So Far, Sehr Gut

We’re only six matches into Jurgen Klopp’s first full season in charge at Anfield and already there’s a buzz, a murmur, a fever, an expectation around the place.  We’ve been here before, of course.  For those of us who were there at start of Paisley’s reign it’s easy to forget there is a whole generation of Liverpool fans who have only known cup success, albeit as many trophies as Arsenal since 1990.

Klopp arrived at Liverpool on a metaphorical donkey with many keen to hand him their bread and fish in the hope he could work a miracle.  After the initial euphoria of wins at Chelsea and Man City came the pathetic Sunday lunchtime fare served up at Vicarage Road.  That game was a huge slap in the face of reality as we all struggled to resign ourselves to the fact this squad just wasn’t good enough.  We were in tenth place when he joined and only managed to move up two places by the end of the season.  There were two cup finals to look back on, but still no silverware.  After forty-five minutes in Basel, Liverpool were 1-0 up and well in control against Sevilla.  Twenty-five minutes later and the dream was over. 

At the end of the season there was great expectation the new campaign would bring more hope.  Personally I was a little disappointed with the transfer window.  I had doubts about Mane and Wijnaldum and wasn’t convinced we’d moved enough players on.  It has taken just a few games for those fears to be completely allayed.  .

The transformation has been huge.  Already we’re playing some of the most exciting football this side of Beardsley, Barnes and Aldridge. 

The mention of those three is what has prompted me to write this.  I have wonderful memories of the Dalglish’s 86-91 team with the years between 87-89 seeing us play some of the best football I’ve ever seen.  Paisley’s late 70’s side was the most efficient and fully deserved the title “the red machine”.  Effective, efficient and almost impossible to stop.  But that late 80’s side played the more exciting football, in my opinion.  Not better or worse, just different.

Watching some of those matches again you can be forgiven for forgetting what a complete force they were in attack.  Not a wave, more a tsunami.  There were players attacking from everywhere.  Because of the attacking instincts of the midfield Rush and Aldridge played a different role.  Unlike every other striker around then they would drop off and create space for Houghton, Whelan and McMahon to burst into.  Added to that there was Barnes and Beardsley who also attacked from deep.

Watching Liverpool so far this season reminds me of this team.  We attack from all areas.  Henderson, Wijnaldum and Coutinho along with Lallana, Firmino, Sturridge and Mane.  Add to that Clyne and Milner attacking down the flanks and you get the feeling opposition teams must struggle to work out where the next attack is coming from.  Joel Matip also appears to want to bomb forward in a way Alan Hansen used to.  Chelsea discovered how all-consuming this is and how difficult it is to repel. 

They hunt in packs, they press with ferocious authority and they pass the ball with an alacrity which makes you wish the ability to pause live football was not just for those watching tv. 

Henderson’s wonder strike at Stamford Bridge has also added a further facet.  If you defend deep in the hope of smothering the attacks then this will leave space for someone like Henderson or Coutinho to fire one from long range.

To make up for the lack of big signings Jurgen Klopp has improved a number of players to give us the effect of new introductions.  Milner has been moved to left-back to solve the problem of the madness that is Alberto Moreno.  He has been immense this season.  Always a hard worker, Milner can cross a ball as well as anyone and his ability to understand midfield play has enabled him to support that part of the play with more intelligence than most full-backs.  Clyne on the other flank also offers a great attacking threat which is currently more potent than any other full-back in the country.  The difference between him and Kyle Walker is his willingness to take players on.  This was fully evident to all except the England manager in the summer, it seems.  The current national boss would do well to consider both Liverpool full-backs for his qualification campaign too.

Time could well serve to consider Klopp’s conversion of Milner into a left-back as incisive and forward thinking as Paisley’s conversion of Ray Kennedy from attack to midfield.  Kennedy became one of the most revered players of his generation throughout Europe.  Whether Milner will reach those heights remains to be seen but his value to this team already this season is almost impossible to calculate.

