We are Liverpool Team sheet Front Cover Design: RoboKop @_RoboKop
Shankly Gates Photography: Alan Dow
Writers: Conor Slater @TheFalseWinger7 Jagdesh Singh @jagdesh Jenny Lyon @andshesoff Jim Fishlock @JimFish286 Johnny Milburn @JohnnyMilburn John Ritchie @JohnRitchie84 Marco Lopes @Footy_MarcoL Matt Ladson @mattladson Neil Collins @NeilCollins86 Neil Poole (Editor) @PooleNeil Phil Casey @Phil_LFCDT Sam Drury @SamDrury11 Simon Steers @sisteers Ste Hoare @stehoare @thebibtheorists The Secret Evertonian Trevor Downey @downeytrev Will Speed-Evans @willspeedevans Order ‘We Are Liverpool’ online at: www.weareliverpoolfanzine.com Email: info@weareliverpool.com Twitter: @WeAre_Liverpool Finally, thanks to Dave Usher at The Liverpool Way (TLW) for the tips! You can pick up a copy of TLW at the ground or via www.theliverpoolway.com
EDITORIAL We Are… Liverpool The walls of Melwood are adorned with the famous words of Bill Shankly: “Above all I would like to be remembered as a man who was selfless, who strove and worried so that others could share the glory, and who built up a family of people who could hold their heads up high and say…We are Liverpool.’ In the Spring of 2014 we can safely say that the ‘creating a legacy to connect millions of people across the globe’ box has been ticked. Let’s tick off the ‘instilling generation after generation of Liverpool supporters with pride’ box too while we’re at it. Piece of piss this inspiration stuff. Shankly then went on to say… “See that last bit? The We are Liverpool bit. I want that turned into a song. Not too arsed melody wise, but something by Earth Wind and Fire or Boney M would be nice. Defo disco though. It can do the rounds for a bit in the late 70s but then I want it locked away in a vacuous space where nothing ever happens: Everton’s trophy room, David Moyes’ mind when he’s a goal behind, wherever! It should then be unleashed again as the soundtrack to a season far in the future, but only when we’re managed by a man with amazing teeth who pretends to drive a little car when we score.” “Then I want someone to jump on the bandwagon and name a new fanzine after it. As an armchair socialist they can then retrospectively dig up this quote and attempt to pass off the collective efforts of a group of eager local and worldwide Liverpool fans as somehow embodying my principles. In truth though, and with the demise of fanzines, they will be 30 years too late; selling a hardcopy fanzine will be the equivalent to turning up at a technology convention where they are giving away IPads and trying to sell a VHS video recorder. Nonetheless football’s traditions will be sadly on the wane in the modern game so sack it, where’s the harm in piling in and trying to contribute in a small way? And anyway, it not their fanzine it’s Liverpool’s fanzine.” Welcome to issue 1 of We Are Liverpool!
(He didn’t say that) We Are…quietly respecting the 96 The ongoing inquiry means we need to tread very carefully in regards to anything we print about Hillsborough. However, we did not want to avoid marking the significance of the 25th anniversary or paying tribute to the 96 people who lost their lives. Thank you to Alan Dow for providing the photograph of the scarves on the Shankly Gates for our tribute on the inside cover. In memory of the 96. Never forgotten. We Are… going to win the league “Don’t say that dickhead!” Don’t worry, it’s not the 8th Century. Words aren’t witchcraft, and the outcome of the league won’t be swayed by fans daring to say out loud that they have total faith in this team to win our first league in 24 years. I do. Ooh wedding flashback!
if they do, they clearly haven’t being paying attention. At some point in the next three games we will blow it. At some point in the next three games we then will resurrect our title challenge and march to glory. The entire team will roll back a massive rock, stroll out of a cave all bearded and holy, formulating the cornerstone of a worldwide religion and a couple of old girls will stand agasp... Oh no, wrong story. Note to self: Writing on Easter Sunday may lead to causing offence. The tactical experts, the studious observers of the game and the joyless freaks will be given palpations by the my next line, but we’ll win it because it just ‘feels’ like it’s going to happen.
