As we approach what many see as the defining part of the season for any club I thought it would be therapeutic to share a few thoughts on what I feel is going wrong at Anfield.
Tactics
"What do you mean do my methods translate? They have translated from Halmstad to Malmo to Orebo to Neuchatel Xamax to the Swiss national team. So I find the question insulting. To suggest that, because I have moved from one club to another, that the methods which have stood me in good stead for 35 years and made me one of the most respected coaches in Europe don’t suddenly work, is very hard to believe. "
We've all read by now what's wrong with Roy Hodgson's tactics and how they have failed to work thus far at Liverpool depending on what you deem to be a good performance. For Roy that seems to be to contain the opposition and keep our shape until we get the ball back. In attack there seems to be two approaches used.
Starting at the back, Reina acting as a sweeper passes out to Lucas, he then passes to Raul who depending on his position, turns and plays it to the wings, or plays it back to Lucas and moves to create a gap for Lucas to play it through to one of the frontmen, more often then not it's into feet so they must either turn with the ball or lay it off for the other striker or one of the wingers.
Maxi who has flourished in this role in a number of games where he has been given space and time, Kuyt on the other hand has had a poor season thus far but this may be down to his two best traits, incredible energy and ability to close down the opposition being curtailed by Roys instructions to keep shape. If a guy like me can see this technique used it doesn't take a tactical genius to work how best to play against it and how to take key player out of the game.
Plan B seems to be a ball hoofed to the opposite channel to one of the strikers, held up or headed on to the strike partner and when this is usually 2 v 4 or 5 it can lead to very frustrating results. Torres playing as a target man now has to leave himself open to elbows, head butts and other dirty tactics as the opposition has been briefed to rough him up early as it seems to always affect his game. PR photos of happy players in training are appearing every few days in recent weeks even a very odd one of Roy shaking an obviously frustrated Torres's hand while both preserved icy facades. After all he didn't join Liverpool to dog it out mid table.
One interesting piece of information from the training photos is the grid lines painted on the pitch. Dividing the space this way ensures that each player has an allocated space that's theirs to fill, if needs require them to leave that space and enter another teammates area, they must fill in the space left behind by the player with the ball. Not only does this keep the shape of the team it also shares the space on the pitch between the outfield players, especially with the two banks of 4 in their own half while they don't have the ball.
This also reduces the amount of ground certain players have to cover namely the centre backs, which can only help players whose pace has long since left them and favours an older team compared to Rafa's whose required a high rotation of squad due to it high intensity pressing style of play, players find this style difficult to sustain in a season approaching 60 games. Roy's system is one that Carra enjoys as it's virtually identical to one employed by Gerrard Houllier, whose time at Anfield Carra has recently said he enjoyed the most.
Coaching
When Rafa left he took his fist team coach Mauricio Pellegrino, Goal keeping coach Xavi Valero and in came, drum roll please...
Mike Kelly
Born in 1942, Mike Kelly First Team Coach at Liverpool FC is 68 years old. A brief wiki of his career shows very little in the way of achievement and having travelled with Roy Hodgson on and off since the early 80's. This is actually his second stint at Anfield having previously worked there during Graeme Souness'stenuous reign as a freelance Goalkeeping coach 2-3 days a week and we know how that period at LFC ended.
From the LFC website -
Mike Kelly reunited with Roy Hodgson at Liverpool in the summer of 2010.
The first-team coach followed the boss from Fulham to Melwood to continue a long-standing working relationship and friendship that stretches back in excess of 40 years.
"I first crossed paths with Roy in the late 1960s," he recalls. "Roy comes from Croydon and he, his friend Bobby Houghton and myself were members of the Surrey Coaches Association. We'd meet once or twice a month and from there we became close friends."
After obtaining his coaching qualifications in 1965, Mike enjoyed a playing career that saw him represent Wimbledon, QPR and Birmingham, as well as a year-long spell in America with Minnesota Kicks.
It was during his stint at St Andrews that Kelly became a player/coach and he would later take up a managerial berth at Plymouth and assistant roles with Crystal Palace and West Brom.
Specialising in training goalkeepers, Mike worked with the England and Swiss national teams, as well as a whole multitude of domestic teams putting stoppers through their paces.
He was the Three Lions' custodian coach for two World Cups as well as Euro 96, while he worked alongside Hodgson for Switzerland at USA 94.