Mane has really impressed me.  Always busy, quick feet and constantly scurrying in a manner Suarez used to.  He doesn’t have the skill and nous of the Uruguayan but this team seems more suited to his style than where he moved from.  The same can be said for Wijnaldum.  He seemed lost at Newcastle and lacking the stomach for the fight, but under Klopp he now has a purpose, a role and is flourishing under it.

Another improvement Klopp has brought is to bring competition for the goalkeeping position.  He bought Loris Karius from his old club, Mainz, but he unfortunately picked up an injury during pre-season.  We were then back to Mignolet for the start of the season.  He can be categorised as ‘decent’ rather than ‘outstanding’.  More a shot-stopper than a modern day keeper and although we’ve had shot stoppers before such as Clemence, Grobbelaar and Reina, Mignolet just doesn’t command his area in the way those three did.  We have also missed Reina’s ability to put us on the attack as soon as he picked up the ball.  But Mignolet now knows he has to fight for his place and that can only be healthy for the team.  The same for Emre Can who increasingly looks as if he could be as important to the team as a Gerrard, a Molby or a Souness.  But injury has seen him have to fight for his way back in and with standards already being set incoming players soon know what level of play is expected of them.

Jordan Henderson is another player who is really flourishing under Klopp.  Now club captain his role in the middle of the park seems to really suit him.  His passing is improving and he isn’t afraid to have a shot, as Chelsea found out, and he also seems to be benefiting from the players around him.  Watching him this season I can’t help but still feel a tinge of regret that Steven Gerrard wasn’t a few years younger.  He’d love playing in this team and he’d definitely love playing under this manager.  But there you are.

It is early days but the performance against Hull City this weekend certainly soothed some people’s fears we can often perform well against the big clubs but come unstuck against sides we really should be putting away with ease.  There’s an enjoyment in the football the players are exhibiting and they seem to have completely have bought into it, in a way mirrored at Man City.

I thought Klopp’s reaction to the Hull game was very poignant.  He could be seen on eighty minutes clearly reminding the players there were ten minutes still to go and he was visibly frustrated the performance had dropped.  He confirmed his frustration after the match and I was taken by the intensity and attention to detail from our boss.

If Man City continue in their current form, along with one or two other clubs, then goal difference could well be a factor come May.  Far better to go into the final game of the season knowing a win could secure the title rather than find three points is not enough as we’d need to win by seven or eight goals to stand a chance.

I realise Liverpool fans won’t want Ferguson’s name mentioned in an article such as this, but it was something he was intently aware of during United’s title years, as he would often lambast the players during the season to keep going and try and get that extra goal.  In 2012 they lost out on goal difference to City by eight goals.  Surely they could’ve found an extra eight goals from their thirty-eight matches?

You get the impression Klopp will never let his players rest on their laurels.  That is one of the major factors which makes him a perfect fit for this club.  It has all the hallmarks of the belief system so strongly instilled in the club by Shankly, Paisley, Fagan, Moran, Evans and Dalglish.

For now, things feel good. In a way similar to the heady days of 2013-14 we now look forward to every match in the belief of being entertained in a way we all feel football should do.  Clearly nothing has been achieved yet and we are barely into the new season but what is sport if you cannot dream?

The Normal One

“I’m just a normal guy, I’m nothing special”, said a Liverpool manager.

If you’d heard those words from any Liverpool manager  during the 1960’s, 70’s or 80’s you wouldn’t have been surprised.  One of the enduring qualities of Shankly, Paisley, Fagan and Dalglish was their ability to garner support bordering on hero-worship and then to reveal themselves to be caked in humility, garnished with respect and covered by a sauce known as ‘down-to-earth’.  They never lost sight of that, almost to the point of struggling to understand their own hype.

Now no one is comparing Jurgen Klopp to these iconic figures and no one should.  He has much to live up to and much to prove, but the opening lines of this particular hit song stand-out enough to demand you lift your head up from twitter and turn ‘shuffle’ off.

This week Jurgen Klopp was unveiled as the new manager at Liverpool.  The club had wasted little time in appointing a replacement for Brendan Rodgers, who was sacked last Sunday.

