Poland 1 England 1

After seeing the original kick-off time of Tuesday night abandoned because of rain, England limped to a draw the following afternoon in Warsaw, leaving Roy Hodgson’s team with their second draw in four qualifiers and some work to do if they are to reach Brazil in 2014.

Hodgson rang the changes to side that thrashed San Marino on Friday, James Milner was preferred to Aaron Lennon to take Theo Walcott’s place on the right of midfield, Ashley Cole and Glen Johnson came in for Leighton Baines and Kyle Walker at full-back, Steven Gerrard was welcomed back from his suspension to take the place of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in midfield whilst Jermain Defoe came in for Danny Welbeck, despite the Manchester United man’s 2 goals on Friday.

England lined up with Tom Cleverley on the left-hand side with James Milner occupying the right hand side. With both essentially being central-midfielders, it made for a very narrow looking line-up.

Width was asked to be provided by the full-backs, Ashley Cole was especially charged with moving forward due to Cleverley’s obvious struggle to adapt to his wide role. Poland exposed the gaps Cole and, to a lesser degree, Johnson left behind by pressing high up in midfield and winning the ball back quickly so they could charge out to the flanks. Ludovic Obraniak and Robert Lewandowski, excellent in his lone role in attack for Poland, were instructed to drift wide into the channels, therefore outnumbering the England full-backs. Poland created a regular flow of chances early on by putting crosses into the box.

Lukasz Piszcek was also instrumental to Poland’s wing play, the Dortmund man was superb in flying forward to provide support to Kamil Grosicki, most notably as he was permitted by Cleverley’s constant urge to move inside. Roy Hodgson reacted to this by swapping Milner out to the left, then Rooney for a short period, but still Piszcek managed to get forward with worrying ease.

England, rather bizarrely on what was a huge pitch, had no natural width of their own due to two centre-midfielders being asked to play there and it was frustrating to see the likes of Aaron Lennon and Chamberlain sit on the bench when they would have stretched Poland out to the touch line and provided an outlet, as well as the ability to beat a man and get crosses into a poaching striker in Jermain Defoe.

In the centre, Michael Carrick and Steven Gerrard were very similar as deep lying-midfielders, neither were willing to carry the ball forward and with Wayne Rooney clearly instructed to stay up alongside Defoe, the Spurs man being a diminutive presence and he would have been isolated too easily if he had no support, it created a huge gap between midfield and attack, hence a lot of long balls into the channels that ultimately proved fruitless.

That, together with Poland dominating the flanks, left Carrick and Gerrard short of options and Poland could press them effectively to launch a break, one such one saw Obraniak shoot wide on the stroke of half-time. The standard of English ball retention was wretched and it invited pressure that was to turn, rather inevitably, costly in the end.

Wayne Rooney may have headed England ahead from a corner, another Steven Gerrard-delivered set-piece, but it didn’t take away from the fact England were sluggish, lethargic and set-up to be needlessly cautious against weaker opposition.

In the second-half, Poland had the majority of the play, Lewandowski shot wide as constant pressure, stemming from the fact Hodgson persisted with Defoe despite him clearly being unable to hold the ball up, was enthused on Joe Hart’s goal. The Manchester City goalkeeper failing to reach a corner and Kemal Glik headed a deserved equaliser.

Danny Welbeck, a better option when seeking a link-up, target man striker than Defoe, was on by then, it took Hodgson until the 66th minute, but it was too late. Though, after his introduction, some of the pressure was eased and England were rarely troubled for the last 15 minutes. Oxlade-Chamberlain came on for Wayne Rooney to inject some more energy, but it was all too late as England remained generally flat and short of ideas.

It was a case of wrong-team selection and a system that suggested a concerning lack of ambition from Hodgson, stuck in a rigid two-banks of four which handed Poland the initiative throughout. One would have suspected, in order to take the game to the Poles, a 4-2-3-1 with two genuine wide players in Lennon and Oxlade-Chamberlain operating alongside Rooney and Welbeck who would have dragged defenders around to make space in a fluid front-line. Yet, Hodgson, in what is becoming a familiar trait, chose to set up cautiously and a point was all such a lack of ambition warranted from the trip to Warsaw.

Hodgson will go back to the drawing board as he looks to crack the elusive code in the quest to create a fully-cohesive England side, but it is a worry that he is imprinting his uninspiring, low-risk approach that saw him stabilise West Brom and Fulham, but fail miserably in his most recent high-pressure job, at Liverpool.

England will now travel to Sweden next month for a friendly while Brazil are pencilled in for a visit to Wembley in February, before group H commitments kick-up again in March with two away games vs San Marino and Montenegro. As it stands, Montenegro trail England by a point with a game in hand and are likely to be above Roy Hodgson’s men before that vital night in Podgorica. With some cracks appearing in Hodgson’s tenure with questions raised over style of play, it could well be pivotal for the manager, as well as the team.

All rosy off the field, but Swansea face questions on it

In a modern climate where the top flight of English football is infested with big spending and the soul-abandoning search for the illustrious commodity of a rich foreign investor, Swansea City have manage to buck the trend by announcing huge profits in the year they have become an established Premier League club.

Their debut year at the top table, in which Brendan Rodgers led them to eleventh place despite strong backing for them to head back down to the Championship, saw finances boosted by a massive turnover of £65.2 million, a wonderful achievement when it is considered the wage bill and operating costs at the Liberty Stadium has doubled since their promotion. An after-tax profit of £14.6 million will also be disclosed, boosted by Rodgers’ own excellent work earning him a move to Liverpool, gaining the Swans a £5 million sum in compensation, together with Joe Allen, who followed his manager to Anfield for a fee in excess of £13 million.

Such news will be refreshing to the Premier League that has become increasingly familiar with a preposterous supposition that smaller clubs will have to find their own oil- funded oligarch or face no chance of competing with the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City who, thanks to billionaire ownership, now operate in a totally different financial stratosphere. Swansea however, with a unique style of having fans on the board, their Supporter’s Trust own a significant 19% share in the club, have shown they can exist by the side of the giants with a modest, fan-orientated balance of expenditure.

These figures that paint Swansea in the black after posting losses in their year of promotion, will rightfully further the Welsh clubs’ claim of being a blueprint to other ambitious lower league clubs which has appeared in the words of chairman Huw Jenkins, who says that Premier League achievement should not be synonymous with chucking money around on high wages and various players like, amongst others, has been followed by Stoke and QPR in recent years. It will also allow Jenkins and his fellow board members to undertake investment plans such as a new training complex and a stadium expansion from 20,000 to a 32,000 capacity, that Jenkins will only ratify should they ensure an unprecedented third year in the top flight.

