Out-of-favour Liverpool midfielder Milan Jovanovic admits he regrets moving to England last summer. 

Jovanovic joined Liverpool on a free transfer after seeing out his contract at Belgian side Stanard Liege.
The Serbian international has found it difficult to make an impact at Anfield and has hardly figured since Kenny Dalglish took over from Roy Hodgson in January.

The 29-year-old, who has been strongly linked with a move away from Liverpool in the summer, admits he is unhappy with his current situation.

Asked if he ever regretted his move to England, Jovanovic told Sportske."If I'm completly honest, I must say that I regulary think about this. If I would move to Italy or Germany I would be happier than in England - my life would be nicer.
"And also for my career it would be better to play in Serie A or the Bundesliga.

"In Belgium I was living in an area where there were so many people from Serbia and my life was different, more dynamic

Lonely

"Liverpool is such a different place. I'm here alone, without anybody. I'm just a very lonely stranger.

"In my months here I haven't met anybody from my country. If I wouldn't have my wife and my kids I just couldn't speak Serbian with anybody.

"But Liverpool is of course a club which you can't refuse."

Jovanovic was signed by ex-Reds boss Rafa Benitez, but the Spaniard left Liverpool before the attacker's arrival on Merseyside.

The Serbian admits Benitez's departure has affected his own situation feeling he would be playing more if the Spaniard was still in charge of Liverpool.

"My only regret is, that the coach, who brought me at Anfield, left the club even before my arrival," he said.
"If Rafa Benitez would have stayed in Liverpool I believe everything would be different for me.

"There were 15 other clubs which followed me but I chose Liverpool and make a mistake.


 

Kop flop Gonzalez wants to sign for Man United Read

Former Liverpool winger Mark Gonzalez says he'd fulfil a 'dream' if he signed for Manchester United.

The 26-year-old struggled during his time at Anfield and was sold after just one season.

But Gonzalez has attracted interest from across Europe following a number of impressive displays for CSKA Moscow

And despite his torrid time at Liverpool, the Chilean insists he'd love another chance in the Barclays Premier League with United at the top of his wish list

 

'It would be a dream to have the chance to join Manchester United,' Gonzalez told ADN Radio

'We all know the quality that the team has and of course I would like to play in England again, even more at a team like Manchester United

'But while I am at CSKA I will only have my mind focused on my current team, trying to play and showing what I am doing.'

Kenny Dalglish too nice to be a manager?

20 April ~ When Kenny Dalglish resigned as Liverpool manager in 1991, one supporter took a philosophical view in WSC 50 

"Couldn't take the pressure." As a Liverpool fan, watching Kenny Dalglish as a manager was the antithesis of watching him as a player. People often complain about players or officials who don't care about a particular club; the problem (?) with Dalglish as a manager was that he so obviously cared. You couldn't miss it: that furrowed brow, the nervous pacing, the clenched fist held against the mouth. Dalglish suffered as much anguish as any fan.

What a contrast between the stock images of Dalglish the player and Dalglish the manager: the image the press love and repeatedly use of Dalglish the player is the broad grin, arms held up in triumph, that accompanied the title-winning goal against Chelsea in 1985-86. That smile came with every goal, every win; as manager, it was as rare as winning major trophies – we only got to see it once or twice a season.

I know damn well that a football team is not the most important thing in life, that there are far worthier reasons for depression – but wouldn't the world be a better place if the worst thing that could happen to you was that your team lost a Cup Final to Wimbledon, or missed promotion to the Beazer Homes Premier Division by one point? And having entered this world of false triumphs and disasters, few individuals have done more to deserve the adulation of a team's fans than Dalglish. He was the perfect player: clean, skilful, a bundle of joy whose purpose in life seemed to be Liverpool Football Club. 

It wasn't until he quit that I realised quite how much pressure he had been under, and for how long. He had not been off the back pages for perhaps sixteen years. Only Brian Clough among fellow managers has been at his club for longer, and he is not managing players he had shared a dressing-room with. While Dalglish has been cavalier with those players he has signed, dropping Aldridge, Beardsley, Houghton, Rosenthal etc. with a logic that defied... well, logic, six of his 1984-85 team-mates were still guaranteed places, if fit, six years later.

In recent months people had talked about the dangers of letting a side grow old – they missed the point. It wasn't just any side that was growing old, it was one full of friends to whom he evidently felt a great deal of loyalty. Of the team at Heysel, only Wark and Walsh have departed for reasons other than retirement or injury. Remember the massive contract Mark Lawrenson got just before his career came to a full stop? Dalglish was, quite simply, too nice to be a manager, or at least a Liverpool manager

And what of the pressure created by all that endless success? You may laugh, but name me players of comparable stature that have been successful managers. Dalglish had more caps at the beginning of the season than the rest of his First Division colleagues put together. But for Phil Neal's scarcely believable 50, he could have rivalled all the other 91. For Dalglish, anything less than immediate overwhelming success was abject failure on two levels: professional and also personal, because it was a club he cared about, staffed by people he lived with, supported by fans whose respect he had earned.

