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 - Man Utd away

Continuing the series where I look back at my five favourite wins the Liverpool’s next opponents.  This weekend Liverpool travel to Old Trafford for one of the biggest fixtures in British football to meet Manchester United and here are my five favourite wins from past encounters.

26^th December 1978

MAN UTD   (0)   0

LIVERPOOL   (2)   3   (Kennedy R 5, Case 25, Fairclough 67)

MAN UTD: Bailey; Greenhoff B, Buchan, McQueen, Connell; Coppell, McIlroy, Thomas; Greenhoff J, Ritchie, Macari

LIVERPOOL: Clemence; Neal, Thompson, Hansen, Hughes; Case, McDermott, Souness, Kennedy R; Fairclough, Dalglish

Boxing Day 1978 and Liverpool were top of the table, a point ahead of Everton.  Liverpool had been denied a hat-trick of League titles by Nottingham Forest the year before, and were determined to fight back.  This was their record breaking season and they were especially impressive in defence.  Man United were back in 7^th and managed by Dave Sexton, whose QPR side had run Liverpool close to the title in 1976.

Liverpool had actually hit a bit of a rough patch with 2 defeats in their last 3 matches, against Arsenal and, surprisingly, Bristol City.  Those disappointments were sandwiched between a 2-0 win over Champions, Nottingham Forest.  United had just lost at Bolton, ending a run of 3 straight wins.

The home side were off to a great start when Ray Kennedy opened the scoring after just 5 minutes.  Kennedy won goal of the season for his excellent strike against Derby and this season was his best ever in the League for Liverpool.  Midway through the first half and Jimmy Case made it 2-0.

Liverpool were in complete control in the game as United struggled to find any sort of grip on the game.  Their dominance was underlined when David Fairclough scored the 3^rd goal.  He only managed to net twice that season as he struggled to find a place in an increasingly dominant side who swept all before them.  The result was rarely in doubt and it was the start of a run where Liverpool would win 16 of their final 22 matches, losing only once.  They won the title by 8pts from Forest with United back in 9^th.  United did get their own back in beating Liverpool in the FA Cup Semi-Final after a replay.

In the United side this day was a young Northern Irish defender, Tom Connell.  He’d made his debut in the Bolton defeat, where United lost 0-3.  Three days later he retained his place for another 0-3 defeat and was never seen again.

7^th April 1982

MAN UTD   (0)   0

LIVERPOOL   (0)   1   (Johnston 63)

MAN UTD: Bailey; Duxbury, Moran (Grimes), Buchan, Albiston; Coppell, Robson, Moses, Wilkins; McGarvey, Stapleton

LIVERPOOL: Grobbelaar; Neal, Thompson, Lawrenson, Kennedy A; Lee, Johnston, Souness (McDermott), Whelan; Rush, Dalglish

As with the 1978-79 match Liverpool arrived at Old Trafford in a season where they were determined to win their League title back having lost it to Aston Villa the season before.  They were in great form too, having won their last 5 matches.  They were top of the table, ahead of Ipswich on goal difference with 11 games to go.  United were in 5^th, 5pts off the lead.

Seven minutes into the game and United were awarded a penalty.  Frank Stapleton stepped up to take it but Bruce Grobbelaar saved it.  This endeared the Zimbabwean to many Liverpool fans early on in his career and years later Bruce explained how it came about.

“I was sitting in the dressing room reading the programme.  In there was a sequence of photographs of where Frank Stapleton put his last home penalty.  I took this on board and I thought nothing of it.  Sure enough they got a penalty.  There goes Mr. Frank Stapleton to take the penalty.  I shimmied the opposite way and then I went the way they showed me in the book and I managed to save the penalty.”

This was Grobbelaar’s first season and he’d struggled for the first 4-5 months but a ‘gentle’ word from Bob Paisley turned things round after Liverpool were 12^th at Christmas.  After a Boxing Day defeat at home to Manchester City they lost just once more that season.

In the second half Craig Johnston broke the deadlock with what proved to be the only goal of the game.  It was a crucial victory as Ipswich were being held at Sunderland on the same night.  Things got even better three days later as Johnston was again on the scoresheet as they thumped Manchester City, 5-0 as a Glenn Hoddle goal gave Tottenham a win against Ipswich.  Liverpool were 5pts clear at the top and never looked back.

Liverpool won their 13^th title and the 5^th under Bob Paisley in 8 years.  United finished 3^rd but were 9pts behind the winners.  Liverpool also won the League Cup beating Tottenham 3-1.

