My decade with Liverpool, by David Maddock

By David Maddock in Mirror Football Blog

Published 11:31 21/12/09

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In rather typical Liverpool fashion, the noughties has been another tumultuous decade for the club, that has tested the faith of every fan, while reminding them of the greatness that still underpins Anfield.

There was the high of the Champions' League triumph in 2005, and too many lows to recount, though the debacle of the takeover takes some topping. In the end, Liverpool seem to be in roughly the same place as they started it. Still some distance off winning the title, it seems, but with a team that has suggested much without delivering completely, and with some top stars who are a match for any in the world. 

This article was supposed to be about my view of Liverpool's decade, and how it was for me, but really, that seems an impossible task, if only because it would be very repetitive! Instead, I shall offer you my potted highlights of the decade, with the highest of highs and lowest of lows. I hope you approve, but if you don't, then please send in your alternative list or leave your suggestions below, and we can argue until the clock strikes midnight on December 31.

Until then, here's wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and for Liverpool - in the words of the great Roy Wood (who was a secret Crewe fan, y'know, after learning guitar at Dane Bank College) let's hope it's a good one.

My highlight of the decade
Sorry to be obvious about this, but it has to be the Champions' League final in 2005, but which moment tops all the others? For all the genius shown by the players in clawing three goals back in that magnificent second half, and Gerrard's goal, Smicer's incredible contribution and Jamie Carragher's desperado defending all remain firmly in the memory, the highlight was probably Jerzy Dudek's save to deny Andrey Shevchenko and break Milan hearts.

My hero of the decade
I reckon you've got to have been at the club for the best part of the past 10 years to qualify for this, and there are only two candidates (though Sami Hyypia almost made it!). The two players who have been ever-present throughout the decade are Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, and it is hard to separate them. Stevie has scored some incredible goals, while Jamie has shown remarkable resilence. In the most important game of the decade, in Istanbul, they were both equally influential, so I'm going to cheat and give it to the pair of them.

Unsung hero of the decade
Gary McAllister deserves a mention, as does Vladi Smicer, Steven Finnan and Didi Hamann, but in the end, even though he didn't survive the full 10 years, I'm going for Danny Murphy. His contribution during the treble-winning season was immense, and yet he never even gets a mention. He's still going strong in the Premier League, by the way, and dare I say it, his many replacements in recent years haven't matched him. I wonder if Rafa Benitez now wishes he hadn't been so quick in packing the England midfielder off so swiftly when he arrived at Anfield. It might have saved him a lot of anguish in the transfer market in the past five years.

Best signing of the decade
Well, it's hard to argue with Fernando Torres, isn't it, given that he's now probably the best striker in the world (if you don't count a certain genius winger who happens to have a talent to match his goalscoring ability). But he hasn't won anything for Liverpool yet, and has only been at Anfield for three years, so I'll have to look elsewhere. And I'm going to cheat again. I know he wasn't signed during this decade, but he was RE-SIGNED several times, so it has to be Sami Hyypia, who is one of the greatest servants Liverpool has ever seen, ranking alongside the likes of Cally, Ron Yeats and even the Anfield Iron. 

Most enjoyable league win
Blimey, that really is impossible isn't it, and I'm not sure I even know where to start, but one thing seems pretty obvious to me, I think it has to be over Manchester United, doesn't it? And what better win that 4-1 at Old Trafford last season? Any win over United on their own turf is special given how invincible they are at home, but to destroy them, when the title is still at stake, is incredible, magnificent and any other adjective you care to use.

Favourite goal
Again, quite a few, and Steven Gerrard seems to have most of them, but for me, it's Robbie Fowler in the League Cup final in 2001. It was a quite spectacular, special goal in its own right, but when you take the politics into account, it was impossible. He was slowly being undermined and forced out of the club by Houllier, marginalised and upset so he would put in a transfer and clear off, because the then manager didn't have the guts to confront him - and the fans who worshipped him - openly. So to respond to something like that with a goal like that was just unbelievable. And we all miss the Growler, still, don't we?!

Worst moment of the decade
Sadly there are plenty of contenders for this, given the heartache in so many forlorn pursuits of the title, and the moment when Emile Heskey ran up the white flag at Tottenham when Liverpool surrendered the title to Arsenal in 2002 sticks in the memory. But really, the worst moment was probably against Bayer Leverkusen in the quarter final of the Champions' League, again in 2002, when Liverpool were in complete control until a horrific tactical error by Houllier in taking off Didi Hamann threw the game away. Manchester United waited in the semi, Real Madrid in the final, and history would have been very different for the club, had not the French manager had his brainstorm.

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