It is here, when the focus goes back on to the pitch for want of the future without Brendan Rodgers, some of the light shed on today’s news becomes obscured with concerns already emanating from the early days of Michael Laudrup. A late comeback against Reading saw the Swans limp to a fifth match without a win and they head into this weekend’s home game with Wigan facing a “must-win” with games against Chelsea and Manchester City coming next on the list. A sluggish 3-0 home defeat by Everton sandwiched between away defeats to Aston Villa and Stoke, saw the opening day 5-0 crushing of QPR all but vanished from the memory as they have taken just 2 points from the last possible 15 with Laudrup’s conduct raising even more eyebrows off the field.

If the Dane’s bizarre advocation of paying teams to win matches in what could only be construed as a branch of max-fixing was a mere warning, then reports in the media of a disruption in the squad amidst secret meetings between Laudrup and the very same board that is just being celebrated in Tuesday’s news will see alarm bells sounding off throughout South Wales. Senior players and various club representatives have been falling over themselves to deny any such reports, but the onus will be on the new manager and his squad to dispel any such feeling of disruption against Wigan, heaping more unnecessary pressure on their return to domestic action this weekend.

The transition that has befallen the foreign manager could not have been easy however, the spine of the squad that passed its way so marvellously to eleventh place under Rodgers has been ripped up with the departures of Allen to Liverpool, Scott Sinclair to Manchester City while Gylfi Sigurdsson and Steven Caulker have seen their loan spells ended and are both now at Spurs.

Laudrup, having been a roaming manager with experience in Spain and Italy, has used his contacts to bring in the likes of Michu, Pablo Hernandez, both Spaniards, and Jonathan De Guzman, a Canadian from La Liga while centre-back Chico joined from Serie A. They have suggested they can be decent enough acquisitions, the £2 million capture Michu has 6 goals in 8 games, but inserting a continental influence into what was a tightly-knit homegrown squad within the space of a single pre-season was always going to yield some turbulence.

The Dane now has the opportunity to prove that all is rosy within the camp as they head back to the everyday life of the Premier League, the competition they had worked so hard to reach after staring down the barrel of bankruptcy in 2002. Figures today show that the accounts at the Liberty are not as bad as those dark days, far from it in fact, as they continue with their mission to prove that a well run, community driven club can not only exist, but thrive in the higher echelons of the English game. Yet, if they are to continue on the upward curve, Laudrup has to arrest the slide and show he can keep them there despite the spotlight now being on him.

Everton 1 Manchester United 0

Manchester United opened their title challenge with a disappointing defeat away at Everton after succumbing to a headed goal by Marouane Fellaini. There was enough from the home side to show that David Moyes has assembled a well-rounded squad at Goodison Park who will be equipped to challenge the higher reaches of mid-table with more consistency than in recent seasons, but the visitors will be regretful of a flat performance, uncharacteristic of a multi-talented forward line, that failed to provide any real cutting edge.

David Moyes rather intelligently chose to overlook any of his new signings, apart from the once-Toffee Steven Pienaar, in favour of a familiar line-up that he could trust in a game of this importance. Marouane Fellaini was pushed further forward than his usual defensive midfield berth in order to provide the physical aerial threat vacated by the departure of Tim Cahill and he played behind last season’s hero Nikica Jelavic in attack.

Fellaini’s deployment in an advanced role could have been a deliberate target of Manchester United’s injury-ravaged makeshift back-line that included Michael Carrick at centre-half and Luis Valencia at right-back. This was overlooked as a pre-match talking point in favour of Sir Alex Ferguson’s decision to start with Robin Van Persie on the bench whilst Danny Welbeck and Wayne Rooney were given the nod to lead the array of United’s attacking options.

Everton started the game full of vigour and intent, forcing a few early corners and attempting to press the visitors high up the pitch. Fellaini targeted Paul Scholes’ patient midfield role, while David De Gea was prevented from habitually playing the ball short with his kicks. The home side couldn’t keep this level of pressing up for too long and eventually the away side were seeing the majority of the ball, only to struggle to threaten with it. Shinji Kagawa was tidy and intelligent in his attacking midfield role, playing some delightful balls in behind to Welbeck, but Everton’s defence held firm. When United went wide, Jagielka and Distin, solid throughout, remained strong under the high ball and apart from a few scraps, United were restricted to very few clear chances, especially in the first half.

Antonio Valencia was preferred to Rafael at right-back possibly because his higher energy levels and physicality would allow him to be more of a defensive force as well as offer width on the attack. Nani was clearly being instructed to join the attacks centrally when he could, he had one long shot that drifted wide of Howard’s post, and Valencia provided the attacking width, as a virtual winger, to allow the Portuguese to do so. Pienaar and Baines looked to venture in the space he vacated behind him, but to be fair, United managed to clear any threat in that area up quite well.

Everton’s tactics of soaking up the United short passing and hitting on the counter-attack through the direct option of Fellaini could have struggled but Darron Gibson was particularly impressive at driving the midfield up to support in attacking areas. Therefore, Steven Pienaar and Leon Osman, not burdened by having to come in to the centre, were allowed to play wide, forward and to deliver some dangerous balls that the defence, and to a bigger extent, De Gea, repelled with resilience. Osman, Jelavic (following some lovely intricate passing), Baines and Pieenar were all denied with superb De Gea saves while Fellaini struck a post from a narrow angle when a pass would have been a better option.

Predictably, they were also a threat from corner kicks and set-pieces with the height of Fellaini, Jelavic and co. being a huge threat against a make-shift back-line. Gibson’s delivery from the corner spot was very impressive.

The second half followed a similar vein, Paul Scholes kept United’s possession ticking while Kagawa buzzed around behind Welbeck, but Everton’s defence remained stringent in the face of constant probing. But the home side were always a threat on the counter, Osman struck the cross-bar and then, a bit later on, they forced a corner that was headed home from a standing jump by the evergreen threat Fellaini. United would have been disappointed that it was a goal in a similar vein to Vincent Kompany’s winner for Manchester City back at Eastlands in April, as Carrick failed to challenge the Belgian in the air from a standing position. However, it was no less than the home side deserved and they could now play with something to hold onto.

Now behind, the visitor’s urgency increased; Kagawa was released down the inner right channel only to see Tim Howard smother his effort, while confusion in the box presented Tom Cleverley with an open goal, only to see his shot blocked on the line by the imperious Jagielka. Robin Van Persie was inevitably thrown on as desperation increased, by United were, on the whole, too wasteful; Rooney looked short of fitness, Nani was ineffectual, Welbeck struggled against the close attentions of a brilliant pairing of Jagielka and Baines. Ferguson got his substitutions right in taking both Welbeck and Nani off for Van Persie and Ashley Young, the latter also wasting a few good crossing opportunities, and despite Manchester United’s constant barrage of short passing around the box, a late speculative shot from Anderson that flew wide of Howard’s right hand post was all they really created as Everton remained solid.

