Rijkaard for Liverpool?

While Europe's biggest sides await to see Wayne Rooney's next move, another major surprise may be in the offing. BBC Sports reports former-Barcelona manager, Frank Rijkaard has parted ways with Galatasaray and speculation is rife Liverpool may be the Dutchman's next destination.

Officially, there isn't any real indication at all that Rijkaard has left Galatasaray for Liverpool or that the Reds new owners, New England Sports Ventures (NESV, have given up on Roy Hodgson and are seeking a replacement.

But at the same time, Rijkaard's sudden departure from Galatasary poses several questions. For one, Rijkaard's performance at Galatasaray hardly warranted a sacking. After leading them to third place last season, the Turkish side have been struggling for form this season and are currently in ninth position. If Roy Hodgson can keep his job (for now) with his team languishing in the relegation zone, what's ninth place?

As for John W Henry and co, witnessing Liverpool succumb so easily to Everton last weekend should have surely sent some alarm bells ringing. Even more concerning, perhaps, was Hodgson's cluelesness during the match and his bizzare post-match comments when claimed Liverpool's performance at Goodison was by far the best they've managed under him.

The fact that Hodgson has sent the team to levels no manager has ever done before should be enough for Henry and the rest of NESV to push the panic button. Hogdson has managed just one win out of eight matches and Liverpool weren't all that great in that game against WBA too. In fact, Liverpool's best performance so far this season came in the opening match against Arsenal. But something has gone amiss since then and one can't but wonder if Javier Mascherano's departure has had a much bigger impact on the club than Hodgson would like to admit.

That being said, there's no reason why this Liverpool team should fail so miserably without Mascherano. Perhaps then it has something to do with Hodgson's training methods, player selection and tactics (or the lack of).

But whatever the reason, one thing seems to be clear: Roy Hodgson seems extremely unlikely to turn things around anytime soon and if Liverpool intend to reclaim their place among the Big Four and avoid relegation, they better act fast.