The Soccer Blog: Managerial Rumours, Player Rumours, and Other Headaches

Tuesday 4 January 2011

Managerial Rumours, Player Rumours, and Other Headaches

By: Noel | January 3rd, 2011
Tweet The Hoff

I’ve got a splitting headache that’s either down to not having a drink since New Year’s or Roy Hodgson’s continued employment, so it being January and all we might as well dive right into the further headache of rumours rumours rumours…

* Add another name to the pile alongside Klopp and Villas-Boas and Deschamps, as Ralf Rangnick comes out of nowhere to top the betting sites all looking to make you fabulously wealthy by betting on who the next manager of Liverpool Football Club will be. Betting websites: they do it because they love you and want to make you rich so you can retire tomorrow to the Caymans or Canaries.

But anyhow, this all raises one very important question: who the hell is Ralf Rangnick, and how did he end up favourite to become Liverpool’s next manager? Never fear, Level 3 Football has you covered with an exhaustive write-up.

[Rafael] Hoenigstein [The Guardian's Bundesliga correspondent] described [Hoffenheim's] football as “beautiful and free-flowing,” “Autobahn-Fussball without a speed limit,” and “a joy to behold.”

So how does that happen? Good old hard work and commitment to a footballing ‘way,’ that’s how:

“[Rangnick]… has instilled his players with a world of confidence and a never-say-die attitude, which perfectly complements his attacking philosophy.

“Under Rangnick, Hoffenheim plays a relentless pressing game, with emphasis put on quickly moving the ball upfield with a series of quick and short passes to keep their opponents on the back foot at all times.”

Never say die, relentless pressure, and an adherence to a short passing game? Well, on paper at least those seem like three footballing beliefs that any new Liverpool manager would need to have, so that’s promising.

He’s been around a while–how does he cope when things don’t go quite so well?

Hoffenheim’s meteoric rise through the German league pyramid culminated with their topping the league at the winter break–an achievement given the tag “Autumn Champions.” But by the end of the season, as Rafael Hoenigstein says, they were “officially the worst autumn champions in the history of the Bundesliga.”

Why did the wheels come off in their title challenging season? Hoenigstein summed it up as follows: “inflated egos, infighting, and injuries.” You might also add “indiscipline.”

Well, that’s a little worrisome, though at the same time it was Rangnick who almost single-handedly dragged Hoffenheim out of the third tier of German football in 2006 to get to the point where they could be Autumn Champions in 2009 before imploding (don’t think Hull City don’t think Hull City don’t think Hull City fuck you just thought Hull City). If the betting sites are right, one will have to simply hope that he has learned from his mistakes, because there is otherwise quite a lot of promise to be found in his record and style.

Oh, and he resigned on Sunday after having his star player sold out from under him. So he’s available to replace Roy Hodgson today.

* I suppose it’s unavoidable, really, so here’s a quick trans(hey, sailor)fer roundup, or at least a listing of the stories being passed around most by websites near and far in a dubiously sourced speculative wank-fest (and occasional sob-fest) over 97% untruths. That I’m now adding to in the grand interweb echo chamber. But at least I have the good grace to be a bitter asshole about it all:

* Most talked about rumour number one sees German international Mertesacker in, with continued rumblings that Agger will be on his way out variously because he’s constantly injured or because Hodgson’s staying for the next five years or yadda yadda yadda. For the record, we already have 73 center halves and Agger is awesome.

* Elsewhere, the long rumoured January signing of winger Sylvain Marveaux may end up instead being a pre-contract agreement leading to a free transfer in the summer after Rennes reportedly bumped their January asking price for the oft injured player from £1.5M to £2.5M. For the record, I have little opinion on a player coming in on the cheap six months from now. At least he’d be a younger and less expensive gamble than Joe Cole.

* Meanwhile, god damn do I hate transfer season: The official site (fuck you, Media Watch) reproduces a Goal.com story that reproduces a report from, apparently, a German newspaper called Hamburger Morgenpost, which sounds a very unlikely name if you ask me. And I suppose that I’m rather reproducing the story now. At least, given that LFC.tv didn’t feel obliged to give a link to Goal, who in turn didn’t feel obliged to link their source, I can continue the general asshattery and not link to any-fucking-body. Oh, right, the story: another winger, Eljero Elia this time, could be heading to Liverpool from Hamburg. For the record, he isn’t Eden Hazard, and his cameos for the Dutch at the World Cup seemed to show a selfish player with more pace than sense who could beat his man every once in a while but often wandered into blind alleys after refusing to pass to teammates. I don’t know if he spends his spare time rapping.

Well, now you’re up to speed, at least. Though in all likelihood none of the above will come to pass. Also for the record, I may not survive January.

In the meantime, Mister Gorbachev, tear down this wall…

Some Related Liverpool Posts:Rumours of Dalglish’s Imminent ReturnHodgson Rumours, Poll Wrap, and Other Monday NotesMatchday: Liverpool v. SteauaSquad Announced; Fernando Torres Has Been Paying AttentionMatchday: Liverpool v. West Brom

Category: Team News

Tags: Daniel Agger, Ralf Rangnick, Team News, The Horror, The Liverpool Groove, transfer rumours
Tweet « Literally! with Jamie and Friends | Home | Roy Hodgson Walks On »RedDownUndaNo wonder your password didn't work today you cretin, you signed in as RedDownUnder, not RedDownUnda. Whatever cred, mojo, chops, juju or vibe you may have had just exited stage left laughing all the way (doffs cap to Snagglepuss - look it up).

