Friday 17 December 2010

Why can't Liverpool win away from home?

Liverpool have struggled both on and off the pitch this season. A long and wearisome (but finally resolved) ownership legal battle, a clearly inept manager and disappointingly dull performances on the pitch have left Anfield shrouded in a sense of pessimism and depression.

Most worryingly our record away from home has been shockingly bad. One win, two draws and six defeats have yielded a meagre five points from a possible 27 for Hodgson's underperforming side. Defeats at rivals Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and Everton have been particularly galling for fans hoping to see the Reds challenging further up the table this season.

The fact that all three promoted sides, as well as the likes of Wigan Athletic and Stoke City, have a better record on the road also dramatically demonstrates the dire straits our away form is in, and the desperate need for rapid improvement.

The reason commonly used to explain this unacceptable run of results is a lack of confidence. Just as winning breeds winning, losing breeds losing, so the argument goes. With Hodgson inheriting a side that won only five away games throughout the entirety of last season the few remaining supporters of the 63-year old former Fulham manager argue that our disastrous away record is due to the inherent lack of confidence engendered within the squad following an abysmal last season under former boss Rafael Benitez.

While confidence is always a crucial aspect in football and is vital to any successful side Liverpool's squad is still packed full of internationals with experience of competing in the world's best competitions and winning coveted trophies, who should be able to cope with the hostile atmosphere of opposition grounds.

Surely the reason for such a prolonged failure on the road must be more complex than simply a lack of confidence?

An infinitely more likely cause of our away day blues are the outdated, negative and unsuitable tactics employed by Roy Hodgson. Liverpool are expected to dominate and control the majority of matches they play, regardless of whether they are at home or away and regardless of who the opposition may be. Being a big club we are also expected to win those games we should win against teams of lower stature.

However, Roy Hodgson's tactical approach is one that concentrates on not losing games away from home, rather than taking the game to the opposition and emerging victorious. Also, his preferred style means that the team remains rigidly within their shape, leaving space and time for opponents to dominate and to pile pressure on our often unconfident and hesitant backline.

The lack of fluidity and forward thinking derived from the formation usually used by Hodgson means that even at Anfield we rarely dominate matches in the manner that we used to under Rafael Benitez. While Benitez's side managed to control both possession and hence the proceedings but often failed to convert the numerous chances created, Hodgson's team fails to fulfil even the basic requirements of a Liverpool side, namely keeping the ball, dominating play and trying to win the match.

Yes, confidence is affecting our ability to perform on the road, but it is the player's lack of confidence in their manager's tactical aptitude rather than their own playing ability that is leading to such dire form away from home.

However, in fairness to Hodgson he may not possess enough of the type of players needed to win games regularly on the road. What has been lacking from our play so often this season is the grit, determination and fighting spirit required to battle through tough clashes against physical opposition.

This is because our team has too many players like Maxi, Johnson and Konchesky who are either unable or unwilling to fight a physical contest and not enough committed and tough players like Jamie Carragher, Steven Gerrard and Sotirios Kyrgiakos.

While the manager must accept his fair share, if not the majority of responsibility for recent results, the players are not exempt from criticism either, with many of them appearing unwilling to put a strong tackle in and fight for the points when the going gets tough.

The rapidly approaching January transfer window must be a time where NESV wisely invest in improving the squad, in terms of our defensive stability and our attacking options. The question remains though as to who will be in charge to spend that money. Personally I can offer no reason as to why that man should be current boss Roy Hodgson, who has miserably failed on all accounts so far.

There is an argument that he should be given the money to buy his own players that fit his system, but can we really trust Hodgson's system and style of play when it is so evidently failing? While Liverpool's shocking record of one win in nine away matches is unacceptable, it fades in comparison to Hodgson's simply terrible record where he has managed only a single victory in 27 games on the road.

That not only suggests a tactical ineptitude from Hodgson, it also points to a mid-table manager suited to mid-table teams like Fulham, Viking and Malmo who are not expected to win matches away from home on a regular basis. At this difficult time for the club we cannot afford to keep a mid-table manager in charge.

I would love to be proven wrong, but if Hodgson does stay at the helm then I simply cannot see our away record improving any time soon.

YNWA

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