It Is The Smile You Know
What Smile you may Ask: The Smile that tells us Liverpool are on their way back and this is how it came about.
Liverpool was playing Wolverhampton Wanders today in the early kick off and it was Kenny Dalglish's third match in charge. It is only three weeks since we played Wolves at Anfield and it was the game that marked the beginning of the end for previous manager Roy Hodgson. It was a game that is best forgotten because of the diabolical way we played as well as the result.
Kenny who has been in charge for exactly a fortnight had already lost one game and drawn another so by the law of averages, today's game should have been the winner. But would it, everyone asked when the team sheet was announced, Kenny had decided to include Christian Poulsen, who had found it very difficult to settle into the Liverpool side since his transfer in the summer. Konchesky was also at first on the team sheet but this was revised shortly before kick off with his name being replaced with Pacheco.
Once this shock was out of the way, the next once came along in the form of a young lady called Sian Massey, who was to be one of the officials. She is a woman and cannot understand the game, people were saying, little did they know then that her sound judgement and good work would ensure that Liverpool took the lead.
The game itself started with everyone in a buoyant mood, from the players to the travelling Liverpool supporters who were singing their hearts out. Within minutes though it became evident that Liverpool's defence was very nervy with some very silly mistakes being made. This gave the impression that Wolves were all over the team for a short time but suddenly things changed and Liverpool settled down. A fantastic game on a pitch that several reporters described as a cabbage patch began to unfold.
It was as though, the clock had been turned back twenty years. King Kenny was again in the dugout and the team were playing the old pass and touch game off football. This of course was wonderful to watch, after being subjected to months of boring long ball football and seeing all our efforts being thrown away. The match continued and apart from several silly free kicks that the players gave away it was looking and it simply was just a matter of when would the ball hit the back of the net.
Then it happened, Torres got onto the end of a wonderful ball and the smile on his face as it went in, told a million stories. The Wolves players tried to call for offside but young Sian said no and the goal was allowed - HOW MANY MALE SUPPORTERS LOVE THAT LADY TONIGHT I WONDER? Liverpool was now in front and the camera switched to the bench. The smile on Kenny's face and the actions he made told us all that finally we had the right manager in place. This though seemed to gee Wolves up and as half time approached they gave Liverpool a couple frights by staging a mini come-back. The team though went into the dressing room at half time in the lead - the next big question of course was, would they keep it?
When Liverpool are playing and winning, you always know that the losing side are going to get the team talk from hell during half time and true to form Mick McCarthy must have done this as the team came out fighting. They were determined to try and fight their way back into the game and indeed gave the Liverpool team several scary moments around the goal mouth. It certainly did not put the lads off though and they continued moving forward all the time, which eventually led to Meireles picking up the ball and with an absolutely fantastic strike hit the back of the net.
Liverpool was now swimming in confidence and it showed where there had long faces and bewilderment just three weeks ago, there were massive smiles. They were all playing as they wanted to play and with the game continuing at such a fast pace, Kenny made his first substitution replacing Poulsen with Jonjo Shelvey. Jonjo came on and immediately got caught up in the action picking up a wonderful ball and sending it just over the top of the net. Shortly afterwards Wolves brought young Hammill on to the pitch. He was a player that Liverpool got rid of, stating that he simply was not good enough.
But how times change, from the moment young Hammill came onto the pitch, Wolves began to look really dangerous. He was creating chance after chance for them inside the box and it was a miracle that they did not pull one back. Still our lads continued to play well and with the final whistle fast approaching, it was simply a case of keeping the ball in play. This is though was like the Liverpool of old and as the clock approached the 90 minute mark Torres picked up the ball and another goal was sent rocketing into the net. The next three minutes ticked down extremely quickly and finally Liverpool had done what had seemed impossible three short weeks ago and won a game away from home.
The reaction of Kenny, Steve and Sammy Lee on the final whistle was one that had been missing for far too long from the Liverpool bench. The smile and the look from Kenny in particular said one thing and that is Liverpool are back and you have been warned.
Of course the next hurdle for any manager is the post-match press conference. When Roy was in charge you would sit there praying that he did not put his foot in it. Listening to Kenny today was amazing; to hear him put the Sky reporter in his place again showed intent on his part. He was going to manage Liverpool in the only way he knew how, The Liverpool Way, bestowed upon the club by Bill Shankly.
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Want to hire a Coach in Liverpool, Manchester, Merseyside, the Wirral and Cheshire or other parts of UK with world class facilities? Selwyns Coach hire,UK provides you with cost effective tarrif plans. For more details on coach hire in UK, please visit http://www.selwyns.co.uk/ for safe and comfortable journey.