Let me start by saying I quite like hodgson as a person, but am not convinced he is the manager for our club, firstly I think he was an appointment made out of neccesity to get the press of our backs and to do a job without stiring things up during all the boadroom problems till new owners come in.
I fully expect him to go if we ever get new owners. From his point of view I think he is fully aware of this and is pinning his hopes on being able to do a good enough job to buy himself some time when we get new owners and money to spend, to make a go of things and show he is the man for the job.
From what I have seen so far it looks to me that he is trying to play a similar style to fulham and this is backed up for me by aggers comments. They looked to get the ball from back to front quickly and play from there, this for me is why zamora loooked such a good player in there system he is a decent target man and works hard for the team. I also think it is a contributing factor as to why Torres isn't having as much joy up front as we would like, aswell as playing catch up on pre-season.
As I think everyone has noticed the defence is sitting too deep and it looks like the shackles have been put on the fullbacks too to a certain extent. I don't think the defence is meant to sit as deep as it is currently but with the personel being used (carragher, skirtle) I think it just happens they naturally drop off to defend as pace is not their biggest asset and both are if you like are just stoppers and not much else. For this to improve I think you have to play Agger he offers a balance to either skirtle, carragher or kyriagos(spelling?) and as he carries the ball out of defence this brings the whole defensive line forward.
At the moment we are seeing gerrard dropping between the centrebacks to get the ball of pepe, and if one of the centre backs have it most of the time the chosen ball looks to be one down the channels for wide players to run on to or a long ball aimed at torres, I know carragher has done this a lot over the years but I can't help think especially after this interview with Agger that this is a tactical instruction thats been given.
Torres' game is not about being a target man he is one of the most direct players I have seen as soon as he gets the ball he is looking to turn and head straight at goal his runs are generally to get himself in to a position to head straight for goal. When he does lay it off it is most of the time so he can spin and get himself straight into a position were he can be put through on goal, this is why he combines so well with gerrard because gerrard is at his best when playing at pace and giving quick decisive passes the exact kind that torres thrives on. I think this is why gerrard is better playing off torres than as the midfield playmaker he is being used as at the moment by roy. Don't get me wrong Gerrard can play pretty much anywhere on the pitch and be our best player but I think it's better for the team if he plays off Torres it's the only time we look to have a real cutting edge.
Anyway to sum up for me Agger should be first choice of our centre backs, with anyone from our other senior centre backs, and from what I have seen of Wilson he would be the back up for agger, or possible ayala when he returns from loan as he has looked relatively comfortable on the ball.
If what is going on at the moment continues Agger will be gone and there will be no shortage of clubs willing to take him if he plays regularly as first choice I can see him becoming one of the best in the business over the next couple of years as he reaches his prime. He has already started showing the leadership we have been looking for from him more and more as when he plays he is the one doing the organising not just Carragher.
The organisation for me is the only thing that makes it difficult not to rotate Carragher, without him there is no organiser but I think Agger is ready for this responsability but the question is does Roy?
