Liverpool’s recent success has been built on the Red brick wall at the back their Finnish captain Sami Hyypia
Michael Walker
It did not feel possible at the time, in those emotional moments after the final whistle at Anfield, but Liverpool’s week got even better. Liverpool will have been quietly content to draw Bayer Leverkusen in the Uefa Champions League quarterfinal, then a last-minute win over Chelsea on Sunday put them top of the English premier league.
Defeating Roma by the 2-0 scoreline required, in front of Grard Houllier for the first time in five months, had seemed unbeatable, but now the European Cup semifinal is a realisable aim, a first league title since 1990 is within their grasp, and Michael Owen should be back soon. It is hard to escape the feeling that the force is with Liverpool.
After a treble last season, the sense of brisk progress at the club is unmistakable. Then you run into the brick wall that is Sami Hyypia. Tall as a Liverpool cathedral, Hyypia is, to use an Anfield phrase, someone you should walk around. A quiet monument of a man, he eased his 1,98m into a swivel chair at Liverpool’s training ground, Melwood, and mixed caution with ambition in the manner of a responsible captain. Mostly Hyypia erred on the cautious side, but he also said “of course we have to believe that we can” when asked if Liverpool could win a first title since 1990. Then: “We can beat anyone in England, and Europe as well.”
Hyypia said that before the Roma match. He was actually talking about Liverpool’s inconsistencies, addressing the malaise of December and early January, when an 11-point lead over Manchester United became a deficit. Suddenly Liverpool were fifth and Houllier’s illness seemed more significant by the game and their next one was at Old Trafford.
Hyypia made the comparison with this time last year. “I think what happened last season came … I wouldn’t say too soon, but it was very quick. I don’t think anyone expected it to happen so quickly and sometimes it can work against you. This season the expectation was much higher and we are still building a team. It has not been easy because we are still developing. If you look at our squad from three years back, it has changed a lot.”
Hyypia (28) has been fundamental to that transformation. Purchased from Willem II of Tilburg two years ago for just 2,6-million, Hyypia was mocked as Sami Who on arrival, just another foreigner Houllier bought seven that pre-season who would not understand Liverpool’s traditions. Today, five trophies on, Hyypia is regarded as Houllier’s signature signing. Alongside Stphane Henchoz, he has redefined defending at a club where it appeared to have become a lost art.
Liverpool won that January game in Manchester 1-0 and 12 matches later they have conceded three goals in 18 hours. “Manchester United was very big,” said Hyypia. “I think every player is up for it when facing United. I know the fans are. That win was one for the fans and, of course, it was a kick-start of our season. To win at Old Trafford is something I can’t describe. But we saw on the pitch that we can win against the best.”
So what was happening before then? “I don’t know. I’d be a manager if I knew that. For me personally, even after winning games, I ask what I can do better, but [at that time] even after losing or drawing games I could not find any particular reason why. Nothing was being done differently llll that’s why it was so difficult to say what was wrong.
“Of course, many things in football are in your head and if your head lllllis not right, you don’t have the confidence and you can’t perform.”
Hyypia does not mention Houllier’s absence as a cause of declining belief. “Generally, llllllnothing changed. Phil Thompson followed the same line as the boss. What we have missed is the personality of the boss, his presence. That’s the one thing, because he is always positive and he can wind the team up mentally really well especially for the big games. We have missed a great manager, a great person.”
Houllier’s reputation as a charismatic leader is acquiring momentum. There was the tearful speech to the Liverpool AGM in December, and the inspirational team talk on the day Newcastle United were beaten 3-0. Players said that simply having Houllier on the bus for the Roma game was galvanising, and Hyypia said Houllier’s motivational devices work.
“If you do it at the right time… I think the boss is very good at knowing when something is not right. He’ll make it right. If the team is not together or anything, he’ll notice that and bring us together. So sometimes his winding up is a good thing, but sometimes, when we are ready, it’s not necessary. The staff have been great this season, especially when the boss has been away. It’ll be interesting to see who does what now.”
For some, the relinquishing of influence will occur as seamlessly as it was picked up. “We didn’t really speak about it,” Hyypia said of the new situation everyone found themselves in last October. “Everybody understood after the Leeds game that they had more responsibility. That was the time, and when we had that period I think the players had to show responsibility on the pitch. I think Phil Thompson got criticism that was unfair. Us players have to do it on the pitch. But we got out of it.”
Since winning in Manchester, however, Liverpool’s agenda has returned to the pursuit of glory and Hyypia said he is sustained by the memory of that historic treble. “One thing we have to remember from last season is that I think we had 10 games left [seven in the league and three cup ties] and we needed to win every game. And we won them all except one we drew against Chelsea so the positive thing we have to remember is that we could do it then, why can’t we do it now? What happened then is in the past and you can’t live in the past, but that’s what I would remember: we could do it then, why can’t we do it now?”
It is a solid proposition. The team has barely changed, the major exits being Sander Westerveld and Robbie Fowler. Jerzy Dudek and Nicolas Anelka have come in and bedded down impressively.
Dudek is secure, Anelka less so. “Nico’s a great player,” said Hyypia. “I think he wants to do well because there’s a World Cup in the summer and he wants to be in the French squad, so that’s the other thing in his mind.” Anelka is on loan from Paris St-Germain, and a 15-million deal to bring Djibril Ciss from Auxerre is believed to have been done. The lesson of Liverpool’s week has been that even when things are good, they can still be better.