Boy what a Royal load of crap it’s been !
I’d like to start off with a quote I made up that i thought fits how we all feel .
The Years of the Rafalution , Liverpool fans used to look to the future in hope of what could be.
The Years of the Royalution, Liverpool fans look back at the past at what could have been.
One of my all time favorite Liverpool songs is the “ Did the ball go in song “ after Luis Garcia’s goal against Chelsea Fc. This is how it goes :
To the tune of ‘ Hokey pokey’
“Did the ball go in? Did the ball stay out? In out , in out. The Kop had no doubt, we all went to Istanbul and Chelsea went out, that’s what it’s all about !”
Over the last few months I’ve been singing my own rendition of the song I made up, Cos’ it’s the only way I can go to sleep at night.
“So the Roy Came in and the Rafa went out, Draw – Loss – Draw – Loss
The Kop were in doubt, Liverpool are twelfth and Roy’s still in. What the F***S that about !?”
True, I was a faithful Rafa believer. But I’m a Liverpool fan first and I moved on. Even though Roy’s stats over his carrier weren’t impressive, two factors gave me hope.
1. Roy seemed to say the right things during his first interview
“It’s important to get started straightaway, working with the players, trying to create an environment which will give us a chance to become better and hopefully improve upon the last season. “
Improvement was the key word. No matter how much faith I had in Rafa, if this guy says he will “ Improve” us and also state how low the Morale the team is and promise to change it, then polish my behind, I’m going to be glued to my TV to watch the all an improved Liverpool in action .
Below is a table I created so as to try solve the mystery of where we’ve improved. It compares the first 20 games of Rafa’s last season(ended up being his worst season) and Roy’s First season in LFC. (note- only premier league games )
I still don’t see it! Let’s try it with Percentages, I’m sure that’ll show us the improvements.
So the Foreign Spanish manager who apparently lost the dressing room due to the start LFC had and at the start of his Liverpool career was tagged as not knowing the premier league had a better first half of the season than Roy and his 35 ( and a half now) year career?
You know, maybe I wasn’t educated enough. Maybe I don’t know what the real meaning of improvement is, that has to be that!
im·prove·ment
a. The act or process of improving.
b. The state of being improved.
Roy after the Wolves game on the fans not supporting him.
“I have to hope the fans will become supporters because we need support. We are not deliberately losing games,” he said.
Just to clarify that point, Liverpool fans will never stop supporting their team, it’s you they’ve lost faith in . I’ve said it on twitter a while ago and I’ll say it again, Liverpool football club have the best fans the world of sport has ever seen, you don’t demand their respect, you earn it.
What puzzles me about the media is, if what they said was true. If the Liverpool players really lost their belief in Rafa this time last year, then for heaven’s sake why would they not with the new manager that performed worse?
So the media and Roy wants us to believe that the First team players are “totally behind Roy” for performing worse than the last manager ( and any other Liverpool team for over a decade ) and often tactically positioning them in playing styles they don’t play and then have him seemingly say “This isn’t my team yet”
They also have us believe that the “ Second team” that he publically didn’t rate “ good enough” and openly attacked after the loss to Northampton Town also have his backing.
For the record Roy, Team Chemistry is one of the most important parts of a team being successful. No matter how low ranked the team , they’re coming with their starters and they’re coming with Chemistry, either risk putting your “ second” team and face the consequences or play with the big guns. For a manager of 35( and a half) year experience you’d think he’d know that.( If you’ve wondered why I keep adding “and a half “The man seemed proud of this 35 year career so I’m giving him his extra half to add on with his great record at every chance I get !)
2. The second Factor that Gave me hope was, this team has potential .
Rafa left a team that reached second only two years earlier. The same team that would march all over Europe coming home with success. True we lost Alonso & Mascherano, but we had an Improving Lucas , a fit Aquilani and some extra money after the sale of Mascherano to just fill in the blanks.
Maybe we can’t be title contenders this year I thought, but with the prospect of getting a new owner we could do good enough to keep us at a decent consistent performance that would allow one or two winter signings help push us over that finishing line.
Last year Rafa was criticized for not reaching the potential Liverpool should have achieved with the team they had. This year Rafa is being criticized for not leaving a good enough team for Roy to reach the same potential he was criticized for not reaching last year. ( ???)
To give Roy credit, he stopped criticizing Rafa ( my guess is he’s lactose intolerant and didn’t like Rafa’s milk offer very much) So then Roy started pointing his finger at his team….. Oh I’m sorry “ The Team” since it’s not really his. Sometimes I wonder if Purslow said “ listen Roy, we secretly have Messi and ronaldo as well as other superstars ready to jump on your bandwagon once you sign with us “
As the season went on, us Liverpool fans let that slide, maybe he has big plans and additions we thought. Maybe he just has to add a few extra touches to make it his team I argued with myself.
Come January and I’m starting to have a totally different scary idea. By , “ make it my team” did he mean drag us to Mid table, playing crap deep football away from home against every team possible and having me wondering if I’m watching Liverpool play Football or Dodge ball with how he sets us up at home shifting left to right following the other teams passing of the ball?
As the manager of Liverpool Football club it’s your responsibility to take blame for performances. Roy Hodgson has ran out of people to point the finger at, he’s criticized Rafa, the Ex Owners , the players and even the famous Kop.
The only thing Roy Hodgson had left to say was:
“It’ll be the next performance which could change things.”
I was hoping that was the last thing he’d ever say as a Liverpool Manager, alas I was wrong. That disappoints me, because I feel guilty and I’ll tell you why.
Come Man Utd on Saturday and I’ll be tucked in my couch wrapped up in my Liverpool scarf and jersey hoping for a miracle . As we all know, miracles don’t always come true, but I know if we lose or do real bad, after the game I can just pick up my remote control and turn off the TV. What about the traveling kop ? what about the fans that have to travel to Old Trafford? The fans that have been traveling all over Europe and England the last few months to watch us play? The fans that used to march into the biggest stadiums in the world, Camp Nou , The bernabeu and San siro just to name a few.
I’ve had the Honour being at Anfield when we lost 3-1 last season to Aston villa and it was tough but walking back to my hotel with the thousands of red shirts gave me pride and restored my faith. I can’t begin to imagine how painful the atmosphere must be now when we lose let alone think of all those fans after a bad loss at Old Trafford. They don’t deserve it, Liverpool don’t deserve it!
When Rafael Benitez was under pressure two years ago and ( once again) blamed for losing the dressing room, back at the time he hadn’t signed a new contract due to his demands with control and length of the contract, the players stood up for him we beat Real Madrid 4-0 , Man utd away 4-1 and Aston Villa 5-0 . Six months in Roy Hodgson’s tenure as Liverpool Manager, I’m still waiting to see that type of commitment from the players to the manager. I’m not saying they need to I’m just saying that if what the media is saying is right, then they should have been streaking months ago .I think having an owner that lives thousands of miles away and doesn’t sit in at Anfield every week and watch us play, can be a negative. It’s harder to feel what the fans are really feeling.
To the thousands of fans that passionately follow the team week in and week out, from us, the millions of fans that passionately follow Liverpool on our TVs’ from all corners of the world, You’ll Never Walk Alone !
9ynwa6 – Nas Y.