Liverpool were left lingering in the relegation zone this weekend after a dreadful display in the 214th Merseyside derby handed Everton a 2-0 win at Goodison Park.
Goals either side of half time from Tim Cahill and Mikel Arteta sealed victory for the Toffees on a day that Hodgson and his troops will quickly want to forget.
The Reds were not only dull and unimaginative going forward, they also lacked the passion, fight and commitment that are normally inherent characteristics of any Liverpool side, especially in the derby at Goodison, which is still considered to be one of the biggest games of the season.
An unfamiliar back four lacked cohesion and leadership, whilst the midfield showed a stunning lack of creativity once again, with Maxi, Meireles, Lucas and Cole annoyingly anonymous for large spells.
Torres was also ineffective as he struggles to regain form, however you can hardly blame the Spanish striker considering the scraps he had to feed on.
Above all else, Hodgson's tactical ineptitude and his defensive, conservative approach, alongside his failure to change the game with either different instructions or fresh legs, has done nothing to convince me that he is good enough to manage Liverpool FC, the country's most successful club.
A typically scrappy start to the derby failed to yield any goalmouth action until the tenth minute, when Skrtel brought down Yakubu after the Nigerian had turned well on the edge of the box. The home side had a free kick in a dangerous position, however it was initially wasted as Arteta clipped his effort into the wall.
The danger wasn't over though as the ball eventually returned to the penalty area, where England centre back Phil Jagielka fizzed over the bar when he should have at least called Reina into action.
Three minutes later Distin's shot was deflected just wide as Everton asserted their dominance on the proceedings, with Liverpool rarely venturing out of their own half. The Toffees also controlled possession of the football, leaving Liverpool chasing blue shadows for far too long during the first 45 minutes.
Liverpool's first and only opportunity arrived after 22 minutes when Joe Cole whipped an inviting cross into the area, where Torres' flicked header forced Howard into a good save.
Ironically, despite Everton's dominance, it was the best chance of a game that, in classic derby style, had been mainly contested in the middle third of the pitch.
This was where Everton were dominating though, as Liverpool's midfield lacked the battle and fighting qualities that are needed to emerge victorious from close derby clashes.
A clear demonstration of this came on 24 minutes, as Yakubu dispossessed a floundering Lucas Leiva before barging Raul Meireles out of his way. It was a tremendous shoulder barge from the Everton striker that grounded the stunned Portugese midfielder.
He then continued to surge forwards and exchanged passes with Cahill before firing in a low shot, which Reina did well to stop.
It was this rugged determination and desire that was missing in what was an appalling first half performance from the visitors.
Liverpool were finally punished for a slow and sluggish performance minutes past the half hour mark, as Seamus Coleman fearlessly raced past several challenges before pulling the ball back across goal to the on-rushing Cahill, who smashed home from close range.
Our first half display was epitomised five minutes before the break. Paul Konchesky put a good ball into the box, however Meireles was denied a clear shot at goal by Torres, who accidentally blocked the midfielder's path to the ball.
It would have been a great time to get back in the game, however instead Hodgson was left with some stern words to dish out during the half time interval. The Liverpool manager should have given his troops an absolute rollicking because the performance level was unacceptably low.
He should have reminded them what it means to wear a red shirt, however, either that rollicking was not given or the players failed to respond to it, as Everton doubled their lead only five minutes after the restart.
Mikel Arteta's thunderous strike from the edge of the box zoomed past the keeper and into the back of the net, after the Liverpool defence had failed to properly clear an Everton corner.
In a weekend full of controversial offside decisions this goal was another to add to the ever-growing collection, as the officials failed to spot Yakubu standing in an offside position right in front of goalkeeper Pepe Reina.
The home side sat back for the rest of the match, happy to preserve their lead whilst searching for a third on the counter-attack when the opportunity arose. Liverpool seemed all too willing to conform to this plan as they failed to threaten the Blues defence, who restricted their visitors to speculative efforts from range.
Just past the hour mark Meireles shot straight into the grateful arms of Tim Howard from 25 yards, before Torres blazed well over the bar, deepening both his and the team's sense of frustration and despondency.
Cole and Meireles both saw efforts from distance fail to breach the Everton net as Liverpool unsuccessfully looked for a way back into the game. Unfortunately, little inspiration came from the touchline, with Roy Hodgson leaving it until only 20 minutes were left before making a positive substitution.
Young French striker David Ngog replaced the unproductive Lucas as Hodgson reverted from a 4-4-1-1 formation to the even more "English" 4-4-2 system. It failed to pay dividends though as Torres and Ngog couldn't manage to spark a connection, with neither striker performing anywhere near their potential.
In fact, it was the Toffees who went closest to scoring the next goal when former Leeds United striker Jermaine Beckford smashed a great shot just over the top corner after the 26-year old had been put through on goal.
The enigmatic Ryan Babel stung the palms of Howard with a fierce strike from range deep into injury time as Liverpool threw everyone forward to try and salvage something from what was a game to forget for Reds supporters.
Under normal circumstances this match could be adequately described as a "bad day at the office". However, after only one win in eight Premier League games the storm that Liverpool are currently weathering cannot be sufficiently depicted as a mere light shower.
The players appear to lack the passion and the excellence needed to pull on the famous Red shirt every week. The stark reality is that, due to the asset stripping parasites Hicks and Gillett, our squad contains far too many average players.
All the same, our squad is certainly far superior to that of a team worthy of the relegation places. Barring a few changes, the players are essentially the same as those who finished in seventh position at the end of the last campaign.
Unfortunately, we seem to have replaced a world-class manager with a nice bloke but only an average football manager. Without the tactical expertise of former manager Rafael Benitez, the players are struggling to cope and the paper-thin nature of our squad is being revealed.
A marked improvement from both the manager and the players is required before we really do slip into a relegation dogfight.
Personally, I believe Hodgson should be given until Christmas to improve and to lead us into at least the top eight or nine. Otherwise he'll have to be sacked, and replaced with a tactically astute manager, who will have the ability to immediately invest in the side during the January transfer window.
Maybe then we'll finally be able to add some depth to our paper-thin squad.
YNWA
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