In 2007, Mike moved to Fulham in an assistant manager/first-team coach capacity after Hodgson was appointed as the Cottagers' boss - and the pair helped the Londoners enjoy some of the most successful seasons in their history.
"I'm like a golf bag - I've had more clubs than Jack Nicklaus," he chuckles.
"I got the coaching buzz early in my career when I was around 19/20 years of age. I qualified in 1965, so I was actually a qualified coach before I became a full-time professional with Wimbledon.
"The first time I worked with Roy was in the early 1980s later at Bristol City. After that he went to work in Scandinavia, then in 1990 he got the job as Switzerland boss and I worked alongside him.
"Because I have worked with him over a period of time, I know how he likes to operate. I understand how I can fit into my role without being a nuisance to him.
"It's the familiarity factor - I know the way he works, where I can step in and where I have to step out in order to help him.
"Roy likes to work with big groups and that is difficult for one coach to do as you've only got one pair of eyes, so it's always handy to have an aide.
"Sammy Lee is heavily involved as well and it's like a jigsaw - Roy does the bulk of it and then Sammy and I do our bits and between the three of us it is a good organisation."
Mike's summer switch to Liverpool is actually the second time he has worked for the Reds he was hired on a freelance basis by then-manager Graeme Souness in the early 1990s.
"I've worked at Liverpool before for nine months as a freelance goalkeeping coach under Graeme Souness for two or three days a week," he explains.
"I'd done some work with Graeme at Glasgow Rangers, and he invited me to come and work at Melwood with Bruce Grobbelaar, David James and Mike Hooper as they didn't have a goalkeeping coach at the time."
Having worked with so many of the game's top stoppers over the years, what qualities does Mike look for in a goalkeeper?
"The main characteristics I look for in a goalkeeper are good technique, eye-to-hand coordination, athleticism, strength and mobility," he reveals.
"Temperament is also important at a club like this. The stadium is packed out for every game, so you have got to have a strong mentality to handle that every time you play."
Despite having represented a whole host of clubs across Europe, Mike believes there is something unique about Liverpool and admits the chance to follow Hodgson to Merseyside left him thrilled.
He says: "It's a good feeling. This is a special club and when I worked here for Graeme you could sense that. To get the opportunity to work here at a high level is something some people will never get in their lives."
"On his return to England Kelly was appointed reserve team manager of Plymouth Argyle. When manager Tony Waiters resigned, Kelly took his place, himself resigning after nine months with the team seemingly heading for relegation. He went on to assistant manager roles at Fulham, Crystal Palace and West Bromwich Albion.
He was England goalkeeping coach from 1984 to 1990 and worked with the team in two World Cups, then performed a similar role with the Switzerland national football team until the 1994 World Cup. At club level he worked with many clubs in England and abroad, and in December 2007 he joined Fulham F.C. as goalkeeping coach and assistant manager under Roy Hodgson, with whom he had worked at club and national level."
An email has surfaced on LFC fan site Red and White Kop reportedly of an email from someone connected to the coaching staff. I'm sure many of you have seen it as this stage and I don't believe it to be true but here it is for you to make up your own mind.
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Sounds like civil war within the coaching staff.
• The flip-chart from the players meeting is 100% genuine – it wasn’t in a Newcastle hotel as it was here before they left.
• Someone who witnessed the meeting said it was the most amateurish team meeting they have been in ever.
• Kelly spent his time swearing and urging Kyriagos and Skrtel to ‘rough up’ Andy Carroll – the players are used to more detailed information such as which foot he favours etc. The swearing, as fackin this and fackin that, doesn’t go down well in a professional environment with the players
• Before the Blackpool game the scouts reports (the guys who go and watch the opposition) all outlined that if you stop Charlie Adam then you stop Blackpool – he needs time and space to dictate the play and he pulls the strings for the Blackpool front 3 – Roy basically ignored them and in the briefing meetings when he was advised to close down Adams he said ‘Why? My teams don’t do that’. He then went out with his regimented 4-4-2 and wondered why Blackpool out passed us and destroyed us in the final third of the pitch.
• Roy was presented with scouting reports of recent Newcastle performances in a meeting with scouts and Damian Commolli (oh and the swearing big, old, fat cockney Kelly). Roy actually commented that he had never seen reports with so much detail and specific information about each of the opposition players and how they played. But then said ‘But what do you want me to do with them?’