This season is a story waiting to be told. The Mignolet save on the first day; the ostentatious obliterations of Everton, Arsenal and Spurs; the Suarez I write these words after the 90 minute laxative performance and goals against Norwich at Anfield; known as Norwich 2, Liverpool 3, and not after the three nil at Old Trafford; the Gerrard penalties, 4 nil drubbing of Tottenham Hotspurs so I’m under the Gerrard celebration at Fulham; the Man City no illusion that the next 3 games are going to be huddle; the goals, the billions of goals; Victor Monothing if excruciating agony. ses...maybe not Victor Moses. There’s countless highlights to the season. There are Reds under the age of 30 who have listened to their dads talk wistfully of when we won league after league, and heard the stories. They are tantalisingly close to having their own folklore to retell. I believe there’s a song about this doing the rounds at the moment. But it’s so true. It’s so important. There’s no caveat to this. No ifs, no buts. No ‘regardless of what happens…’ Seven points...seven stinking points! C’mon Red men! We Are…too slow at providing betting tips I’d intended to give a top notch betting tip. We could have all shared in the spoils and binned our As a folically challenged man, with the remaining jobs off. A couple of weeks ago, a mate’s brother wisps already going grey I seriously worry about recommended we all pile in early on Steven Gerexactly how the anxiety is going to physically rard to win Sports Personality of the Year 2014. manifest itself over the next few weeks; probably He’d got odds of 20-1. A few weeks later Stevie’s some spontaneous grafting of my palms to my face tears and the British’s macabre love of crying men and permanent Moyes-esque terror in my eyes; this has wrecked everything. In less time than it took seems to be my position of choice when watching the Wimbledon elite to shout at Andy Murray, the footy lately. “Cry you bastard! Cry and we will forgive your Name one momentous capture of silverware in the impudent Scottish-ness” the odds have tumbled to last twenty years and you can pretty much guaran- 13-8. Gerrard is now outright favourite. Probably wouldn’t bother now. Soz. tee we made hard work of it. I don’t believe anyone seriously does think the run in will be easy, but Neil
SHORTS IN THE 80S...
SNUG & UNFORGIVING MATCH REPORTS IN 80(ISH) WORDS 26th March 2014: Liverpool 2 Sunderland 1
We win anyway. Jog on Allardyce.
2-1 up with minutes to go. Fans shaking like shitting dogs. Ball flashes across our goal from a free kick. John o’ Shea gets a weak head to it. Edward Woodward, Wickerman impressions ensue: “Christ, Jesus Christ no!” Luckily it’s John O’Shea and goes wide. Gerrard put us ahead earlier with a 2005 ‘peak of his powers’ free-kick. Hugging manlove with jilted freekicker, Suarez occurs. Sturridge makes it two. Sunderland corner. Inevitable goal. Glen Johnson returns to shit form. Snake hips Coutinho is Man of Match.
13th April 2014 Liverpool 3 Manchester City 2
30th March2014: Liverpool 4 Tottenham Hotspurs 0 Tim Sherwood’s team sheet reads more like a suicide note. Seems like there’s more than one football genius in town. Johnson puts in good ball leading to Kaboul own-goal. Suarez’s goal brings flashbacks of Owen’s FA Cup winner in 2001. Flanagan’s Cruyff turn (of sorts) sparks the charge forward for Coutinho’s goal in front of the Kop. Henderson free kick makes it four. Never tire of seeing how made up he is when he scores. The Kop roar when applauded by players after final whistle is a bit special. 6th April 2014: West Ham 1 Liverpool 2 6ft 4 Geordie pushes angelic Belgian keeper in the face forcing him to drop ball. West Ham score. Rational linesman disallows goal. Irrational referee overrules logical decision. West Ham draw level. Either side of the goal that “could cost us the league”, Gerrard steps up and slots away two penalties. Theories abound that our 2nd pen is ref trying to even up earlier mistake. Does giving one team a goal equate to giving another team an opportunity to score under tremendous pressure? No.
Hart and Kompany do their best Leaning Tower of Pisa impressions as Sterling feints, creates space from nothing and passes the ball into a suddenly gaping goal. Scapegoat Skrtel gets his 5th goal in 10 games. Two nil. Maybe one day he’ll get some recognition. City crank it up a gear, we see our arses, 2 all. Chest pains have come back. Not helped by Suarez mouthing off all game. He’s going to get sent off. He doesn’t. Coutinho can’t finish. Coutinho finishes. Three two. Feel a bit emotional. 20th April 2014: Norwich 2 Liverpool 3 He may run like he’s in heels but how good is Raheem Sterling these days! Two goals, one assist, one Brendan hug, one point to the sky, one twisty middle fingers celebration thing and one stand out man of the match. Suarez gets obligatory Norwich goal. Mignolet’s limp wrist and poor defending of airborne balls leads to two goals conceded. Suarez definitely fouled, but I was in hoots of laughter when he sprang to his feet when he realised the break was on. Love that Urua-guy!
