What Would You Do?

I'd give Roy an early retirement and a free bus pass.

No point in straight upgrading players or shipping out 3 pieces of deadwood to bring in 2 first team players.

Add to squad depth first.  Then get the players who aren't first team players to become squad players and then the squad players who aren't good enough for that to become "keep working hard and training well and you'll earn a spot on the bench-type players".

Priorities are (IMO):

1) A first team LB
2) A versatile, high quality forward and not just 'a backup to Torres' - what I mean is someone who could potentially fit into the setup even if Torres is fit and firing.

edit: The tactics/formation/youth policy aspects have been fairly covered, no point going into much more detail.

I'd give Roy an early retirement and a free bus pass.

Right now I'd drive the bus that gave him an early retirement.

The first thing I'd do is fire myself... If I was Hodgson.

The first thing I'd do is bring back Aquilani. Then I'd either play Gerrard with Aquilani and Meireles on each side and have Cole and Jovanovic/Babel up with Torres to make almost a 4-3-3.
If that didn't work I'd play Gerrard behind Torres in 4-2-3-1 with Cole on the right or 4-1-4-1 with Cole and Gerrard behind Torres.
I also think its time to start playing Agger and Skrtel together, that should have been done ages ago. Carra has still got a lot to offer but he's lost his pace and Agger and Skrtel need to form a solid partnership.

4-3-3:

Johnson----Skrtel----Agger----Aurelio
-------------------------------------
---Meireles-----Gerrard-----Aquilani---
-------------------------------------
----Cole-----Torres------Jovanovic---

4-2-3-1:

Johnson----Skrtel----Agger----Aurelio
---------Aquilani-----Meireles-----------
----Cole--------Gerrard--------Jovanovic-
--------------Torres--------------------

4-1-4-1: Pretty much if we cant get Aquilani back.

----Johnson------Skrtel----Agger----Aurelio-------
--------------------Lucas----------------------------
------Kuyt------Cole----Gerrard------Jovanovic--
-------------------Torres----------------------------

Bringing back Aquilani would be the main priority, this is what I would do if I had the current squad anyway even if it did cost 2 mil in compensation. If I had cash to splash the only players I would keep out of our current squad would be: Gerrard, Torres, Pepe, Carra, Skrtel, Agger, Aquilani, Meireles, Kuyt, Johnson, Cole and Lucas. Yes Lucas, he is better than Paulson by miles and is still young but most of all he is willing to put up with all the sh*te he gets from everyone and still is putting in decent effort when he gets the bloody chance. He is good back up. Everyone else can whistle dixie.

Out of all that I like the 4-3-3 best. We don't have Alonso or Masch to spread the ball anymore so to me 2 holding midfielders don't really make much sense. We do however have loads of CAM's.

And come to think of it, how much more can you insult a player when you haven't been given a chance at all to prove yourself, you get shipped off on loan and straight away your squad number is given to someone else. I truly believe that Aquilani, Meireles and Gerrard can be an awesome midfield. But would you want to come back if that happened to you and you were on fire for the loan team?... Highly unlikely.

Reina is clearly undermining my authority by daring to throw the ball.  Ship him out and use the funds to bring in Kirkland, I never liked the smug pr**k anyway with his number 25 shirt.  In my 35 years of managerial experience, the first choice goalkeeper always wore the #1 shirt.

Agger out because I'm sick of him pretending to be injured and miraculously recovering for international duty.  Use funds to bring in Scott Dann.

Torres out because he was being disrespectful to the vice-captain and first choice centreback for the next six seasons.  After all, no player is bigger than the club, right?  In with Carlton Cole.

Pacheco and Suso along with an additional £3m to fund the purchase of Pedersen to fix our width problem of course.

Ship out that player with a ć at end of his name.  That's not a British letter.

Maxi and Babel out, they're only B team anyway.

Lucas is unnecessary, we've got the world's best DM already at the club.

Clear out all non-British talent from the reserves and bring in Peter Crouch and we're sorted.

Top 4, here we come!!

Simple...contact Rafa tell him I cant cope with a real team then walk away ...bloody fast

If I was Roy, I would not be in this position.

I would not have sold the players he sold, and I would not have bought the players he bought.

If I were Roy I would resign

If I were Roy, before step down, line up as follows :-

Reina
Glen-Carra-Skrtel-Konchesky
Cole-Gerrard-Mereiles-Jovanovic
Babel-Torres

what would I do? first off, call in the Senior players, like every new manager should, ask what the state it is. Get them to call a proper team meeting, get a few team-building exercises on the go. Confidence is key right now.

Tactics / transfer wise

Get rid of Poulsen, Konchesky, Bring back Insua + Aqua. get rid of players like Darby, Spearing. I'm sorry but I just don't think they're gonna make it at this level / age.

Our spine is pretty good if they can gel just need time and the 'outside' players to improve. I'd play


----------------Reina------------------
Johnson--Carra---Agger--Konchesky
--------Meireles--Stevie--------------
Kuyt----------Cole--------------Babel
---------------Torres------------------

It's blatantly obvious that Torres needs support, hence Babel's inclusion, but it also allows for an easier change of formation of needed.
there are still changes I would make such as dropping Konchesky, replacing him with Srktel, replacing Kuyt with Pacheco, moving Cole out to the right wing. Kelly for Carra.
Lucas for defensive work, but not alongside Gerrard, that partnership does not work

Hi I'm a Mauritian and I'm new on this forum...

I think he should simply change his tactics. The match against Everton was awful. It was as if the 3 behind Torres and Torres were afraid to attack. They should realize that there are other six players behind them! Last time I watched the match Real Madrid vs Malaga: the 3 behind higuain were free to do whatever they wanted; they could switch wings... I know that we do not have Ronaldo, Ozil or Di Maria in our team but there is'nt any style of play in the team. We must not rely on a Torres who does not score to score the goals for us. Some goals should come from the 3 AM also...

That is my line-up

                                                        Reina
Johnson-------------Carragher-------------------Agger/Skrtel*-------------------Aurelio*
                                                 Mereiless/Lucas

                                                     Gerrard*

Cole*                                                Kuyt*                                               Jovanovic*
                                                  Torres/Ngog


*Agger is the best defender we have but Hodgson prefers Skrtel.( The Agger/Skrtel partnership is the best)
*Aurelio is better than Konchesky without a doubt.
*If Gerrard is situated between (let's say the 3 AM) and the CDM, he will be free to roam all over the pitch.
*Kuyt should play behind Torres since he is (after Gerrard) the best partner of Torres. If Kuyt play behind Torres he can(try to) score goals since with a 4-2-3-1 the striker cannot score all the goals!
Cole should play on the right for the moment.
*jovanovic - for being an attackin left footed player:p(and is a striker)
*Ngog is our best scorer and should be given a chance...

Sorry for bad English. It is not my mother tongue...

I would bring in Lee Cattermole....bit of a hot head but is a quality player, play gerrard in the middle with him which would giv stevie licence to get forward......Joe Cole has done F**k all so far and in my opinion is still playing on his reputation....It will be tough to bring in players in January and I wouldnt make any panic buys but Santa Cruz seems a sound investment.....It wasnt too long ago he was scoring 22 pl goals for a mid table side in blackburn altough he is 29.....Too many long balls and not enough service to Torres is the problem! Maybe Stuart Downing (somebody who can get to the byline and get crosses in which is something we havnt had for a long time)....

If I was Roy, I would not be in this position.
I would not have sold the players he sold, and I would not have bought the players he bought.

Simple.
Im frightened of him having any transfer money in January if he is still around which I hope he is not.
28 day countdown.

               Reina
Johnson Skrtel Agger Konchesky

Kuyt Gerrard Meireles Jovanovic

               Cole
             Torres

Instead of sitting off , I would play a high pressure game similar to Rafa, the players are used to it under no circumstances would I have my players retreat, we are Liverpool not Fulham. And no F***ing long ball we have good enough players in the centre of midfield to play football.

               Reina
Johnson Skrtel Agger Konchesky

Kuyt Gerrard Meireles Jovanovic

               Cole
             Torres

Instead of sitting off , I would play a high pressure game similar to Rafa, the players are used to it under no circumstances would I have my players retreat, we are Liverpool not Fulham. And no f**king long ball we have good enough players in the centre of midfield to play football.

I'd do the same, maybe with Kuyt and Jova further forward.  It is just a shame Roy is sticking with his 35 years of tried and tested tactics with 'underdogs' so we're not likely to see it.

                                                 Reina


                                     Skrtel              Agger
           Johnson                                                       Aurelio
                                              
                                              Lucas
                        Meireles                             Gerrard

       Kuyt                                                                       Cole

                                             Torres

I know it's a bit lopsided, but you get the idea.

Positions of Meireles and Gerrard are interchangeable during the match, as are the front 3.

3 centre midfielders no way, Kenny, I suppose anything to fit in Lucas

Hard question this one ...call a bus for Roy ( he'll have a pass ) put a cheeky bid in for Coutinho ,bring Aquilani back ,and look for two good full backs who can raid down the flanks AND defend ,Agger and Skertel to be the cb's

3 centre midfielders no way, Kenny, I suppose anything to fit in Lucas

, nope - I think 433 is the way forwards, and as I said, Meireles and Gerrard interchange, as well as the front 3.

Lucas is there to cover the FB when they attack, and to snap up the bits and pieces - or would you prefer Poulsen?

Also, you'll see I have the 3 CM quite narrow, which provides a solid centre, with the wide players of the front 3, supported by the FB providing width.

Seeing as Valencia are in huge debt maybe take Banega and Unai Emery

banega cant even get in the 1st team at valencia at the moment.
and also valencia are sound now financially.. selling villa, silva and marchena for around 70mil def helped
theres no need for them to sell now.

What would i do?  Firstly i would pick this team.....
                                                               Reina
                                             Kelly      Agger      Skirtl     Aurelio
                                                 
                                                 Gerrard             Meireles

                                                             Shelvey
                                                Maxi                         Cole
                                                              Torres

 Solid at the back, strength, power, speed, Passing ability, good link-up play, also got width with good back up from Kelly and Aurelio, Torres would cum in his jockstrap with the service, Back up on the bench would consist... Jones, Carra, Wilson, Kuyt, Amoo, Pacheco, Ngog.....I'm hoping to F**k Roy don't get to waste any of NESV money in Jan, i would stick to this team for at least the next 6 matches injuries permitted to build some consistency, cohesion, understanding, CONFIDENCE, goals, harmony, a winning mentality, and above all climbing up the table, Are you reading THIS Roy ??

this question is ridiculous...
everyone knows if they were the manager then we wouldn't be in this mess.
cuz we all seem to know what our best starting 11 is. how to deal with the media, that we wouldn't rest our best players after just 8 league game, that reina should not change, the list is endless.
ha!
only joking...
hodgson out!

I would prefer this  :-

Reina
                                             Kelly      Agger      Skirtl     Aurelio
                                                 
                                                 Gerrard             Meireles

                                                             Jova
                                              Johnson                      Babel
                                                              Torres

I saw some positives in the game against Napoli, Jova is the only one that doesn't fear going forward and take on defenders, from his body language he's trying his best and he linked up well with Babel and hopes he does the same with Torres.