• The reports started off by highlighting how the Newcastle full backs play higher up the pitch and leave spaces in behind them to exploit. Roy said ‘so what’. It was suggested to him that the wide players may wish to get men and the ball in that area and look to get crosses in to the box – ‘We don’t play that way!’
• They showed how Newcastle launch attacks from the high up fullbacks aiming diagonal balls into Carroll. Roy was urged to get his wide men to push on the full backs and not allow them the time to get their arrowed balls into Carroll – We don’t play that way!’
• At this point Commolli quietly urged the scouts to leave it and not push it any further.
• Hodgson and Kelly have built up a serious and nasty hatred for Torres and Reina – it has all come one way but has now started to return from the Spaniards.
• Mike Kelly spends his time slating the players and doesn’t have a good word to say about any of them
Hodgson is feeling that he is not getting anywhere near the credit he should be 'for guiding this squad so easily through the Europa League'.
He has tactically took a group of young players and also rans and sailed through against full strength sides.
'Facking ell, facking ell - no one is giving me the credit I deserve for the European efforts'
He is also not happy that John Henry is in many discussions with Commolli and not Roy.
Big arguments between staff brought in by Hodgson and those already at the club about footballing philosophies.
Ex Fulham coach on the virtues of their methods and Liverpool coaches desperately trying to tell them 'but we are not Fulham'
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Psychology
In a game of football where so many different factors of chance come into play, it is impossible to know exactly what the outcome of a match will be. However there are certain boxes that must be ticked by a manager and the ethos he brings to a club. As we have seen during his time at Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and now Real Madrid Josè Mourinho is a manager that can elevate players to levels few others ever reach. A man management style, psychology and winning mentality when coupled with an attention to detail to tactics and research he prowls around the touch line the ultimate alpha male oozing confidence and charisma few can match. Not only does this serve is ego but it also seems to fortify the team by drawing the attention away and creating an us against them mentality. For every Master there is an Apprentice and after 34 unbeaten games in all compitions with Porto, Andrea Villas-Boas seems to be exactly that.
"What seems to make Villas-Boas special is that he has many of the same attributes of Mourinho. He has an obsession for researching the opposition and started off producing scouting reports for then Porto boss Bobby Robson in the 1990s while still a teenager. Famously, while at Stamford Bridge, his scouting reports included personalised DVDs for each player, outlining their opposite number's strengths and weaknesses.
Villas-Boas has also shown himself to be a superb psychologist. The Dragoes coach has managed to convince, and sound sincere even to the sceptics, that everyone is special at Porto, allowing him to get the best out of both the established first-teamers and fringe players, such as summer signing James Rodriguez.
"Every player in the squad is an important player. They all have a place," said Villas-Boas last week. "I have praised both Andre Castro and Ukra (Andre Monteiro) publicly and privately. I don't want to lose them. James has incredible potential and I intend to make him realise it. He will have opportunities (in the Portuguese Cup and Europa League) against Juventude Evora and Sofia, which will be good opportunities for him and they won't be his last, that's for sure."
James responded to the public pat on the back with two outstanding games, scoring Porto's final goal in their 3-1 win over CSKA Sofia in the Europa League on Wednesday.
A 4-0 win over third division side Juventude de Evora in the Portuguese Cup on Saturday also set a club record of 34 unbeaten matches in all competitions, taking into account the end of last season. It consigned to history the previous best run, achieved when Mourinho was at the helm.
Ever since their 5-0 thrashing of current champions Benfica in November - after which Villas-Boas publicly tore apart the tactics of his opposite number Jorge Jesus and told him how and why Benfica had been beaten - talk has been rampant about the possibility of Porto going through the season undefeated, at least in the league."
Extract taken from Phil Minshull at the BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/philminshull/2010/12/villas-boas_makes_porto_the_to.html
Compare this to Roy Hodgson's comments relating to his players-
Glen Johnson : "He's not performed -- very often at least -- to the level I'd expect of him" (Johnson) is the England right-back and, if he plays like that, one would expect him to come back in when he's fit. But then he'd have to play like the England right-back and up to now, to be quite frank, he's not performed - very often at least - to the level I'd expect of him. You would have to ask him 'do you think you're playing at top form and are you playing like the best right-back in the country for your club?' If he says yes, obviously we will have to agree to differ and if he says no, then you'd have to ask the question 'why not?
