Source: Daily_Mail
Are Kop kings Gerrard and Torres the best Liverpool double act ever?
The two-man team is back - Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres ripped Real Madrid apart in the Champions League to put Liverpool in the perfect frame of mind for Saturday's make-or-break Premier League clash against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Europe may bring out the best in Rafael Benitez's side but there's no question Gerrard and Torres bring out the best in each other.
On his 100th European match for Liverpool, Gerrard scored twice after Torres had given the home side the lead against a Real side who had already lost the home leg 1-0, were subsequently crushed 4-0 at Anfield and are managed by the man who guided Spurs to their worst start since Henry VIII banned his archers from playing the game in the interests of national security.
Injury has kept Torres out of action for a large part of this season and Gerrard has spent a few games on the sidelines too, some crocked, others through Benitez's sometimes-perplexing selection policy.
But when both men are fit, Liverpool are a match for any team in Europe and the Torres/Gerrard partnership could become the most prolific in the club's illustrious history.
It's not yet though, but what makes it more remarkable is that Torres is an out and out striker while Gerrard an attacking midfielder - but they seem to sense where each other are on the pitch and what the other will do.
And a genuine partnership is what Liverpool have been lacking since the Robbie Fowler/Michael Owen combo threatened world domination but never quite delivered.
[I wonder what happened to those two young lads?]
However great and exciting Owen and Fowler was to watch, the two players were too similar to be considered a great Liverpool double act and they never sealed it with a League title.
Goals pay the rent as BBC commentator David Coleman once said of Anfield legend Kevin Keegan during the 1974 FA Cup Final rout of Newcastle whereas nowadays most of the city pays the rent to Fowler while he's sunning himself in Australia.
But Keegan can lay claim to being half of one of the most celebrated - and decorated - double acts ever for the club.
He and John Toshack helped Bill Shankly's side dominate domestic football for much of the 1970s.
But were they the best Liverpool partnership ever?
Or were they simply Corden and Horne compared to the Morecambe and Wise that was Kenny Dalglish and Ian Rush?
And were Roger Hunt/Ian St John merely Abbott and Costello when held up to the light alongside the Laurel and Hardy that were John Aldridge and Peter Beardsley?
STEVEN GERRARD AND FERNANDO TORRES
Stevie G had already etched his name into Liverpool folklore long before Torres arrived at Anfield two seasons ago.
A Liverpool regular for nine years beforehand, Gerrard had inspired the remarkable 2005 Champions League triumph when they trailed Milan 3-0 in the final before winning on penalties. However, Torres has added another dimension to the Liverpool skipper's game.
The Spaniard netted 33 times last season and has ten this time despite missing around half of it through injury.
A natural finisher, Torres benefits from Gerrard's midfield spadework and along with opposing keepers, is often stunned by another Gerrard rocket shot filling the net.
Years together: This is their second season.
Combined goals: 81 from 157 games - Gerrard 38 from 85, Torres 43 from 72.
Trophies won: None.
Merseybeat rating: The Las, possibly rising to Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark if they ever actually win something together.
ROBBIE FOWLER AND MICHAEL OWEN
A nippy couple if ever there was one with two of the greatest natural English finishers ever united in one attack.
But although the goals flowed, there was no real chemistry between the two. They were almost identical in style, both relying on the service of others and both scorchingly quick.
All downhill after 2001: Owen and Fowler won four cups that year
Hard to imagine Michael Owen playing more than a handful of games in a decade nowadays let alone the 40-plus in a season he used to chalk up in his youth. And neither he nor Robbie Fowler ever shone once they left Anfield even though Scouser Fowler returned a hero five years later under Rafa Benitez.
Years together: Four full seasons from 1997-2001, plus tail end of 1996-97 and until November 2001.
Combined goals: 178 from 363 games, Fowler 80 from 186, Owen 98 from 177.
Trophies won: FA Cup, League Cup, UEFA Cup, Super Cup - all 2001
Merseybeat rating: The Mighty Wah! with a bit of Echo And The Bunnymen thrown in.