After the dreary 1-1 draw in the Merseyside derby, Rodgers was relieved of his duties at Anfield and the board set about looking for a replacement.  My own belief in Rodgers finally dissipated after the Manchester United defeat, and the noises around the club, social media etc began to reach the illegal level after the tepid home draw with Norwich.  Rodgers kept his job through the Sturridge-inspired Villa win onto the Merseyside derby.  It’s perfectly possible the owners had already decided to part company with their manager during this period but sensibly waited until the international break to allow time to find a replacement.

Klopp has long been a target as far as the fans are concerned, after the excellent job he did at Borussia Dortmund.  When they arrived for a pre-season friendly, Klopp was keen to show how much he admired Liverpool, its history and its fan base.  Klopp left Dortmund at the end of last season after managing them for seven years.  During that time he won two Bundesliga titles, the German cup and of course steered his team to the Champions League Final.

There has been much anticipation throughout the week on social media amongst reds fans and many of us have been more excited than we can remember about the appointment of a new manager.  When Kenny came back the second time we had little time to prepare for it and there was a certain relief after the circus act of Hicks and Gillett and Roy Hodgson.  When Benitez was appointed, we were excited at the prospect, but there was still a certain amount of reticence.  Personally, I still harboured after an English manager or perhaps an ex-player as foreign managers were still fairly rare in this country and Houllier was the only one we’d had. 

Benitez was a great prospect having won two La Liga titles and a UEFA Cup.  Klopp is equally qualified but there is just something even more exciting about his appointment.  Maybe it is because we know so much more about him than we did Benitez, we’ve seen what he’s done at Dortmund and he is a well-liked and admired individual.  But there is something else which gives many of us a feeling of great enthusiasm for the immediate future.  He is such a charismatic person who promises to offer one helluva ride.  He promises to be a complete joy at press conferences, a ‘must-see’ at post-match interviews and a complete magnet for the media.

He possesses an infectious smile and an ability to deflect pressure away from his players.  He appears to love the game for the game’s sake and one can only imagine how exciting it must be to be a player in one of his teams.  The prospects look bright for players like Sturridge, Coutinho, Ibe and Clyne.  But there are two players I’m particularly looking forward to seeing how they develop under Klopp’s tutelage.  Club captain, Jordan Henderson, has the ability to forge a crucial partnership with the new boss and would seem to be an ideal player for the German.  At his press conference today, Klopp promised to instil a philosophy of ‘full throttle football that is emotional, fast, strong and with a big heart’.  A player like Henderson would appear the perfect pupil and advocate of such an approach.

The one player I am really looking forward to seeing work with Klopp is Emre Can.  The versatile German has been used in midfield and defence during his career and I certainly expect Klopp to continue using his numerous talents, but Can has the ability to become the engine behind the Liverpool machine in a role similar to that of Souness and Molby from days gone by.

Klopp made a huge impression on the watching media during his appearance before them today.  In fact it was probably the single-most impressionable performance in English football since Mourinho’s opening bow in 2004.  Talking of Mourinho, one hack couldn’t resist trying to get a soundbite from Jurgen regarding Mourinho’s famous “I am the Special One” comment but got more than he bargained for.

Klopp simply replied “I’m a normal guy, was born in the Black Forest, wasn’t much of a player. If you want, you can consider me the normal one”.  It’s highly likely “The Normal One” strapline will stick so watch out for a flags, hashtags and banners with that one.  Not special, not chosen, just normal.

Klopp has more charisma than nearly all the managers in the Premier League put together.  When he smiles you can’t help but smile with him, and you can just imagine how ideal a tactic this will be to deflect attention away from his players.  He explained his love for the club made it the only job he wanted in England, which would seem to back up the rumours he’d previously turned down an offer from Tottenham, who ironically will provide the first opponents for Klopp’s Liverpool.  He went onto explain “this is the most interesting job in world football”.  He also said this was “one of the best moments of my life” as he went onto give some clues to how he was going to approach his early days at Anfield.

“You have to change from doubter to believer.  We have to change our performance because nobody is satisfied at the moment.”  He attempted to play down the furore surrounding his appointment by explaining “it’s not so important what people think when you come in….it’s much more important what they think when you leave”.

