Roy Hodgson admits he couldn’t have picked a better venue to end his career in football than Anfield.
Hodgson took charge of his last game in management as his Crystal Palace side were beaten 2-0 by Liverpool on the final Premier League weekend of the season on Sunday.
The 73-year-old endured a troubled five-month spell in charge at Anfield before being sacked in January 2011, but was given a warm reception by Reds supporters before the match.
And Hodgson said of his final few days in the dugout: “It is strange. Luckily I’ve had a bit of time to prepare for it. But it has been a whirlwind, the last few days.
“This is one of the temples of football and you are in the Premier League to get visits here.
“When I have time to look back at it, in some ways I’ll probably be quite pleased my last game was here.”
Goals in each half from Sadio Mane earned Liverpool a third-place finish and Champions League qualification, but not before Palace had threatened early on with Andros Townsend missing a great chance to open the scoring.
And Hodgson – who was without several key players, including former Reds striker Christian Benteke – was proud of his team’s performance.
“I though the players did remarkably well,” he said. “We played one of the top teams, and in the form they are in they are right up there with Man City.
“So to play like we did, I am very proud.
“We were here to stop Liverpool winning and getting into the Champions League. But while they didn’t have Van Dijk and Gomez, apart from the two youngsters all the others are world-class players.”
Hodgson added: “I was concerned coming here, I knew it would be very tough and I knew they’d be on the front foot and I know the quality they have.
“The second goal was a bit unfortunate, and who knows we might have even got a positive result from the game.
“The team we played are very athletic and pressure the ball and it’s not easy to play against them.
“Getting a win here would have been in the fantasy area. But there was no disgrace in our performance.”
