Paul Tomkins 30 December 2008
It's a shame trophies aren't awarded on calendar years; if they were, 2008 would have been a memorable campaign for Liverpool.
Obviously that's not the way prizes are dished out. But the success in terms of improvement is there for all to see.
I think I'm right in saying that the Reds won more Premiership points than anyone else in 2008. It's also the club's best calendar year since 1990, when they last won the league.
Back then under Kenny Dalglish, it wasn't just landing the title but also an incredible start to the following season; I went to my first game at Anfield in October 1990, as Liverpool beat Derby 2-0 to secure the eighth straight win from the start of the season. So 1990 was no ordinary year.
Of course, the pressures are different when you're going through the 2nd half of the league season without the title at stake, as was the case at the start of 2008, even if trying to secure a top four finish after a difficult winter had its own problems. And as we saw in 1990/91, when the Reds fell away after Kenny Dalgish's resignation, it's not how well you start the season that matters most, but the position in which you end it.
But what this calendar year proves is how consistent Liverpool have become as a league team. And to enter the New Year in such a good position is hugely encouraging. If this doesn't prove to be the Reds' season, at least we're seeing a progression.
Liverpool's home form has been criticised of late, and yet it was an unbeaten 12 months in the league at Anfield. It was also an unbeaten year home and away in the Champions League based on 90-minute group matches and 180-minute knockout ties, against teams like Atletico Madrid, Marseilles, Arsenal, Inter Milan and Chelsea (defeat at Stamford Bridge coming in extra-time).
The biggest bonus over the festive period has been how well the 'squad' players have performed. Ludicrously written off after one nightmare in the Carling Cup, the fringe players have shown that they have real talent and ability. Some are experienced internationals who can't quite be squeezed into the starting XI, others are making their progress from the reserves.
Ryan Babel, whose chances have been limited by the in-form Riera, came in against Newcastle, and scored. Lucas came in for the in-form Alonso, and had his best game in a red shirt. Ngog came on, won a penalty, and had a legitimate goal chalked off.
Emiliano Insua has started the last few matches, and looks like he's been in the team his whole life. Sami Hyppia, meanwhile, just seems to get better and better with age, to give the manager a welcome selection headache now that all four centre-backs are fit.
Like Hyypia, Yossi Benayoun was not featuring much earlier in the season, yet scored a vital goal at Blackburn a few weeks back and set up goals against Bolton and Newcastle. Robbie Keane was out of the frame for a few games, then came in and notched three in five days. And Nabil El Zhar has become a great asset to unleash from the bench.
This is what we wanted, isn't it? Strength in depth being proved with Premiership results?
And yet, despite leading the league, and in spite of injuries to key players, too much of the talk remains about the negative connotations of rotation.
Newcastle away was the perfect example of why some degree of rotation is vital, particularly with the way the Reds play. Yes, there's no league game for a while now, but this away fixture, against a Newcastle side rejuvenated at home, came just 43 hours after the Bolton game ended. If you can't even freshen things up over the hectic festive programme, when can you?
The inclusion of Mascherano and Lucas signalled Liverpool's intent - fast pressing and closing down. High energy, fast tempo. So it was no accident Newcastle were overwhelmed. Despite resting three of the best technical players at the club, Liverpool bossed possession and, quite frankly, could have won by a double-figure margin. When Andy Gray says 9-1 wouldn't have flattered Liverpool, you know it could have been 12-1.
I got a little stick from some quarters for praising Lucas' display at Arsenal, but I thought he was very good that day. I feel I must have seen something those fans hadn't, because he took the basis of that performance and built on it at St James'. He was excellent.
As well as his tackling and closing down, he could have scored three goals and had three assists, but for some remarkable goalkeeping from Shay Given and an unjust offside flag when he presented Ngog with an unmissable chance to make it 6-1. As it was, he produced one of the passes of the season for Gerrard's second, as part of a wonderful one-two.
It also irks me that Liverpool were again described as deploying two holding midfielders. Maybe it's just the term, because when other teams play central midfielders they are just that; but Liverpool's are ‘holding', which implies negativity and caution.
Lucas is far from a holding midfielder. He is a box-to-box midfielder who can get ahead of play, albeit one a little lacking in confidence earlier this season, which may have made him a little less ambitious in his forward movements.
Xabi Alonso is also not a holding midfielder, unless he's paired with Steven Gerrard (in which case it's far from two holding midfielders!). And even then, the Spaniard can carve teams apart with one pass from his own half, and score goals from open play, so it's not like he's in the mould of Claude Makelele.
The only true holding midfielder is Mascherano, and outstanding he is at it, too. Even then, the Argentine was in Newcastle's box to set Benayoun free to create the first goal, so it's not like his role is inflexible and he cannot join attacks. (Damien Plessis is another who most holds, but is of course only at the fringes of the first-team squad at this stage.)
And harking back to another of my bugbears, how outstanding does Steven Gerrard have to be and how many goals does he have to score when playing in the hole to stop being labelled a mere ‘midfielder'? Was Kuyt really the ‘lone striker' at Newcastle? On another day, Gerrard might have had a dozen goals himself from his free attacking role.
So much of the criticism of Liverpool, which continues despite pole position, is about misconceptions. For some people, nothing Benítez does will ever be right. They are like hawks waiting to swoop.
Zonal marking was criticised again, yet it's still worked very well this season, bar a few inevitable blips. If Newcastle were an advert for man-marking, then no thanks! And how did Chelsea's man-marking work out this weekend? It led to conceding two costly goals.
With Rafa's team selections constantly questioned, some of his signings written off, his zonal marking system derided, his substitutions criticised, his man-management castigated, his style branded as too cautious and the strength of his squad doubted, you'd think Liverpool were in the relegation zone, not sitting clear at the top of the Premiership and imperious in Europe – despite the prolonged absence of his main striker, Fernando Torres, who has only started seven league games, and limped off very early in one of those (and naturally lacked sharpness in others).
If Benítez choses to change the system or the personnel, it's with good reason, and not to prove a point or show how clever he is. It's to win games.
I was obviously irritated by the constant talk of Robbie Keane being 'dropped' for the trip to Newcastle, and the regular shots of him on the bench, even when Liverpool were 5-1 up. I'm sorry, but the story was Liverpool winning in style, nothing else.
Keane had run himself into the ground against Bolton, and while more confident as a result of that game, his sharpness could easily have been blunted. Kuyt, whose energy seems boundless and who was taken off on Boxing Day, may not have scored at St James', but look again at how he physically bossed Collocini, and how many chances he was involved in, and you can see why, tactically speaking, it was spot-on.
Against Arsenal, Rafa was criticised for taking Keane off, then in the next game the striker scored two more goals. Against Newcastle Rafa was criticised for omitting him when on top form, yet the Reds scored five away from home. So is the manager not getting things right more often than wrong?
It must be hard for the player, but equally, he's at a massive club, and all of the ‘big four' employ a rotation policy. That's life at the top.
And of course, he can look at the league table and take pride at the part he has played in getting his boyhood favourites three points clear, and know that his good form will help him start more games in the future, even if not the one immediately after a tireless display.
There's a long way to go, and the pressure will mount on the club. But confidence can be taken from the fact that 18 games have been won and only one lost this season (excluding the Carling Cup); the way the goals are being shared around in the absence of Torres; the continued miserly defending, no matter who is in the side; and most of all, that the club are motoring on all major fronts.
Keep it going, and it really could be the season to be merry.
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