Roy on signings, Spurs and form
28th Nov 2010 - Latest News
Roy Hodgson took 10 minutes to chat to radio journalists ahead of our jaunt to White Hart Lane on Sunday afternoon. Here's what he had to say.
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You need to keep faith in your plan in terms of how the team is going to attack and how the team is going to defend - the things you work on every day and the principles to which you work. I've seen these principles on several occasions this season and when things are working for us they can make us look like quite a good football team.
Roy on why results haven't been good on the road...
It's goalscoring. We haven't scored enough goals away from home and we haven't created enough goalscoring chances. There have been occasions where we've played too much football in front of the opposing defence and not got the ball behind them. Or we haven't got ourselves into crossing positions, and when we have, we haven't got enough bodies into the box. That's something we're attempting very much to rectify.
Roy on the media perception of Tottenham having a good season and Liverpool having a bad one when victory on Sunday could put us above them...
Liverpool will always be harshly looked at (in the media). It's part and parcel of being an employee of Liverpool Football Club because of the traditions. The expectations for the club to do well are always going to be high, and as a result I don't complain about harsh treatment. It's part and parcel of the job. It's quite nice to be in a position now where having taken 13 points from six games, a couple more good results between now and Christmas could see us in quite a decent position at the 19-game stage. That was about the most I could have hoped for after taking so few points out of the first seven games.
Roy on Gareth Bale...
He's a very good player, but it's a bit unfortunate for the rest of the team that so much focus is on one man. He's a fine player who's having a very good period, but Tottenham are more than Gareth Bale. They are a very good football team with a lot of good players. Harry Redknapp has done an excellent job since he's been there. He's had the chance to fashion a team after his own image and the players that he's brought in have been the players that he's really wanted to do the jobs. He's also managed the players from the previous regime very well. They've not only got into the Champions League but now they've come through the Group Stages, and you shouldn't forget what a good achievement that is, because Tottenham, with respect, have not been used to top European football every year for a long time. They've done it by beating Inter Milan into the bargain and I'm delighted for Harry.
Roy on the game...
We know we're going to be facing a good team, but I'm pretty confident about my own team at the moment. I'm taking a good team down there, so it's going to be a cracking game. Both teams will be trying to win it - we both know the value of the three points and to some extent the lack of value to the one point. It will be an entertaining game because Tottenham are an offensive team and we are an offensive team.
Roy on having a free week and a lack of international breaks for a few months...
It's been a good week, we've had a big squad to work with. The thing about football is it's about rehearsal. You expect tennis players to continually practice their serves, their volleys, their forehands and backhands, and in the same way a footballer needs to practice all the things he does. The more you practice, the better you become; the more you rehearse together, the feeling you have about your job in relation to the rest of the team will get better and better. That's what I'm looking forward to.
Roy on Jamie Carragher and his 450th league appearance...
He's very good. He's what I expected him to be. I've seen him for many years and seen a man who's so whole-hearted, so honest, so dedicated, so passionate and enthusiastic about the game. That's shown through to anyone with half an eye for a football player. When I came here I was hoping that would be the person I met and it's been exactly the person I've met. The reason he's played so many games and is touching on all the records there are to break at Liverpool is because of his attitude and desire. He's a man who wants to play football. Even though he's got more than 600 appearances behind him, and 450 in the league, he's still as enthusiastic in training and still as desperate to play every week as the guy making his debut. Obviously we've been lucky in having him and Steven Gerrard - two people who epitomise Liverpool Football Club and are the ultimate club men. You don't see so many club men these days.
Roy on the idea of playing two strikers on the road...
I don't think there's a question about two strikers. When you play Torres and Gerrard you've certainly got two goalscorers. We don't change the way we play at home or away. We still try to do the same things when we've got the ball. Whether the confidence factor is higher at home, or if we get help from the crowd - there are all these factors you can discuss. We have to make sure the confidence of the attacking players is high, and if that's the case we'll get the goals we need.
Roy on the squad...
I've got a very clear picture now of what we need to be doing. The squad is getting stronger and is perhaps stronger than I realised in the early part of the season when we were losing games, and hopefully that will mean we won't need to do too much in the January transfer window. It might be nice if we can keep all these players fit and well to add the odd player or two who can help us. I've got a lot of faith in the players who are playing at the moment because in the last two or three weeks we've put in some pretty good performances.
Roy on the January transfer window...
I don't know what's going to happen at the moment. We're doing a lot of work, covering a lot of matches, looking at a lot of players and trying to arm ourselves with information, but when push comes to shove none of us knows yet what transfer funds can be made available, and certainly we've got no idea if the people we're watching will be available. We're constantly monitoring what's out there.
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