Hodgson Relishing Anfield Debut

Roy Hodgson took 15 minutes out of his preparations for his Anfield debut as Liverpool boss against FK Rabotnicki to chat with radio journalists at Melwood. Here's what he had to say.

Journalist: Roy, it's fantastic news regarding Fernando Torres isn't it?

I've always been of the belief he would stay with the club. Christian Purslow, who spoke with him during the World Cup and afterwards, has always been convinced he would stay and that it was pure speculation he would go.
But, on the other hand, it was very nice he came out and gave such a glaringly positive interview. I am sure he has sent a great cheer through the hearts of Liverpool Football Club supporters by making it clear not only is he staying, but he's looking forward to the season and is going to attempt to reproduce the form of the season before last when he was unstoppable.

Journalist: You get the feeling he is really passionate about Liverpool Football Club and the great rapport he has with the fans...

Yes, that's important. Liverpool Football Club is a special football club. Maybe it's not a club that is going to win the Champions League every year because no club wins the Champions League every year. But if you're talking about the great football clubs of Europe, we at Liverpool are up there and I think all of our players are perfectly aware of that and their enormous responsibilities as a result of it.
The fans at clubs like Liverpool and Inter Milan - the two I can speak about with some sort of knowledge - expect the best, the team to win and the players to be very, very special. If the players can then give them something back, they idolise those players and you very quickly become a member of the family - just like I regard myself a member of the Inter family.

Journalist: We've seen Fernando break records and score spectacular goals here, but one thing he hasn't done is completed a full season without injury problems cursing him. You must be thinking about how to get the best out of him over a longer period?

The answer to that is quite simple and it's to do with the quality of the sports science and medical department. Ours is very, very good, so I am sure that will be an enormous benefit.
The other thing is how big a squad you've got to enable players to be rested when they need one and to ensure they're not being thrown into situations all the time where really and truly they'd have been better off having a rest.
If we are to proceed in the Europa League, it is going to mean an awful lot of matches, so the strength and size of our squad will be of vital importance.
It doesn't matter if you're Fernando Torres or anybody else, to play three games a week for something like 35-40 weeks of the year is an impossible task at the level we're playing at. The little blows and injuries take their toll.

Journalist: Even in the short space of time you've been at Anfield, can you sense an element of heightened optimism amongst the supporters? Gerrard and Torres are staying, Joe Cole has arrived and there is a renewed vigour amongst Liverpool fans - they can't wait for the start of the Barclays Premier League...

That's great to hear. Of course, I seem to spend most of my days here at Melwood at the moment, so I don't venture out too often - but certainly the people I have met have all been extremely positive and optimistic.
I am pretty sure you guys are in a better position to judge the mood than I am, but I am delighted to hear it and it is up to us now to try and make sure we continue to give them that vigour and keep the optimism and belief alive with our performances on the field.

Journalist: So can you sum up how pleased you are to know two of your star players have committed their futures to the club? 

It's a much nicer feeling sitting here today with all of these players I admired last year still with us and with the possibility to still bring in one or two new faces that I think will help us even more and make the squad stronger.
It's also nice to be here knowing the fans outside have picked up on what we're trying to do and are getting behind us because that has always been Liverpool's strength.
All the quotations on the walls around here at Melwood are from famous managers and players who played here - and the first thing they say is playing at Liverpool is an incredible experience because of the strength the team gathers from the fans.
When the day comes that we don't gather strength from the fans, then we take a step backwards. It's nice to hear that doesn't seem to be the case at the moment.

Journalist: Do you feel you've had a slice of luck in having those players stay put and how much easier does it make your job?

It makes my job easier in the sense that football players win matches. Managers don't win them, spectators don't win them and administrators don't win them - matches are won by players who go out onto the field.
The better the players you've got to put on the field, the more chance you have of winning matches.
It sounds an extremely simplistic thing to say, but funnily enough it's something which isn't said often enough. In this convoluted world of football today, we try to find excuses and reasons for things all over the place and forget sometimes the most important people in the game of football are those guys you pay to go and watch and they are the footballers, not the managers, people sitting in the stands or even the owners to be quite honest. It's all about the players.
The fact the good players are staying here has, I hope, made my job that little bit easier, but of course it will only make my job easier if they perform like big players. Names don't win you anything, football players do. Sometimes football players can get names and cease to be the player they were - but that has not been the case with the players we've got here and I am sincerely hoping it won't be the case in the future.

Journalist: Tonight is about you as well as the players. You've stood on the Anfield touchline many a time, but I am sure there will be a different feeling and perspective from yourself this time...

Yes, I am looking forward to it of course. It would be foolhardy to say anything other than your first game as manager of Liverpool Football Club at Anfield is a special occasion.
It will be equally as special - if not even more so - for the first Premier League game. With respect to Rabotnicki, it's not quite the same as Liverpool versus Arsenal.
I am lucky in a way because I think I will have mini-debut followed by a full debut, meaning I will have two debuts to savour at the club.
I am looking forward to it and, as I said, the fans have been excellent so far in terms of the welcome they've given me. I hope they understand as manager I will do everything I can to prepare the team and put them on the field in the best possible shape.
We've got to hope Liverpool Football Club will continue to have the players who can get out and win football matches.

Journalist: It was a very confident and competent performance in Skopje against Rabotnicki, but tonight is still a match that will need to be won even though we know individually you are a better team...

I was asked the question by LFC TV if there was any danger of complacency, but I don't think so. I don't think this is a complacent team. A lot of things are new - the manager is new and so the players have got to impress upon me how good they are. A lot of them are maybe new to the team - players like Jovanovic, Pacheco if he plays, and guys like that. They all want to make certain they give a good performance.
I think quite frankly you won't get many complacent performances at Anfield. It would surprise me (if you did). One of the good things I have thought over the years is that if you were manager of a club like Liverpool, the fans would do everything they could to prevent complacency.
So complacency isn't a fear - we need to be more fearful of anxiety than complacency. That won't be the case tonight, but in future anxiety would worry me more than complacency.

Journalist: Roy, you've been here just over a month now - have you changed much?

It's been a strange month because I haven't worked with the players that are going to be the important players. I came here a week before we left for Bad Ragaz in Switzerland and the people we took there are basically players who will not be playing in the first team very often this season, if at all.
It's only been since returning from Bad Ragaz just over a week ago that I've actually had a chance to work more with the sort of players you regard as the Liverpool team, and still there are a good four or five left of those who have done no work with me.
I certainly haven't changed anything greatly and I don't think my input should be judged anyway in such a short period of time. You've got to give people a chance to establish their philosophy and get their style and how they like things to be done through to the players. It would be ridiculous to suggest after one month I've made vast changes in that respect.

Journalist: Over the summer, there have been people claiming there is a cloud hanging over the club, but you haven't felt any of that - it is just a perception from the outside world?

In the perception from the outside world, everyone was portrayed as wanting to desert the 'sinking ship'. But as we have established very firmly, that isn't the case at all. Even Mascherano is still here, doing his job well in training and if nothing happens will play against Arsenal.
Basically speaking, that was an anxiety that fuelled by the speculation - in particular about Torres and Gerrard and, to some extent, Mascherano and Reina. But it seems to me now, we've put that to bed and so there is no reason for me to have any doubts about everyone's commitment and our possibilities anymore.