Moyes’ men held the ball up the pitch towards the end and United grew frustrated. The final whistle went and Alex Ferguson saw his team lose on the opening day of the season for the first time in the eight years. Though there should be no knee-jerk reaction, United weren’t that bad, they passed the ball well only to be rebuffed by a concerted defensive effort, and there was enough from the likes of Kagawa and Cleverely to suggest they will be a good force this season.

For Everton however, things look very rosy indeed. Fellaini showed he can be every inch the Tim Cahill replacement in attack, Kevin Mirallas, a Belgian goal-scorer recommended by Fellaini was paraded to mass applause before kick-off and his native familiarity with the Afro-donned midfielder may see a productive partnership on the pitch with Mirallas looking for the Fellaini knock-downs that were so effective last night. A good home record, looking to be continued after beating Manchester City, Chelsea and Spurs at Goodison Park towards the latter end of last season, will look to be continued to ensure they produce a consistent run of form to allow them to maybe challenge the top 6. Moyes has created a decent squad and on the evidence of last night, there is no reason why they shouldn’t be looking that high.

Hodgson’s one almighty fight to turn English football

The dust had barely settled on England’s Euro 2012 exit to Italy in Kiev when Steven Gerrard was sent out in front of the baying T.V cameras to utter the words that now seem to have taken the form of a default eulogy for England’s major tournament exit. The captain spoke of being proud, how resolute and determined his side were and how well his team-mates fought throughout the game. We have heard it before of course, from Turin in 1990, Wembley in 1996, St Ettiene in 1998, Lisbon in 2004 and Gelsenkirchen in 2006, we now have Kiev 2012 to add to the honour roll of the atypical English performance that showcases the fighting bulldog spirit that seems to have us always visit the departure lounge through the medium of penalties.

The journey home for Hodgson, as he surveys the column inches which took the general consensus that England were far inferior to an Italian side that looked assured and adventurous on the ball, will bring home the stark realisation that his true job starts here. Having been parachuted into the job barely two months ago in an epiphany of a bubbling crisis, it would have taken the most unrealistic of demands to expect a side that would have marched comfortably to the latter stages. Even the most die-hard of supporters was not expectant for Poland and Ukriane, and Hodgson utilised his resources accordingly. He rescued, from the rubble of no captain, no manager, no best player for the first two-matches, suggestion of a split in the camp, a spirited unit that became organised, pragmatic and difficult to beat. But as we have so often been reminded, as far back as that night in Turin over two decades ago, the stereotypical English “bulldog” nature that Ashley Cole used before Sunday’s emotional appointment in Kiev doesn’t get you anywhere beyond a “proud, heart-broken exit”.

England will need far more than the type of counter-attacking football that saw only Greece and Ireland average a worse average possession total in these finals, they will have to use and cherish the ball far more than the 200 less passes they made than Holland and Russia who both exited a round earlier than Hodgson’s men. They may need to take the blue-print from the Italians who used the ball with more guile and more ability than England, who for the first 20 minutes looked the better team before re-summoning the role of the brave, counter-attacking underdog.

The rigid organisation of a strict 4-4-2 has developed England into a far resolute unit than the shambles, using the same system, that was demolished by Germany in Bloemfontein two years ago, but it’s been based, maybe even forced by the clear technical deficiencies that particular 4-1 defeat was meant to address. The poise and vision of Mesut Ozil, the balance of Sami Khedira, the positional quality of Thomas Muller was supposed to provide the watershed for the technical advancement of the English game and in Kiev it must have been nailed home further, unless England can produce someone of the same metronomic passing ability of Andrea Pirlo, then the quarter-finals will remain the elusive heart-aching barrier for a considerable time yet. Players with more creative talent and vigour than the 8 chances created by Steven Gerrard, eleven shorter than the 19 Wesley Sneijder contributed to Netherland’s wretched campaign, will have to be encouraged. It’s a foreboding remit, but one that simply has to take place.

The FA reacted belatedly, but thankfully, to that exposure in South Africa. Work was sped up on the national technical centre at Burton that will provide the hub of the national game in the same mould as France’s blue-print model at Clairefontaine, whilst Hodgson is a tactically-savvy coach with international experience who will pass his wealth of knowledge to the next generation. There have been glimpses of a fresh national team here, the laid-back, immersive setting of Krakow has been a far cry from the isolated barren land of Rustenberg, and players have appeared happier and more confident in representing their country that has so often been weighed down by the heaps of pressure and expectation handed out by the press and supporters back home.

Unfortunately however, there have also been glimpses of the old; Wayne Rooney, in being persistently backed in his two matches despite an obvious lack of fitness caused by a month without action, was afforded the same type of luxury treatment that should have died alongside the much-famed “golden generation”. It was surprising, yet almost re-assuring to see someone of Hodgson’s intelligence and refinement act with such naivety, there will be a feeling that misguided faith in the “untouchable” members of the squad will have to be disposed of very quickly. England no longer needs talismanic heroes, but an equal squad that fits the pragmatic placidness of its manager. If you are not playing well, regardless of name or standing, you should be dropped and Hodgson needs to become familiar, extremely quickly, to that such maxim that contributed to the failure of his last three predecessors.

So, where next for Roy Hodgson and his plan for a new England? Italy will again provide the opposition for an August friendly game in Switzerland and the manager should be further accustomed to his role and in a better position to start implementing a more ambitious style into his side ahead of the qualifying process for Brazil 2014, where England meet the likes of Moldova and San Marino. There can be no soak-up-pressure and hit on the counter-attack here, there can be no replication of the 58% possession afforded to Ukraine, another of England’s qualifying opponents, in the recent group game that saw Oleg Blokhin’s team register 16 shots to England’s nine. Hodgson has to find a way to elaborate on a finely-tuned defensive base if he is going to transform England into a force, and a way to implement the next batch of emerging youngsters, Kyle Walker, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jordan Henderson and the next great technical hope Jack Wilshere, missing here through injury, into the side to hopefully release the shackles off Hodgson’s inhibited England.