You see, I am actually pleased that he has quit. Rarely, within the artificial world of football, has an individual done so much for a club for so long a time. When you add on his work in the real world, dealing with the grief of Hillsborough, you get a picture of someone you care about as a person, not just as a footballer. If managing Liverpool made Kenny Dalglish unhappy, then the sooner he quit the better.

His legacy? As well as leaving the team one place higher than when he took over, in buying John Barnes he broke a longheld taboo on Merseyside, Howard Gayle notwithstanding. While it is true that Barnes is partly accepted because of his success and in spite of his colour, he nevertheless represents the possibility of a new beginning. If, in future, the buying of black players is not seen as any kind of issue on Merseyside, then that too will be part of the Dalglish achievement. I mean, what a guy. The white liberal's dream and the ability to turn on the proverbial sixpence.

Are Liverpool’s Long-Ball Tactics Justified?

Andy Carroll’s arrival has prompted a change in tactics for Liverpool, here I will assess what he brings to the team and what he changes in a team.


Okay, so first point that I’d like to make is simply that only the smaller clubs play with the ‘Route 1′ tactic (launching a long high ball for their striker to collect). It’s done at Newcastle, Stoke City, and as pointed out by Arsenal’s manager, it is also done by Tyneside club Sunderland.

Well, why is it that it is so effective for the smaller clubs, yet all the ‘Big Clubs’ in Europe don’t play with this intriguing style of football? Look at the top attacking teams around, Barcelona have Villa, and they play most of their football on the ground, Real Madrid have Higuain, and they normally opt for the through pass and Chelsea have Drogba, whom sometimes plays route 1 but is more reliant on ground play.

But fact is, Andy Carroll is the type of player who can only win headers for the team, and to blast screamers into the back of the net. He lacks the pace, and he doesn’t have the best ball control, in some ways he reminds me of our former striker, Peter Crouch. He absolutely emphasized this point against Manchester City (he scored a screamer and a header).

Don’t get me wrong, he could be a Liverpool legend, still 22, but the thing is that as seen against Arsenal, Carroll won’t be able to do well against the Big Teams, reason being that Liverpool are simply not set up to play ‘Route 1′, it is not something that they are familiar with, they recognize the through ball more, as used with Fernando Torres.

Dalglish must stay as manager: Reina

Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina wants Kenny Dalglish to stay on as manager beyond the end of the season.Dalglish has turned the Merseyside club’s season around since he returned to Anfield three months, with only league leaders Manchester United collecting more points in that time.

Reina, an ever-present in the league this season, believes Dalglish, whose current deal at Anfield runs only until the season’s end, should be handed the reins on a permanent basis.

“We all want him to stay,” Reina told the Liverpool Echo.
“If he stays here on a long-term basis, I would be very happy. Like the rest of the lads.” “We have improved since Kenny became manager. We have beaten all of the big teams. But it is important as players to repeat that in every game.”

“We need to be consistent; with the aggression and commitment, everything.”

“We cannot just perform against the top sides because a season is 10 months long. If we get the balance right, we’ll be a lot, lot closer to where we want to be.”

“We started this season, and the last one, not the best. Next time, we need to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Reina has been impressed by the manner in which Dalglish has transformed a squad that had appeared to have lost its way under previous manager Roy Hodgson, and has likened the 60-year-old’s impact to that made by Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola.

“Guardiola is a bit younger than him, of course,” he said.

“But they have very similar backgrounds – they are both icons as players and great managers as well.”

“It is important that Kenny knows the club. He is a legend in Liverpool and I mean a legend because sometimes that word is used too much for other people.”

“Kenny knows exactly what people think, and what the supporters want to see.”

“Because he was a great player himself, he understands the point of view of a player, and that means he knows how to set standards and what is acceptable to us. He makes everything much easier for us.”

Reina’s future at Anfield has been shrouded in doubt in recent months but the 28-year-old says he is focusing only on Liverpool, and on improving his own personal form.

“I know I could play a lot better,” said Reina.

“Throughout the whole year my levels must improve.”

“Nobody is the perfect player, you are always learning. I have played 450 games, which is a lot for someone of my age.”

“I am happy, but I would like to play another 450 at the highest level.”

Source : footballfancast.com