Liverpool FC Forum

by **A.B.** » Tue Dec 07, 2004 3:06 am

November has really been tough for us. Our players have been hammared by injuries and it there were days and days of bad news but December has arrived and our luck is slowly starting to tilt. We concluded November with a great victory over the Champions and started December with a good performance on the road.

Here are more good news for the club and us the fans:

Kewell and Baros Back on Track
Given the paucity of strikers available to Rafael Benitez, Liverpool should be delighted with two pieces of good news coming out of this Villa Park draw; Harry Kewell has rediscovered his scoring touch and Milan Baros will be back for this week's crucial fixtures.

Baros's troublesome hamstring in now behaving itself so the Czech striker should be available against Olympiakos on Wednesday as Liverpool aim to secure a place in the knockout stages of the Champions League, ahead of Saturday's Merseyside derby.

Kewell, having last scored for Liverpool 10 months ago, claimed his first goal in 33 appearances and appears to have the backing of his manager and his team-mates to continue scoring.

Had Baros been available at Villa Park Liverpool would surely have won a game they dominated for the first half with some delightful, streamlined football.

Kewell, who scored 11 goals in the first six months of last season, was visibly relieved to have ended his goal drought and the players were equally delighted.

Defender Jamie Carragher said: "Harry had a great goals record in the first half of last season but he didn't manage to capitalise on it in the second half of the season, when he only got two. Hopefully it will be the other way round this season; he could catch fire in the second half. He's taken a bit of criticism but the whole team are delighted for him after his goal."

Benitez admitted he had had several conversations with Kewell about his lack of goals. The Spaniard said: "The most important thing about Harry is the future, and I am very optimistic. I think he needed a goal.

"He is a very good player and I think in the future we will see a lot of very good games from Harry. I have spoken to him many times. He knows he is not playing at his level. He knows he needs to train hard. He wants to improve his level each day."

On Baros's return, Benitez added: "It will be important for us to have Baros back this week. I don't know whether we would have won against Villa with Milan playing, but he has been scoring goals and it would have been another option.''

Kewell's early goal, a close-range header, was Liverpool's only reward for that masterful display. Neil Mellor and Steven Gerrard could have increased the lead and then referee Mark Halsey gave a free-kick that wasn't, penalising Carragher's challenge on Gavin McCann, from which Nolberto Solano converted a beautiful free-kick. Villa improved in the second half, though Gerrard - once again outstanding in his controlling position - missed another chance to secure what would have been only Liverpool's second away success.

What is remarkable is that Villa are still competitive. David O'Leary probably has the slimmest squad in the Premiership and on Saturday, with Lee Hendrie banned, Carlton Cole played despite illness and McCann was carrying a leg injury.

Impressive displays by defender Mark Delaney and midfielder Steven Davis combined to frustrate Liverpool, but with a problematic set of fixtures to contend with over the festive period, O'Leary can only hope his side avoid further injuries.

Gary Mac impressed by Benitez
Of Tommy Smith crushing some silky Italian striker under a hobnailed boot, the late Emlyn Hughes launching one of those long-striding, lung-bursting Crazy Horse runs from one box to the other and the master poacher Ian Rush rounding a goalkeeper before tucking home a late winner.

Those days are so long past that even the memory plays them back in sepia tones. Yet for some strange reason, they seem fresher than Liverpool's UEFA Cup success of only three years ago which, as the last European trophy captured by an English side, ought to be a memory, as well as a cup, that is polished daily. Instead, if remembered at all, it is only as a mocking indictment of Liverpool's failure to win anything of consequence since.

The scent of old glories at Anfield will once again flood Liverpool nostrils if they beat Olympiakos on Wednesday to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League for only the second time. But it was more pungent than it had been for years in the summer of 2001. The 5-4 defeat of Alaves in the UEFA Cup final, four days after Liverpool had recovered from a goal down to beat Arsenal in the first FA Cup final at the Millennium Stadium, provided a delicious end to a season in which they had taken third place in the Premiership.

