Football Update: EPL News- Liverpool defender Daniel Agger criticizes manager Roy Hodgson
The Liverpool left back Daniel Agger who originally specializes in playing at the centre back position for the club has lashed out at his own manager Roy Hodgson.
He lambasted about the strategy of the Englishman specifically targeting the manager’s new tactic of playing long balls and taking advantage from it.
As a matter of fact, this new strategy that the 63 year old manager is trying to apply is quite naive considering the fact that other teams have better men that can out run the best in offence from Liverpool mainly because of the reason that Liverpool’s
offence are extremely out of form.
The Danish international defender stated that the manager was brought in because of his superior tactics but the way he is currently heading the club has lead him to doubt the former Fulham manager.
With Fulham last season, the manager guided the Cottagers into the Europa finals where they were only defeated by the Spanish club Atletico Madrid. In the guidance of the English manager, men from Craven Cottage went onto an amazing campaign in which they
nearly won the tournament only losing it in the final moments of the final.
After a torrid summer, Hodgson was signed in by Liverpool board mainly because of his ability to play a team in different formations and to manage in very low budgets. That is exactly what he did last season as he took the club to new heights, while he bred
new players from the club.
His arrival to Liverpool indeed hailed his as the 11th hour Samaritan as he managed to retain losing players like the Reds skipper Steven Gerrard and Spanish world class striker Fernando Torres. He also dealt with those players that demanded a
transfer like the Argentinean captain Javier Mascherano. In addition, the manager brought a new talent into the club. The men he brought were Joe Cole, Milan Jovanovic, Danny Wilson, Raul Meriles and Christian Poulsen.
With the start of the season it had become apparent that the red part of the Merseyside was no longer in trouble that it was assumed to be in the beginning. However, that image was left a bit tarnished after the first 5 matches of the campaign where Liverpool’s
lack of goal scoring ability was apparent.
In desperation, Hodgson introduced the novice long ball method but as Fernando Torres is currently too lethargic to run, therefore the strategy hasn’t been working so far.
The Liverpool defender, Agger has openly expressed his disappointment in Hodgson. He is right now playing out of his position, where instead of him Jamie Carragher and Martin Skrtel are playing.
While talking to media the Danish international stated about Hodgson’s offensive approach, “I'm here to play football and not to unload (the ball). The manager has a philosophy that we're playing football further up the pitch and then you have to play
a different kind of football at the back. That's not my style. That's not the type of football player I am. I like to keep the ball on the ground. And I'm going to keep doing that. Whether he'll use me or not, time will tell.”
He continued, “I guess I'll try to change even though I'm not going to be the player that unloads the ball every single time I get it. I'll fight for my chance. I'll get the chance. I know what I represent and I think he also knows that.”
On another instance, Agger who has played in 121 matches for Liverpool and scored 7 goals stated that with the arrival of Hodgson at Anfield the style of play of Scouse has changed drastically.
He expressed, “Our play has changed, so I'll have to adjust a bit," he said. "But to be honest, I'm not going to adjust 100%. I'm a footballer who keeps the ball on the floor. I'm here to play, not to unload.”
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