Robbie Fowler back at Liverpool: who'd have thought?
I have to say I'm fascinated by the development. Sometimes players get into a rut, or a downward spiral; it doesn't necessarily mean the decline is terminal. It can often be about finding the right circumstances to tap into that talent, to rediscover the confidence.
A lot of what Robbie Fowler showed in the past you simply don't lose. You cannot unlearn how to kick a ball so exquisitely, and if you are a natural finisher at 18 you are a natural finisher at 30. The key will be to get Fowler full of self-belief once again.
It is worth noting that in recent years he has often been playing in teams not best suited to his strengths. At Leeds his record was 14 league goals in 32 appearances - a return comparable with Michael Owen's annual league record at Liverpool. But as part of an inconsistent Manchester City set up, he struggled with injuries and never really got a consistent run in the side; that said, his record, with a goal every three starts, was still respectable.
At City his love of the game seemed diminished, and his hunger on the wane; he had been unhappy at leaving Liverpool in 2001, and was then sold on again as Leeds desperately sought to raise cash. The way he has reacted to being back at Liverpool suggests a new zest for the game. It's time to judge Robbie Fowler not on his glorious youth, or his less-spectacular recent past, but on what he can offer in the present and, hopefully, the future.
Your thinking should improve with age and experience, and Fowler was always a very clever footballer with great movement, capable of finding space on any part of the pitch. But what can evanesce is a senseof self-belief and confidence, and those things are what enables a player to access his true ability. Sometimes certain environments and specific managers can get the best out of a player, and the combination of Fowler, Benítez and Liverpool is a new and interesting one.
Can you rediscover self-belief and confidence? Of course. It's far easier to help a quality player rediscover his form than to try and instil that kind of ability into someone lacking it. Playing in a top side helps. But form is often linked hand-in-hand with fitness, and it's crucial Robbie is at his sharpest.
Tomkins on Fowler
A lot of what Robbie Fowler showed in the past you simply don't lose. You cannot unlearn how to kick a ball so exquisitely, and if you are a natural finisher at 18 you are a natural finisher at 30. The key will be to get Fowler full of self-belief once again.
Thankfully he's arriving with his latest injury behind him, and looking both fit (having been back in training for a while) and, with four goals in his last one-and-a-bit games for Manchester City, full of confidence. The fact that a manager as successful as Rafa Benítez wanted him will only add to his sense of self-worth.
Football always has room for players who can find time and space, no matter how quick their legs or how capacious their lungs. That said, Fowler will now be working with the best fitness coaches around, to help give him that extra chance of succeeding. You only need to look at how far Xabi Alonso (another thinking footballer) has come in terms of stamina in the last year or so to appreciate the conditioning work that takes place at Melwood.
It's also important to mention that Fowler is a 'big game' player. In the Treble season he was the third choice striker, and yet scored in two different semi-finals, two different finals, and bagged two goals in the 'final final' at Charlton. He can handle the pressure of playing for Liverpool, as well as the big occasion.
Robbie and Rafa
It is the thought of Robbie Fowler playing in this particular side that excites me the most, and not the simple fact that he's returning (I don't believe in living in the past). This is not about a trip down memory lane, but about creating new memories. How can a great from the past affect our future?
Chasing balls over the top has never been Fowler's forte. In an average side playing on the break, he is the type who'll struggle to get a sniff of goal. However, in a top-class Champions League side creating chances with possession football, such as this, he will be in his element, both in the build-up and in the finish. In theory, at least.
Robbie was at his best when the Reds weren't continually looking to counter-attack, but played possession football that involved building pressure on the opposition defence. Many of his goals were about finding space, or reacting first, in a crowded penalty area. He also has a cracking shot from distance, so is able to loiter around the edge of the area and still find the target.
He's never played in a side as good as this; the mid-90s vintage was exciting, but less compact. He's never played under a manager as good, either. For most of the season this has been a team that creates chances by the bucket-load - often exceeding 20 goal attempts a game, although obviously not all of those clear-cut. Part of the creation of those chances is down to the excellent work of the current strikers, and that should not be overlooked.
