February 20, 2005
Red avenger
Liverpool had a night to forget when they last met Bayer Leverkusen and will be looking to Dietmar Hamann to ensure there is no repeat at Anfield on Tuesday, writes Jonathan Northcroft
Some players are completely different in interviews to how they are on the field. Arjen Robben, so youthful and spontaneous a footballer, is staid and mature in the press room. Patrick Vieira, so tough in midfield for Arsenal, speaks gently. Dietmar Hamann, though, converses like he plays. You see the Liverpool man in midfield — controlled, cautious, nipping danger in the bud, never taking a risky option when a safe one is available — and find he’s just the same under interrogation. Decent and intelligent, Hamann never shirks questions, but his answers are measured with efficiency in mind. He releases no more information than necessary. He often wrinkles his nose, as if sniffing for signs of controversy.
Even a harmless question about his love of racing prompts a battle in which every nugget of information has to be scrapped for: “Didi, you used to own a racehorse, didn’t you?” “Yeah, but not at the moment.”
“What happened?” “It got sold. It did well at Cheltenham once. But, you know . . .”
“Didn’t it win the German derby?” “Yeah. I was in a syndicate with a good friend, but that was a few years back.”
“So you know something about bloodstock?” “A bit.”
“Got any tips?” “No. I’m the worst.”
And so on. It is curious, because those who know Hamann say he is “one of the lads” in Liverpool’s dressing room. He was the same at Newcastle United, where he was friendly with Alan Shearer and Duncan Ferguson, laughing when, for Christmas, they presented him with a copy of Mein Kampf. They even dubbed him “Regi”, as in Regi Blinker, because of his facial tick, but he took that in his stride. It could be that Hamann simply does not like the press. If so, it is commendable that he still gives his time to the media more generously than many.
Liverpool renew an old acquaintance with Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday and Hamann is typically cagey about the last time these clubs met. In April 2002, Leverkusen knocked Liverpool out of the Champions League at the quarter-final stage. Leading 1-0 from the first leg, Liverpool were ahead 2-1 on aggregate, with 29 minutes left when Gerard Houllier replaced Hamann with Vladimir Smicer. Liverpool imploded, Leverkusen scoring twice in the next six minutes as Michael Ballack, whom Hamann had muzzled, ran riot. Jari Litmanen restored Liverpool’s advantage, but the damage had been done and Lucio won it for Leverkusen six minutes from time.
Houllier not only stood by his substitution but criticised Hamann afterwards. “His contribution could have been better,” said the manager, even though the German appeared to others to have been his normal, efficient self. Hamann agrees it was among the more painful experiences of his career, but he will not expand further. How had he felt watching the upset unfold, sitting on the bench? “Not good obviously. But, you know, it’s one of those things. It’s a few years ago, so we should leave it.”
It is as if in removing Hamann’s stable, controlling presence from the pitch that evening, Houllier removed those values from Liverpool for good. How, in the 34 months since that topsy-turvy night in Germany, the club have yearned for stability and control. An extraordinary 25 points off the pace in the title race and out of the FA Cup, their season hinges on the next seven days. After Leverkusen come Chelsea in next Sunday’s Carling Cup final.
“It can go either way,” Hamann said. “We can win a cup and go far in the Champions League, or we can lose it all. It’s an important time and we have to prepare for that. Two or three good results could turn things. It’s all about confidence. If we do well against Leverkusen and beat Chelsea, it could be the key to our season.”
He finds his team’s fecklessness puzzling. “The inconsistency was there last year but before that we’d been pretty good. If anything we struggled at home and got results away from home. Now it’s the other way around.”
Is Rafael Benitez moving things in the right direction? “He’s got five years and showed what he could do at Valencia. You shouldn’t judge him on the first year because he had to sort a few things out, sell a few players and bring others in. Next year we should see a lot more, but that doesn’t mean we can just say, ‘This is a year of turning things round’, finish eighth and be happy, because that ’s not the way it works at Liverpool.”