Johnson came back in his first came after injury and ran the show against West Ham from right back, scoring the first from a corner and after replied "I didn’t need to hear it from the boss to know that I hadn’t been playing at my best, I’m an honest man and I know how well I can play, so it was nice to get a goal today," he told ESPN.
After the apparent success of his mind games with the under performing Johnson worked he turn his attention to the other cockney rude boy Joe Cole to see if his magic could work again as he returned from injury. It didn't.
"He isn't a naturally confident character. He suffers when things are not going his way. Everyone at the club has worked hard to make sure he doesn't take it too hard and take too much on himself, because he's quite happy to take responsibility. Sometimes those players can take too much on themselves and push themselves even further down.
Then in response to the resounding criticism against him after the Newcastle game he turned on the remainder of the squad.
"Unless there is a major influx of cash into the club and the team is going to be changed from one moment to the next, then whoever takes my place will be doing a similar job with similar players.
Hardly a resounding endorsement of your team is it?
The quotable Roy Hodgson, six months in by Brian Kettle
http://www.thisisanfield.com/2010/12/the-quotable-roy-hodgson-six-months-in/
So where does that leave us. A recent article by Brian Reade (http://bit.ly/BrianReade) seems to suggest that there are good arguments against sacking Roy and getting someone else in. he believes Roy is the Ronnie Moran of our time simply a short term stop gap and that the owners need time to find there feet in a sport that they have zero knowledge of. I agree with that point but what he fails to mention in his article and as LFCPool has posted in the comments section summed up mine and so many others thoughts so succinctly I thought I would repost it here. ~
"Brian,
Good article and I can see your point about being careful. However, sacking Hodgson immediately would not be as destabilising as you claim.
Simply for the reason we have an immediate temporary replacement waiting in the wings - Dalglish. He wanted the job initially, and is ready to take over at a moment's notice.
Why would this be a good thing? For a number of reasons:
1. It would lift the spirits of the fans, and reunite the holy trinity (fans/manager/players) that is now broken.
2. He would not do a worse job than Roy, and even without a trophy or top 7 finish it would not be because we didn't try to play quality football.
3. Dalglish would know he was caretaker only, and the pressure would be off him completely. At present Roy is fighting for his job and reputation and that is leading to desperation.
4. The owners could then take their time, without going behind anyones back, to find the right man to come in next season. It could be done "in the open" and allow potential suitors to come forward without feeling they are stepping on the current manager.
5. The squabbling would end. Kenny will not come out and make noise about lack of funds, poor players, blaming Rafa, and all the other nonsense Roy is vociferating. Dalglish will know he simply needs to get on with it, make the most of it, and let the dust settle until the new manager takes over long term.
Brian, the positives of replacing Roy immediately easily outweigh the negatives. Many think that by doing so the owners are simply bending to the will of the fans. Well, so what if people think that? What matters is doing the right thing because it is right.
And it is obvious to anyone who has an interest in Liverpool, that Hodgson is simply the wrong man."
Enjoy the rest of Roy's famous Quotes, you may feel like furiously rubbing your face after.
So here it is in chronological order. Sit back and watch six months fly by:
4 July: "I like a high-tempo passing game"
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.
5 August: "Look into the mirror rather than look for excuses elsewhere" (On player complaints about squad quality)
As a player you have a chance to change things. If you don't think the team is doing as well as it should, as a player you can do something about it. If you are a big player, maybe you will. My attitude is that we want our big players because they will help the team to win. Now if they are not playing well and not helping the team to win, I will be advising them to look into the mirror rather than look for excuses elsewhere and blame the owners for not having spent £500m.
9 September: "Unbelievably overstaffed" (After beating West Brom)
We were unbelievably over-staffed when I came to the club and, if the truth be known, we still are over-staffed. It was just as big a job making sure some of the players who never feature for the first team move on and that we limit our squad to players who are either in the frame to play first-team football or who have a bright future who are still anxious to play academy and reserve team football.
9 September: "He's a good player and he's the right man for the job" (On Konchesky)
There aren't many quality left-backs around in the world, never mind in England - so to find an English one who can go straight into the team without any adjustment problems is a big advantage. He is a player I know, a player I have worked with and he knows the way we try to play and the things we try to do. That's another little advantage, but the main reason for bringing him here is because we think he's a good player and he's the right man for the job.
10 September: "We'll have ample quality to see us through" (see also 30 October)
I preferred to put my weight behind David Ngog and Ryan Babel, who's never really been given a proper chance at centre-forward at the club. We have Fernando Torres, we have good players who can play behind a lone striker. I'm hoping that between now and Christmas we'll have ample quality to see us through that period. And in the meantime we have chance to do thorough scouting so that if the money is available, we could look into the situation again. I will be using David Ngog and Ryan Babel in certain games to give Fernando Torres a rest and it's up to them to prove to me that there's no need to look further than them.
20 September: "It is very early for me to make very strong judgments about where his best position is" (On Meireles)
He had two training sessions and played on Thursday night and he played again on Sunday so it is very early for me to make very strong judgments about where his best position is. The work we do on the training field will show me how best to use him. He actually went out wide right late in the United game and did okay there also. All I can say is he has a lot of qualities and I'm sure we'll get a lot of use out of him.
23 September: "These players have to accept responsibility" (After the defeat to Northampton)
These players have to accept responsibility. I accept responsibility for changing a lot of players in the team, I did it because I honestly thought the players I put on the field were good enough to win the game and they weren't. The obvious conclusion to that was I shouldn't have changed that many players but we should have been strong enough to get a result. We must all take our responsibility. I am just bitterly disappointed that the team I had so much faith in did not repay that faith this evening with the exception of one or two performances.
24 September: "The protest does not help"
The protest does not help but it is something I have had to live with since I came to the club. I, like everyone else at Liverpool, would be very happy if the ownership situation was clarified and in particular if we got a very good owner that could help us move forward. It is a major issue for a group of people who are very much anti the owners and anti the current people who are trying to solve the situation. I knew the situation existed before I arrived and it doesn't help. But it is often the case that when things are conspiring against you there is always an extra thing to come in and make it that little bit worse.
25 September: “I didn't think it was necessary to say it" (On not responding to the Torres "diving" accusations, six days prior)
I didn't think it was necessary to say it because it was insulting people's intelligence. For me, it was one of Alex's inflammatory little digs to make his victory even sweeter and our defeat even harder and that's part of the game
3 October: "From Halmstad to Malmo to Orebo to Neuchatel Xamax..."
What do you mean do my methods translate? They have translated from Halmstad to Malmo to Orebo to Neuchatel Xamax to the Swiss national team. So I find the question insulting. To suggest that, because I have moved from one club to another, that the methods which have stood me in good stead for 35 years and made me one of the most respected coaches in Europe don’t suddenly work, is very hard to believe.
3 October: "I don't understand questions about Liverpool and Fulham players being different types"
I don't understand questions about Liverpool and Fulham players being different types. At the moment arguably one or two of the players that are suggested as being very different to the Fulham players maybe aren't playing any better than the Fulham players played. So maybe people should be having a look at that.
18 October: "As good as we have played all season" (After the woeful loss to Everton)
That was as good as we have played all season, and I have no qualms with the performance whatsoever. I only hope fair-minded people will see it the same way.
21 October: "We will cross that bridge when we come to it" (On rumours of Torres to Manchester United)
I think we will cross that bridge when we come to it. There will always be speculation. When a great player like Wayne Rooney is looking to leave his club, then you know Manchester United will be in a position to target a lot of players around the world. I don't think Fernando will be the only striker they target - and I don't think we will be the only club worried that their striker is in their sights. I am not naive enough to believe that there won't be any danger and we will never lose a player like Torres. I understand these things can happen. I don't believe we will lose him.
29 October: "It's all to do with how good your scouting and your eye is"
I think you can pay an awful lot of money for poor players and you can pay not very much money for very good ones – it is all to do with how good your scouting and your eye is. There are a lot of things here that the club has got to get right. We have got a lot more expensive failures on our list than good players that we have brought in for next to nothing. Free transfers don’t necessarily mean that you have got a bargain. My experience of them has been very mixed. You need to be sure that the player you get can do the job you want from him.
30 October: "They can't all be wrong and we aren't that stupid either"
A club like Liverpool shouldn't have to rely on non-specialists like Dirk Kuyt or Ryan Babel ‘doing a job’ up front when they are primarily wide players. ...The first thing people say when I walk down the street is ‘We need a front player’. They can't all be wrong and we aren't that stupid either.
30 October: "That's what he's good at" (On Dalglish)
He is doing a great job alongside us and we involve him in our scouting while he still works at The Academy and plays an ambassadorial role. That's what he's good at.