But it is the creativity that is betterthan ever. In Gerrard, Alonso, Kewell, Luis Garcia and Morientes (when dropping deep), there is a quality of delivery and clever invention that I've not seen since Liverpool's halcyon days, while Peter Crouch, with his height, touch and vision, is the kind of player Robbie would surely enjoy playing off.
Fowler is also someone who feeds brilliantly off crosses (remember that season when Stig Inge Bjornebye's left foot delivered like a dream, and there were also all those pinpoint crosses, high and low, that Stan Collymore put in after drifting wide?). Rafa is someone who likes wingers, and that will help Fowler, too.
Fowler is only halfway through what is regarded as a player's prime years (28-32), so age isn't a problem. What Benitez is also getting is a player with a lot of experience of European football: 43 appearances in European club competition, and 26 caps for England.
The Premiership landscape has changed since Fowler scored 37 goals in one season, 28 of those in the league. Teams are fitter and the game is faster, while there is a far greater percentage of the world's best players in this country than there was ten years ago.
But even if he's not going to get close to 40 goals a season again, there's an innate ability to finish. He won't pick the ball up 50 yards from goal and still be a threat, like Thierry Henry. But there's always room for a natural goalscorer in a team, providing his inclusion is not to the detriment of the patterns of play.
Natural
Fowler is, quite simply, the finest finisher I've ever seen. Scoring is the most difficult thing to do in football, and I've never seen anyone make it look quite so easy as Fowler managed during the mid-'90s. Jimmy Greaves, distinctly before my time, was perhaps the country's only comparable natural talent.
Fowler and Liverpool
Fowler and Liverpool: maybe it is like all those double-acts in history where together a chemistry undoubtedly exists, exceeding the sum of its parts, when apart there is far less to get excited about. Lennon and McCartney are an obvious local example. When wearing a red shirt he has an aura, a magic about him, that could lift the players, and certainly lift the fans. But he's coming back with a desire to prove himself again, not to live off past glories.
I was fortunate enough to be at Craven Cottage in September 1993, on a thunderstorm night, when he grabbed his very first headline, stealing in amid a lightning strike at the back post to despatch a Don Hutchison cross on the half-volley. I was also at Leicester in 2001 for his last goal, and privileged to see the vast majority in between.
Why was Fowler's finishing so different? What makes him a 'natural'?
Well, at his best he makes it look effortless, for starters. I think it's the way he strikes the ball, and the angles he choses. He has a canny ability to put the ball into the side netting (in the good sense), often caressing it there. He can finish with either foot, and is good in the air. It's also in his need to score goals.
Anticipation is an important asset: if you are constantly waiting to see where the ball ends up before reacting, you'll be second-best. The aim is to foresee what's unfolding, and find space ahead of the ball arriving. Fowler was always an expert at finding space, and then finding the correct type of finish when the chance arose.
Fowler and Liverpool: maybe it is like all those double-acts in history where together a chemistry undoubtedly exists, exceeding the sum of its parts, when apart there is far less to getexcited about. Lennon and McCartney are an obvious local example. When wearing a red shirt he has an aura, a magic about him, that could lift the players, and certainly lift the fans. But he's coming back with a desire to prove himself again, not to live off past glories.
I'm not sure if Fowler is the final piece of Benitez's jigsaw, or even if it's intended to be. But it's a fascinating development, and if it proves successful, it will be hailed a masterstroke on the manager's behalf.
The trouble with the 'final piece of the jigsaw', as we've seen in the past, is that it can end up shunting out another piece. When Paul Ince replaced John Barnes in 1997, there was more tackling in the heart of the midfield, but less accurate passing and control. You can solve one problem, and in doing so, create another.
So it's too simplistic to say 'throw Robbie into the equation' and he'll finish all the chances being created. But it's not totally unthinkable, either.
PAUL TOMKINS LIVERPOOLFC.TV
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