What has also been evident over the past few days before and since Klopp’s appointment is how supporters of other clubs are in agreement we have struck gold and appointed a good man.  Who knows whether he will turn out to be a great manager, capable of bringing many trophies back to Anfield, but what seems clear is he is not going to be boring.  I cannot wait for the press conferences and to see how he deals with people like Geoff Shreeves.  He’s just going to run rings round these people.

Klopp is a maverick, a non-conformist, unorthodox.  He is comfortable in jeans, boots and a jacket.  He smiles and laughs, endearing himself to his audience when all the time behind those sparkling eyes is a steely determination and ruthless mind which is already a move or two ahead of those around him.  Benitez was a fan of chess, finding the mental and tactical side of the game absorbing.  Klopp strikes you as more of a poker player, but still with that penchant for the psychological side of things.  He is likely to use players in different positions almost as a way of stretching their talents for the good of the team.  He is likely to try different tactics to get the better of his opponents.  These are methods Rodgers used but without the aura Klopp undoubtedly carries.

Two things struck me during that press conference.  Firstly, at this time I’m not really thinking about what we might win over the next few years as all I’m thinking is that this is likely to be a fantastic ride and I can sense the whole club and supporters being lifted immediately.  The colour and energy he could bring to the English game gives one a great sense of anticipation, the like of which we haven’t seen for many a year.  The second thing which struck me was I wondered if Raheem Sterling watched it.  He claimed the club lacked ambition and he was presumably unmotivated by Brendan Rodgers so he switched to Manchester City.  Klopp appears the kind of manager who would really improve Sterling’s game and yet he chose the rather more steady, under-stated approach of Pellegrini.  Personally I hope he sees what he could’ve had at Liverpool and wishes he’d stayed so his game could develop.  It was obvious Sterling was carried along with the excitement and wave of popularity during the 2013-14 season and it would appear when things dipped he had a hankering for their return.  Manchester City are to visit Anfield on 1^st March 2016 and by then the club, the ground and the team should be fully indoctrinated in the ways of Klopp.

And what of Rodgers?  Personally, I wish him well and hope he finds another job in football very quickly.  He set about a project at Liverpool and we are a much changed team and club since he walked through the door in the summer of 2012.  He had his doubters, some from the very first match, and he had his critics who accused him of arrogance, laughed at his cosmetic changes and media approach.  But what you cannot doubt is his belief he could take Liverpool to a new level.  He bought into the whole ‘Liverpool Football Club’ ethos and as supporters we demand that at the very least.  He gave everything he had to the team, the club and the supporters and I would imagine he still believes he had much to offer.  He may need a rest as this club can take so much from a man’s soul, as the aforementioned Shankly, Paisley, Fagan and Dalglish all eventually found out.  Personally, I liked the arrogance as I saw it as self-confidence.  Yeah he may have made mistakes, but who doesn’t?  He made mistakes in the transfer market but every other Liverpool manager before him has done.  I want my leaders to have undying belief in their own ability, as self-doubt, negativity and uncertainty is for us amateurs and mere mortals who have the voices of failure roaming around our heads, hence the position on the side-lines we are destined to occupy.

His legacy will always remain he came closest to returning the League title to Anfield than any other manager in the past twenty-five years, and who knows if he’d had the services of Sturridge for twice as many games as he had things might have been different.  If Suarez had stayed for just one more season who knows what might have been.  But none of that happened and in the cruel, ruthless world of top level sport, he had to pay with his job.

For Klopp a new chapter has opened and for the first three months of this season he must play with the same hand Rodgers left him.  In January it will be difficult to see how the owners cannot give him the tools to shuffle his pack, having chased him so vigorously just three months before.  He is likely to attract top talent from around the world in a similar way Benitez attracted the likes of Xabi Alonso, Pepe Reina, Luis Garcia and Fernando Torres.  I wouldn’t mind betting he will have a different view on the Europa League than many of us have, particularly as success in that competition is a route into the Champions League and if Liverpool cannot compete financially with the top four of English football at the moment, and if he isn’t able to have the team he wants at his disposal this season then that could represent a fantastic opportunity to fast-track the club into a spotlight from which he has just exited.

