The first line could be a description of Danny Murphy (albeit he is not the same level as Aq), who Hodgson built a team around at Fulham Here is an article from the time - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...Roy-Hodgsons-advice-agrees-loan-Juventus.html - Key section; "The Italian joined the Anfield club from Roma a year ago to replace Real Madrid-bound Xabi Alonso but persistent injury problems limited his impact under previous boss Rafael Benitez, who has since been replaced by Roy Hodgson. Hodgson recently acquired Danish midfielder Christian Poulsen from Juve, but speculation continues to link Javier Mascherano with a move to Spain or Italy." Hodgson signed Poulsen to replace Macherano (ended up a disaster) because he needed a player who filled a similar position- not because he likes to play a strong, aggressive midfield. Like most teams do, he often uses one enforcer (think Keane, Vieira, De Jong). Our midfield for the game against City in 2008 was Davies, Bullard, Murphy, Dempsey, in the 2010 EL final it was Duff, Etuhu, Murphy, Davies- both of those line-ups are mainly creative players (Etuhu as creative as a blind hedgehog...) I think Aquilani could be a useful addition for Rodgers. It depends on how he adapts once more, as he already appears to be an injury prone player, the rigours of the PL probably don't suit him. He would fit into what I expect will be the new system- if Rodgers gets a chance from the fans he could go on to do well. Swansea were one of the best teams I saw live last season.
I'm afraid mentioning the word Poulsen on this board is subject to death, or at the very least moderate degrees of torture.
