Hodgson Asks More Time For Judgement

Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson
will not make any assessment on
how well his side are performing
in the Barclays Premier League
until the season is at least 10
matches old.
Having drawn at home to
Arsenal, lost at Manchester City
and beaten West Brom the Reds
sit 13th with four points.
Hodgson has made a few
changes to his squad and late
arrivals back from the World Cup
and the recent international
break have prevented him being
able to work with his full
complement of players for a
sustained period.
Not bad: David Ngog fires
Liverpool ahead in the draw
with Arsenal....
But despite already being five
points behind defending
champions and current leaders
Chelsea the Reds boss is not
jumping to any conclusions.
'I know how many points we
have but I don't know what that
means in terms of the table,' he
said.
'I think tables are of no interest
until at least 10 games have been
played.
'Then you start looking to see
how big a gap there is between
yourself and the top teams or
between yourself and the bottom
teams. I don't think you worry
about that after three games.
...but the 3-0 defeat at
Manchester City - with Carlos
Tevez netting twice - showed
how much work still needs to
be done at Anfield
'The programme plays a big part
in that and we've already played
Arsenal at home and Manchester
City away.
'Injuries play a part as well when
teams don't have their best team
available early on but will do
soon.
'After 10 games I will start
worrying about the table but
until then I'll worry more about
performances and results.'