Unable to attend the game monday night’s Liverpool game due to work commitments I sat down in front of the box hopeful that the Red Men would carry on where they left off against Newcastle United 8 days previous. Little did I expect what was to follow in the first 16 minutes of what looked on paper to be a tricky little fixture? There in front of my eyes were players such as Maxi, Lucas, Spearing, Kuyt and Meireles playing like Iniesta, Villa, Busquets, Xavi and Pedro.
Taking the role of Lionel Messi was the mercurial Luis Suarez buzzing around the 6’ 4” frame of Brede Hangeland like he was wearing all yellow and covered in honey. Talk about Vidic having nightmares when he faced the Torres of old. The giant Norwegian must have needed a bottle of Bendryl to get to sleep last night after his attempt to man-to-man mark a player, who along with Chicharito, looks to be one of the bargain buys of not just this season but the next 3 seasons as well.
Ok, I know I am going a little bit overboard making comparisons with a team who are obviously the best club side this world has had for quite some time; especially considering we were playing Fulham but for 15 minutes I was watching the old pass and move Liverpool groove of the 70’s & 80’s. It was like I was stuck in an episode of Life on Mars and I had to look around the living room to make sure the walls were not covered in Anaglypta and that I was drinking a bottle of Bud and not a can of Kestrel. This was football being played at it’s best at a high tempo and apart from a 20-minute spell in the 2nd half, things just got better for my beloved reds. We pressed right up until the final whistle and I felt that Fulham were fortunate to get away with conceding just 5 goals.
In the Sky post match analysis the stat people made the hypothetical point that since King Kenny took over and on current form we would have been 2nd in the Premier League table and just 2 points behind Chelsea. ‘My god’, I thought, ‘if only the King had been there at the start of the season, we could have been champions’ and that’s when reality kicked in. He wasn’t and we aren’t and worst of all, the shower from the other end of the M62 will soon be crowned with number 19.
So what has been the difference since the King ascended his thrown for the second time? Well that has to be the Boot Room managerial style of Kenny mixed with the fresh training ground coaching routines of one Steve Clarke with a pinch of hard task mastery provided by Sammy Lee. A direct throw back to Shanks, Paisley, Fagan, Dalglish with the reinforcements of Bennett, Moran and Evans. In more recent times there has been Houllier & Thompson and Rafa & Paco Ayesteran who brought domestic cup glory and European success alike but missed out on what used to be our bread and butter with the League title.
This time, after so many false dawns, it feels different, it feels right and it feels good to watch. During our winter of discontent under the ‘2 Cowboy owners’ and ‘Woy’ I was leaving my seat in the Kop early to get back to the pub such was the dross being played in front of my eyes. On a few occasions I just couldn’t be bothered going at all but made myself go incase we put on a show. I was watching the same players that played last night but not the same team. This is a pure Dalglish/Clarke style team with a mixture of old/new ideas, which can only get stronger with NESN backing and 3 or 4 quality signings.
Here’s to this time next year. Here’s to 19 all. Here’s to being back where we belong.
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