Why Roy Hodgson deserved the sack and why Kenny Dalglish is the right choice – Part 4
It may be an overused statement but there isn’t a doubt about it that ‘King’ Kenny is the greatest Liverpool player of all time. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Fernando-Torres-c13707 was called upon to have a
kick around with Kenny Dalglish. To Barrett’s surprise, even Fernando Torres was nervous to simply kick the ball around with Dalglish; such is the awe of the great man.
Liverpool’s appointment of former http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786 and West Ham first team coach Steve Clark as Kenny’s assistant is the first of the many right things that are expected from the ‘King’. If he can get all these men around him, Kenny with his deep understanding of
the game can get Liverpool back to where they belong.
Many people have suggested that Kenny has been out of the game for too long and isn’t the best choice for this role. However, he has been working closely with ex-Barcelona football guru Borrell at the academy. Borrell uses more modern football tactics with
young players which resemble more with the current Barcelona side than the current Liverpool side. Dalglish worked closely with Rafa as well so to propose that Kenny is out of touch with modern day football is completely baseless.
In fact, Kenny will know better than most others about the ample talent available at the academy. Last Saturday, the young Reds ripped apart Crystal Palace 3-1, who are currently top of the Southern League. It could have been a lot more had the boys finished
off the more chances that came their way.
They deployed a 4-2-3-1 formation with Spanish wonder kid, Suso, pulling the strings from all over the pitch. The boy whom Rafa signed has been watched closely by Kenny Dalglish and from what we have seen and heard about the Spaniard, there is every likelihood
that Kenny gives Suso a break in the first team sooner rather than later.
Roy Hodgson had promised more opportunities for the youngsters but after a couple of early appearances, Liverpool’s Spanish starlet Dani Pacheco suddenly disappeared all together.
Moreover, comparisons of Kenny’s return to that of Keegan’s at Newcastle are pretty daft. Keegan was not involved in football all together before he took up the position, whereas Dalglish has been at the club for two years and is well aware of the situation
there.
Although, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809 lost to Manchester United on Sunday – courtesy of some shambolic decisions by Howard Webb – there is still light at the end of the tunnel for Liverpool.
Despite the loss, there were still plenty of positives from that game. Firstly and importantly, Liverpool pressed the ball, especially higher up the pitch. Dalglish deployed the modern 4-2-3-1 formation and Liverpool players looked sharper and worked harder
than they have done in the past few weeks.
Liverpool were unfortunate to go a goal down early in the match and things got worse when skipper, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Steven-Gerrard-c34196 was little harshly sent off by referee Howard Webb. However, Liverpool contained Manchester United for almost an hour with 10 men and although
Reina was Liverpool’s best player, others did no harm to their reputations either.
One thing that Hodgson lacked was the knowledge about club's expectations and what the fans demanded. This will surely not be the case with Kenny, who knows better than most people what the club is about and what fans want to see week in and week out.
When Liverpool were losing 2-0 away at Manchester City early in the season, Hodgson waited until the 80th minute to make his first change and in other matches, he usually waited at least until the 70th minute mark to bring on his first
substitute (no matter how poor the players he sent out initially were performing).
Kenny Dalglish made three positive and timely substitutions against Manchester United. Taking off Meireles and Maxi to bring on Babel and Shelvey around the hour mark gave Liverpool fresher legs and more pace going forward. He then took off Torres late on
to give him much needed rest ahead of an important away trip to Blackpool.
Whether or not he stays beyond the summer is questionable but what is certain is that if Kenny is able to get things right at the club, he might land the job on a long term basis.
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