This is the year of the hungry man
Whose place is in the past
Hand in hand with ignorance and legitimate excuses
- George Michael, 'Praying for Time' (1990)
I was never a child with high expectations. I'd ask me ma and da to get us a Nintendo for Christmas but would assume the yearly threat of oranges and coals for being a naughty child would come to fruition. The delight when I'd ravenously tear off the wrapping paper and a Nintendo, complete with gun and a copy of Duck Hunt, was unbridled.
What have George Michael and Christmas got to do with Liverpool Football Club, then? Well, we have a jolly, rotund man in charge, for starters; and our team usually enjoy early success before hitting a crisis halfway through and inevitably wind-up being caught with their pants off, sliding down the table. That aside, supporting Liverpool FC the past seventeen years can be likened to the feeling you had throughout the winter months when you were younger. It was different for everyone, though.
Some kids always expected to get their presents on Christmas Day; but, as I've pointed out, I was different. Perhaps it was the footballing climate I grew up in.
I was three years of age when Liverpool last won the league championship. Growing up, the phenomenon of Fowler was sadly littered with mediocrity of Matteo and Dicks; the magic of McManaman hindered by the banality of Phil Babb's defending. Even going to Wembley twice in three years not enough to give me confidence in winning number nineteen. I'd always listen intently to my grandad tell me of how we'd been so dominant in the 70s and 80s and how the league title wouldn't stay away for long. But I was just a wide-eyed child, a victim of Souness' sub-standard buys and 8th place finishes. I never believed him.
Of course, intermingled with my happiness of a Coca-Cola Cup victory over Bolton Wanderers and the subsequent documentary detailing our win on ITV, was the disgruntlement of the older kids. The kids who asked for the Nintendo and expected it; failure to deliver this would result in a swift kick to Santa's testicles; or in footballing terms, a 'mutual termination' for Souness, Evans and Houllier.
It has always been a case of 'one bitten, twice shy' for me. After the fantastic treble of 2001, I finally expected a Nintendo (by now, a PS2) within two years, only to be heartbroken as I unwrapped Diouf, Diao and Cheyrou. Never again, I said.
Even when Rafa brought us that fifth European Cup, I still didn't expect, despite all the other kids expecting what now must have been an XBox 360. Despite the hopefulness, I knew the acquisition of Crouch wouldn't bring us the league, nor would Bellamy a year later; Bellamy thrived on space behind the defenders, something he wouldn't get at Anfield when visiting teams park the bus and the bus station in front of the goal. Even a newly-signed Mascherano and Fernando Torres, complimented by an unbeaten record heading into December, didn't lead me to believe we would win the thing we all crave the most.
What? Yes, I'm getting to George Michael soon, just a minute...
That elusive no.19 still hasn't come, thirteen years after my grandad told me it wouldn't be long. Football has changed but the one thing that hasn't is that 'league championship' honour list on Merlin sticker books.
This is the year, though.
This is the year that I'm waking up on Christmas Day and expecting something. I know it isn't a Nintendo any longer, but whatever Blu-Ray I-phone DVD vibrator which hums zipee-de-doo-dah as you shove it up your minge is all the craze these days. I expect it. It is going to be there, hand-delivered by Santa Claus himself.
It's weird, ironic, a sinister twist of fate, that George Michael released his fantastic ballad 'Praying for Time' the same year we last won the league title.
'This is the year of the hungry man' indeed. Liverpool Football Club is hungry for this league title, possibly more than ever. We have those pariahs across the M62 snapping at our heels. When I was told the league title would soon come back to Anfield, there was never an inclination from anybody that fourteen years, and eight league titles later that Manchester United could equal our proud record. Now that there is a distinct possibly it can happen, it will drive our lads harder than ever.
This is all fairytale stuff though, isn't it? Seventeen years without a title, and just when we're being threatened to be equaled and perhaps overtaken, we rise like Lazarus and bring home number nineteen. But even Cinderella had a modicum of reality. You should have seen the fucking loan repayments on that glass carriage.
And here's that reality: we're signing two top, top Premier League players. I was watching highlights of the game from Villa Park last season on LFCTV today. Barry looked heads and shoulders above his team-mates. He controlled the play, he dictated tempo; he basically did everything better than what an £18m Michael Carrick did for Manchester United. He isn't a machine like Essien, granted. But we don't need one. We need somebody who can play in the domestic league calmly and concisely. Mascherano can bulldoze his way through attacking players; Alonso, if he stays, can provide a bit of class. What Barry does better than those two however is break up play and looks for the simple ball. And that's all Gerrard, Torres, Kuyt, Babel, Benayoun and Keane need. Speaking of Keane...
He's basically here, and I don't think there'll be a more astute signing this season by any football manager in any top flight division. The man gives us options across the front four and most importantly (like Barry), he knows this league inside out. This isn't a Bellamy-style signing, or even a Crouch-style, with no disrespect to the big man. Rafa knows exactly what he wants to play next season and has acquired the man he knows will do the job to the highest standard from the start.
The signing of Keane raises questions regarding who'll be dropped to the bench. Whoever that may be, it doesn't really matter, because they'll be in good company. The new seven-sub rule has been brought in beginning this season and we're in the best position to take advantage of it. Can any other team match a bench of, for example...
Cavalieri, Hyypia, Skrtel, Benayoun, Babel, N'Gog, Voronin/Nemeth
We have Babel, United have Eagles. We have Skrtel, Chelsea have Ben Haim. And I know for a fact Benayoun is better than whatever 13 year old dear old Arsene is planning on putting there. Rafa is a man who, out of any manager in the league, utilises his 'possibilities' the most. He will thrive with an extra two options on the bench.
And so we come to the most important component. Rafa.
It's his fifth year and this is finally the squad he wants. He never really wanted Cisse, Bellamy or Pennant. He could have gone for Queresma, Silva, Villa, Moutinho... but he has chosen Barry and Keane. He saw what a lot of us saw last season, particularly in the second half of it. A side that is capable of winning the league with a few missing ingredients. Sack off all this 'last piece of the jigsaw' nonsense, because Rafa would never adhere to such a strict structure. He has identified his targets and, it would appear, he has got them. For anyone who complains that we need to sign 'world class wingers' are missing two vital components of that: one, there aren't any around; and secondly, we don't play with wingers. We have three players who drift in and around Torres, but very rarely do they go massively wide. That's why we've signed two attacking full-backs. If you noted the first few glimpses of them, they don't bomb crosses into the box... they simply get forward and support the front four. This is how we gained the most goals last season and Rafa has acted upon this.
As George Michael sang: 'Whose place is in the past // Hand in hand with ignorance and legitimate excuses'. For the past seventeen years, we've seen ignorance (Evans' lack of a back-three; Houllier's persistence with his mediocrity) and also some legitimate excuses (Houllier's illness possibly the ultimate one). Rafa is not perfect. He has shown signs of ignorance at times which has hindered us, although it isn't the media-driven claims of rotation or zonal marking; it is more the inability to beat the other top three. He's also had legitimate excuses; boardroom squabbles, lack of funds, inability to get the players he wants for this football team. Next season though, it will stop. I've never been more confident of anything in my life.
The man knows what he's doing and as a result, this team knows what it's doing. We've got a brilliant Torres/Gerrard partnership, an excellent back five, a rejuvenated Kuyt and most importantly: the team and squad he has been striving for, for the past five years. George and Tom need to keep their noses out and we need to keep our noses in front of those horrible bastards across the motorway.
It's apt to finish with another George-ism. You've gotta have faith. Believe that come Christmas morning, that no.19 will be sitting under our stockings. And it will. We're gonna win the fucking league.
COME ON REDMEN!