Whatever happens during the ‘Klopp years’ I have no doubt we are never going to forget it.

Five Favourite Wins Against - Chelsea at Anfield

Continuing the series where I look back at my five favourite wins the Liverpool’s next opponents.  This weekend Liverpool play against Chelsea at Anfield, in a match which could decide the destination of the League title.  Here are my five favourite wins from past encounters, with some of them packed full of goals.

21^st April 1990

LIVERPOOL   (2)   4   (Rosenthal 25, Nicol 36, 80, Rush 82)

CHELSEA   (0)   1   (Dixon 90)

LIVERPOOL: Grobbelaar; Hysen, Gillespie (Ablett), Hansen, Burrows; Nicol, Molby, McMahon, Barnes; Rosenthal, Rush

CHELSEA: Beasant; Hall, Nicholas, Johnsen, Dorigo; Monkou, Bumstead (Lee), McAllister, K.Wilson (C.Wilson); Durie, Dixon

Liverpool were closing in on their 18^th League title when Chelsea arrived at Anfield towards the end of the 1989-90 season.  They were 2pts clear of Aston Villa with a game in hand.  Chelsea were well positioned in 6^th, only 4pts off 3^rd place.  Liverpool had lost just once in their last 19 matches in the League going into this game.  Chelsea had recently suffered a defeat at Villa, ending their own 8-game unbeaten run.

This game was another start for Israeli international, Ronnie Rosenthal, who’d scored a hat-trick on his first start a couple of weeks before at Charlton.  He then scored against Nottingham Forest and was bang in form.  Midway through the first half Gary Gillespie took a throw on the right wing and Rosenthal, with his back to goal, controlled the ball on his chest, turned Johnsen and then fired a left foot shot past Dave Beasant.  Rosenthal could’ve scored four in this game but his profligacy wasn’t particularly a problem at this stage of his career, but was something which would come back to haunt him later on.

With ten minutes before the break, John Barnes cross from the left was headed home by Steve Nicol and Liverpool had a comfortable lead at half-time.  When the teams met at Stamford Bridge in December, Liverpool won 5-2.  Liverpool were far from clinical on this occasion but Chelsea seemed just as disorganised at the back.  With ten minutes to go Ian Rush, who’d scored a brace against this opponent in December, put Nicol through on goal and the Scotsman didn’t pass up the chance to increase his goal tally for the season.  Barnes was then involved in the 4^th goal as he put Rosenthal through and his cross was headed in by Rush to score his 24^th goal of the season.

Kerry Dixon then scored a late consolation goal but the visitors were well beaten.  It wasn’t vintage Liverpool as gaps were starting to appear in their once impenetrable armour, but they won the League by 9pts from Aston Villa.  Chelsea ended the season in 5^th place.

21^st September 1996

LIVERPOOL   (3)   5   (Fowler 15, Berger 42, 49, Myers og, 45, Barnes 57)

CHELSEA (0)   1   (Leboeuf 85)

LIVERPOOL: James; McAteer, Wright, Babb, Matteo, Bjornebye; McManaman, Thomas, Barnes; Rush, Berger (Redknapp)

CHELSEA: Hitchcock; Petrescu, Clarke, Leboeuf, Myers (Duberry); Burley, Di Matteo, Wise, Morris (Spencer); Vialli, Hughes

Both teams came into this fixture unbeaten after 6 matches of the 1996-97 season.  Roy Evans’ Liverpool had just beaten Leicester 3-0, their 4^th clean-sheet so far.  In that match new signing Patrick Berger came off the bench to score twice.  He was rewarded with a starting place in this match.  Ruud Gullit’s Chelsea had only conceded in two matches, a thrilling 3-3 draw at Highbury.  This was 1^st v 3^rd and promised to be a classic.  For one team, it was.