Hodgson was forced into a corner here, he had little time to revert his England squad into an assured unit that could stroke the ball around with the panache of the better international sides and so he reverted to type, the tactically rigid organiser that led West Brom to successive no frills mid-table Premier League finishes. But there will be a hope, perhaps a deafening demand, for him to bring England out of its habitual shell in order to finally rid the limitations of the “battling” traits that see it so often end in increasingly unbearable heart-ache. Hodgson now has two years to change England, and maybe even himself, to prove that he can be the one, not the near-universally supported Harry Redknapp, to bring England back up to speed on the international game. The hard-work starts now, for no longer shall we settle for the bull-dog with no teeth that so often ends the one getting bitten.

Euro 2012; Day 2; Denmark 1 Holland 0

Denmark snatched an unlikely victory in the opening game of group B as an element of luck, a superb goalkeeping performance from Stephan Anderson and a goal from Michael Krohn-Dehli beat a Dutch side that looked impressive, but couldn’t find a way through.

Holland were naturally very good on the ball, attacking through Wesley Sneijder who was superb positionally, and Arjen Robben, who is always a danger when cutting inside with pace. The most surprising element was how often Mark Van Bommel advanced through the centre of midfield to get shots away, the tracking of William Kvist on Sneijder and Niki Zimling’s license to move forward from defensive midfield were both contributors to that, and it was surprising Van Bommel lasted the whole game when the logic would have been to replace him with someone of more technical goal-threat.

Nigel De Jong meanwhile was given the job of launching attacks by spraying the ball around from defensive midfield, he was often forced a little deeper by the press of Christian Eriksen, whilst Van Bommel was something of a free man.

Denmark invited a lot of Dutch play in the first half, tending to sit off in defensive midfield and it allowed the likes of Sneijder and Ibrahim Afellay to try and work the ball into the box, however Robin Van Persie was again found wanting as a centre-forward and couldn’t provide a target man option when the ball was worked wide.

The two Danish full-backs, Simon Poulsen and Lars Jacobsen were noticeably stand-offish when the ball was worked wide, mainly due to the fact that Simon Kjaer and Daniel Agger would dominate Van Persie in the aerial battle and on the right, Robben wouldn’t be able to get round his man and instead try to cut inside where he would be met by a compact unit of Danish players including Krohn-Dehli who did a great job of working back defensively.

Dennis Rommedahl on the other hand stayed forward and this allowed Wesley Sneijder to move across to the left, especially in the second half, to inter-change with Afellay in the space around Jacobsen, though a relatively deep Danish unit made it hard for the Dutch to penetrate and so therefore, a lot of chances were presented on the edge of the box which were mostly non-threatening. Denmark’s surprising refusal to revert to two-banks of four saw the Netherlands given a lot of space between the lines to get shots away, but Andersen dealt with them well.

Holland did squander some significant chances however, most significantly when Andersen looked nervy with his kicking, giving the ball straight to Robben who sent a shot crashing against the Danish post. With Kvist dropping deep to sometimes make a third centre-back and with Daniel Agger and Simon Kjaer good on the ball, playing it short from the back was an obvious element of Denmark’s play.

Holland looked the most likely to score but the Danish were rewarded for their ability to get the full-backs forward. Simon Poulsen supported Krohn-Dehli down the left and the duo managed to pressurise the ball in the right back slot for the ball to break the full-back who found a way through the legs of Mark Stekelenburg for the game’s only goal.

Denmark went more reserved in the second half, allowing the Dutch to play in front of them, which made it even harder for them to be broken down. Afellay and Sneijder linked down the left but were often stifled by Kvist and Jacobsen, or even Kjaer who could move out to the right of his defence to support the battle on that side. Again, this allowed plenty of room in the centre of midfield for the Dutch to feed balls through or Mark Van Bommel to  steam into attacking positions.

On the right for Holland, it was Robin Van Persie’s job to drift off and provide a link for Robben, often attempting to create space in behind Poulsen and Agger. However, this saw Bert Van Maarwijk’s lack a target man figure in the box and dangerous balls from the flanks were comfortably dealt with. Klaas Jan Huntelaar for Afellay (with Sneijder going left and Van Persie dropping off from the front line) was the obvious change on 71 minutes, but still the Dutch struggled to create any real chances in the face of a stubborn Denmark defence.

More attacking intent from Van Maarwijk saw Rafael Van Der Vaart replace the holding of De Jong, but Morten Olsen responded by bringing on Lasse Schone to track his runs, this made Denmark more compact in the centre and they were allowed to see the game out with an organised unit.

Denmark protected what they had for the final stages and although the Dutch didn’t play badly, they will be disappointed that poor finishing let them down. They did however display enough attacking cohesion and fluidity to suggest they will have a chance of progressing from the group, but Denmark took their chance when it was presented to them.

 

Euro 2012; Day 1; Russia 4 Czech Republic 1

Dick Advocaat’s Russian side showed their underlying quality and tactical innovation as they thrashed a weak Czech team in Wroclaw. Michel Bilek chose to keep his central midfield reserved and attack on the wings, only to be completely outplayed by the verve and pace of Russia’s counter-attacking style.

After an early high-tempo start which favoured the Czechs, the game slowly fitted into a rhythm of Russia trying to utilise their mobile front three at every opportunity, with one midfielder given licence to join through the middle when available. To do this, they dropped relatively deep, allowing the axis of Jaroslav Plasil and Petr Jiracek to have the ball and progress it through the midfield only to be met by a compact defensive midfield trio, anchored by the excellent Igor Denisov. With two inverted wingers, Vaclav Pilar and Jan Rezek, the majority of attacking passes were aimed through the middle, only to be picked off by a sternly organised line; helped by the trio of Denisov, Konstantin Zyryanov and Roman Shirokov all playing for the same team in Zenit St Petersburg.

Russia’s front 3 meanwhile were evidently fluid and moved around so much that they held no designated position. Alexander Kerzhakov, positioned on paper as the centre-forward either drifted out to the left or deep to pick up the ball centrally, Andrei Arshavin thrived in a kind of free-role drifting in from the left whilst Alan Dzagoev, stationed on the right, positioned himself deeper to draw his man Michal Kadlec out from left-back, leaving space in behind.

This was in full evidence for the first goal, Dzagoev steamed through midfield, Kadlec was caught narrow and Zyryanov joined from his position at the base of midfield to invade the empty right channel to cross for Kerzhakov’s header to rebound off the post and into the path of Dzagoev.

Russia were displaying some excellent link-up play between the lines at this point, again the left-back Kadlec was anonymous as Dzagoev was released on the right to drive a shot into the side netting. Arshavin was popping up anywhere across the front-line, but it was from his inner-left channel where he produced a wonderful pass for another deep runner, this team Shirokov, to loft the ball over Petr Cech in the Czech goal for goal number two.

