Class of 2006 pales beside Anfield's greats
ADVERTISEMENT
Click here!
AS Rafael Benitez brings his Liverpool team to Fratton Park to face Portsmouth on Sunday in the FA Cup, it is hard to believe that 20 years have passed since I was part of one of the great Liverpool sides that won the League and Cup double in 1986.
When I consider my career on Merseyside I would say I played in three different teams during my time there. The 1984 team that won the European Cup, Kenny Dalglish's 1986 team that won the double, and the 1989 team that won the FA Cup.
Of the three teams, Dalglish's 1986 squad was probably the weakest and yet we still 'did' the double. But when you compare the class of 1986 to the class of 2006, there are very few from the current crop that would have made our starting line-up.
Steve McMahon was the only Englishman to make the squad for the FA Cup final that year and he didn't even get on in the end. We had a Zimbabwean in nets, four Scots, three Irishmen, a Dane, an Australian and a Welshman.
We went 1-0 down in the first-half when Gary Lineker scored and it took a fight between Bruce Grobbelaar and Jim Beglin after the break to wake us up. Ian Rush scored a couple and Craig Johnston got the other to give Dalglish the double in his first season in management.
Resurgence
Of the team that travel to the England's south coast this weekend, the four players have epitomised Liverpool's resurgence, in terms of consistency, have been Steven Gerard, Jamie Carragher, Steve Finnan and Xabi Alonso.
But, if we start at right-back, I still couldn't put Finnan ahead of Steve Nicol. He has really impressed since his move from Fulham but Nico was undoubtedly one of the best players I ever played with.
In my mind, Dalglish, Graeme Souness, Alan Hansen, Rushie and John Barnes were the five outstanding guys I came across. But Steve Nicol was next in line.
Because he played in so many different positions; right-back, left-back, right-midfield, left-midfield, people didn't recognise him as being a great right-back or a great left-back, but he was genuinely superb, and as well as Finnan has done, I couldn't swap him for Nico.
In the centre of defence I think you have to assess how good the pairing is. Mark Lawrenson and Hansen were excellent at stepping out and passing the ball, they didn't want anybody coming back and getting the ball off them. You see Alonso coming back at times which he has to do because I don't think Carragher or Sami Hyypia could be considered the best passers of the ball.
If we stepped back from midfield we'd be ordered to get back up there because they were perfectly able to pick a pass themselves. They were always comfortable on the ball and they were very, very quick.
In attack, all you need to do is look at Djibril Cisse and Peter Crouch against Manchester United last Sunday. There have been many Liverpool centre-forwards through during my Liverpool years, some of them mediocre, but they would still be better than what was on display at Old Trafford.
Dalglish and Rush were probably the best forward combination that Liverpool has ever had. People talk about John Toshack and Kevin Keegan, but for me there is nobody that could have been better than those two. Rushie is Liverpool's most prolific scorer ever and he was complimented brilliantly by Kenny.
The only position that I think current players could get a look-in would be the centre of midfield. Back then we had Jan Molby and Kevin MacDonald - now part of Steve Staunton's backroom team. Kev wasn't the greatest player but probably deserved more credit than he got because of his tenacity and he stayed in the team ahead of Macca which, considering how well he would do later in the decade, was impressive.
Jan was great on the ball and I'd still regard him as the best passer of a ball I have seen. Alonso, though, has a quality range of passing but is more mobile. Then, obviously, there is Steven Gerrard. He has been given a free role by Rafa, but I still think he is best in the centre of midfield where he can get forward quickly.
Expectations
A right winger is something that Liverpool are definitely in need of at the moment. Gerrard is playing there but he isn't a natural winger or the long-term answer. In the same position, Johnston used to drive you mad at times. He would just put the head down and run. The lads used to say to open the gates and just let him run into the Kop.
And that only leaves the left side of midfield where I would hope to get in ahead of Harry Kewell. Harry has performed better in recent weeks but he still has to live up to the expectations that he brought with him on arrival and until then I'm not giving up my place! So there you have it.
That is a reflection on the way the Premiership is now. People forget that players with good football brains come first and foremost. You have to be fit of course, and we were fit. We didn't eat pasta all the time or drink Perrier water but we trained hard and always looked after ourselves before a game.
The game may be quicker now, but I think the level of ball skills has definitely gone done. Mohamed Sissoko is an athlete. He gets around the pitch and breaks things up, but after that there's not an awful lot.
In 1986 there was creativity all over the pitch, something that was noticeably lacking at Old Trafford last Sunday.
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=94&si=1550319&issue_id=13603(you need to register to see the original article)
This must have been written by Ronnie Whelan. Have got alot of time for what he's got to say and I know the Irish boys on this site have a great deal of respect for him though this is a fairly bogstandard article. Can't really argue much with what he's got to say. Don't know if I'd agree with him leaving Jamie out but I do accept that Lawrenson and Hansen were better passers and more comfortable on the ball than JC and Sami.
Does make you think though when you compare Rush and Dalglish to Crouchie and Cisse. No disrespect to either of them it's just a totally different planet in terms of class. What I would give for a Rushie or an Also for the rest of the season.