Fifteen minutes into the game and Stig-Inge Bjornebye whipped in a cross from the left wing and found Robbie Fowler at the far post to head past Hitchcock.  Fowler had gone close a few minutes earlier, yet Chelsea did not heed the warning.  Three minutes before half-time, Dominic Matteo pounced on a loose ball in the centre-circle, burst forward and split the Chelsea defence open as he slipped it to his left where Berger had a free run on goal.  Berger went into the area, rounded the keeper and put Liverpool into a 2-goal lead.  Chelsea had won once in their last 36 visits to Anfield and were now staring at another defeat.  Chelsea were all at sea when Berger fed Bjornebye on the left and another trademark sweeping cross from the Norwegian was headed in perfectly by Andy Myers.  Unfortunately for the visitors, Myers was on their side.

Chelsea had made their best start to a season since 1970 but the wheels were definitely coming off at Anfield after just 45 minutes.  Four minutes after the re-start and Dennis Wise was caught in possession in midfield by McManaman and Patrick Berger was on hand again to power towards the visitors goal.  As Hitchcock came out Berger slipped it left-footed past him and the home side were now 4-0 up.  Just before the hour McAteer’s cross from the right was poorly dealt with by Duberry (who’d come on for Myers) and then ball fell to Barnes on the edge of the area.  John Barnes then rolled back the years as he met it full on the volley and Frank (I don’t care I won a World Cup) Leboeuf stuck his leg out just to make sure it went in.  With over 30 minutes to go Liverpool were 5-0 up.

Liverpool controlled the remainder of the game as Thomas and Barnes ran the midfield and Chelsea were scared of Berger’s pace.  Then with five minutes to go Mark Hughes went down under the challenge of Matteo and made sure he fell into the box enough to convince the referee to give Chelsea a penalty.

Frank Leboeuf managed to stop shaking enough to just get the ball past David James, who was almost on the 6-yard box by the time the Frenchman struck the ball.  The game ended with some unsavoury scenes as Wise tried to get Thomas sent off and Dan Petrescu bravely threw the ball at the Liverpool man, as his side remained well beaten.  5-1 to Liverpool and they strengthened their lead at the top.

Liverpool finished 4^th in the table behind Arsenal in 3^rd on goal difference.  Chelsea were down in 6^th.

5^th October 1997

LIVERPOOL   (2)   4   (Berger 20, 35, 57, Fowler 63)

CHELSEA   (1)   2   (Zola 22, Poyet pen 85)

LIVERPOOL: James; Jones (McAteer), Kvarme, Babb, Bjornebye; McManaman, Ince, Carragher, Berger; Riedle, Fowler

CHELSEA: de Goey; Petrescu (Flo), Clarke, Sinclair, Le Saux; Lambourde, Wise, Poyet, Di Matteo; Zola (Gullit), Hughes

Liverpool had made an indifferent start to the 1997-98 season and were lying 11^th after 8 games.  They had just lost at West Ham having already suffered defeat at home to Leicester in their first home match.  Chelsea were in 6^th and had faced a tough few matches against Arsenal, Manchester United and Newcastle.  They’d only picked up 4pts and now they travelled to a place where they’d only won once since 1935.

Twenty minutes in and Ince played a ball from the back and found Berger, who’d made a good run forward.  Graeme Le Saux miss-judged the bounce and Berger lobbed the ball over de Goey and gave Liverpool the lead.  Gianfranco Zola then grabbed an equaliser within minutes and the game had come alive.  Chelsea then made things harder for themselves as Lambourde was sent-off after just 26 minutes.  It prompted Ruud Gullit to bring himself on for his first appearance for seven months.  Then with ten minutes of the first half remaining, Bjornebye exchanged passes with McManaman down the left and his low cross into the area found Berger unmarked and the Czech international fired it into the net to put Liverpool back in front.

When Chelsea lost here the previous season they were scared rigid by Berger’s pace when breaking from midfield.  He scored two that day and then twelve minutes after the break, Ince clipped the ball over the defence and Berger was away again.  He rounded de Goey and slipped the ball into the empty net to complete his hat-trick, his first in English football.

