Source: Liverpool_Echo
Liverpool FC pre-season special: One small step for a club - but a giant leap for the Reds
SEVEN summers ago expectation levels at Anfield were at fever pitch. After finishing runners-up to Arsenal in the 2001/02 campaign there was genuine belief Liverpool were finally capable of taking the next step and ending the wait for the Premier League crown.
On the back of the Reds' highest finish since 1991, manager Gerard Houllier was confident the club was on the verge of something special.
However, it proved to be another false dawn.
The Frenchman's hopes were dashed and instead of making further progress Liverpool went backwards as supporters endured a miserable league campaign.
Houllier's team could only finish fifth, missing out on the final Champions League place to Chelsea on the last day of the season.
Victory over Manchester United in the League Cup final lifted some of the gloom but only after Liverpool had crashed out of the Champions League in the group stage and lost at home to Crystal Palace in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Reds legend Phil Thompson was assistant manager at the time.
Having been at the helm for much of the previous season while Houllier recovered from major heart surgery, he could only watch in frustration as the dreams went up in smoke.
'The pressure for us to go on and win the title was immense,' he recalled.
'With Gerard we had gone from seventh to fourth to third and then second. 2001/02 had been quite a season. Due to Gerard's heart problems I'd been in charge for six months until he came back towards the end of the campaign.