When probed further about Benitez, the barriers come up. What Hamann does not say, however, perhaps betrays more than what he does. He mentions Liverpool’s new training programme, which involves harder, longer workouts than under Houllier, including double sessions on some days. Are Liverpool fitter? “It’s hard to say you are fitter when you don’t get the results, but hopefully you’ll see the effects at the end of the season.” Is the influx of so many Spanish players good? “We’ll see. I don’t know.”
It was put to him that at least supporters are enjoying the more attacking nature of Liverpool’s football compared with Houllier’s time in charge. “Few were complaining when we were grinding out 1-0 results, so you need to get results. I don’t think anybody can tell you they’re a happy player or a happy manager if they get beaten 5-3 every week. I’d rather have a 1-0 than 3-3.”
Perhaps it is unreasonable to expect a player to be upbeat when his own future is in doubt. Hamann’s contract expires in the summer and he has made clear his desire to stay at Liverpool. He loves the club and its city, recently appearing in a feature item on German television promoting Merseyside, and in his seventh season in England he feels settled here. Chiara and Luna, his daughters, are happy at local schools and speak better English than German, though not with Scouse accents.
Benitez wants to keep him but, despite reports that he is close to accepting a new deal from the club, things are far from settled. “Nothing’s been signed. There have been talks. I’ve made it clear I’ve enjoyed my time here, but the longer it goes, the worse it is for both parties,” he said. Leading German clubs are monitoring his situation but “I haven’t tried to make contact with any other clubs because I expect to stay here”.
The length and terms of the contract Liverpool are offering could be the problem. He is 31. “If it’s for two or three years it’s maybe my last contract (as a player). Any contract you sign you’ve got to be confident you’re doing the right thing, speak to the wife and think it over.”
Steven Gerrard’s future also seems undecided. Despite Liverpool announcing they will not sell him for any price, unless he wants to go, talk of a summer move to Chelsea or Real Madrid refuses to go away. The “unless he wants to go” part seems to be the key. “As a teammate I don’t want him to leave. He’s the captain and we know how important he is. I think the club will do everything to keep him, ” Hamann said. If Gerrard does move, however, Hamann would recommend he thinks farther afield than west London.
He was the same age that Gerrard will be come the summer — just turning 25 — when he left Bayern Munich for Newcastle. “When you’ve got the chance to get some experience in a foreign country and play for a big club, I’d advise anybody to do it. It’s worked out well for me and I’ve learnt a lot more than if I’d stayed in Germany,” he said. “Does he want to go to a foreign country? Will he settle there? There are huge questions you’ve got to answer before making a decision, but he can play anywhere in Europe because he’s got the ability and power to do well in any type of football.”
Gerrard, who is suspended, will be missing against Leverkusen, and with Xabi Alonso also out there is an onus on Hamann. With the best home record in the Bundesliga but only three away wins all season, Leverkusen are having a similar campaign to Liverpool’s. “Yeah, that’s right, but they’ve started well after the winter break. I watch the German league (on television) and they’re a very skilful side. They pass the ball and their record in the Champions League says it all. They beat Real Madrid 3-0 at home and drew against them away. They’re dangerous.”
Leverkusen’s coach is familiar to Hamann. Klaus Augenthaler was a granite-hard yet technically adept centre-back for Bayern Munich and an idol of Hamann’s when he was growing up in Bavaria. “I trained with Augenthaler when I started for Bayern,” he said. “Everything he brought to the game was top-class.”
Augenthaler became an assistant coach at Bayern, and Hamann also played under him for four years. “It’s no surprise to me how successful he’s become. He’s done the right thing, you know. He was assistant to Giovanni Trapattoni (at Bayern), then he went to Austria (where he managed Grazer AK) and slowly he’s climbed higher up the ranks. He’s doing a fantastic job for Leverkusen and we might see him one day take over one of the bigger clubs in Germany, or even one of the big clubs in Europe.”
Augenthaler is “a tough but honest manager — just like he was as a player”, according to a colleague in the German media, who added: “He smokes a lot and drinks a lot of Bavarian beer.”
Hamann is a more sober sort, but in his concise and careful words, it’s possible to imbibe some of the uncertainty presently afflicting Liverpool.
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