JOHN ALDRIDGE AND PETER BEARDSLEY
Scouser Aldridge stood on the Kop as a boy and was the natural replacement for Juventus-bound Ian Rush. And he did not let the fans down either, striking up a good partnership with little Peter Beardsley, the player who helped re-invent the English game following his blistering displays at the 1986 Mexico World Cup.
Aldridge was a natural poacher while Beardsley would glide around the pitch setting up chances as well as converting his own fair share from midfield.
Years together: Two full seasons 1987-88 and 88-89, plus start of 89-90 season.
Combined goals: 92 from 196 games, Aldridge 61 from 94, Beardsley 31 from 102.
Trophies won: League title 1988, FA Cup 1989.
Merseybeat rating: The Farm and The Lightning Seeds - with possible Half Man Half Biscuit undertones.
KENNY DALGLISH AND IAN RUSH
Prolific, prodigious, perfection - there are not enough words that begin with 'p' to describe the Dalglish/Rush combination that helped Liverpool rule at home and abroad from 1981 to 1987.
Both finishers of the highest quality, Dalglish had already reigned supreme for Celtic before replacing Kevin Keegan at Anfield.
And although he was never the prodigious finisher that Rush turned out to be, the Scot was a better footballer, taunting defences with deft turns and sways and creating the sort of chances that Welshman Rush loved.
Between them they won the lot, both experienced the huge emotional traumas of Heysel and Hillsborough to become the most successful partnership in the club's history.
Years together: Six full seasons 1981 to 1987 plus parts of three other campaigns until 1990.
Combined goals: 334 goals from 627 games, Rush 243 from 312, Dalglish 91 from 325.
Trophies won: European Cup 1981, 1984, League title 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1990, FA Cup 1986, 1989, League Cup 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984.
Merseybeat rating: Lennon and McCartney at their absolute peak.
KEVIN KEEGAN AND JOHN TOSHACK
Back in the days when live football was confined to just major finals and the occasional England match, TV highlights were usually packed full of the Keegan/Toshack, big man/little man partnership.
Opposites attract, with the tall angular Toshack winning everything in the air for the sharp, muscular Keegan to beat keepers.
Both men had good goalscoring records at Liverpool, easing the club from the Bill Shankly of domestic success to the Bob Paisley European domination era seamlessly.
They were two players almost impossible to knock off the ball and whose telepathy was almost supernatural at times.
Years together: Six full seasons from 1971 to 1977.
Combined goals: 196 from 568 games, Keegan 100 from 322, Toshack 96 from 246.
Trophies won: European Cup 1977, Super Cup 1977, UEFA Cup 1973, 1976, League title 1973, 1974, 1977, FA Cup 1974.
Merseybeat rating: The Beatles but mainly the songs written and performed by George Harrison and Ringo Starr, possibly Frankie Goes to Hollywood with Keegan advertising Brut in the showers.
ROGER HUNT AND IAN ST JOHN
A World Cup winner with England in 1966, Hunt holds the record for the most League goals for Liverpool with 245.
And although he made his debut for the club in 1959, the arrival of Ian St John in 1961 sparked new life into him and he netted 41 goals from 41 matches as Liverpool win Division Two.
It was the start of the Bill Shankly golden era, football in black and white, and a time when Liverpool was the world centre of music in this most trendy and free-loving of all decades.
Scotsman St John became a Kop hero with a debut hat-trick against Everton albeit only in the Merseyside Senior Cup Final that they lost 4-3.
Went on to form a lethal top-flight partnership with Hunt, the latter scoring the first-ever goal on Match of the Day in August 1964, a 3-2 defeat of Arsenal.
Years together: Eight full seasons from 1961 to 1969.
Combined goals: 364 goals from 802 games, Hunt 250 from 402, St John 114 from 400.
Trophies won: Division 2 title 1962, League title 1964, 1966, FA Cup 1965.
Merseybeat rating: Gerry and The Pacemakers with a twist of Cilla Black.
