In an ideal world (perhaps called Catalonia!) you will play a brand of football that will be as delightful as it is devastating and this is obviously where Liverpool, as well as everyone else (maybe not Stoke!) wants to be.
I must say that our current youth setup with the Barcelona links in the coaching staff offer a very bright future in that respect. However, this isn’t an ideal world and there are no prizes for playing lovely football as Arsenal have seen these last 7 years or so.
Case in point this season under Dalglish has seen us return to, at times, playing some beautiful football the way we always used to play. With the King in charge I can only salivate at the thought of Alonso and Torres (07-09) still gracing the Anfield turf. As well as we have played this season (Bolton and Wigan aside) we have failed to see suitable reward in results, what with Arsenal pick pocketing a win at Anfield; Hart, Vorm, Robinson, De Gea, Ruddy et al seemingly picking the Liverpool games to play out of their skins to deny 3 points. In fact I don’t think it would be too outrageous to suggest that, Spurs game aside, in the first half of the season we were good enough and arguably should have won every game played, I would struggle to see in any of the fixtures the opposition bemoaning our victory or cursing the luck we had.
If we compare this season to the Benitez era as a whole, the brand of football we played was for the majority far removed from the slick, easy on the eye Valencia team Rafa left for us. In part this was down to a side he inherited which, god love them, included the likes of Traore and Biscan. What Rafa was able to establish was a solid team that was difficult to break down and was very miserly. Rafa’s first season in charge included 0-0 draws AWAY to Juventus and Chelsea in crucial Champions League games. Not bad with Djimi at left back! For us fans, we drew enjoyment out of these goalless encounters as missions accomplished, but to the neutral they must have been dire affairs. During the first few years with Rafa in charge I held the belief that should we score first then that was it, game over, we were capable of shutting a team out. The best example of this in recent years is the Chelsea side under Mourinho. That team had such attacking talents as Robben, Drogba and Lampard but would happily win ugly 1-0. Winning was the key.
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It has been quoted many times that winning is a drug and can quickly become a habit and a mentality. Although it pains me to say it but United have had some poor sides in recent years, but the winning mentality has become so ingrained that other teams believe they will lose whatever! Bringing it back to the proper Reds, the 2008/09 season is a great example as we were able to win ugly in poor games as well as clawing our way to victory from behind, particularly against Manchester City and Hull. Then with the winning mentality established in the side the football played against Real Madrid at Anfield, Manchester United at Old Trafford and Aston Villa at Anfield was on a different planet. The frustrating thing here is that that side in particular was so close to greatness, and had we had the owners we have now and their willingness to invest, I think it is safe to say we would be the closest team to Barcelona at present.
So what is it that I am trying to say? To be a great team you have to have the ability to combine both aspects of the game? I think that is obvious to anyone. No, as the title of this piece suggests that true beauty is achieved by embracing the uglier aspects of the game. Being ugly gives you that backbone, the solidity needed to grind out a result or to take setbacks on the chin and move on. If all a team can do on the pitch is play the ‘beautiful’ football then setbacks have a far reaching effect (Arsenal last season?) As well as we have played this year and the success achieved in winning the Carling Cup, the last minute loss to Arsenal exposed our fragility that was made apparent in the games against QPR and Wigan, a point made recently by Suarez.
Our side of the late 70’s and 80’s was as flamboyant at Anfield as it was Scrooge-like away from home, it was able to grind out a result one week away at Wimbledon and then the next stick 9 past Crystal Palace at Anfield. Does this all mean that Liverpool is on the wrong course? Not at all, but for us to make that next step we must rediscover that quality of playing ugly, picking up those wins against the likes of Stoke, Blackburn and Wigan. In my opinion we are close, a fully fit Lucas and Agger (paired with the beast Skrtel) will shore up the side defensively allowing more creative players like Gerrard and Adam (can’t let him tackle too much!) to concentrate offensively and to team with that allusive ‘fox in the box’ to do for us what RVP has done for Arsenal this year.
I hope you enjoyed my debut and I will have stirred a conversation somewhere! For more from me you can catch me on Twitter @timdibs thanks!
YNWA
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simply get rafa back & start the rebuilding process ,since the owners are willing to fund the way forward.