The reason for Kadlec’ lack of positioning in the defensive phase was Dzagoev’s freedom allowing him forward, which was necessary on that side as Pilar’s penchant for drifting in-field wasn’t providing natural width. With Tomas Rosicky, positioned at the head of the Czech midfield 3, dropping deep to escape the press of Denisov, Pilar would be tempted to come in-field to provide the central-option, only to be met by one of the Zenit three, whilst Aleksandr Anyukov dealt with Kadlec’ runs. This bottle-neck saw Russia break and exploit the gaps left so criminally voided in behind.

On the opposite side from Kadlec, Theodor Gebre-Selassie was more open to bombing forward as Arshavin drifted in-field and Yuri Zhirkov would also leave his channel free as he joined Russia attacks, but with Plasil and Jiracek drawn forward together at times (as neither are de-facto defensive midfield players) to provide Rosicky with support, he was charged with watching Arshavin’s forays in between the lines, opened-up by Kerzhakov’s constant movement, which saw him find space to drill a shot over the bar before half-time.

The second half saw Russia more reserved and the Czechs, after Bilek introduced Thomas Hubschmann for Rezek, allowing Plasil more licence to move forward and it was him who split the Russian defence with a sumptuous through ball to provide Pilar, having drifted in field from the left, with a well taken goal after he rounded Petr Cech.

Though it was that type of ball that the Czechs had to rely on in order to break a very compact Russian unit down. Rosicky couldn’t find any room between the congested lines and was pushed so far back that Milan Baros became extremely isolated as the lone front-man. With the Russian back four lacking pace, they refused to keep a high line and with Baros’ lack of mobility, they could easily close him down to break the attacks from balls thread to him from deep.

Rosicky did begin to push further forward, he forced a smart save from Vyacheslav  Malafeev with a shot from around 20 yards, but Russia quickly squeezed even deeper to prevent any attacking option for Baros or Rosicky. The static Baros was in total contrast to  Kerzhakov leading the line for Russia, when they won the ball back, the counter-attacking looked extremely dangerous due to the Czechs pushing men forward in search of an equaliser and the Zenit striker missed a few gilt-edged chances from a variety of positions before he was replaced by Roman Pavyluchenko.

A lucky defensive ricochet saw the ex-Tottenham man tee up the on-running Dzagoev to run clean through and make it 3, whilst Pavlyuchenko scored a typically emphatic goal with a shot from the edge of the box to round things off. It was an firm victory and the scoreline was a true reflection of the dominance of Advocaat’s men.

Whilst Russia showed some neat technical ability and fluidity that should be unsurprising when it is considered Kerzhakov, Arshavin, Zyryanov, Shirokov and Denisov all play together at club level, whether it can be called a true statement of intent is unclear as they were facing what was, in essence, a poor Czech side that displayed naivety on the ball to leave gaps in behind that were subsequently exposed with some ruthless finishing.

Euro 2012; Day 1; Poland 1 Greece 1

The National Stadium of Warsaw served up a superb start to the tournament as Greece battled back from 1-0 down and 1 man down against the host nation and perhaps should have sneaked all three opening day points in a topsy-turvy encounter.

Billed as two defensively sound teams going into the tournment, Greece with a reputation for the low-risk built on their underdog success of 2004, both teams failed to keep to the script in displays littered with defensive errors and elements of the tactically indisciplined.

Poland began the game the stronger, rushing out the blocks with high pressing and fluid attacking play in a straight 4-3-3, with the only real negative coming from the size of the gap between centre-forward Robert Lewandowski and the midfield, led at the tip of the three by Rafal Murawski, who sat surprisingly deep in relation to the striker. Poland’s obvious threat was coming through the wings, most notably the right side as not-only was Lukasz Piszczek surging forward from right-back, but Jose Holebas was producing a shocking display at left-back, being beaten on three seperate occasions (mainly Piszczek providing a cross that narrowly missed Lewandowski’s head) before Jakub Blaszczykowski got behind him to cross for the Borrusia Dortmund striker to head past Kostas Chalkias who had gone missing in the Greek goal.

Poland were pressing high up the pitch, forcing Greece into a lot of erors whilst the Greeks struggled to work any real attacking movement; Sotoris Ninis was anonymous whilst strangely, Fernando Santos positioned the tall Giorgios Samaras out on the left with the diminuitive Theofanis Gekas as the central target man. With Kostas Katsouranis, Giorgios Karagounis and Jose Cholevas struggling to join attacking areas, Greek attacks followed the pattern of repeaeated easily-defended long balls, and so the move breaks down. Greece’s only threat was coming from Karagounis set-pieces. Poland, although they were happy to drop off and see Greece struggle to penetrate with the ball) were always the more likely to score the second goal (somehow defender Damien Perquis shot wide when the ball dropped invitingly to him in the box), but the game changed when Greece defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos was shown red for a preposterous double yellow.

However, on the stroke of half-time, the effect wasn’t to be expected. The sending off saw Greece re-group at the break and revert into their more natural shell. The second half saw them become less-risk and more cautious, and so Poland were charged with taking the game to the opposition, rather than be content with letting them have the ball. This suited the Greeks down to the ground as they could exploit the space in behind the full-backs Piszczek and Boenisch as they came forward. Santos also made a sensational change at half-time with Dimitris Salpingidis replacing the anonymous Ninis and it was his constant probing runs in behind the full-back that saw Greece managed to re-grab an attacking outlet. Vasilis Torosidis ran on the overlap on the right to deliver in a cross that Wojciech Szczesny misjudged and Salpangidis turned it home for 1-1.

Now Greece had the momentum and Giorgios Samaras was finding gaping holes in the Polish defence as Gekas roamed, whilst Salpingidis’ presence was enough to worry the hosts’ back four, but the ex-Manchester City striker was let down by some arrray shooting. However, another Greek breakthrough occured on 69 minutes, released on the shoulder by an excellent lofted through ball, the winger was tripped by goalkeeper Szczesny and a penalty was awarded. The Arsenal goalkeeper was sent-off and on came Przemyslaw Tyton to duly save Karagounis’ spot-kick. The effervescent Salpingidis saw another effort disallowed for offside as Poland escaped late scares to take a point from their opening match. Santos also introduced Kostas Fourtounis for Gekas and the youngster troubled Poland with his direct running and attacking creativity, with a three-pronged attack full of verve, it looked like Greece, for a short-while at least would be the team to snatch a winner/

At ten men apiece however, it was an intriguing contest as to whom would seize the initiative of a back-and-forth contest, but after a few mad moments following the second red which favoured, both sides attempted to kill any momentum and tried to see the game out, content with a draw. Lewandowski was becoming increasingly isolated as a lone striker as he ended the game devoid of support, surrounded by 2-3 Greece players when he was fed the ball; Franciszek Smuda may have been tempted to introduce a support striker when at eleven men, but missed a trick and the game fizzled out to an entertaining 1-1 draw.

