Roy Hodgson’s tenure at Liverpool is widely remembered as one of the most turbulent in the club’s long history.
Arriving from Fulham in 2010, the former England manager inherited a team in crisis, with financial uncertainty and the looming threat of administration casting a shadow over Anfield.
While Hodgson might argue that he took over Liverpool at a particularly low point, his time on Merseyside was defined by communication missteps with fans and baffling decisions in the transfer market. Yet, not all of his choices were disastrous.
One of the more intriguing moves he attempted ultimately blocked was the chance to bring back club legend Sami Hyypia in a player-coach role.
Hyypia, one of Liverpool’s greatest ever centre-backs and a key figure in the 2005 Champions League triumph, had left Anfield in 2009 after a decade of service, moving to Bayer Leverkusen. By 2010, Hodgson reportedly wanted to tempt the Finn back. Speaking to Liverpoolfc.com, Hyypia revealed the details of the approach.
“Roy said he would like to get me back, it was like a double role, because we had worked together with the Finnish national team,” Hyypia explained. “We knew each other from that and I had a good relationship with him. I said to Roy that I was at Bayer Leverkusen now and I needed to speak to them about it.”
The former Liverpool captain reached out to the Leverkusen directors, seeking their opinion on a potential return to Anfield.
“I spoke with the directors of Leverkusen, told them Roy called me and asked if I would go back to Liverpool, and what was their view about that? I knew that they respected me as a person and I knew that they would be totally honest with their answer. Somehow I thought that they would think about me as well a little bit in this situation.”
Hyypia continued: “But they said, ‘Look, we are very happy that you are here and we are not willing to let you go.’ So, that was it for me. I’m not a person who starts a fight, I accept my fate or accept decisions made about me. I respected their opinion. I told Roy and explained that Leverkusen wanted me to stay, and that was it, that was the end of the discussion. He respected my opinion and my decision.”
At the time, Hyypia was 37 and had already lost his starting place at Liverpool. While the potential return might have offered a boost for Hodgson, it is far from certain it would have shifted fan opinion or changed his fortunes at Anfield.
Instead, Hyypia played another season in Germany before retiring in 2011, eventually moving into management with Leverkusen and later a brief spell at Brighton.
Had Hodgson’s plan succeeded, it’s possible Hyypia could have returned home to Liverpool, perhaps opening doors to a future managerial role at the club. Now, that opportunity has long passed, leaving Hodgson’s tenure remembered for all the wrong reasons, and Hyypia’s legacy firmly as a player rather than a manager at Anfield.