Jeezuz, anybody would think you're schizoid.

I am not schizophrenic.

I'm not either.

Okay, that's sorted then.

What's sorted?

We're sorted.

Who's we?

You?

No, me.

Me........?

Wha...

...

Hello, is that you Woy?lfc4eternityHold on...a theory...
Birds falling dead from the sky....thousands of dead fish....floods...earthquake in northern england...giant robots partially devouring the sun...andy gray still on sky...konchesky and poulsen on liverpool's books...hodgson manager of liverpool...man utd top of the league, - it's either a nightmare (pinch me please!!!!) or...(cue REM)..it's the end of the world as we know it!RedDownUnderBeing a little off the beaten track DownUnder, I'm a little shaky on one Mr. Vilas-Boas, so a little sub-ether sniffing round was in order. Imagine my surprise when I clicked through to his reported "Close Encounter of the Third Kind".

Apparently, as a 23 year old farmer in Brazil (so far, so good - they've given the wife a couple of spiffy wax jobs and me some decent footy to watch) Antonio was abducted by aliens. (Mmmm, okay, his grip on reality is a little loose but he is up for LFC manager). He swears he was whisked away, stripped, coated in goo, experimented on, and made to perform the horizontal cha cha with a pointy chinned, blue eyed, white-hair-on-her-head-but-oddly-bright-red-pubic-haired member of the Twilight Zone. He later became a lawyer, married and had four children. He died in 1992, and stuck to the story of his alleged abduction for his entire life.

Okay, so far it's pretty much run of the mill potential manager stuff. But someone tell me how Antonio is going to improve Liverpool's lot - I mean he needs exhuming and a good brushing down for a start. And apart from not being Brazilian, Roy's pretty much matching him lifestyle wise.

What's that? It's Andre - not Antonio? Shit. That damned Wiki-peed-ear thing. No wonder it's free, I almost embarrassed myself.

As you were Roy.RussellI don't see the purpose in buying Elia as he was below Kuyt and sometimes Babel in the Netherlands World Cup squad. A waste of moneyEdCurious about the news that's leaking out right now too, Russell, but nobody was below Babel on the Dutch squad--Liverpool's own Levar Burton was one of four players on the squad (two of which were backup keepers) to not log a single minute in South Africa. Elia made six appearances, all as a substitute, and from what I recall had moderate to positive-ish impact.

But anyway, interesting to see what happens over the next 24 hours or so.RussellI do find this link to be untrue as hodgson said he would only buy players who would go right into the starting eleven, and I don't see that from Elia. Then again, it is Hodgson.CSDDamn reproducing blogs reproducing the media watch reproduction of tabloids who are reproducing things they read on the blogs.MikeNo other sport has so many rumors that are so worthless. Then things happen out of thin air. Like when my boy Raul got signed. American sports media is so different. A rumor starts in the morning and comes to fruition in the afternoon. Why is that?NoelOffhand I'd say the tabloid mindset--and extending celebrity culture and gossip to sport--has a wider, deeper, and older involvement and impact on coverage of football in England than exists (or has existed until very recently) in North American sports. That's not to say coverage of football in England is inherently and universally puerile, or that the reverse is true about North American sports coverage, but more to speak to a slightly different general mindset--in North America you get colour commentators who have done light film study of a team's last half dozen games; in England you get WAGs. Or something.Joel RadajDouble post!Joel RadajWhile I would like Mertesacker here, I completely agree that it would be insanity to sell Agger for him. Now Skrtel would be a different story, as he just hasn't been the same in the last year and a half. Mertesacker-Agger pairing would have some promise, with Wilson/Carra/Ayala/Soto as cover.

On a related note, my Luiz-Agger pairing on FM11 is dominating the league!steven.Skrtel would be my sacrificial lamb of choice.TawfiqMr Henry and Mr Werner - Please Listen to the Fans and Sack Roy Hodgson

http://www.petitiononline.com/...

im 17915 we need more i believe..
Please sign this petition, im sick of Roy sorry to say..
Spread it to all reds u know plz
CheersEdMedia Watch must be destroyed.NoelIsn't that a touch harsh? They're just trying to compete with the Daily Mail.Easter Island Tourismtoo embarrassing.

www.easterislandotourism.comRed2deathAfter all this talk about Hodgson only being able to manage at lower levels, we then get linked to Ralf Rangnick, a man best known for engineering the meteoric rise of a bottom club before choking in the stratosphere.

What I've read does give glowing praise of him. And certainly watching pass-and-move on steroids will be better than Roy's own patented hoof-and-hope. But still, doubts remain. Would be more comfortable with a Villas-Boas or Klopp. And a Hazard too.SaarinenI laughed, I cried. Then I laughed some more. Always entertaining and informative.blog comments powered by Disqus