / didn't waste in the summer of 1998 (12 years ago!!!)

Since then he has improve, learned from his mistakes, become a better manager and fulham can testify to that. Each to their own of course, but quite frankly my dear, I don't give a damn (about who he signed in 1998!!)

[bigmick]

To be honest I can understand Benny's concern. When the previous management have bought 20 million pound footballers in successive summers before deciding they didn't actually want them anymore, it does make you a little bit nervous about any new managers recruiting techniques. Thankfully though I think Roy is a safe pair of hands.

[Thommo's perm]

To be honest I can understand Benny's concern. When the previous management have bought 20 million pound footballers in successive summers before deciding they didn't actually want them anymore, it does make you a little bit nervous about any new managers recruiting techniques. Thankfully though I think Roy is a safe pair of hands.

I thought you werent going to discuss the previous management...

[bigmick]

I'm not, however I'm just trying to get my head around why some people are so nervous about how successful the new manager will be at buying players. I'm nervous about some things too with regards the new manager which is why I totally understand if people have reservations.