Audaciously, they threatened to win the title the following season, leading in late March and winning 13 of their final 15 games, only to lose out to an Arsenal side who won their last 13 matches. Manager Gerard Houllier had not only revived the old nag called Liverpool, he seemed to be riding it full pelt back towards the future and the days when the club dominated English and European football.

Gary McAllister was enjoying a glorious Indian summer to his career at Anfield in 2001. He said: "I left the season afterwards and when Gerard brought in El-Hadj Diouf, Salif Diao and Bruno Cheyrou that summer, I thought, yeah, they are ready to go. They looked really good signings at the time. But for some reason Diouf and that little group of players just didn't settle quickly enough and the momentum that appeared to be building was lost.

"That's how important big signings are. Ours is a very demanding league and so different to any other, although you also have to be a certain type of player to perform at a big club like Liverpool. I felt it the first day that I walked in at Leeds and found Billy Bremner, Johnny Giles and Peter Lorimer watching what I was doing. In recent times, Harry Kewell has been a disappointment for Liverpool but I don't think he struggled through that. He's an experienced player who just has to buckle down and get it right."

McAllister, now 39, displaying the incisive eye that has allowed him to become a successful TV pundit, identifies another subtle change that broke Liverpool's stride. He says: "Having been fortunate enough to win the league before with Leeds, I've always believed that there is a certain way to win it and it is not a counter-attacking style. You have to go out to win it, believing that if the other side score two, you will score three.

"Gerard was criticised for being defensive but the season after I left he tried to open up the style a wee bit and it seemed to upset the team. When I was there, the back four were excellent but that was because they were well protected by the midfield and even the front men. There were a lot of disciplined players in front of the defence."
In the days when Smith, Hughes, Rush et al were in their pomp, Liverpool strode like emperors across the capitals of Europe. But on Wednesday, they will attempt to tiptoe through the back door to the second stage of the Champions League, needing a 2-0 win to go through. With Greek teams travelling as well as Retsina wine, McAllister believes that Liverpool are capable of extending their recent good run.

Last weekend's win over champions Arsenal revived their title hopes, followed by a Carling Cup triumph over Spurs with a side made up mostly of youngsters, including the highly promising midfield player John Welsh, 20, whom Houllier refused to pick because of his supposedly disruptive nature. McAllister says: "I like Benitez's style and the way he is not afraid to change his team depending on opponents. But I think the set-up against Arsenal, a 4-3-3 cum 4-5-1 is his preferred one, which freed up the attacking talents of Steven Gerrard and completely absolved him of any defensive duties." The sad thing for McAllister is that, should Liverpool reach the later stages of the Champions League, they will be unable to call on the talents of Michael Owen, a piece of family silver sold off as if he were old iron in the summer.

He says: "I was surprised by the sale of Owen and particularly the price he went for [£8 million]. I can only think that Liverpool were frightened of losing him on a free, like Steve McManaman. But you try to buy Michael Owen now. He is a special player made for the big games; you need a goal, he'll get a goal, as he showed in the final against Arsenal."

McAllister lovingly recalls his time alongside Owen and Gerrard but regrets that his two years at Anfield came at the end of a distinguished career. Had he joined them at his peak, his and the club's long wait for top honours may have ended years ago.

It's good to see Gary Mac speak on the Boss. This season has been a bumpy ride for the most part but the Boss is optimistic and so are the players. Slowly things are looking good for us.

by **112-1077774096** » Tue Dec 07, 2004 6:24 am

where are these plagurised from???

by **chiggz_likes_owen** » Tue Dec 07, 2004 6:40 am

by **A.B.** » Tue Dec 07, 2004 10:15 pm

peewee wrote:where are these plagurised from???

LFC.tv Media Watch

by **Ciggy** » Tue Dec 07, 2004 10:53 pm

Yes A.B. its now december and I put my christmas tree up, now let the presents flow :cool:

by **banana** » Tue Dec 07, 2004 10:59 pm

" When I was there, the back four were excellent but that was because they were well protected by the midfield and even the front men. There were a lot of disciplined players in front of the defence."

SPOT ON GARY MAC.

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