Why Liverpool must learn from Blackpool if Roy is to survive
By Mark Lawrenson
Published 22:59 31/12/10//
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For so long it was Benitez with his glass half-full mentality and what Liverpool fans need is someone who doesn’t feel they need an extra defensive midfielder.
They have probably looked at Blackpool and realised: There’s a team that has a real go. The result? They are eighth in the Premier League with games in hand.
And if I were a Premier League chairman I’d want to see the same thing from my team. For them to go for it.
Teams are not frightened at Anfield any more. They know that if you keep Steven Gerrard and/or Fernando Torres quiet, then Liverpool have nothing to offer.
I don’t think Roy has lost the players. They still support him, but they too just want the team to go on the front foot more.
Why are Tottenham where they are? Because they have a real go. When they get beat, their fans aren’t too unhappy because they know the players have gone out with a positive attitude.
They prefer that to seeing games with so many players behind the ball – especially at home.
They Liverpool way is to press and harry, dominate and attack. But against teams like Wolves, they just haven’t done that and that’s where Roy has got it wrong.
He wants the fans to back him, but he has to give them something to back him for. I hate to use Manchester United as an example for Liverpool, but what does Sir Alex Ferguson do when he wants to win a game? He keeps bringing attackers on.
If nothing else, it forces the opposition back and puts the emphasis on them to watch their backs instead of your team watching theirs.
Now it seems that unless Roy follows Ian Holloway in throwing caution to the wind and abandoning safety-first, he’d better watch his own back.
**
There can be absolutely no debate. Ian Holloway is most certainly my Manager of the Year.
He has been sensational throughout the last 12 months. Everybody knows there he had come from in the Championship and even on the way to the play-offs and he never for a minute changed the way that he played. Always on the front foot.
I think he has been a breath of fresh air and he deserves all the success that he gets.
**
Interview: Darren Lewis
Read more: http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opin...#ixzz19opxWfA9
Sign up for MirrorFootball's Morning Spy newsletter Register here
By Mark Lawrenson
Published 22:59 31/12/10//
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For so long it was Benitez with his glass half-full mentality and what Liverpool fans need is someone who doesn’t feel they need an extra defensive midfielder.
They have probably looked at Blackpool and realised: There’s a team that has a real go. The result? They are eighth in the Premier League with games in hand.
And if I were a Premier League chairman I’d want to see the same thing from my team. For them to go for it.
Teams are not frightened at Anfield any more. They know that if you keep Steven Gerrard and/or Fernando Torres quiet, then Liverpool have nothing to offer.
I don’t think Roy has lost the players. They still support him, but they too just want the team to go on the front foot more.
Why are Tottenham where they are? Because they have a real go. When they get beat, their fans aren’t too unhappy because they know the players have gone out with a positive attitude.
They prefer that to seeing games with so many players behind the ball – especially at home.
They Liverpool way is to press and harry, dominate and attack. But against teams like Wolves, they just haven’t done that and that’s where Roy has got it wrong.
He wants the fans to back him, but he has to give them something to back him for. I hate to use Manchester United as an example for Liverpool, but what does Sir Alex Ferguson do when he wants to win a game? He keeps bringing attackers on.
If nothing else, it forces the opposition back and puts the emphasis on them to watch their backs instead of your team watching theirs.
Now it seems that unless Roy follows Ian Holloway in throwing caution to the wind and abandoning safety-first, he’d better watch his own back.
**
There can be absolutely no debate. Ian Holloway is most certainly my Manager of the Year.
He has been sensational throughout the last 12 months. Everybody knows there he had come from in the Championship and even on the way to the play-offs and he never for a minute changed the way that he played. Always on the front foot.
I think he has been a breath of fresh air and he deserves all the success that he gets.
**
Interview: Darren Lewis
Read more: http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opin...#ixzz19opxWfA9
Sign up for MirrorFootball's Morning Spy newsletter Register here
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