THE RED COLOSSUS
STEVEN GERRARD Listen! THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN SPEAKING
deep-lying playmaker. His aerial prowess, often underrated, has been a hugely significant defensive weapon and the ferocity and timing of his tackling Listen! Listen! This is probably Steven Gerrard’s has been an absolutely essential base platform finest hour. Think of that. Think of the gravitas of from which Brendan Rodgers’ inventive fluid side that. Banish from your mind the spectacular highs can launch yet another attack. Yes, I can see the of the Millennium and the Ataturk stadiums and validity of the quarterback comparisons but I’m a ponder what is occurring right now, as this most grumpy old curmudgeon so don’t expect me to remarkable of seasons draws to a close. Written off embrace that kind of metaphor. He’s the hub, he’s as unadaptable, past-it and tactically naive, the the pivot, he’s the fucking man. Huyton man has produced his most heroic and complete performances of all across a string of However, beyond all of his technical élan and regames which may secure the Premier League title energised on-field brio, beyond the laser-guided for Liverpool Football Club. raking passes and lung-bursting covering runs, Trevor Downey thinks Steven Gerrard is a little bit good...
Anchoring the midfield these last few months, Gerrard has been imperious and inspirational, excelling as both a supplementary centre-half and a
there is something else about Gerrard that has elevated him onto another level; something new; something wonderful. He has become the kind of
leader that all of us hoped he would one day be. A beguiling amalgam of crazy-eyed insistence and calm cajoling, Gerrard has learned how to get inside the heads of teammates, opposition and referee alike. He manages games in a way that is truly gratifying to those of us who had yearned to see this side of him emerge. He now leads comprehensively, utterly, upliftingly. He leads. Which of you would not follow that man into hell? I’ve never been particularly good at taking orders but if Stevie said, “Eeeeeeehhhhhmmmmm...jump!” I’d bloody jump. As high as the grumpy bastard wanted. Beautifully in sync with the philosophy of his manager, Gerrard has forged a partnership with Rodgers that threatens to carry all before it. In the young coach, the captain can see an articulate and canny student of the game, a man with a plan and the easy authority and ability to adapt should that plan go awry. In Gerrard, the Carnlough man has found the ultimate avatar -- a walking legend whose very presence commands respect and whose abundant
talents and reassuring sang froid can make all the difference in the pursuit of success. Witness, as evidence, the string of vital penalties the captain has scored on this run-in. The shining exemplar of this alliance has been Gerrard’s commanding presence on the field of
play, but his newly zen demeanour in front of the cameras is another real boon. He has, thus far, played the media like a cheap violin, silencing the shrill inquisitions of the oleaginous Geoff Shreeves and straight batting all questions in the way that some of us older Redmen remember from days of yore. Polite, but unhelpful. Courteous but not courting controversy. Assured but not arrogant. In a nutshell Geoff, it’s none of your business. However, it has not always been thus. There were long years in which the leader cut a tortured and solitary figure. A naturally anxious soul, Gerrard wore the armband heavily, taking onto himself the tremendous burden of expectation that comes with the territory of being Liverpool captain. It took its toll, especially in those pre-Steve Peters days when the comparatively golden era of Rafa Benitez was falling away and the club fell to a low enough ebb that noted face botherer and hoofball merchant, Roy Hodgson, sat in the hallowed Anfield dugout. No wonder Stevie was troubled. Some of us are
only now recovering from the trauma of The Hodgepocalypse. Ridiculously small brow furrowed and hands on hips, the number eight was often the very embodiment of frustration, betraying to his colleagues via some less-than-subtle body language that they were
a disappointment to him. This was not necessarily any kind of solipsistic arrogance, for the captain’s shoulders would usually only slump when he felt his own form was poor. Gerrard has always been his own biggest critic and yet, over 15 years, so many have taken on the role, pontificating with haughty certainty about what was wrong with Steven Gerrard. Before you sniff derisively, you’ve done it too.
and never missing a chance to push him ahead of Kenny Dalglish in the perennial Who’s The Greatest? debate. One felt that the older man simply felt privileged to be sharing a dressing room with such a giant of the game.
