Blame big-spender Rafa for Liverpool’s plight, not Hodgson

Simon Johnson11 April 2012

If Liverpool fans are looking for someone to blame for the club's current plight, they'd be wrong to single out Roy Hodgson.

Ignoring the furore surrounding the American owners, it is apparently manager Hodgson who is at fault for the club's points tally of six from their first seven games.

However, just one look at the club's transfer spending in recent seasons would be enough for anyone to realise Hodgson's predecessor, Rafa Benitez, is to blame for largely wasting £229million in his six years at Anfield.

While many supporters are already calling for Hodgson's head and demanding he be replaced with Kop idol Kenny Dalglish, the real culprit, Benitez, has escaped relatively unharmed.

The Spaniard may have been sacked in the summer but he walked into another job at the highest level within weeks, at European champions Inter Milan.

While he has been able to continue his career at the top, he left behind a Liverpool squad that are so mediocre it is no surprise they are struggling this season.

For all the complaints over the troubled running of the club by Tom Hicks and George Gillett, the red half of Merseyside appear to have turned a blind eye to Benitez's ability to waste funds.

There were some diamonds in the rough but for every Pepe Reina there was an Alberto Aquilani, Andrea Dossena and Albert Riera — the latter trio costing £35m and starting just 80 games between them.

They have moved on to pastures new but a lot of the dross Benitez signed are still there, including Fabio Aurelio, Lucas, Ryan Babel and the ridiculously priced £17m right-back Glen Johnson. Considering the fitness problems surrounding striker Fernando Torres, Benitez bizarrely allowed plenty of forward talent to leave under his command.

Craig Bellamy spent just one season there before being sold to West Ham and was Manchester City's best player last season.

Even more odd was the treatment of Peter Crouch, who is starring for Tottenham right now. He scored 40 goals in three seasons, even though he was often on the bench before being frozen out.
Then there was Robbie Keane, signed for £20.3m from Spurs in the summer of 2008 and sold back to them for £12m just five months later.

All three would be very handy to have at the club right now — they are certainly more useful to call upon than David Ngog when Torres inevitably limps off.

Still, Benitez is revered for having won the Champions League in 2005 and his sins are forgotten.

Now the fans want Dalglish to come to their rescue in the same blind manner that Newcastle supporters believed Kevin Keegan could revive their fortunes — but they are both yesterday's men.

Hodgson may have made some mistakes but the biggest ones were made by his predecessor and he deserves time and patience to put things right.

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