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Sleeping giant Hurt by Man Utd success, Liverpool at last hits back
LIVERPOOL, England (AP) -- A decade in the shadow of Manchester United has really hurt Liverpool. Rarely in the hunt for the league title and with just one trophy since 1992, the one-time giant of English and European soccer watched enviously as the Reds of Manchester amassed seven league titles in nine seasons as well as the Champions Cup and three FA Cups. Now the slumbering giant has woken. By the time Gerard Houllier's team walks off the field at Dortmund, Germany, May 16, Liverpool hopes to have added the FA and UEFA Cups to the domestic League Cup it has already won. It faces Arsenal in Saturday's FA Cup final at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium and Spanish club Alaves in next Wednesday's UEFA Cup final in Dortmund. Despite dropping two points in Tuesday's 2-2 tie with Chelsea, it should also have gained a place in next season's Champions Cup, the place where it feels it belongs after four triumphs between 1977 and '84. "Over that 16 years, Liverpool haven't won that many trophies in domestic or European competitions. But this year we have got to every cup final," said striker Robbie Fowler. "It's proved to a lot of people not only in England but also in Europe that Liverpool are back. A lot of people forgot about us." No league title since 1990, one FA Cup triumph back in '92 and just a less prestigious League Cup in '95. No wonder Liverpool dropped out of the spotlight. Now the Merseyside Reds have regained their confidence and have the chance to resume winning titles in threes. "We haven't done an awful lot yet,' said England striker Michael Owen. "If we can win three cups, nobody has done that before and get in the Champions Cup." Facing Arsenal in the FA Cup final and then Alaves in the UEFA Cup at Dortmund's Westfalenstadion, Liverpool can complete its own hat trick having beaten division one Birmingham City in February to collect the League Cup. "We have reached two more finals. If we lost the two of them it would be a real anticlimax," said local born defender and Liverpool fan, Jamie Carragher. "The last European final we were in was 1985 so it's been a while to get back to where we belong. The club has a great history and a great name and we have to keep that name and history going." Liverpool's slump is something of a mystery but began with the sudden departure of manager Kenny Dalglish in 1991. Under various managers, the club had won 11 league titles and four Champions Cups between 1973 and 1990 when Dalglish, a former standout player as well as manager, stunned the club by announcing he was quitting the game because of the pressure he was under to keep winning. Liverpool's streak of successes came to a juddering halt and a strange twist was that Dalglish returned to the game as manager of Blackburn Rovers and won the league title in 1995. Graeme Souness and Roy Evans failed to get Liverpool into title contention and the best they could so were third place finishes in 1996 and '98. French coach Houllier is targeting a third place finish again and that would mean a place in next season's Champions Cup along with titlist Manchester United and second place Arsenal. But the Liverpool fans are used to much more and the players who were born there know that. "We have still got a lot to learn as a team and, when we do, that's when we can challenge Manchester United for the title and do well in the Champions Cup," said midfielder Steven Gerrard, who is tipped to become one of England's greatest ever players. "We have got to do a lot better in the league and get ourselves in the Champions Cup and do well in that competition. "To get into three cup finals and the top three in the league is a terrific achievement," Gerrard said. "It's our aim to do well in the league, start winning cups again and do well in the Champions Cup." Jamie Redknapp, Liverpool's club captain who has missed most of the season after knee surgery, said the next league title isn't far away. "I don't see any reason why we won't go onwards and upwards from here," the midfielder said. "I think that this year has gone a long way to proving that we have got the capabilities of being a championship winning team and stand up next to the great Liverpool teams of years ago." It's up to Houllier to take them further. The Frenchman has assembled a talented squad which includes three Germans (Christian Ziege, Dietmar Hamann and Markus Babbel), two Czechs (Vladimir Smicer and Patrik Berger), two Finns (Jari Litmanen and Sami Hyypia), a Swiss (Stephane Henchoz), Dutch goalkeeper Sander Westerveld, Croatia's Igor Biscan, Scotsman Gary McAllister and England stars Owen, Fowler, Emile Heskey, Carragher, Redknapp and Nicky Barmby. Houllier said that the priority is getting into the Champions Cup, but the other trophies will look good on the shelf. "Getting to three cup finals in one year is a record," Houllier said. "Now we want to win them all. We want to keep the determination and desire to win things together."
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