It's said that the very, very best Chess players see the board and pieces differently from even the top Grandmasters, and it's the same with Kenny and football. There were, even in the same team, those that were stronger, could pass as well or better, finish better etc. He didn't have great pace, and rarely dribbled past a man. His technique was excellent, of course, but shielding the ball was maybe the only skill that none of his contemporaries could match him at.
But in terms of vision and game intelligence, he was light years ahead of anyone. He saw space, runs and angles that others couldn't comprehend. See the pass round the defender to Rush against Watford - you just know that he knew where he was going to put that even as the ball was being played into him at the half-way line with a defender behind him.
There was a fantastic goal at Southampton - a late 3-2 winner iirc - where he dillied and dallied, back to goal just outside the area on the right-hand side. No-one dared try to take it off him, but he was going nowhere. after what seemed ages, he turned and wastefully knocked it for a goal-kick over the far side of the crowded penalty area....except that while he'd been shielding the ball, Ronnie Whelan (and Dalglish needed intelligent players like Rush and Whelan around him) had gone on a long, looping run from somewhere near the Half Way line, round the back of the marshalled defence, arriving at the far post to knock it in, without even breaking his stride. And Kenny had seen that run, I'm sure.
On a recent non-LFC poscast, a Manc statistician casually used the analogy that being on the back row of the Nou Camp made him feel 'like Kenny Dalglish' - it didn't need explaining, because it was obvious, Kenny appeared to have access to a 'helicopter view' of the game even as he played it.
A genius, pure and simple.
