Source: Liverpool_Echo
Liverpool FC must draw inspiration from Bill Shankly to get back on track - Dirk Kuyt
IT'S BACK To THE FUTURE[LNB]MEMORIES of a golden era will be evoked tonight when a collection of Anfield's favourite sons gather to pay homage to the club's greatest influence.[LNB]Members of the 1965 and 1974 FA Cup winning teams, including Roger Hunt, Kevin Keegan and Phil Thompson, will line-up at half-time to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Bill Shankly's arrival - the moment when Liverpool Football Club became an institution.[LNB]It will be hugely poignant to see those men returning home and their presence, perhaps, will provide a lift to supporters still smarting from a calamitous sequence of results that have plunged the Reds' season into disarray.[LNB]More than anything, though, the sight of giants such as St John and Yeats, Lawler and Byrne, Heighway and Milne will, inevitably, lead a certain generation of fans to recall Shankly's famous maxim that 'first is first and second is nowhere'.[LNB]That Liverpool's major aim for the year is to win the race for fourth is a painful reminder of how things have changed; yes, qualifying for the Champions League is crucial for revenue and attracting top players but, for a club of Liverpool's stature, it can never be called success.[LNB]Still, needs must and the Reds, quite simply, cannot afford to miss out on that objective, even though the chances of them doing so appear to be dwindling by the week, Sunday's 2-1 home defeat to Arsenal providing more woe for a disenchanted crowd.[LNB]But if spirits have been sagging on the terraces, there is no room for wallowing in self-pity in the dressing room and Dirk Kuyt, scorer of Liverpool's goal against the Gunners, believes there is a need to go back in time to save the future.[LNB]Great Liverpool sides of the past never let painful reverses knock them out of their stride and while the atmosphere around Melwood has been flat for the last 48 hours, Kuyt has promised there will be an emphatic response when Wigan Athletic visit this evening.[LNB]With games against Portsmouth and Wolverhampton Wanderers to follow, there is a clear opportunity for Rafa Benitez's side to make up lost ground and Kuyt believes the players owe it to everyone connected with the club to come good again.[LNB]'When you play for Liverpool, you have always got to focus on the next game,' said Kuyt, who has rediscovered his shooting boots in recent weeks. 'We want to be in the top four and we need to change things as quickly as possible - that is our target.