From your drunken garrulous mate in the pub to the detestable Dark Lord of Mancunia, everybody’s got theories about Steven Gerrard and they simply love to articulate them. Whether it is purely for social capital in an informal gathering or to cynically shift units of a lamentably bitchy and benighted ‘book,’ the world is full of half-baked, one -eyed and ill-informed assessments of the Liverpool captain.
on the park -- his yawping clamorous voice constantly exhorting more effort, his temper perpetually fraying with teammates when they slackened off. Carra was the archetypal British captain, compensating for any rare shortcomings in his own performance with his persistent motivation of others.
You see, Gerrard almost transcends normal football discourse because he is that rarest of creatures -- a living legend. Such specimens make folk uneasy. How does one even speak rationally about a footballer that is clearly on a different plane to mere star players? Even Jamie Carragher, while they played together, always talked about his mate in reverential tones, implying with the deferential nature of his words that Gerrard was a special case
I’ll admit that I’ve wondered about that dynamic over the years, as there seemed to be an imbalance in the relationship. For many seasons, in the eyes of this scribbler, the Bootle man was a real leader
Steven Gerrard, until recently, has been an altogether different kind of leader. Whilst the lazy and erroneous media narrative would have it that he carried the club alone for years, the regularity of his frankly prodigious Roy of the Rovers heroics made such a theory eminently plausible. Plausible, but inaccurate. Gerrard was a leader by example and on his day few players in world football could provide example like it. When pundits and fans speak of how Liverpool
were a one-man team they are referring to the absurdly systematic man-of-the-match displays by a Liverpool great at the peak of his physical powers. In his mid twenties Gerrard was a shoo-in to most World XIs. A man of remarkable athletic capacity, he could pass, tackle and shoot like a dream. Simply put, he was the definition of the box-to-box midfielder, putting out fires with sliding tackles one moment and popping up to volley home outrageously the next. There was nobody better. Zinedine Zidane, a man routinely referred to as the world’s best in his day, ought to know something about what makes a true great. His recent words on our captain speak volumes.
Interestingly, the current incarnation of Gerrard is my favourite by some distance. Sitting deep, he can use his still considerable physicality to boss challenges and dig out the centre halves or errant full backs. Tactically, this position works a treat as it takes advantage of the England captain’s calm authority in possession. Rodgers love his side to play from the back and Gerrard’s position allows him to be the fulcrum of the play from deep, linking, springing the likes of Philippe Coutinho and Raheem Sterling and hitting those outrageous long passes to the feet of Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge.
More than anything else, what I am loving about our captain is his ruthless focus and contagious “He has had a great career winning many things but it would be a big shame for him if he was never passion. I’ve rarely been more invigorated by any sight on a football pitch than that impromptu hudto win the league with Liverpool” insisted the dle. Christ, he means it. This thing can be done. He Frenchman. “For everything that he has given he really believes it. Christ. Look at his face. He deserves a league title. He could have played for any team in Europe but he turned them down. That won’t let this slip. This does not fucking slip now. Stevie is leading us there and I’m following. Tosort of loyalty should be rewarded with a title. There was a point when Gerrard was the best mid- day? field player in the world. It is unusual to get com- We go again. plete midfield players who can do everything, but that is what he was."
Gerrard ’s words during the post Manchester City huddle: “Listen!, this is gone. We go to Norwich, exactly the same. We go again. Come on!”s:NOTE: Some reports think he said ‘We go together’. We are ignoring this as ‘We Go Again’ is better!
LFC: THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE? Johnny Milburn explains exactly what he thinks about Liverpool Football Club’s new found popularity. As I type this a phone-in has just concluded on BBC Radio Five Live – “Are Liverpool the People’s choice to win the league?” Read that last sentence again. Now read it again. Imagine reading that sentence 6 months ago, 12 months ago, 18 months ago, three years ago? Somehow Brendan Rodgers, FSG and Dr Stephen Peters have not only forged a team that wins football matches (lots of football matches) but they are now cultivating a position as media darlings, the nation’s sweethearts. Those overweight journalists on Sky Sports on a Sunday Morning pretending to have brunch in one of their apartments that overlooks Old Trafford now love Liverpool Football Club. The same oafs, who xenophobically mocked Benitez for deploying squad rotation, zonal marking and what other ‘foreign disease’ they could identify in our team. