Posted on 06. Jan, 2011 by Liam Tomkins in Blog
Anyone who has had the misfortune of witnessing Liverpool FC in action this season will have been left utterly appalled by the lack of fight being shown for the shirt.
This club has been blessed with some great players over the years, and some even greater honours. 18 league titles, 5 European cups, 7 FA cups, 7 league cups and 3 UEFA cups sit proudly in the trophy cabinets at Anfield as a glittering reminder of what those in Red have achieved as a result of giving their absolute all. What is most significant about these triumphs is that Liverpool have very often been the underdog.
Regardless of the occasion and regardless of the opponent, though, every time a player crosses the threshold into battle with a Liverbird upon their chest they should be straining their every sinew; pushing the boundaries of what is mentally and physically possible until they have nothing left to give, and then pushing some more – all in pursuit of the points and pride that come as a result of overcoming their opponents.
Take this short story from club legend Tommy Smith, for example:
When I watch the modern game and see certain players going through the motions on the pitch with one eye on the ball and the other on their wage slips, I often think back to those days when Shankly, Paisley and Fagan were in our dug-out, demanding that we sweat blood for Liverpool.
I remember what was effectively a meaningless end of season game in Spain which was part of our summer break. We were playing the equivalent of a non-league team in Benidorm, but a lot of people had turned up because it was Liverpool FC.
The game was going nowhere. We were just going through the motions and I could see Joe on the line getting increasingly fed up. His logic was that you gave it everything in every match, whether it was a European Cup Final or a game against the local Spanish waiters.
After 20 minutes, he called me to the touchline. With a glint in his eye, he said: “Start a fight, Smithy.”
“What was that Joe?” I said.
“Start a fight!” repeated Joe earnestly, which seemed a little bit harsh, considering we were only playing a bunch of semi-pros and that the game had nothing on it . . . except the pride of Liverpool FC.
I got the message. I went back out and the next time the ball came near their centre-forward I was straight into him. They were suddenly screaming and shouting and the crowd woke up. More than that, so did we. The red blood was starting to boil and it was Mission Accomplished as far as Joe was concerned.
He wasn’t asking me to do anything sinister. It was just the old trick of jerking people out of their complacency. We won at a canter. Joe smiled. Once again, I got the message.
Throw this alongside the 3-1 defeat to Blackburn in comparison and the difference between the two generations of players is astonishing.
The problem with the Liverpool side of 2010/11, bar a few such as Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard, is that they have absolutely no idea just how privileged they are to be wearing the shirt.
Back in the days of Fagan, Paisley and Shankly the team wouldn’t dare put in a no show for fear of facing up to the manager afterwards. Now, though, it seems anyone can pull on a red shirt, have a casual kickabout, go home a few grand richer and have absolutely no trouble sleeping at night.
If we are going to have a squad consisting of such spineless individuals who each feel that it is the other’s duty to take responsibility and not their own, then we must have a manger who is commanding enough to get them to perform.
Joe Fagan knew how to do this, as did Bob Paisley and Bill Shankly. More recently, even Rafa Benitez managed to calculate a winning formula by recruiting players that had previously captained their former clubs and so, as a result, were natural leaders. Unfortunately for us here, today, Roy Hodgson doesn’t seem to possess any of the necessary attributes to motivate a team at this level.
Granted, those who are fortunate enough to play for Liverpool really should not need motivation, but the sad matter of the fact is that they do. I named Steven Gerrard as an exception to this rule earlier but, unfortunately for us, he cannot instil his own never-say-die attitude into the minds of those who don’t and never will understand what it means to be a red. It is worth noting that without goals or assists from the skipper this season we would be loitering in the relegation zone.
For as long as the current manager remains in charge of this team I fear the players will continue to go into games with a complete lack of self-belief, and a total disregard for the honour that has been bestowed upon them.
If we are to return to the days when Liverpool set out to crush any opponent regardless of their stature, then we need to be led by someone who will enforce that policy. I don’t know who that man is, but I know who it is not; Roy Hodgson.
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