If you are of a naturally cynical mind, thoughts will turn to the preceding decade of Premiership seasons in which the above promise has failed to deliver in such dismal and unsatisfactory fashion. As your hands are clasped close to your disbelieving face, vivid images of the many ‘final pieces of the jigsaw’ (copy write of underachieving football teams world-wide) such as Stan Collymore, Paul Ince and, most laughably of all, Emile Heskey, will rear their ugly heads once more.
As you feel the last vestiges of optimism sapping away from you, it is likely that you will be greeted by those supporters who, without fail, follow the same well-trodden path each and every year. In spite of the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, they still utter the same desperately hopeful words; ‘This will be our year’. While the month of May usually brings with it a mixture of despair and contemplation – particularly last season’s evocative image of the dismissed Steven Gerrard leaving the Stamford Bridge pitch in utter dismay and frustration as Liverpool’s Champions League hopes were dealt a final, fatal blow – the return of heady expectations and renewed optimism is always inevitably to be found in August. This summer is no different, but can it truly be our year? Are we being greeted by yet more misplaced optimism on the part of the Anfield faithful? Or has Gerard Houllier finally put in place a squad capable of being the best the Premiership has to offer?
For many, the signing of an enigmatic – if often inconsistent – Australian international and a steady Irish defender from Fulham are enough to announce that a team that was so devoid of creativity, passion and the basic ability to keep possession last season, is now ready to reclaim the English championship for the first time since the now distant date of 1990. While Harry Kewell and Steve Finnan will undoubtedly improve a team that is already home to proven talents such as Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen and Danny Murphy, it must be remembered that Anfield will host UEFA Cup football for one simple and unavoidable reason – we were not amongst the best four teams in the country. Rising from a lowly position of fifth to the pinnacle of the Premiership is a task that has not been achieved by any club since the curtain was brought down on the old first division – and with it, Liverpool’s years of unrivalled supremacy.
This is not to say, though, that the current wave of optimism that surrounds the club’s forthcoming campaign is entirely unfounded. In £5m signing Harry Kewell, the Reds finally have a player who is worthy of the number seven shirt. As capable (though somewhat erratic) a performer as Vladimir Smicer has proved himself to be during his time at Anfield, he could never emerge from the vast shadow cast upon the number by previous incumbents of the shirt such as Kenny Dalglish and Kevin Keegan. In a team accused, often rightly, of an over-cautious approach to football, the presence of the former Leeds man will offer a welcome boost to both his fellow players and a home crowd that has become increasingly sterile.
While the signing of 24-year-old Kewell has already brought about an immense change in the attitude of the average Liverpool supporter, it is also clear that manager Gerard Houllier has been greatly boosted by the purchase of a player whose attacking abilities appear to quash the growing belief that the Frenchman is merely a pragmatic, defensive-minded coach. The mercurial talents of the Australian, of course, do not sit easily with such a view. It is for the reason illustrated above that the majority of supporters feel Houllier has swept aside his own doubts and committed to a fluid and vibrant style of play for the future. As I have already made clear, the month of August brings with it a sense of optimism and a reinforced belief in what were seen as the ailing powers of the club’s manager. The most important question is this; does the purchase of Kewell truly herald the final development of Houllier’s Liverpool?
More important then any signing the club could make this summer – and the player’s who have arrived at Anfield this summer are of high quality – will be the approach of Gerard Houllier. Simply signing Harry Kewell and Steve Finnan will not automatically transform Liverpool into a side capable of matching the attacking gusto of the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and, to a lesser extent, Newcastle and Chelsea. The signing of one of the most supremely gifted players of the modern era, Jari Litmanen, could not halt Houllier’s stubborn belief in a cautious and primarily defensive system, so is it too much to expect a veteran coach to finally release the shackles he has placed so firmly upon all other side’s he has managed during his career?
The fear, and it is a very real one given the experiences a Liverpool supporter has of the club under Houllier’s tutelage, is that Harry Kewell will be asked to provide the creative flair for the side without the support he desperately needs. Having already been described as the ‘missing link’ between midfield and attack, will Kewell be asked to the sole creator for the team whilst his fellow midfielders are asked to continue to protect the excellent, though somewhat immobile, defensive pairing of Stephane Henchoz and Sami Hyypia?
As good as Kewell is, Houllier cannot simply graft an attacking player onto a side that still sees defence as the best form of attack. Too many times in the recent past, Michael Owen has been left utterly isolated as midfielders fail to support the attack in numbers – even, on occasion, when Liverpool have trailed in a game. If Kewell is merely seen as the one necessary creative spark to allow the team to continue to sit deep then it is unlikely his signing will lead to the glory that so many predict.
The success of Arsenal and Manchester United is not simply built upon the quality of their players. Both teams continue to offer the most breathtaking example of the Premiership product due to their insistence on flooding players forward in a break-neck manner in a determined bid to score. While Liverpool now possesses a midfield of comparable quality to the aforementioned sides, they have yet to show a real commitment to swamping their opponents through forceful and regular attacking play. Unless Gerard Houllier finally allows his midfield to express themselves as they can, the Anfield crowd may well be in for another year of frustration.
Transforming Liverpool into the team of the verve and style that the club’s legendary past demands is a task that still requires more time. It may be true to say that it is a signing that Gerard Houllier hasn’t made which will ultimately deny Premiership glory for one more year. It may seem somewhat of a paradox to suggest it, but Liverpool could regret not purchasing a particular defender this summer. Auxerre’s Jean-Alain Boumsong possesses the pace and confidence to start forays into the opposition half that both Hyypia and Henchoz, for all their defensive acumen, sorely lack. It must be remembered that it was Liverpool’s chronic lack of pace in the heart of defense that led Houllier to abandon plans for what he had then dubbed ‘new Liverpool’ after encouraging attacking displays against Newcastle, Birmingham and Bolton last season.
Replacing either Henchoz or Hyypia would, undoubtedly, prove to be the most troublesome decision any manager could make. Both have offered Liverpool unwavering service during years of great progression at Anfield. The reality that Gerard Houllier has to face if he is to win the title that he so craves – especially now that Liverpool have two forward thinking fullbacks in Riise and Finnan – is that one of the two may have to be replaced if the Reds are not to stumble yet again in their attempt to evolve into a side of the quality of Manchester United or Arsenal.
Until such a greatly difficult choice is finally made, the eternal cry’s that this will be our year will continue to ring hollow as the true cheers will continue to be heard at Old Trafford and Highbury for many more years to come.
First published in the August issue of LFC Monthly