18^th March 1990

MAN UTD   (0)   1   (Whelan og 83)

LIVERPOOL   (1)   2   (Barnes 15, pen 55)

MAN UTD: Leighton; Anderson (Duxbury), Bruce, Pallister, Phelan; Blackmore, Phelan, Ince; Wallace (Beardsmore), McClair, Hughes

LIVERPOOL: Grobbelaar; Venison, Hansen, Hysen, Staunton; Houghton, McMahon, Whelan; Beardsley, Rush, Barnes

)

Liverpool travelled to Old Trafford in 1990 on an unbeaten run of 12 matches but still 5pts behind leaders Aston Villa.  United were struggling down in 16^th, just 2pts above the drop-zone.  They won just 2 of their past 15 matches and things were decidedly unsettled around Old Trafford.

Despite their dominance during the 1980’s it had been eight years since Liverpool last won at Old Trafford and United had lost only 2 of their previous 20 League games against Liverpool.

United could’ve taken an early lead but for Steve Staunton’s excellent interception when McClair looked to have a free shot on goal.  But Liverpool were soon into their stride and 15 minutes in they had made the breakthrough.  Venison dispossessed Martin, fed Houghton who then drilled his pass to Beardsley.  The diminutive Beardsley, ever industrious, then instinctively found Barnes marauding his way down the left.  Barnes ran most of the United half unchallenged before sliding the ball under Jim Leighton.  It was a goal of simplicity made possible by players who just knew where each other would be at any given time.

United then had a couple of chances to equalise but the visitors always looked the more likely to score.  Then early in the second half Liverpool pounced on some sloppy United passing and Houghton played the ball forward to Beardsley, just outside the United area.  McMahon was also involved in the play which saw Viv Anderson’s clumsy attempt to halt Rush’s progress bring about a penalty.  John Barnes stepped up and sent Leighton the wrong way for a 2-goal lead.

The second half then slipped into a pattern of Liverpool creating, then spurning, several chances but they looked comfortable for a victory until the game took a rather odd turn which brought about a much more tense finish than the previous 80 minutes had promised.  Bruce played a long ball from the back but Hysen got up to nod the ball down where it fell to Ronnie Whelan, about 25 yards from his own goal.  Whilst facing his own goal, Whelan presumably intended to play the ball back to Grobbelaar to take the sting out of the attack but unbelievably he met the ball on the half-volley and it looped over the Liverpool keeper for a shock goal.

It was one of the strangest own-goals and possibly one of the longest and it brought about a strange period when Liverpool seemed slightly uncertain of their own ability to see the game out.  They did, though, and moved to within 2pts of Villa and still a game in hand.

Both Liverpool and United were expected to meet in the FA Cup Final too, as they were both in the Semi-Finals by this stage, but Liverpool were beaten in a dramatic Semi-Final by Crystal Palace, who themselves were minutes from beating United in the Final.  Had they done that, then the next 23 years could have been completely different.

Liverpool won the title by 9pts from Aston Villa and just missed out on another double by losing the FA Cup Semi-Final.  United finished in 13^th, just 5pts from relegation, but won the FA Cup in a replay against Crystal Palace.

17^th December 2000

MAN UTD   (0)   0

LIVERPOOL   (1)   1   (Murphy 43)

MAN UTD: Barthez; Neville G, Brown, Silvestre, Irwin (Chadwick); Beckham, Butt (Greening), Keane, Scholes, Giggs; Solskjaer

LIVERPOOL: Westerveld; Babbel, Hyypia, Henchoz, Carragher; Gerrard, Murphy (McAllister), Biscan, Barmby; Heskey, Owen (Smicer)

)

When Liverpool arrived at Old Trafford just before Christmas 2000, they were lying in 6^th having already lost 6 of their 17 matches.  United were top of the table, having lost just once, at Arsenal, and had picked up 25pts from a possible 28pts since then.

At this stage, Liverpool hadn’t won at Old Trafford since 1990, when they last won the League, and had not beaten United home or away in the Premier League for five years.  During this match they displayed defensive qualities which had been absent on numerous occasions that season.  Gerrard was immense in midfield, well supported by Biscan.  United seemed complacent, possibly underestimating their opponents.

The game turned just before half-time.  In fact, it wasn’t until the 42^nd minute that Liverpool had their first meaningful chance on goal when Scholes cleared off the line from Heskey.  A minute later Gary Neville inexplicably chose to punch the ball just outside his own area and Liverpool were awarded a penalty.  Danny Murphy stepped up and curled it perfectly into the top right-hand corner of the net leaving Barthez stranded.

