Look Back In Anger

14 May 2010 16:04
There are many adrenalin highs pulled from the 2008-9 season. The comebacks against City and Wigan, the destruction of the game's biggest 'brands' in the same week and the spirit shown at Stamford Bridge, bootless as it turned out, in the European Cup but for me the Spurs home game on the last day of the campaign was up there. Okay, it was a meaningless game. The League had gone, second place was all but assured and it was only a party day for Sami that was left on the agenda. Jesus, I love that man. If someone could clone him and dot him about the pitch we'd be in back in business. An average captain in some ways, an excellent vice captain in others but most of all reliable, solid and an absolute gentleman. The term 'role model' is overused but if the game had more players like him it would be a far more enjoyable experience. Mention his name to any Red and you'll be rewarded with a smile in the same way the word 'Liddell' can send an old timer back decades. We all have our heroes but most of them are tainted to some degree. That's not the case with the big Finn. The memories make for some great viewing. Yes, there were the crashing tackles and the rictus grin he gave when he was being rightly booked ('you're wrong, ref, but bless you') but look at the goals. The finishes against Arsenal and Juventus at Anfield (the latter a touch Kuyt could only dream about) were magnificent and all followed with a delirious celebration no matter who the opposition. Liverpool through and through. You wouldn't think it at the moment but we're blessed in many ways. Put together your all time best Liverpool XI and you'd be leaving some absolute legends out. Would Sami make it into a team past Yeats, Smith, Thompson, Hansen, Lawrenson and Carragher? Hard to say. He certainly wouldn't be under any pressure from Piechnik, Song, Matteo, Harkness, Hysen, Pellegrino…well, I could go on but I come to praise him, not denigrate others. Actually, I didn't come to praise him at all as he's only a bit part in my long-winded point. His farewell wasn't what made that game so memorable. It's this. We beat Spurs. We didn't need to. It was good to get through the season with only two defeats but most wouldn't blame the team if they were thinking about Ambre Solaire and a good paperback with pictures for the beach but the attitude was spot on. They beat us at their place and we had enough pride to make amends. They completed their lap of honour with a good 3-1 win and the expectation of plenty for the new campaign. Contrast that with Hull last Sunday. How is it possible to go from being so close to being so poor? I've been lucky enough to see some of the best football in Europe played right in front of my eyes but I've also seen some absolute arse gravy. Were it possible for the 1993 side to play our current team, Rafa's men would…well, I wouldn't like to say what the outcome would be but I know who would be the more entertaining side. Say what you like about that shite but they could still pas a ball. It's not as if it's an old side that needs to be broken up a la Shankly/Watford scenario. The other lot up the road are playing with people who were coming through in 1993 and they're still the team to beat. I'm here to be shot down but hear me out. The opening game was a hot day and you'd expect legs to be heavy but we did not look in the slightest bit fit or energised. Rafa wanted pace so played Babel instead of Yossi but he'd left the handbrake on while the rest of the team walked around and sulked once we went a goal down. Hardly the spirit of the last game. This was no shock result to most of us as the pre-season friendlies were awful. Atletico ran around us at Anfield and Espanol humiliated the Redmen. I was tempted to go to that game having been given some unexpected and unwelcomed time off but was glad that reason prevailed. I know Paco left a while ago but that was the first Rafa side that looked like they were playing to my level. To this day I'm sure I can outsprint Insua and I'll not see 40 again. Jamie Carragher's some defender. Not only can he destroy centre forwards with his tackling but he can also write off Martin Skrtel's season with one header. Martin's never recovered from that head clash although I thought his goal against City would give him the boost he needed but it wasn't long before he let Adebayor rise alone to equalise. A hero in 2009 to an unused sub in 2010. Pepe's won the Golden Gloves again so it's not all bad but God knows how. The full backs have been incredibly poor and Carra's been off for a while (incidentally, he could become the only international to be booed for retiring and coming back. I'm sure he's only agreed as a wind up) so it's largely due to Pepe himself that we've managed to achieve that most minor of minor accolades. He's the greatest goalkeeper in Europe and he's been given sod all help this season. He's another Red who's missed Sami. The off the pitch debacle hasn't helped but it's overplayed in terms of the actual football. The players are still getting paid and we can fulfil our fixtures so they can't leave the pitch after conceding another late goal and blame a loss of concentration thanks to worrying about paying interest on an invisible stadium. If the club does go tits up they'll all have homes to go to and guaranteed work to come. That said, how many of them are looking at the Jobs Wanted pages at the moment. Well, if they are they can go tomorrow. The tabloids are full of juicy titbits of Torres and Gerrard going to Barcelona/Inter/Chelsea/Man City and if they like the idea of that then they're not the men I took them for. However, if the club need to sell them to pay for Riera's train ticket (to anywhere but South Africa, you whining get) we're really in the shit. If they follow the manager out then maybe it's time for a fresh start with younger players and a few years of mid table mediocrity. Would that be the worst thing in the world if we can come out of it as an honest, well run club rather than having a collective of Richard III's in the boardroom and Machiavelli in the dugout. The future's not bright but there might be some good to come from it. I want to see the team tear into the new season with a 'fuck you' attitude to every side that stands before them. Shit last year? Think you can take a point or three from us? Tough. We're Liverpool. Ngog and Pacheco upfront now that Torres and Gerrard are gone? Have some of this. Bollocks to self-pity, we're still Liverpool and we shout for them as much as we would for the internationals. Sometimes you have to build from the basement. We've done it before and we can do it again. This time we'll be doing it having learned a lesson about attitude on the pitch and being taken for a ride in the boardroom. 2010 has gone and we can only learn from it. Let's build again.

Source: FOOTYMAD