Football News: My All Time Liverpool XI
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All Time Liverpool XI
I am going to be go with a 4-4-2, old fashioned as it may be, like I did with the Premier League XI. Other than that, it will just be my choices with no strictures on length of service.
Goalkeeper: Bruce Grobbelaar.
This was a fairly easy choice, Brucie was the man when I was growing up, he was very nice to me even when I first met him at a difficult time straight after the Heysels disaster. The players were being swarmed by all sorts of journalists shoving microphones in their face and a scrum of them round them, but he made time to push them all aside and have pictures taken with some random kid whose family had been locked in what was then Speke Airport, due to the arrival of the Liverpool team. Contrast that to so many of the modern players, who would never have taken the time to stand and pose while my aunt tried to figure out how to use the camera and then do it again when she realised she had made a mistake. To put up with my silly questions and never snap when I (it must be remembered I was just a child at the time) was asking him to do things like walk on his hands, which he obviously could not be seen to do. More importantly, he was a genuinely great keeper, a true sweeper keeper who was a big part of Liverpool's dominant era. There has not been a keeper at the club even close to his level since, with only Pepe Reina who could even have been considered.
Right Back: Steve Nicol.
There have been some great right backs in recent years, Markus Babbel was truly world class, Rob Jones was probably the best right back of my lifetime but just had a career sadly cut short and Steve Finnan stand out. However, I had to get Nicol in the team. He was just incredible. It did not matter what position he was chosen to play, he looked like it was his natural one. To be honest, I am not actually sure which position was truly his best, I just remember him best at right back.
Centre Back: Alan Hansen.
There really is no one else it could have been. He is head and shoulders above any other centre half I have seen in English football. A truly great player. Defensively he was top class, with great reading of the game and positional sense, but he also possessed that wonderful ability to take the ball out from the back and turn defence into attack. 'Jocky' made it all look so easy, because, for him, most of the time it was.
Centre Back: Tommy Smith.
There were so many to choose between and Smith was before my time, but I had to have Smith in. He is a genuine legend, though Phil Thompson and Ron Yeats are unlucky to miss out. Smith gave his all, even his health, for the team. Not only was the Anfield Iron a hardman, he could play too, play well enough the Manchester United manager Matt Busby enquired about signing him. He was the first to captain Liverpool to a European trophy and, despite being a veteran who would leave Liverpool at the end of the season, scored the second goal in a 3-1 win over Borussia Moenchengladbach as Liverpool won their first European Cup. As Bill Shankly said, Smith was never a boy, he was born a man.
Left Back: Steve Staunton.
It was tough to leave out Alan 'Barney Rubble' Kennedy, having heard so much about him, but I had to go with Stan. The Stan from his first spell anyway. He was quality, with a left peg that was like a magic wand. I was gutted when he was sold. Even Graeme Souness, the man who sold him, later admitted that was his biggest mistake of many as Liverpool manager. He would have been deadly in the modern game with his delivery. His crosses were superb.
Right Midfield/Winger: Ian Callaghan.
No All-Time Liverpool XI could be complete without Callaghan. There is a reason he made so many appearances for Liverpool in a career that spanned 18 seasons. Jimmy Case, probably the hardest player of all, Brian Hall and Craig Johnston could all feel unlucky to have missed out, but Callaghan has to be there. 857 games for LFC, a genuine good guy, a local lad from Toxteth who loved the club and lived the dream as he was part of the team that climbed from midtable mediocrity in the Second Division to become a champion of England. His crossing was instrumental in supplying the chances for Ian St John and Sir Roger Hunt. Not bad for a lad that cost the club just a £10 signing fee!
Central Midfielder: Graeme Souness.
In my opinion Souness is the best all-round central midfielder to ever play the game. He could do it all. Excellent passer of the ball, could cross, had a hammer of a shot, could control a game, tackle, had excellent positioning, workrate. He was a complete player. Hard as nails as well. Dirty though, he was not afraid to kick lumps out of opponents, but, in those days, not only could you get away with it, you had to do it to survive and prosper. While his managerial return was not successful, Souness was a born leader on the pitch, a real captain who led by more than just example. A special player.
Central Midfielder: Steven Gerrard.
I know people are going to be surprised by this, as I prefer Xabi Alonso as a player, but there is a good reason for my thinking here. My problem with Gerrard was always about his ego, he always tried to do it all himself, taking shots on when there was a simple pass etc. If he had been kept on the ground, he would have gone on to be the best player Liverpool have ever had. As it was, he was given far too much power, he would be so busy looking forward he would miss his moment to get into position defensively and so would get caught. Sometimes he could rescue that by flying in with a great tackle but not always. However, you put him alongside Souness and that all changes. There is no way he would dominate Graeme Souness. No way at all. Gerrard would then be what he should have been, a player with a fantastic engine and great technique. Breaking onto a ball on the edge of the box and smashing it high, wide and handsome would get him a rocket from Souness, so he would only do it when it was a good ball, rather than every ball. There would be no deferral from his teammates, he would have to answer to them. That was what he needed. As he has shown since retirement, there is humility there, he just needs to be reminded that he is human and brought back to earth at times.
Left Midfield/Winger: John Barnes.
There was no thinking involved here, Digger was a class apart. I remember him gliding down the wing and just leaving players in his wake as he performed what was almost balletic. It was like watching a well choreographed martial arts film, like he knew what the opponent was going to do in advance, so he could do just the right move to avoid them. Barnes was incredible, which is why even the great Steve Heighway could not pip him to a place in my all-time XI.
Forward: Kenny Dalglish.
The easiest choice of all, the King is the greatest player to have ever pulled on a Liverpool shirt by a distance. There is not even a valid argument to be made for anyone else, he was head and shoulders above the rest. What he did on the pitch fully deserved a stand being named in his honour on its own. When you compare Dalglish to someone else from another sport, the one that always comes to mind, for me, is Michael Jordan. They both had an ability to make those around them play better and to play for the team, rather than themselves. Dalglish is simply the best LFC has ever had.
Forward: Robbie Fowler.
While the other forward was the easiest choice, this was the toughest of all. Billy Liddell was so good Liverpool were known as Liddellpool for a long time. Kevin Keegan was an immense player, that Dalglish had been intended to partner. Ian St John, Ian Rush, John Aldridge and Roger Hunt were all top class strikers, yet I could only pick one and I am afraid I went with my heart on this one. On his day Fowler was just so good, I had to choose him. He was not just a deadly finished, more than just a goal poacher, he learnt from Rush how to harry defenders and put them under pressure. His free kicks on the edge of the box were top class. He could beat a man with the ball at his feet and had the vision and range of passing to play a deeper role too. Fowler got his nickname 'God' because he was just so good nothing else seemed to fit. Just a shame injuries meant he never really had the success he deserved.
Written by Tris Burke May 08 2017 14:44:51