31 October: "A famous victory" (1-0 at Bolton)
Today was a famous victory because we hadn’t won more than once away in the whole of 2010. When you’re down the bottom, and keep being reminded you’re down the bottom, anxiety kicks in.
31 October: "He was here in name but not allowed to set foot in Melwood"
When they wanted me for the job, I made it clear to Kenny that he would be with me - not like with Benitez, when he was here in name but not allowed to set foot in Melwood and it was 'we don't want anything to do with you
12 November: "He's not that bad on the ball"
Unfortunately I can't do anything about the fans, but he's (Poulsen) had one or two games in front of our crowd where he's not played well and he knows he hasn't. He is devastated by that and the crowd, who aren't stupid, know he's not played well. It's a fact of life. He can only keep working hard and when he gets his chance he has to get on with his job. He had a job to do against Wigan and without his introduction, with a very tired Maxi Rodríguez and Dirk Kuyt, who knows we could even have lost the game. But he's got quality, he's a good defensive midfield player. He's not that bad on the ball, but let's not beat about the bush and try to disguise the fact – he's had a bad start.
13 November: "He's not performed -- very often at least -- to the level I'd expect of him"
(Johnson) is the England right-back and, if he plays like that, one would expect him to come back in when he's fit. But then he'd have to play like the England right-back and up to now, to be quite frank, he's not performed - very often at least - to the level I'd expect of him. You would have to ask him 'do you think you're playing at top form and are you playing like the best right-back in the country for your club?' If he says yes, obviously we will have to agree to differ and if he says no, then you'd have to ask the question 'why not?
14 November: "I didn't realise I had been accused of criticising him"
It amazes me that when you make a statement of such obvious veracity people want to make headlines out of it. Everyone is saying what I am saying. I hope I am honest and I hope the players are honest. I didn't realise I had been accused of criticising him; I don't normally criticise my players and I'm sorry if that has been suggested.
26 November: "We won't need to do too much in the January transfer window" (After beating West Ham)
I have a very clear picture now of what we should and need to be doing and the squad is stronger and getting stronger. It was probably stronger than I realised at certain stages in the early part of the season when we were losing games. Hopefully that will mean we won't need to do too much in the January transfer window
2 December: "He isn't a naturally confident character" (As Joe Cole returns from injury)
He isn't a naturally confident character. He suffers when things are not going his way. Everyone at the club has worked hard to make sure he doesn't take it too hard and take too much on himself, because he's quite happy to take responsibility. Sometimes those players can take too much on themselves and push themselves even further down.
9 December: "I don't know where the stories came from" (After Brukner said Gerrard could be fit, on 30 November)
I don't know where the stories came from that Gerrard would be fit for Newcastle. We have always been thinking he would be fit to face Fulham the following weekend, it would be much too early to consider him for Newcastle.
10 December: "He has been the first to recognise what a good job it was that we didn’t do these things" (On not letting Babel, Lucas et al leave)
Christian (Purslow) was here for two years and is a big fan with strong opinions about players. He fed me the information. I listened, of course, but made it clear I was not going to act on it. To be fair, when we’ve spoken or texted he has been the first to recognise what a good job it was that we didn’t do these things, because the boys have turned out well.
14 December: "Unless there is a major influx of cash into the club..." (After losing to Newcastle)
Unless there is a major influx of cash into the club and the team is going to be changed from one moment to the next, then whoever takes my place will be doing a similar job with similar players.
14 December: "I can't work harder and I can't work better"
The owners have made it perfectly clear they are in it for the long term. They realise it is going to take time. They realise we can't turn things round overnight and they also realise the team I am working with is not the team I put together. It [the speculation] doesn't bother me because I can't do more than I am doing. I can't work harder and I can't work better.
15 December: "A bunch of also-rans"
I don't know if I would have considered using Fernando had David Ngog been fit. But he isn't and, having had a chat with Fernando, I think he'll enjoy it. It's not as if he'll be playing with a bunch of also-rans. I'm not asking him to play in the reserves.
15 December: "They made me see sense"
I thought it would be a nice game for him (Torres) and a chance for him to get his confidence back. But I also had a talk to our fitness people and they made me see sense that it wasn't the wisest thing to do. And of course it would be very bad for us if he picked up an injury. The same applied to Pepe Reina. They made me see sense, I listened to the reason around me and I changed my mind.
