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25.12.2014 Sports News

Liverpool could benefit from Sami Hyypia influence - John Scales

By Allsports.com.gh
Liverpool could benefit from Sami Hyypia influence - John Scales
25.12.2014 LISTEN

Hyypia resigned from his position as Brighton and Hove Albion manager after just six months in charge on Monday, with the Amex outfit languishing in the Championship's bottom three.

Liverpool's defenders are enduring a similarly dismal time of things this season, having conceded 24 goals in 17 Premier League matches - the same amount as second-bottom Hull City.

And Scales - currently an ambassador for the Football Foundation, which has helped transform grassroots facilities in the sport since 2000 - believes the Finn could have plenty to offer the club where he spent a decade as a player.

"I don't think there's any harm ever in thinking about bringing in great players, former players, people who have been out there to work," he told Perform.

"We've seen the benefits of somebody like Teddy Sheringham, with the experience he"s got, going to West Ham [as attacking coach], who are now doing so well in the attacking way.

"I don't think that's a coincidence.
"If you get the right person in, who has got the right relationship [with the club], I don't think that's ever a bad thing."

Brendan Rodgers' men currently lie 10th in the English top flight, but Scales believes it would be wrong to lay the blame solely at the feet of the defenders following the departure of star striker Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge's persistent injury problems.

"This season, you've got the Champions League football, you've got so many new faces, you've got Sturridge out, you've lost Suarez, the demands are greater, the expectations are greater and I'm not surprised to see Liverpool struggling," he added.

"Brendan has got to turn it around, the players have got to turn it around, and I would be reluctant to jettison players and write too many off, but I do think, on the flipside, he does need to strengthen in key areas over the next two transfer windows.

"You can't make snap decisions. Liverpool are where they are, you can't have a quick fix in football, and if you try to have a quick fix you can create more problems than you solve.

"In Brendan Rodgers they've got a great coach with a great philosophy. This is a challenging period of management for him and I think he'll be better for it.

"I think they will come good, but I think they need to look very carefully at the squad."

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