Barely six minutes later, Berger turned provider as he laid on a goal for Robbie Fowler.  Liverpool were rampant once again and the home crowd took great delight in asking the visiting manager to let them know the score.  Fair play to Gullit who merely pointed to the number 4 on his back.  Gus Poyet then converted a penalty after McAteer had brought down Chelsea’s walking beanpole, Flo.  It was more than they deserved but they were a well beaten team, again.

Liverpool finished 3^rd in the League finishing 2pts ahead of Chelsea, who won the FA Cup that year.

7^th November 2010

LIVERPOOL   (2)   2   (Torres 11, 44)

CHELSEA   (0)   0

LIVERPOOL: Reina; Kelly, Skrtel, Carragher, Konchesky; Gerrard, Lucas, Meireles (Spearing), Maxi; Kuyt (Shelvey), Torres (N’Gog)

CHELSEA: Cech; Ivanovic (Bosingwa), Alex, Terry, Cole; Ramires, Mikel, Zhirkov (Sturridge); Malouda, Anelka, Kalou (Drogba)

For the 4^th match in this series I was torn between this one and the one from March 2002 when a last minute Smicer goal won the game for Liverpool.  Then, they were chasing the title and the win took them top.  But in the end I plumped for this match in 2010.  Mainly because it was a rare highlight in the short era of Roy Hodgson at Anfield, and it was such a breath of fresh air from a side who were a shadow of their former selves.

At the start of play Liverpool were lying down in 16^th, having already lost 4 league games and suffered the ignominy of being dumped out of the League Cup by League Two side Northampton.  Roy Hodgson had been appointed to replace Rafa Benitez by two owners who by now weren’t even talking to each other, let alone anyone else in the club.  The club was a mess as new owners were hovering to take control and Hodgson’s style of play was far removed from the fare usually served up at Anfield.  When Chelsea arrived in November they were defending Champions and also top of the table, having dropped just 5pts from their opening 10 matches.  Managed by Carlo Ancelotti they’d only conceded 3 goals so far and won their opening two matches 6-0.

Liverpool had gained some confidence from a midweek win at home to Napoli in the Europa League but needed Steven Gerrard to come off the bench and score a hat-trick to overturn a 0-1 deficit going into the last 15 minutes.  To make matters worse for Liverpool, their star striker, Fernando Torres, was off form and had been all season.  Looking increasingly as if he’d rather be somewhere else, the Spaniard, who had burst onto English football scene with 33 goals in his first season.  He’d only been on the scoresheet twice so far this season, but tonight he changed all that.

Liverpool flew out of the blocks and in an atmosphere more reminiscent of Benitez days, the crowd seemed to be noisy out of relief than anything else.  Lucas and Gerrard dominated the midfield and Torres was a menace in attack.  Eleven minutes in and ever industrious, Dirk Kuyt, picked up a ball from Skrtel as he found some space midway into the Chelsea half.  He dinked it over John Terry for Torres to run onto and the Liverpool No.9 had the measure of him.  Torres was in on goal and finished with real confidence.  Something which had been sorely lacking in recent months.

It was all Liverpool as they harried and pressed their opponents who seemed genuinely stunned by how well the home side was playing.  Just before half-time, Meireles stole the ball in midfield and surged towards the Chelsea defence.  He chose Torres to his left who then turned in on his right foot and curled a beautiful shot into the far corner.

Liverpool were in seventh heaven and it was such a relief to finally see them play like that again.  Cech had been well beaten on both goals and Liverpool looked as if they had their striker back.  Many will never forgive Torres for the way he engineered a move from Anfield, but for me that first season of his was one of the best from a foreign player in English football.  I had come into the game fearing we’d get stuffed and in the end we played as well as we ever had done against Chelsea.

Chelsea were better in the second half but the game was gone.  They’d been outdone tactically although it’s uncertain whether Hodgson just let the players do their thing or whether he had finally understood how to get this team playing.  In the end, Liverpool would win just twice more before the end of the year and Hodgson was replaced by the new owners with Kenny Dalglish given the task of resurrecting the club.  From 12^th at New Year to a final place of 6^th showed there was something to build on.  Chelsea finished 2^nd to Manchester United.

