Joe Cole tests Hodgson’s patience with another flop

Liverpool 0 Utrecht 0. Roy Hodgson fielded a reserve Reds’ team and ended up defending their poor performance in a match that ended goalless against FC Utrecht. With Liverpool having already finished top of group K of the Europa League, there was nothing at stake except pride, and that didn’t seem to matter much to the 11 players handed the honour of wearing the Liverpool shirt.

“We are all a bit disappointed by the game,” Hodgson said later, adding: “It wasn't for the want of trying or that we weren't interested. It was disappointing that with so many people watching us, we couldn't produce a real performance for them. It wasn't a classic but Utrecht play really well away from home, keep the ball and cause problems."

Scoring chances were few and far between with Milan Jovanovic hitting the crossbar with a fierce 30-yard shot in the first-half and Joe Cole coming close in the dying minutes. But Cole struggled to impose himself and his failure to make his mark at Anfield since arriving in the summer is clearly beginning to test Hodgson’s patience.

“He knows he is better than that and he knows he can do better than that,” Hodgson said afterwards of Cole’s performance. “He sets himself high standards and I'm sure he came off the field feeling it was not the performance he wanted to give."
 
Despite the match having no meaning in the context of the Europa League, a crowd of 38,000 braved the cold conditions to watch their team but they didn’t even have the chance to see Fernando Torres as Hodgson left him on the subs’ bench deciding not to run the risk of the World Cup winner picking up an injury.

Later he explained his decision not to give the out-of-form Torres a run by saying: "I had this vision of Fernando going out there and having a great 45 minutes and maybe scoring a goal... [but] I had a change of heart. I must apologise to the reporters. I was certainly considering giving Fernando a start. I thought it would be a nice game for him and a chance for him to get his confidence back.

"But I also had a talk to our fitness people and they made me see sense that it wasn’t the wisest thing to do. We have already qualified and, if he played, he would be taking the place of a young player who needs the chance to stake his claim for a place in the team. And, of course, it would be very bad for us if he picked up an injury." ·