Liverpool were able to defend their lead throughout the second half by a combination of working extremely hard as well as the confusion around United’s attacking options.  Ferguson had started with Scholes playing off Solskjaer but then changed that to move Giggs there, but neither combination bore fruit.  Without Cole, Yorke or Sheringham they were fairly impotent but nothing should be taken away from the effort put in by the visitors.  Liverpool’s previous league game had been a home defeat to Ipswich for which Houllier received strong criticism.  But now the Frenchman received deserved praise for his tactics.  Ferguson’s attacking plight was summed up when he brought on two youngsters, Greening and Chadwick, only to see the latter get sent-off in the last minute.  It was the first time a United player had been sent-off at Old Trafford since April 1998.

In this series I have tended to mostly enjoy games where Liverpool has crushed their opponents in a shower of goals, but this victory was special as it ended the long unbeaten home record of United.  As the Liverpool Echo put it -  “After 3,240 minutes, 296 fouls, 28 bookings and 133 goals, United lose at Old Trafford”.

Liverpool were up to 5^th and when they beat Arsenal the following week were now just 2pts off 2^nd place.  They ended the season 3^rd in the League as United won the title, but Liverpool pulled off a unique treble by winning the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup.

14^th March 2009

MAN UTD   (1)   1   (Ronaldo pen 23)

LIVERPOOL   (2)   4  (Torres 28, Gerrard pen 44, Aurelio 77, Dossena 90)

MAN UTD: van der Sar; O’Shea, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Anderson (Berbatov), Carrick (Scholes), Park (Giggs); Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez

LIVERPOOL: Reina; Skrtel, Hyypia, Carragher, Aurelio; Gerrard (El Zhar), Lucas, Mascherano, Riera (Dossena); Kuyt, Torres (Babel)

)

A truly memorable day for many a Liverpool fan.  Rafa Benitez had enjoyed success in the tactical battle against Alex Ferguson before, but this was a day when they just ground their opponents into the dirt.  This was United’s biggest league defeat for 17 years and one which saw their acclaimed boss running scared of the post-match interviews.

Liverpool came into the game with just 1 defeat in their last 17 matches, and were 3^rd in the table level on points with Chelsea and 7pts behind the leader, United.  United had won 11 straight matches coming into this one and were unbeaten in their last 16.  It had been over a year since United fans saw their side beaten at home and their hopes of continued success seemed boosted as Liverpool’s plans were thrown into chaos just before kick-off when Arbeloa withdrew through injury.

23 minutes into the game and Ji-Sung Park was put through by Tevez into the area and as he pushed the ball passed Reina, he made sure he left a trailing leg for Reina to slide into and the referee, Alan Wiley, had no hesitation in signalling for a penalty.  Cristiano Ronaldo made no mistake from the spot and United were in front. 

This season United had gone from mid-November to mid-February without conceding a goal in the league, and so were expecting to maintain their lead.

Five minutes later and with the ball in Liverpool’s right hand corner of their half, Martin Skrtel launched a ball forward where Torres was marked by both Ferdinand and Vidic.  Vidic made the cardinal error of letting the ball bounce and this allowed Torres to nick the ball off him and as van der Sar came out, Torres just dinked the ball over him for the equaliser.

As half-time approached Torres threaded a ball through for Gerrard to run onto and he had the better of Patrice Evra whose late challenge brought down the Liverpool captain and Wiley signalled to the spot again.  Gerrard stepped up to take it and beat van der Sar to give the visitors a half-time lead.

In the second half United came at Liverpool and Ronaldo hit the post with a cross, then Tevez just failed to turn the ball into the net but things soon turned sour as Vidic hauled down Gerrard.  Ferguson had just completely changed his midfield by using all three subs and now Vidic was sent-off for a desperate challenge when adjudged to be the last man.  Once everything had died down and the home players got used to one of theirs being sent-off at home, Fabio Aurelio stepped up and calmly curled the ball inside van der Sar’s near post.  Liverpool were 3-1 up and only the second side to score at least 3 goals against United since Chelsea almost three years previously.

Gerrard then blasted the ball over the bar from 10 yards out but as the final whistle loomed, Reina’s goal-kick bounced all the way through to the edge of the United box and Dossena, a second half substitute for Riera, lobbed the ball over van der Sar.  Old Trafford was already emptying out before the 4^th goal went in but the travelling Liverpool fans were having the time of their life.

For Liverpool, this game was one of 11 wins from their final 12 matches but they were still 4pts short of Champions, United.

Extra

1^st October 1995

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This wasn’t a victory but contained two unforgettable goals from Robbie Fowler.  United fans may point to the return of Eric Cantona after his lengthy ban for attacking a supporter, but for many of us Fowler’s 2^nd goal where he barges Gary Neville out of the way before deftly chipping Schmeichel, with live long in the memory.

HEAD TO HEAD at Old Trafford

Matches: 80

Liverpool win: 15

Man Utd win: 40

Draws: 25

Liverpool goals: 78

Man Utd goals: 144