The Red Mist

Last updated : 09 January 2006 By Nick Clemons

So many times over the last few years, (with the notable exception of Michael Owen’s inspired FA Cup win in 2001) Liverpool have fallen foul of significantly weaker opposition in this competition. Everyone will undoubtedly remember Burnley last year. You also shouldn’t forget Crystal Palace, Coventry, arguably Portsmouth. I’m sure Greame Souness hasn’t forgotten Bristol City a little over a decade ago.

Defeat in these games highlighted a Liverpool team either in decline (Bristol City match) or a reasonably good team coasting along on a wave of mediocrity (all the others above). Even the win in 2001 disguised the fact that we were outclassed for 85 minutes and but for Sir Michael we would have been beaten.

Now we have Sir Rafa. He’s had so many plaudits for his tactics, his transfers, his organisation, even his motivational ability. Your team doesn’t come back from 3-0 down against Milan without being motivated. But that was the European Champions League Final. Today we witnessed a 3rd Round away FA Cup tie on a cold January evening in front of only 10,000 fans.

At 3-1 down, I described my feelings above as despair and my head was indeed in my hands when Luton’s penalty hit the back of the net. My underlying belief however never evaporated totally as it may well have done 2, 3, 5 and 10 years ago in similar circumstances. At 3-1 down, the Liverpool players finally rolled their sleeves up, the determination was unquestionable and the red mist came down on Kenilworth Road as wave after wave of Liverpool possession and attacks surged towards Luton’s goal.

The effort paid off and Alonso and Sinama Pongolle, the goal scoring comeback heroes should be proud of their superb goals. Steven Gerrard seemed less elated in the post-match interview, commenting on the performance of the team for the first hour. He’s right, it certainly wasn’t their best performance but Gerrard should be proud, as we all should be, that the team showed the kind of fight that dug us out of a deep hole tonight.

The performances of the team recently have given us a sense of almost invincibility. Of course we’ll lose games and it’s likely there’ll still be a few this season, but watching this game tonight and the nature of the comeback, convinced me perhaps more than others where we’ve played a better overall match, that Liverpool are back and back with a vengeance.