Both sides will have to change for the next match, Poland will need to be more persistent with the energy and attacking intent they showed in the first 45 minutes, whilst Greece will have to adopt the resolute, compact showing that was in effect for the second 45 and both will have to complete their traits for the full 90 minutes. As it were however, both sides will be contented with a point and the neutral will be satisfied with a highly entertaining match that saw two red cards and two goals.

 

 

 

 

Do Chelsea really need a youth system?

On the same week in which the Football Association announced their plans for the transformation of youth development in England which was passed with an 87% vote from shareholders, Chelsea were busy entertaining links with Lille’s Eden Hazard as the Belgian stoked the fire over a possible £35 million transfer to Stamford Bridge. The winger has courted the interest of Manchester City and Manchester United as well as the Champions League winners Chelsea, who he inferred he would be joining through the medium of Twitter on Monday evening, with sources claiming that the London club, should they land their man, will pay Hazard £110,000 a week after tax.

The ploy of owner Roman Abramovich is clear to any half-interest observer that after a period of decline, a sixth place finish this season has opened the chasm between the two Manchester clubs, the billionaire is willing to open the chequebook to re-establish his club as a major domestic force in the wake of their sensational European Cup triumph. That is the instinctive response of top clubs now, that the ability to compete with the top teams on the pitch doesn’t come without the ability to compete with them on the negotiating table.

Manchester City spent in the region of £55 million on Sergio Aguero, Gael Clichy and Samir Nasri to add to the magnitude of wealth they already possessed in order to land their first Premier League title whilst Manchester United have reacted this summer by immediately setting aside £17 million for Borussia Dortmund midfielder Shinji Kagawa and another £6 million for a League Two footballer in Crewe’s teenage sensation Nick Powell. The access to a large chequebook is now synonymous to the qualification of becoming genuine contenders for the Premier League trophy. Arsenal spent just over £50 million and finished third, nineteen points away from Manchester United in second whilst Liverpool finished down in the obscurity of eighth to illustrate that you can fail with a large sum of expenditure, but without it, it is very hard to succeed.

Relating back to Chelsea and the FA’s freshly announced reforms and you can see the naivety in thinking that a transformation of youth football could improve the amount of graduates progressing through the system and into the first team. In their win over Bayern Munich in Germany that brought Roman Abramovich’s long sought-after trophy, only one player in the starting XI, Gillingham educated Ryan Bertrand, had progressed through the Chelsea youth ranks after joining them aged 15. John Terry, the captain that had made a massive contribution in the run to the final, was suspended of course, but remains the only true first-teamer to have received his development at Cobham. That was it, the rest were signed from elsewhere, a £50 million striker laid in wait on the bench to illustrate the extent of expendable resources that Chelsea possess and the next batch of incomers will be led on a premium by the universally-wanted Hazard.

Chelsea have also completed deals for another Belgian, 20 year old Kevin De Bruyne from Genk and he will join the club after spending the rest of the season on loan with the BPL club following his January transfer for a fee of £7 million. De Bruyne is an attacking winger full of creativity, similar to a young French man currently at Chelsea in Gael Kakuta who, despite joining the Blues from RC Lens as a 16 year old back in 2007, has made just 6 first team appearances in five years. Kakuta has been shipped out to Fulham, Bolton and Dijon to minimal success and it looks like his time at Stamford Bridge is at an end. Chelsea fought through the courts to land the youngster and risked a suspension of their activity in the transfer market only to see him stagnate behind the club’s penchant for being able to splash out on the ready-made; is a talent like Kakuta really needed when you can outlay £23 million on a World Cup winner in Juan Mata? You do the math.

Furthermore, Germany’s Marko Marin has also been tempted to join Chelsea this summer for a £6.5 million fee from Werder Bremen and once more, rather conveniently, he is an attacking midfielder/ winger, further blocking Kakuta’s route to the first team. Marin was part of the Golden batch of German youth production that has included Mario Gotze, Toni Kroos, Sami Khedira, Thomas Muller and Mesut Ozil, whom Marin played with at Bremen. Part of the very impressive German team that lit up South Africa in finishing third in the 2010 World Cup, Marin’s progression has dropped off slightly, he has not made into Joachim Low’s 23 man squad for Euro 2012, but he still commands a multi-million pound fee from Chelsea and will add further, unnecessary competition for a position where Lucas Piazon, an 18 year old Brazilian talent who was preposterously named young player of the year at Stamford  Bridge, who has still not made a single first team appearance in. This is not to mention 19 year old Josh McEachran who has made just 11 appearances for Chelsea in two years and has just finished a disappointing loan spell at Swansea where he has played four times in five months. Where does he go from here? Competing with Abramovich’s chequebook, he is unlikely to go into the Chelsea first team.

So what chance do the proposals of Nick Levett and Gareth Southgate have if the top teams are maximising their resources on imports instead of installing their faith in youth? This is not just Chelsea you see, Manchester City’s title winning team was made up of just one local product in Micah Richards, Joe Hart and Adam Johnson were both produced at other teams in Shrewsbury and Middlesbrough where the spotlight and demand for instant success wasn’t so intense. Manchester United produced Danny Welbeck, Johnny Evans and Tom Cleverley but Alex Ferguson will be forced into a transfer market foray to ensure another trophy-less season is not replicated. Even at Arsenal where the reputation for a fertile academy remains alive and kicking, only Jack Wilshere and Kieran Gibbs have broken into the first team, whilst an array of English talent including Emmanuel Frimpong, Henri Lansbury, Craig Eastmond and Nico Yennaris remain dotted about on loan. With pressure on Arsene Wenger growing considerably with every year after seven without a trophy, first team chances are becoming increasingly minimal.

This is not a slight on the FA’s ambition to deliver a plan in line with Germany’s reform of the turn of the millennium that has unearthed the flow of youthful talent that was mentioned earlier, a focus on a more technically advanced system has been warranted in England for as long as the period of decline has set into the national game to the point that Roy Hodgson’s team are about to embark on a major tournament cast in the role of pragmatic underdogs. To heed the lessons however, players need to be taught by the best coaches at the best clubs, to grow with the best technically-gifted talent in the country, but with such teams willing to chuck money at the problem of playing staff, there is little chance of moving forward at the very top level.

So, what does Brendan Rodgers have to do at Liverpool?

