A little over a month ago, Liverpool had just lost convincingly to Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park. Blackburn had parted company with manager Sam Allaydyce a few weeks earlier, whilst prior to kick-off, both sides sat equal on points in the Premier League.
Liverpool were awful that evening. It was their ninth league defeat of the season and epitomised their unenviable away form; five points from 30 following their outing at Blackburn. Hodgson, the man deemed fit to replace the outgoing Rafael Benitez, was struggling. He had failed to connect with the Liverpool support and the results were worse than those that had resulted in Benitez’s sacking just six months earlier.
The media, who had championed Hodgson’s cause, lay the blame at the door of Benitez. He had left too poor a squad, the players weren’t good enough, he had wasted too much money. Yet they could not see the flaw in their argument. If Benitez was rightly sacked (as they claimed) it was because he had underachieved the season before, when finishing seventh. So if he had underachieved with a squad better than seventh, shouldn’t Hodgson, a proven man-manager who understood the Premier League, be doing much better with virtually the same squad of players? Either Benitez did well to finish seventh with such a mediocre group of players, or Hodgson was failing in the bottom half of the table?
Hodgson didn’t get the time to correct his mistakes. Fenway Sports Group, Liverpool’s new American owners, replaced him with fan favourite Kenny Dalglish on a short-term contract. Dalglish, overlooked for the job in the summer, was brought in on the eve of the FA Cup clash with Manchester United at Old Trafford. Not the easiest first match at the best of times, and Dalglish hadn’t had any preparation time with his new team prior to meeting them in the team hotel the night before the game.
Liverpool lost. Yet had it not been for two controversial key decisions by Referee Howard Webb, Liverpool may yet have won the tie. The match was certainly an even one, even without captain Steven Gerrard for the best part of an hour. There were signs of improvement; the tempo was much quicker, the players closed down the opposition more often and appeared to be more keen to get stuck in.
Dalglish then had an away trip to Blackpool and a home derby with Everton to contend with. Whilst they still struggled at Bloomfield Road, again there were positives to take from the match. The derby was Dalglish’s first home match as Liverpool manager for twenty years. The atmosphere was unlike anything Anfield had to offer for over a year. Liverpool started strongly, Raul Meireles opening the scoring with an excellent strike. Yet Liverpool failed to take their chances in the first half, and Everton scored a quick double after the restart, and the doubts set in again. Dirk Kuyt, another Liverpool player who has struggled for form the last twelve months, has a knack of scoring in the Merseyside derby, slotted home a penalty to confirm Dalglish’s first points on the board.
And so to Molineux, which would prove to be Dalglish’s first win as Liverpool manager, part II. The flashes of attacking play and confidence that had been evident from the previous three matches were developed into a convincing away victory for the Reds. Fernando Torres, a peripheral figure for Liverpool this season, scored a brace and looked better and more interested than at any point this season, whilst Meireles, who prior to the derby had failed to find the net, made it two goals in two games with a certain Goal of the Season contender. Meireles, arguably Hodgson’s best contribution to the club, had struggled under the current LMA Manager of the Year. Shifted out wide, he had little impact on proceedings in his first months and seemingly lacked in confidence. It was clear the Portuguese had talent; it was merely a case of getting the best out of him.
Dalglish was bringing a bit of happiness back to Liverpool fans. The last eighteen months had seen Benitez’s last torrid season, and a poor six months under Hodgson, as well as a trip to the High Court to rid the club of previous owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett.
Liverpool beat Fulham at Anfield to record two wins and two clean sheets on the bounce, in a game that would prove Fernando Torres’ last for Liverpool. A turbulent last week of the January transfer window saw Liverpool’s idol hand in a transfer request in a quest to win club trophies, a feat that has so far, evaded the World Cup winner. Dalglish wouldn’t be drawn on the affair, repeating that no player is bigger than the club. Liverpool saw fit to replace Torres with Luis Suarez from Ajax for €25m and Newcastle’s Andy Carroll for £35m.
Suarez, an exciting young player who was key for Uruguay during their impressive World Cup run, has a more impressive goal scoring record for Ajax than record-breaking Torres does for Liverpool. And whilst there are concerns over Carroll’s temperament and off-field behaviour, there are no doubts as to the potential the young player could have. Whilst spending £55m on two young players relatively unproven in the Premier League could be considered a gamble, Dalglish and FSG think otherwise. In theory, the two players could dovetail fantastically, and offer Liverpool two genuinely threatening strikers for a long time.
As Torres is keen to point out, Liverpool won nothing in his time at Anfield. At Manchester United, whilst Ruud van Nistelrooy had an incredible goalscoring record at Old Trafford, United were more effective and successful without him. The same could be true of Fernando Torres.
With victory yesterday at Stamford Bridge, Liverpool have now won four consecutive matches without conceding a goal. They are six points off a Champions League place with their two new record signings to come. The feel-good factor is back at Anfield, the team are playing confident attacking football and getting results. Dalglish, arguably Liverpool’s best and most popular player, is a manager the fans are united behind and will certainly get the job full-time come the summer.
Since Dalglish has taken the reins at Anfield, no team has accrued more points in the Premier League than Liverpool.
Football’s a funny old game – from relegation candidates to fourth place contenders in four weeks.
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