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"The Bosses View"
Every week World Soccer Mania Boss Reagan Koryozo, aka "GOD", :) will tell you his thoughts and views on his beloved team Liverpool Football Club and on the issues in the world of European football.

He may sometimes seem biast to Liverpool but ahhh you would be to wouldn't if you wrote a column.

Don't Bag Emile!!
8/1/2003

I think too many people bag Heskey with out really thinking why isn't he scoring enough.
1)he is playing out of position
2)what chances is he going to get when we only create a few good ones a game
3)If he played for Arsenal I am sure he would get 20 goals a season
4)GH has shattered his confidence by not playing him in more attacking positions.
Look at the treble season when we didn't play Italian style, Emile was almost top scorer by a goal or 2. He had confidence because GH was saying how he was no.1 and he was playing in a more attacking position. And he was, it was either Emile & Owen or Emile & Robbie. In that season some of his goals were brilliant. We also had a quality set piece take (McCallister) to deliver to his strength.
Maybe he aint right for LFC because the way GH has us playing.
GH has us playing against the pass & move mentality.
Maybe it will be better for Emile to move on and then we will see how we wish we had him when he starts scoring 20-30 goals a season.

Why Houllier must go?
3/1/2003

After witnessing the most abject, uninspiring and futile performance by a Liverpool side in living memory, the time has come for Mr Houllier to relinquish his position as manager. Before all the Houllier admirers pigeon hole me as another disloyal supporter responding with another knee jerk reaction, lets consider THE FACTS during Houlliers reign as manager:
1. In his transfer dealings, Houllier has signed more failures than successes. Whilst no-one would disagree with the quality of Hyypia, Henchoz, Kirkland and Riise, do we really consider the signings of Diouf, Smicer, Biscan, Diomede, Traore, Barmby, Xavier, Arphexad, Cheyrou and even Heskey to be successes?
2. Why did Houllier decline the opportunity to sign one of the best young and PROVEN Premiership talents around (Anelka) in favour of a striker (Diouf) who admittedly had a good world cup but was then playing for an average French side and was completely oblivious to the demands of English football? I wonder what Mr Houllier would do now given the same opportunity?
3. Having been brought up on Liverpool teams retaining possession and often embarrassing teams with our ability to pass, move and create, why is it since the arrival of Mr Houllier we seem unable to retain possession for more than three or four passes? (usually in our own half!)
4. Why does mr Houllier insist on playing full backs that have little or no creative and attacking ability? (Carragher, Traore) Full backs, like central midfielders, have to be omnicompetent in the modern game. Long gone are the days, especially at home, when we can satisfy ourselves that our full backs are 'solid' and 'able defenders'. Full backs such as Ashley Cole, Mikael Silvestre and Graeme Le Saux provide their teams with genuine attacking options and also give their sides NATURAL WIDTH.
5. On the same point as above, why are evidently more talented, creative and skilled footballers in the full back positions ignored? (Babbel, Vignal and even Riise on occassions)
6. Why oh why are Liverpool so slow at starting games. This invariably allows teams to grow in confidence and dictate the terms of a game. This invariably allows the opposition to take the lead and results in us having to play 'catch up'. I would like to know what happens in the dressing room immediately before the team takes the pitch.
7. Why have Liverpool developed a system of play under Houllier that can be described as nothing more than 'alehouse football'. The most shocking indictement of Houlliers reign is the fact that in my 30 years of watching LFC, I have seen them play more long balls in the last six months than I have seen in the previous 29 and a half years.
8. Why do Liverpool sit so deep as a team? This is again a 'Houllierism' - these tactics simply invite opposition pressure and invariably results in pressurised defenders lashing the ball blindly upfield (usually in the air) only for it to come back seconds later. These tactics result in the whole team becoming stretched and the three units (defence, midfield and attack becoming isolated from each other).
9. Is it just me or do our strikers seem incapable of keeping hold of the ball for more than a nano second? I don't know what Mr Houllier and his staff do with the players on the training field but killing a ball and using bodily strength to reatin it should be high on the agenda.
10. When was the last time you saw a Liverpool midfield player charging into the box to get on the end of a cross delivered wide from an advanced position? This goes to the crux of everything that is at fault with LFC - no width, isolated units within the team, sitting to deep, lack of creative fullbacks.

There are many more faults I could list under the Houllier regime and I agree he has contributed some good things to the club. However, all those supporters who were in raptures following the 'treble' have to concede that the team has declined since then and lets be honest, we only won the Worthington Cup against a second rate Division One team on penalties, we stole the F A Cup from an embarrasingly superior side on the day and we achieved UEFA cup success with a 4-3 win against a very average Spanish team. Our boring, rigid, 'absorb pressure and hit them on the break' mentality has been exposed repeatedly at Europes top table - remember Valencia and Barcelona?

In summary, Houllier is living on the good nature of supporters blighted by years in the wilderness as the manager who brought them three trophies in one year, beat Man Utd more than once and returned as a hero following health problems - blunt but true.

It is my opinion that Houllier lacks the offensive tactical accumen to forge LFC into a cohesive, creative and potent side who's main objective on entering the field of play is to score goals not comprimise this aim with attempting to concede them - this mentallity can often backfire and did so famously this season afgainst Middlesbro' at the Riverside.

Mr Houllier was quick to offer 'bad luck' as the the resason for Liverpools demise at the start of this current barren spell. I can think of numerous games when Liverpool were blessed with good luck and the result could have gone against us (Leeds away, Chelsea home, Ipswich home, Tottenham home, Southampton home) - you create your own luck and Liverpool are guilty of creating very little.

My thoughts are summed up, sadly, by the fact that I would rather watch Arsenal or Chelsea play at present than LFC - their games lack creativity, excitement and lead to utter frustration for those supporters who have to endure the mediocrity - what a sad indictement on the current side.

Mr Houllier has taken the side as far as he is capable. I believe the time is right for him to step aside and allow passing, movement, creativity and excitement to return to the barren, boring and one dimensional pastures of Anfield.

Goodbye Gerard, your chateau and vineyards await you in Southern France.

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