With Brendan Rodgers coming into the Liverpool managers post, a position that still remains one of the most highly-regarded in English football, on the back of just one year’s worth of experience in the Premier League with Swansea and just a couple of months in charge of Reading and Watford in the Championship, there is a transient feeling that the huge task that awaits the Northern Irishmen is at risk of overwhelming him and the relative lack of experience at the very top level he possesses.

Swansea exceeded all expectations in achieving an eleventh place finish on a modest budget in their debut year in the top tier and almost in direct contrast, Liverpool underachieved as they lumbered along to eighth position on a large budget. Kenny Dalglish  paid the price for that failure and Rodgers has been given the opportunity to make what is essentially a huge step-up from the low-expectation level he was operating at in south Wales.

The commodity of time and lots of it will have to be afforded to Rodgers if he is to make a success of Liverpool, not only in the embers of transition that will have to come from the stale dregs of the final stages of Dalglish’s second coming, but also with the expected installation of the unique style that made him a much heralded figure with the Swans. There will be an anticipation that Rodgers will imprint the zippy, slick, patient, passing style of a 4-2-3-1 that drew comparisons with Barcelona and earned the Welsh club a total of twelve Premier League wins with some swashbuckling performances along the way.

It was not like the Liverpool of under Dalglish were fully direct however, they played a possession based game which saw many chances created around the box. Lucas Leiva was the ball-winner and initiator of attacking moves, but his injury on the turn of the year saw this influence in the attacking midfield area diminish and his stand-ins, the inexperienced Jonjo Shelvey and Jay Spearing, were simply not cultured enough in progressing the ball. They obviously had a direct option with Andy Carroll on the bench, but  apart from the odd sporadic glimpse, some of his poor form meant he didn’t arrive to the fore until the season’s end. Luis Suarez, Steven Gerrard, Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson however, were all technically able but seemingly devoid of cutting edge as so many games followed the pattern of Liverpool dominating to little reward.

To Rodgers’ main question then; just how does he transform Swansea’s famed “Tiki-Taka” to the fields of Anfield Road?

Let’s start with the back, THE GOALKEEPER.

One of Rodger’s first duties when Swansea were promoted to the Premier League was to replace Wolves-bound Dorus De Vries with another “sweeper-keeper” in Michel Vorm who was an absolute bargain at £1.5 million. Rodger’s philosophy is to build from the back with sensible distribution to get the passing move going and Vorm, as well as proving himself to be a solid shot-stopper, was vehemently able with his feet and started attacks often by feeding Angel Rangel at right-back. Jose Reina meanwhile, is a perfect option for Rodgers at Liverpool as, like Vorm, the Spaniard is a solid shot-stopper as well as being one of the best in the league at distributing the ball.

Now, to go linear, to touch on the DEFENCE.

The mention of Rangel will be especially appropriate here, as the Swansea right-back was regarded as one of the best on the ball at the club under Rodgers and was often charged with bringing the ball forward from the back. Glenn Johnson, or even Jose Enrique for that matter, are both adept at going forward and can create in an attacking sense. Rodgers’ full-backs are so central to his system that Paul Lambert twice set-up his Norwich side in variants of a 4-4-2 in order to stifle them and the Canaries won both times.

In the centre, the battling qualities of Martin Skrtel will bare similarities to Ashley Williams, but with the Slovakian airing discontent about his time at Anfield in recent weeks, Rodgers may find a duty to replace him. The player a short-distribution from the back style will benefit most though, will be Daniel Agger who is a spectacular talent at moving the ball into midfield. The Dane is also gifted physically, so he will be adept in the face of pressing from opposition attackers when given the ball to launch attacks.

Obviously, next comes the MIDFIELD.

Rodgers will anxiously await the return of Lucas Lieva to the fold after his injury. He will be integral to the passing cycle as he can break the play and recycle the ball with a short pass. He will be tasked to patrol the lines between midfield and defence before laying the ball off to begin the move. Alongside him will either sit Steven Gerrard or Jordan Henderson, who will maybe injected with more confidence after a poor debut season, who can both link play with high energy play. Gerrard’s aging legs have seen him regress to a more disciplined deep-lying midfielder but he can still operate in an advanced role or even, his wonderful array of passing could find a way of hitting the flanks with speed if they are out-numbered in midfield.

Leon Britton and Joe Allen, the driving force behind the Swansea passing cycle in their sitting midfield duo, liked to use the ball with discipline however, preferring 10 to 15 yard balls to keep the slick rhythm going. It is unlikely that Charlie Adam could adapt to this as he has a penchant for the over-ambitious ball, usually wasting decent passages of possession with a long, raking, unnecessary ball. This will be of no use to Rodgers, who did approve of a quick switch to the wings at Swansea, but there will still be a concern that Adam may be too undisciplined for the new, patient style Rodgers will look to implement.

Ahead of them will probably sit Luis Suarez as the creative attacking force that Gylfi Sigurdsson provided so graciously on loan for the final months of the season at the Liberty Stadium. Suarez can drop off and turn to run at the opposition with intent, using his technique and marvelous sense of balance to beat a man and provide the attackers or even show a significant goal threat between the lines. Rodgers could even sign Sigurdsson, with his future at Hoffenheim in limbo, however and move Suarez forward to lead the line, drawing defenders around for the Icelander and others to move into and have a full-interchange. But it will take a while for this understanding to take place.

And now, the WINGS/ FLANKS.

This is where Rodgers’ biggest task will come. With Scott Sinclair and Nathan Dyer, he had two vibrant wingers running the line on either side, with the pace and skill to beat a man to put in a cross, the latter has a few question marks against his final ball but his willingness to roam into goal-threatening positions was pretty impressive as six goals and four assists showed. At Liverpool, there maybe a problem with genuine width as Dirk Kuyt and Craig Bellamy have both been converted from striker due to their attribute of pace. Good wingers they may be, they can each beat a man and cause a threat running the ball into the box, they could often be tempted to invert and join central-attacking positions, lessening the amount of options available in true wide areas.

Stewart Downing would offer a touchline-hogging option on the wing but that will come at the expense of pace and presence in an advanced role as he likes to retrieve the ball in progression of the defender. Furthermore, Downing also like to cut inside, which is why Dalgish preferred to play him on his weaker right side, but this also slows attacking momentum, allowing opposition defenders to get back and fully-mark, which is a hindrance to Swansea’s quick, free-flowing style. Dyer and Sinclair were more advanced wingers hanging on the shoulder of the full-back to get in behind on a through ball, it is possibly only Bellamy who has the characteristics to do this.

Finally, the CENTRAL-FORWARD.

