WHEN Kenny Dalglish returned as Liverpool manager last January he was asked how football had changed since he last held the same position twenty years earlier. Dalglish was not convinced that the game has been distorted beyond all recognition, insisting that the basics are still the same as they have always been even though the media attention football gets is on another level altogether compared to what he had been used to in the past.
“For me the biggest change is the elevation in status of the game itself, through the evolution of the Premier League, and when things get bigger you obviously get more of the media coming in with greater interest,” he said.
“That’s the biggest change for me – the things that happen in and around the game not the game actually itself, and not the playing of the game or not the working towards the playing of the game. The story of the game itself isn’t that different, it’s still 11 aside, still more or less the same rules and the ball is still the same shape. So I don’t think the game itself is too different.”
There is one change that Dalglish is probably still coming to terms with though and it reared its ugly head yesterday following Liverpool’s goalless draw at home to Swansea when a limited but audible section of the Anfield crowd booed at the final whistle. There may be those who can remember otherwise but according to my own recollections this was possibly the first time a team managed by Dalglish had been jeered at Anfield.
If the demands of the media are greater than ever before then so are those of football fans. A home draw is no longer tolerated like it once was as Rafa Benitez discovered following a home draw against West Ham United in December 2008 – a result which actually took his Liverpool side to the top of the league as they mounted the club’s only genuine title challenge of the last decade.
The logic of those who voice their disapproval in such an audible manner is that they are entitle to make their opinions known having shelled out a not insignificant sum to buy a match ticket. With football being increasingly commercially driven and fans being treated as consumers as much as supporters it is hard not to have at least a degree of sympathy with that kind of viewpoint.
But – and it is a very big but – it is hard to come up with even a vague idea of how vociferously turning on the players and team that you support can have anything but a detrimental effect. It generates tension, causes negativity and gives anyone with a desire to create division at the club something to exploit. Yesterday, it gave the impression that everything is far from being well with Liverpool when the reality, bar a poor result and equally uninspiring performance, is that the opposite is true.
There are undoubtedly problems that need solving, Dalglish admitted as much post-match when he described the display as “unacceptable” but pledged to put right the things that had gone wrong. Liverpool remain a work in progress and some, although not all, of their signings from the last twelve months are finding it hard to find their rhythm and establish themselves in the side. Had anything other than this happened following three years of off field turbulence and on pitch decline then Dalglish would have been feted as a magician more than a manager because when he took over eleven months ago – that’s months, not years – Liverpool were looking over their shoulder at the bottom three not looking up with hopes of breaking into the top four.
The improvements that have taken place since last January are there for all to see. Liverpool now have a deeper squad, a playing style which is much more in keeping with the club’s traditions and a sense of collective harmony which is as evident as the acrimony that preceded it. At first, progress was swift and it really did appear that Dalglish had waved the magic wand that his predecessor Roy Hodgson always insisted did not exist.
But there was always going to be a tough period when searching questions had to be asked and some of those who were expected to play a leading role in the revolution turn out to be less reliable than previously thought. If three successive home draws are the cue for introspection then so be it. Liverpool can undoubtedly perform better than they have in the first two of those fixtures against Manchester United and Norwich, but equally there has not been a great deal wrong in those games with the obvious exception of some very wasteful finishing.
The draw against Swansea was a disappointment on every level, there is no question about that. Sloppy in possession, lacking the drive and tempo which had been such a feature of their victory over West Brom the previous weekend and allowing their opponents to dictate play in dangerous areas far too often, this was a bad day at the office for Liverpool. It was the second time this has happened this season following on from the 4-0 defeat to Spurs at White Hart Lane.
There was not a single individual associated with Liverpool who was not disenchanted with the afternoon’s events, from the manager to the owners and from the players to the supporters. But it was no time to turn to the boos. After the turnaround in fortunes that Dalglish has overseen, never mind his past deeds as player and manager, he deserves a great deal more respect than that.
“For me the biggest change is the elevation in status of the game itself, through the evolution of the Premier League, and when things get bigger you obviously get more of the media coming in with greater interest,” he said.
“That’s the biggest change for me – the things that happen in and around the game not the game actually itself, and not the playing of the game or not the working towards the playing of the game. The story of the game itself isn’t that different, it’s still 11 aside, still more or less the same rules and the ball is still the same shape. So I don’t think the game itself is too different.”
There is one change that Dalglish is probably still coming to terms with though and it reared its ugly head yesterday following Liverpool’s goalless draw at home to Swansea when a limited but audible section of the Anfield crowd booed at the final whistle. There may be those who can remember otherwise but according to my own recollections this was possibly the first time a team managed by Dalglish had been jeered at Anfield.
If the demands of the media are greater than ever before then so are those of football fans. A home draw is no longer tolerated like it once was as Rafa Benitez discovered following a home draw against West Ham United in December 2008 – a result which actually took his Liverpool side to the top of the league as they mounted the club’s only genuine title challenge of the last decade.
The logic of those who voice their disapproval in such an audible manner is that they are entitle to make their opinions known having shelled out a not insignificant sum to buy a match ticket. With football being increasingly commercially driven and fans being treated as consumers as much as supporters it is hard not to have at least a degree of sympathy with that kind of viewpoint.
But – and it is a very big but – it is hard to come up with even a vague idea of how vociferously turning on the players and team that you support can have anything but a detrimental effect. It generates tension, causes negativity and gives anyone with a desire to create division at the club something to exploit. Yesterday, it gave the impression that everything is far from being well with Liverpool when the reality, bar a poor result and equally uninspiring performance, is that the opposite is true.
There are undoubtedly problems that need solving, Dalglish admitted as much post-match when he described the display as “unacceptable” but pledged to put right the things that had gone wrong. Liverpool remain a work in progress and some, although not all, of their signings from the last twelve months are finding it hard to find their rhythm and establish themselves in the side. Had anything other than this happened following three years of off field turbulence and on pitch decline then Dalglish would have been feted as a magician more than a manager because when he took over eleven months ago – that’s months, not years – Liverpool were looking over their shoulder at the bottom three not looking up with hopes of breaking into the top four.
The improvements that have taken place since last January are there for all to see. Liverpool now have a deeper squad, a playing style which is much more in keeping with the club’s traditions and a sense of collective harmony which is as evident as the acrimony that preceded it. At first, progress was swift and it really did appear that Dalglish had waved the magic wand that his predecessor Roy Hodgson always insisted did not exist.
But there was always going to be a tough period when searching questions had to be asked and some of those who were expected to play a leading role in the revolution turn out to be less reliable than previously thought. If three successive home draws are the cue for introspection then so be it. Liverpool can undoubtedly perform better than they have in the first two of those fixtures against Manchester United and Norwich, but equally there has not been a great deal wrong in those games with the obvious exception of some very wasteful finishing.
The draw against Swansea was a disappointment on every level, there is no question about that. Sloppy in possession, lacking the drive and tempo which had been such a feature of their victory over West Brom the previous weekend and allowing their opponents to dictate play in dangerous areas far too often, this was a bad day at the office for Liverpool. It was the second time this has happened this season following on from the 4-0 defeat to Spurs at White Hart Lane.
There was not a single individual associated with Liverpool who was not disenchanted with the afternoon’s events, from the manager to the owners and from the players to the supporters. But it was no time to turn to the boos. After the turnaround in fortunes that Dalglish has overseen, never mind his past deeds as player and manager, he deserves a great deal more respect than that.
it's mind boggling the lack of respect he's being shown from some quarters and almost more so if you look at where we were a little over a year ago.
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