Liverpool vs Napoli: The last Reds team to take on Napoli should make us all feel sick
Liverpool play Napoli in the Champions League on Wednesday, but the last Reds team to visit San Paolo should make us all feel a bit sick.
It was back in 2010. Brendan Rodgers and his squad of beautiful human beings was two years away. This was the turn of Roy Hodgson to show the world what his team of Anfield legends could achieve.
And surprisingly, those 11 players managed to walk away from Naples with a point – although when you see who was picked that night you won’t know how.
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Pepe Riana started in goal and that was probably the highlight of the night. The back four consisted of Martin Kelly and Paul Konchesky, before actual defenders Martin Škrtel and Jamie Carragher provided the backbone.
Next, Hodgson blessed the traveling Reds with Jonjo Shelvey, Jay Spearing and Christian Poulsen in midfield. Shelvey may have gone on to have a decent Premier League career, but Spearing is now at Blackpool in League One and Poulsen managed just 10 league appearances in his sole Liverpool season.
So that was awful, and it gets worse from there. While Jurgen Klopp may have depth for days, Hodgson did not. The current Crystal Palace boss called on Ryan Babel (decent but not spectacular), David N’Gog and Milan Jovanovic. Jovanovic was a spud who only scored twice during his solo campaign with the Reds and N’Gog wasn’t much better.
BUT WAIT. Because the main course might be over, but now it’s time for the dessert and the substitutes bench will really blow you away. Included amongst the lads who were supposed to change the game for Liverpool if required was Danny Wilson, Fabio Aurelio and Nathan Eccleston.
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A lot can happen in eight years, but the team that Hodgson put out should be a daily reminder that complacency can never be tolerated in football.