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Behind Enemy Lines: A Liverpool Fans'
View
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Newcastle-Online.com caught up with Paul Tomkins
ahead of the Boxing Day clash between Liverpool and Newcastle at Anfield.
Paul recently wrote a book
about his beloved Liverpool, writes for various fanzines and LFC fans
sites and also pens articles for the official Liverpool website. Here
we get his pre-match views as we go behind enemy lines once again.
Q: What type of reception will Owen get on his return to Anfield
for the first time as an opposing player? |
Returning players are usually very well received. The way Owen left
the club upset some, but was understood by others. I'd be very surprised
if he wasn't given a very warm welcome, but he's not like Robbie Fowler
who could score ten against the Reds and still be chairlifted off
at the end...
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Q: Would you be upset if he scored and celebrated? How do you
think Kopites would react to such a scenario? |
Depends how he celebrates. Two fingers to the Kop, and he won't be
getting much applause... A lot of Liverpool fans think he's only biding
his time at Newcastle, given he left Liverpool for more success than
he was experiencing, only to now be at a club out of the InterToto
Cup and still mid-table in the Premiership. So it's hard to see him
staying at St. James' Park for too long. Personally, I think he needs
to be playing regularly and scoring goals, both of which he'll do
at Newcastle. But he's fiercely ambitious, and unless Newcastle improve
radically, and finish in the top four at least, I don't see it as
a long-term situation.
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Q: After a slow start to the season, Liverpool are now looking
the business, what do you attribute this too? |
I just think Rafa is one of those managers who needs time to perfect
his methods, seeing as they are so detailed and scientific. He's a
training ground manager, in that he works on the players in a very
specific way. He bought some new players who needed time to adjust,
and there was a big sense of anti-climax from fans following Istanbul
- the start of the season was a bit surreal for most fans. Maybe the
players also had to clear their heads after such an unexpected high.
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Q: How are Liverpool different this season, to the Liverpool
of last season, and in what way and what areas? |
A better goalkeeper, a monstrous midfielder in Sissoko (at just 20,
looking like Vieira), and up front, the hugely effective Peter Crouch,
who I feel has been outstanding this season. Crouch gives the team
balance, and allows the midfielders to get forward and support. If
you look at Michael Owen's record for England this year, it's unbelievably
better when he's been alongside Crouch, and that's what the big man
offers: clever flicks on the deck and obviously his fare share in
the air. In Liverpool's case, it's the attacking midfielders who benefit,
especially Gerrard who makes run after run knowing Crouch can play
him in. With Kewell finally fit, and a right winger expected to arrive
in January, Crouch and Morientes should be getting more crosses to
attack, and that can only help.
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Q: Can Liverpool win the League this season - your thoughts
on that please? |
Not this season, unless Chelsea fall apart, which is very unlikely.
Next season we have to be taken very seriously. But then much will
depend on what Arsenal and Manchester United do over the summer. The
extent of Arsenal's decline this season has surprised me, but Wenger's
no fool and he'll surely have them playing better next season. But
Liverpool have put themselves clearly into the top four teams, and
that was the first goal.
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Q: And the Champions League? |
Who knows? We're a much better team than last season, and we won it
then, but that's offset by more expectation and less chance to reduce
the pressure by being the underdog. We have a good draw, getting Benfica
with the second leg at Anfield. Depends on who we draw after that.
But to retain the trophy would be very unlikely.
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Q: Do you think Liverpool cashed in on the caveat of being European
Champions? |
If you mean 'were the signings sexy enough?' then you're missing the
point. Benítez buys players to fit his system, not the most glamorous
individuals. Newcastle arguably bought better players over the summer
- certainly ones with higher profiles - but Rafa wants people who
can do a job for the team and who fit in with the right mentality.
Newcastle spent twice as much money as Liverpool over the summer,
but Liverpool's performances have increased more than Newcastle's.
Michael Owen may be a better finisher than Peter Crouch (okay, there's
no maybe about it), but Crouch suits the team far better than Owen
(who cannot play as a lone striker/targetman).
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Q: The World Club Championship, what are your thoughts on that
as a competition and the Reds being dragged half-way around
the world to participate in it? |
It would have been great to win, obviously. Worth participating in,
but lacking a certain sense of importance. All good experience for
the players, and Rafa changed the team between the two games, so some
players will come back fairly fresh, jetlag aside. We've had eight
days' 'rest', but it might be the Everton game on the 28th that our
legs grow weary.
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Q: What are Rafa Benitzes' strengths and weaknesses in your
opinion? |
He builds teams that exceed the sum of their parts. Valencia were
not full of superstars, but what a team! - the best I've ever seen
at Anfield, going back 15 years. He's a tactical obsessive, and analyses
everything in minute detail. Last season he won the Champions League
with a team that was in decline when he arrived, and he did so by
getting the best out of players like Djimi Traore and Igor Biscan.
On the whole he's bought extremely well, getting players like Alonso
for £10m when he had a £20m price tag when Manchester United enquired
a year earlier. He's made mistakes in the transfer market like all
managers, but mostly with cheap gambles. He's also overseen the arrival
of a whole raft of highly-rated teenagers from all over the world.
