Roy Hodgson’s comfortable loafers have found a new home under Rafa’s old desk at Anfield after a compensation package with between Liverpool and Fulham was agreed. Hodgson has signed a three-year contract with Liverpool and will now set about the task of waking the former giant from it’s slumber with sights surely set on the Premier League title.
The likeable Hodgson will be sorting through a series of post-it-notes on his arrival, one of which will doubtless be scrawled with “make sure Rafa doesn’t get Mascherano”, while another will read “What to do with Gerrard and Torres?”
Having performed minor miracles with Fulham, not least the transformation of Bobby “Row Z” Zamora into a semi-potent Premier League striker, Hodgson will have plenty of work to undertake and numerous early opportunities to prove his worth. And prove it he must – certainly the early reaction from the Liverpool fans indicates that in some quarters, Hodgson will face a battle for support from the terraces.
The implications to our Fantasy Lineups next season are many. Obviously the future of Torres and Gerrard are key and with Hodgson likely to bring the Fulham blueprint for a 4-4-2 with wide men and a big/little combination up front, it will be interesting to see how Liverpool’s star pairing figure in his plans…
Hodgson will at least have Milan Jovanovic available to him after the Serb confirmed his contract with Liverpool earlier this week. Jovanovic can help Hodgson solve the long-running search for natural width on the left wing but there’s no doubt that he will have to start plotting the destination his transfer warchest if Liverpool are to make up ground on Chelsea and United.
Brede Hangeland is an obvious first target to help add a commanding presence to the back four. Having sealed the services of Phillip Senderos, Fulham are now in a position to listen to bids and Hodgson will surely be keen to bring the reliable Norwegian to Anfield. As soon as we catch sight of Hangeland parading with a almost-smiling Hodgson on the Anfield pitch, he immediately becomes a top Fantasy target right there.
Brazil’s Gilberto Silva is also reportedly on Hodgson’s radar, perhaps as the ready-made replacement for Mascherano shoud he complete a move to Barcelona or Inter. Not a exciting prospect in Fantasy terms perhaps but Rafael van der Vaart is certainly diffrerent story. The Dutch creator is is being reported this morning as another target and would certainly add quality to Liverpool’s ranks whilst giving us another assist-gathering midfielder to consider. Personally I just want to see if he’s got any of that Bobby Zamora pixie dust left to sprinkle on the likes of Ryan Babel. Surely even those nay-saying Liverpool fans would be impressed then?