Slipperduke
The Camden Cad
Never mind about the title, relish the fact that Liverpool have got their soul back. Competitions can come and go, but the spiritual identity of a football club is a rather more permanent prize. On Tuesday night at Anfield, Liverpool probably lost their grip on the title race, dropping two points against Arsenal. But they won something far more important. They won back their pride. Finally, it's ok for neutrals to like them again.
Liverpool have not been an entertaining team to watch for years. It takes time for perceptions to break down, but the glory days of the 70s and 80s, and the flawed beauty of the mid 90s, had vanished by the turn of the century. Gerard Houllier's Liverpool were a cold, cynical machine. Built on a formidable defence, they were the first of their breed to play only a single striker as a matter of course. The first to deploy their spare forwards on the flanks of a narrow midfield. They were methodically mundane, but they won their fair share of cups.
Rafa Benitez arrived on Merseyside to find that the famous red shirts were being worn by the likes of Djimi Traore and Milan Baros. Using the kind of tactics that made chess look like a more appealing spectator sport, they bored their way to the Champions League final, leaving some of Europe's biggest names yawning in their wake. Six minutes of insanity and a penalty shoot-out flattered to deceive in Istanbul. The achievement of winning Europe's greatest prize with a team so mediocre has quite rightly immortalised Benitez, but that doesn't mean that Liverpool were actually any good to watch.
Inbetween then and now, we've had the arrival of the Gruesome Twosome, the huge debts, the failure to build a new stadium, Jermaine Pennant, the war with Rick Parry, and the appalling Robbie Keane saga. There hasn't been a lot to love about Liverpool, but then, last season, something changed.
It started with Fernando Torres, Liverpool's best signing since John Barnes. Then there was the discovery of a formation that brought the best out in Steven Gerrard. The winter of 2007 had been Benitez's darkest hour, the club was slipping down towards mid-table, but the spring brought new promise. The 4-2-3-1 allowed Gerrard to push up and play in tandem with Torres, a player that he seemed to symbiotically linked with. If Liverpool had started that season with the form they ended it, they would have challenged for the title.
Now look at them. The Americans have given up their daft attempt to usurp Benitez and they've handed him a contract and powers that actually enable him to plan for the future. They're even sitting next to each other again. Liverpool have carried a title challenge past Easter for the first time since my voice broke, they're playing some exceptional football and they've just completed a week where they've played two of the most exciting games of the season. If you had any doubts about the state of Liverpool's soul, the news that Kenny Dalglish could be returning to the club should sooth them.
If you were lucky enough to see Tuesday's game, you'll have seen an excellent side giving everything they had to secure victory. You'll have seen a reinvigorated crowd, roaring them on all the way. You'll have seen attacking football, style, grace, hunger, passion and pride. That's what Liverpool are supposed to be about. In these dark days, some things are far more important than winning.
Liverpool have not been an entertaining team to watch for years. It takes time for perceptions to break down, but the glory days of the 70s and 80s, and the flawed beauty of the mid 90s, had vanished by the turn of the century. Gerard Houllier's Liverpool were a cold, cynical machine. Built on a formidable defence, they were the first of their breed to play only a single striker as a matter of course. The first to deploy their spare forwards on the flanks of a narrow midfield. They were methodically mundane, but they won their fair share of cups.
Rafa Benitez arrived on Merseyside to find that the famous red shirts were being worn by the likes of Djimi Traore and Milan Baros. Using the kind of tactics that made chess look like a more appealing spectator sport, they bored their way to the Champions League final, leaving some of Europe's biggest names yawning in their wake. Six minutes of insanity and a penalty shoot-out flattered to deceive in Istanbul. The achievement of winning Europe's greatest prize with a team so mediocre has quite rightly immortalised Benitez, but that doesn't mean that Liverpool were actually any good to watch.
Inbetween then and now, we've had the arrival of the Gruesome Twosome, the huge debts, the failure to build a new stadium, Jermaine Pennant, the war with Rick Parry, and the appalling Robbie Keane saga. There hasn't been a lot to love about Liverpool, but then, last season, something changed.
It started with Fernando Torres, Liverpool's best signing since John Barnes. Then there was the discovery of a formation that brought the best out in Steven Gerrard. The winter of 2007 had been Benitez's darkest hour, the club was slipping down towards mid-table, but the spring brought new promise. The 4-2-3-1 allowed Gerrard to push up and play in tandem with Torres, a player that he seemed to symbiotically linked with. If Liverpool had started that season with the form they ended it, they would have challenged for the title.
Now look at them. The Americans have given up their daft attempt to usurp Benitez and they've handed him a contract and powers that actually enable him to plan for the future. They're even sitting next to each other again. Liverpool have carried a title challenge past Easter for the first time since my voice broke, they're playing some exceptional football and they've just completed a week where they've played two of the most exciting games of the season. If you had any doubts about the state of Liverpool's soul, the news that Kenny Dalglish could be returning to the club should sooth them.
If you were lucky enough to see Tuesday's game, you'll have seen an excellent side giving everything they had to secure victory. You'll have seen a reinvigorated crowd, roaring them on all the way. You'll have seen attacking football, style, grace, hunger, passion and pride. That's what Liverpool are supposed to be about. In these dark days, some things are far more important than winning.