The only weakness is arguably too much rotating, although he's been
doing that less of late. Having said that, it worked in Spain, and
Liverpool finished last season looking super-fit in Europe. Sometimes
you might lose a match from rotating a team, but it can be a massive
benefit come March/April.
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Q: And Liverpool's as a side? |
The defence lacks pace, and yet just set a club record with 11 consecutive
clean sheets. There's still no natural right-winger, although of course
Steven Gerrard excels there when asked to fill in. He's not exactly
missed centrally, but ideally that's where he'd be playing. The squad
is strong in some areas, but lacks cover in others. Rafa has the team
so well organised that it allows his players freedom to express themselves.
We're not the most exciting side in the world, but more entertaining
than given credit for in some quarters. Every game we seem to create
20+ chances, and there's always a fair few that are clear-cut. The
movement is terrific, the passing much better than for a long time,
and the team plays as 'one'.
In terms of personnel, the biggest strength is the centre of midfield.
Gerrard has been better than ever this season, having scored 12 goals
and been a phenomenal attacking force in general, while Xabi Alonso
is an absolute gem - the best passer in the Premiership, and a fantastic
reader of the game. Momo Sissoko is raw and liable to be booked every
game, but he has the most amazing energy and makes more successful
tackles than anyone else in the league (according to recent Opta stats).
Add your old boy, Didi Hamann, as back-up, and you've got the strongest
central midfield pool in Europe.
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Q: Where do you see Newcastle's strengths and weaknesses? |
A lot of fine individuals at Newcastle, and Souness bought well over
the summer. I just think Souness is an average manager, who will get
a certain amount out of that team, but it will never be enough. Shearer
and Owen seem to go well together, but the former is on his last legs.
Scott Parker has been a great signing, Given is a good keeper, and
Emre is clearly a talented player on the ball. As for the defence,
you'll know more about that than me, but it seems to play like a collection
of individuals, and flawed individuals at that.
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Q: You recently wrote a book on your beloved Liverpool and highlighted
Newcastle as an example of how not to run a football club. Could
you go into detail about this view of yours for our readership?
As a respected writer it would be interesting to hear an unbiased,
objective view from an outsider. |
I just find Newcastle a very strange club. The fans seem hugely passionate
and ultra-demanding, and maybe they have too much influence on the
board's decisions? My main problem is with the way the club is run.
I don't get the sense of a long-term plan, but that the board chop
and change managers by going from one extreme to the other on a whim.
Dalglish's football wasn't sexy enough, so you went for the über-sexy
Gullit - but he was too 'foreign'. When that didn't work, you went
for the diametric opposite - Sir Bobby Robson, who was older and a
Geordie. When his time ran out, it was decided he had been too soft
and that you needed a tough manager, so along comes Souness. It actually
reminds me a bit of Real Madrid in recent seasons. Why not just get
the best manager?
When Gérard Houllier was sacked, a lot of Liverpool fans wanted a
return to an English manager, as it's an easy thing to suggest. But
the board ignored them and went out and got the best manager in Europe.
The fact that he was Spanish was irrelevant to them. They just wanted
the best. There was talk that Benítez couldn't handle the Premiership,
and while it took him time to learn, it's better to have the right
manager who can learn, than the wrong manager who can't. I think Newcastle
will only be a genuine threat when you appoint a proven world-class
manager. If you had Gus Hiddink, for example, you'd be a massive threat.
As Ever, there's a big club at Newcastle threatening to get out.
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Q: The standing/seating debate - where do you sit or stand on
this? |
If safe standing can be proven to be fully safe, then that'd be fine
by me. But after Hillsborough, safety has to be paramount.
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Q: Who do you see as Liverpool's main rivals these days? |
Probably Chelsea, given the nine games in 14 months has bred a lot
of contempt. Manchester United are still the team everyone wants to
finish above, but you need to finish above Chelsea to win the league
these days. The rivalry with Everton was obviously much more intense
last season, but they've reverted to type now.
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Q: What are your main concerns for Liverpool and the future
of your club? |
It's an interesting time for the club, given the proposed stadium
move and the continued search for significant investment. We have
the best manager we've had in donkey's years, but the war chest isn't
that large. Then again, he's not a manager who needs pots of cash.
Do we 'sell out' to buy big? Do we need an investor just to finance
the stadium? The club is still at a crossroads, but on the pitch things
are well under control, and the board deserve credit for that. But
the biggest decisions they'll have to make will now be off the pitch...
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Q: And your concerns for the game in general? |
I'd be here all day...
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Q: Finally, a prediction? |
I never predict the score, and this is a game where it's hard to even
predict a winner. It depends on how we react after the trip to Japan,
and whether or not your defence turns up. Owen's hit form at the right
time, and he's scored 12 in this fixture so far, albeit in a red shirt.
So I'll be facetious as say 1-0 to Liverpool, thanks to a Michael
Owen own goal at the Kop end.
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