HODGSON ON 'WORST' PREPARATION AND LITMANEN
Fulham face bottom-of-the-table Derby on Saturday in search of their first away win for over 16 months, but manager Roy Hodgson admits they will have the worst possible preparation after 15 players were involved in midweek international friendlies.
Hodgson, who has managed three international sides - Switzerland, United Arab Emirates and, most recently, Finland - admits he will have only one morning training session with his full squad before they travel.
He said: "I’m upset and a little sad that 13 out of our 15 players who left on Sunday have played 90 minutes.
"I have been a national team manager myself. But when when you take into account they are friendly matches, with respect, a relegation battle between Fulham and Derby is more important than playing Liechtenstein away.
"I was hoping that in certain circumstances, when games were clearly won, one or two of our players would have been high on the list of players to take off because of our situation.
"Six or seven didn’t even get back in time for Thursday afternoon’s training session. So our preparation for this weekend’s game is the worst it’s been since I came to the club. We only have Friday morning to work with the team before we get on the coach to Derby."
If the former Inter Milan manager's side do win for the first time on the road since September 2006, they could condemn Derby to relegation. But Hodgson is being more pragmatic.
He continued: "I don’t subscribe to the theory that because Derby are bottom of the table, we will easily win the game. They are a few points behind us, but we are both in a very difficult situation. They don’t seem to be playing like a team who are down.
"We have only 23 points, and we need a lot more than that to stand a chance of staying up. To get the right result we have to train properly and prepare properly."
Finnish international Jari Litmanen, 37, who netted a penalty on Wednesday in his country's 2-1 defeat by Bulgaria, is unlikely to feature for Fulham.
Hodgson was clearly disgruntled that he had featured for his country, having trained only a handful of times for Fulham.
The manager added: "I wouldn't pitch Litmanen into battle, even though he scored, because at the moment I have 24 guys training hard every week, and Jari hasn't completed more than 10 per cent of the training sessions we have done since I have been at the club.
"He has not played one game in a Fulham shirt, yet he has completed two matches for Finland.
"So until such time I can be convinced that he can get out there training every day, I will just have to accept that I am unlucky enough that when the Finland team come round he manages to find the wherewithal to play. But he hasn't done it yet in the two-and-a-half months I have been at the club."
Fulham face bottom-of-the-table Derby on Saturday in search of their first away win for over 16 months, but manager Roy Hodgson admits they will have the worst possible preparation after 15 players were involved in midweek international friendlies.
Hodgson, who has managed three international sides - Switzerland, United Arab Emirates and, most recently, Finland - admits he will have only one morning training session with his full squad before they travel.
He said: "I’m upset and a little sad that 13 out of our 15 players who left on Sunday have played 90 minutes.
"I have been a national team manager myself. But when when you take into account they are friendly matches, with respect, a relegation battle between Fulham and Derby is more important than playing Liechtenstein away.
"I was hoping that in certain circumstances, when games were clearly won, one or two of our players would have been high on the list of players to take off because of our situation.
"Six or seven didn’t even get back in time for Thursday afternoon’s training session. So our preparation for this weekend’s game is the worst it’s been since I came to the club. We only have Friday morning to work with the team before we get on the coach to Derby."
If the former Inter Milan manager's side do win for the first time on the road since September 2006, they could condemn Derby to relegation. But Hodgson is being more pragmatic.
He continued: "I don’t subscribe to the theory that because Derby are bottom of the table, we will easily win the game. They are a few points behind us, but we are both in a very difficult situation. They don’t seem to be playing like a team who are down.
"We have only 23 points, and we need a lot more than that to stand a chance of staying up. To get the right result we have to train properly and prepare properly."
Finnish international Jari Litmanen, 37, who netted a penalty on Wednesday in his country's 2-1 defeat by Bulgaria, is unlikely to feature for Fulham.
Hodgson was clearly disgruntled that he had featured for his country, having trained only a handful of times for Fulham.
The manager added: "I wouldn't pitch Litmanen into battle, even though he scored, because at the moment I have 24 guys training hard every week, and Jari hasn't completed more than 10 per cent of the training sessions we have done since I have been at the club.
"He has not played one game in a Fulham shirt, yet he has completed two matches for Finland.
"So until such time I can be convinced that he can get out there training every day, I will just have to accept that I am unlucky enough that when the Finland team come round he manages to find the wherewithal to play. But he hasn't done it yet in the two-and-a-half months I have been at the club."
Labels: Derby County, Fulham, Jari Litmanan, Premier League, Roy Hodgson
