The man - the player, was never more epitomised than the Dinamo Bucharest games in 84'. Broke the jaw of one of their players in the first leg at Anfield, at the away leg bossed the game under loads of pressure...*Phil Neal tells a great story that goes briefly along the lines off...the team coach is surrounded by the Romanian army and Dinamo fans before the game, they all wanted Souness, the whole coach is flapping, Souness just sits there, staring straight ahead and pipes up "Don't worry lads, they're all here for me" He never even batted an eye lid. Went out onto the pitch and they all wanted him, Souness gave one of his most complete performances that night(possibly only second to the final in Rome)*
Think it was Neal who also said that, that team you just knew could go anywhere and get any result they wanted and Souness was the leader.
"Oh why were we so gooood!" we used to sing on the Kop, was it because we were Liverpool, or was it because we had Graeme Souness?.... Debatable, but Souness' class wasn't.
An extract I found about him......
Although Liverpool fans remember Souness's generosity when he ushered Bob Paisley up the Wembley steps to collect the 1983 League Cup, he was also their favourite hard man. Souness's tackling was a thing of terrible beauty, though probably less so if you were a direct opponent. In a European tie in Romania against Dinamo Bucharest, the home captain offered a display of intimidation against Souness which ended with the Romanian going off with a broken jaw. Souness's autobiography was aptly titled No Half Measures.
But the physical aspect of Souness's play was always offset by the accuracy of his passing. Dalglish, his room-mate, said of him: "There's no one I'd put in front of him when it comes to accurate and dangerous passing. He wins the ball, then distributes it and dictates the pace of the game."
Later, as captain, Souness displayed the kind of leadership which marked him out as a future manager. Ian Rush, who came into the Liverpool team in the early 1980s, remembers him in the dressing-room. "Graeme used to go round every player at half time, fist clenched, geeing us up, telling us the game was ours for the taking. He pumped adrenalin into you. I can't explain the feeling to this day, but you used to go out thinking you couldn't lose. That was the Souness psychology."
I don't know what it is but I love it
I don't know what it is but I want it to stay.....
Bagzy Ray Kennedy, My hero.