Provided Rodgers stays true to his modified 4-2-3-1 system that served so well at Swansea, then it will obviously only leave room for the single forward. Danny Graham, scorer of 14 goals last season, was the one used at the Liberty, but in being physical and mobile with the legs to go with it at 26, there is nobody like him at Liverpool apart from maybe Dirk Kuyt. The often maligned Andy Carroll is adept at using his feet as well as his head as so many have wrongly suggested that he is just a lumbering target man. The England striker can run the channels and drop off to link the play with some clever touches, as well as being the obvious target from crosses. He will be better fitted to Rodger’s 4-3-3 than many suggest.

TO SUMMARISE;

Apart from a centre-half who is equally as good on the ball as Daniel Agger, Liverpool don’t need an extreme amount of upheaval despite what may have been suggested upon first reflection. Gylfi Sigurdsson looks a sure fire bet for a Rodgers dealing (he’s a massive fan, but it’s not an extreme necessity as Liverpool have Suarez) and possibly one out of Joe Allen or Leon Britton to bring in a midfielder with prior knowledge of how to play the Rodger’s “Tiki-Taka” system. To generate confidence into most of Liverpool’s current players that had suffered under the drudgery of Dalglish will be the new manager’s first port of call however, and FSG may then be able to get buy with a cheap summer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Liverpool need to buck the trend to ensure Rodgers is a success.

When it all looked like it may be Wigan manager Roberto Martinez, authentically pictured alongside John Henry of Liverpool owners FSG whilst in Boston, who would be charged with answering the call to arms of the duty to renovate a club that had began to stagnate on Merseyside, the old art of footballing unpredictability popped out of the woodwork yet again and in came Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers to take the reins after the small print of compensation had been thrashed out between the two clubs.

The final two contenders had been whittled down through logical criteria. The search followed the lines for a vibrant, young manager who would install a fresh philosophy after the drudgery that had began to set in under Kenny Dalglish and both Martinez and Rodgers, with a reputation for expansive football that has earned their respective clubs relative success on a limited budget in the Premier League, were the obvious choices. Possibly only Frank De Boer and Jurgen Klopp, the two successive title-winning managers of Ajax and Borussia Dortmund aged 42 and 44 respectively, were better qualified than the aforementioned duo, but they were both intent on making a dynasty at their current clubs, so FSG have seemingly settled on Rodgers.

Liverpool fans won’t tow the party line that Dalglish had summoned in an air of negativity around Anfield towards the end of a season where an outlay of £60 million was rewarded only by the Carling Cup and an FA Cup final appearance. A league campaign of just 6 home defeats saw them stumble home to an eighth place finish and the contempt of which he treated the media which hit a nadir with the unwanted headlines of a grotesquely handled Luis Suarez affair lingering over him, Dalglish was regretfully sacked. The club signalled their willingness to move in a fresh, more exuberant direction and Rodgers, the latest pioneer of sumptuous “Tiki-Taka” football at Swansea, is the man to lead them on the journey.

It is worth pointing to the influence of Martinez here, for the Spanaird was the one who installed the wonderous philosophy into the Welsh club after a period of decline in the third tier with Kenny Jackett. Martinez won the League One championship in his first year with the club scoring 82 goals and achieving a +40 goal difference. He led Swansea to eighth in the Championship the season after before leaving for Wigan where they have reaped their own rewards of a fine cultured passing style as they escape relegation year-on-year with minimal resources. Succeeding from Martinez was Paulo Sousa who, as well as keeping the admirable style, instilled a defensive solidity into the side, yet also failed to deliver promotion to the Premier League as they missed out on the Championship play-offs by a point in his single year as boss. Brendan Rodgers came in and took Swansea to the promised land immediately, finishing third and winning an entertaining play-off final against his former club Reading, 4-2.

That game at Wembley was Swansea in microcosm with a remit to entertain with free-flowing football, but it is a team that has three managers behind it, starting with the ambition of Martinez. It would be seriously naive however, to adopt the view that Rodgers was simply just facilitating the previously legacy he has inherited at the Liberty Stadium, for it was him after all who beat the odds to take an inexperienced Swansea side to the top-tier and achieve a very respectable eleventh placed finish despite only spending £11 million, a fraction of the majority of Premier League’s budgets.

Rodgers showed himself to be a shrewd operator of the transfer market upon elevation to the Premier League; Danny Graham hit 15 goals following his £3.5 million move from Watford, Steven Caulker arrived on a free from Spurs to formulate a solid defensive partnership with Ashley Williams, one that shipped 51 goals, (the same as 5th placed Newcastle United) and goalkeeper Michael Vorm was somehow prized in for £1.5 million from FC Utrecht. Vorm went on to marvel a series of onlookers with his ability to make the most agile of saves and his penchant for clever distribution as a “sweeper-keeper”, keepers who are good on the ball are vital to Rodgers’ system. The biggest dealing of them all though was January’s loaning of Gylfi Sigurdsson from Hoffenheim as the Icelander went on to score seven goals from his attacking midfielder position to consolidate Swansea’s position in mid-table. There has been enough from Rodgers in Swansea’s recent transfer record to suggest that he could be granted the £60 million entrusted to Dalglish last year and make tenfold better use of it than the Scotsman.

They have supplemented the fine talents of Joe Allen and Leon Britton in central-midfield who constantly turn play over with a relentless provision of passes, whilst Scott Sinclair and Nathan Dyer provide the pace and energy on the wings. It is a fine system that Rodgers has imprinted at Swansea, one that he will go to lengths at describe the similarities to the juggernaut Barcelona, but one that he will now have to transfer across to a club with the utmost expectation levels and this is where the sticking point underlies. Rodgers’ changes will not occur over-night and there will be growing pains as he remains true to his ultra-passing style, but there must be a margin for error afforded him by Liverpool fans that was not given to Roy Hodgson. Yes, Hodgson served poor football, performed ineptly in the transfer market but the fact remains that he was ousted after just 20 games, they have to go against the grain and persist with the Northern-Irishman should he venture down the same path.

The image of FSG as a firing board will also have to be altered, Hodgson and Dalglish make two sackings in two years, Rodgers must be given at least a season, with a steady rate of progression added to the bargain, without any question of his credentials on the basis of negative results.

Liverpool have got their man to take them into a revitalised new era full of fresh impetus and youthful charm and ideas, just like Chelsea had last year with Andre Villas-Boas, but he was gone by March as results did not flow regardless of his plans for the future as Abramovich searched, and was later justified, for instant results. It is now the popular way to follow the culture of immediacy; on the whole, fans want results quickly and if you don’t provide them as a manager, you are gone. Liverpool need to go against this trend and install their faith in the future, for Rodgers will make it a bright one, in time.

Part 1 of 2. Part 2 to come some time tomorrow.