8^th May 2012

LIVERPOOL   (3)   4   (Essien og 19, Henderson 25, Agger 28, Shelvey 61)

CHELSEA   (0)   1   (Ramires 50)

LIVERPOOL: Reina; Johnson, Skrtel, Carragher, Agger; Downing (Sterling), Henderson, Shelvey, Maxi (Kuyt); Carroll, Suarez

CHELSEA: Turnbull; Ferreira, Ivanovic, Terry, Bertrand; Ramires, Essien, Romeu; Malouda, Sturridge (Lukaku), Torres

The second half of the 2011-12 season had been a frustrating one.  Lying 6^th at Christmas, they’d fallen to 9^th by the beginning of May.  However, they’d also reached two Cup Finals, beating Cardiff in the League Cup and losing to Chelsea in the FA Cup.  This fixture came just three days after that defeat at Wembley.  Chelsea too were having a disappointing season in the League as they were 6^th and needing to win their final two matches to stand an outside chance of getting into the Champions League.  If they couldn’t reach 4^th then their only hope was to beat Bayern Munich in the Final to come.

Both teams came into this game on the back of defeats in their previous League matches and Liverpool were looking for a repeat of their 2-1 win at Stamford Bridge back in November.  After his performance against Chelsea at this venue the season before, Torres, now a Chelsea player, was back at Anfield for the first time.  The difference in the two performances could not have been more stark.

Ivanovic nearly opened the scoring when his header hit the post in the 17^th minute, but this seemed to galvanise the home side.  The partnership of Suarez and Carroll continued to show promise and it was the former who set the crowd alight with his run down the right touchline to hold off Romeu, and then the obligatory nutmeg on John Terry.  As he reached the bye-line by the near post, Suarez cut the ball back and Michael Essien, as if to appreciate the quality of the run, finished off the move by tucking the ball into his own net. 

Six minutes the home crowd finally had a glimpse of the talent of Jordan Henderson.  The player had been subbed in the Cup Final, and was a frustrated figure, but tonight he seemed rejuvenated.  Henderson began the move midway in his own half as Shelvey collected the ball ahead of him.  He laid it to his left where Maxi, hugging the touchline, saw Henderson’s run and played a well-timed pass to Terry’s left.  The Chelsea captain clearly expected the ball to be played to his right as he slipped trying to switch his balance.  This allowed Henderson the opportunity to get in on goal and his finish was full of confidence.  This season you wouldn’t be surprised to see this from ‘Hendo’ but back in 2012 he was less assured. 

Within minutes it got worse for the visitors as Ross Turnbull in the Chelsea goal, was left floundering at a corner and Agger had a simple header to put Liverpool 3-0 up.  Stewart Downing, without a league goal for Liverpool, hit the bar with a volley but soon had his chance to break his duck.  Carroll was elbowed by Ivanovic and the ref awarded a penalty.  Downing took it, and promptly missed, hitting the base of the post.  Chelsea were relieved to hear the halftime whistle as they could’ve been trailing by at least 5.

In the second half, Chelsea looked more determined but soon the reality of the fact they were not going to achieve a top four finish seemed to hit them.  Five minutes into the half and Ramires grabbed a goal back as he scored from a corner when he misjudged his jump and the ball hit his waist and bobbled in past Reina.  But there was no heroic comeback as Liverpool soon restored their 3-goal lead.  Turnbull played a goal-kick out to Bertrand in the left back position, and the young full-back was immediately under pressure.  He hurriedly passed it straight to his keeper who was just as flustered with his subsequent clearance.  The ball straight to Shelvey who was bang in the centre of Chelsea’s half.  He controlled the ball and then met it on the half-volley showing great technique to fire the ball like a missile into the empty net.

A 4-1 win was cold comfort for the disappointment of a Cup Final lost but the team had once again outplayed their opponents and were certainly not in the end of season mood.

HEAD TO HEAD at Anfield

Matches: 74

Liverpool win: 46

Chelsea win: 18

Draws: 10

Liverpool goals: 148

Chelsea goals: 71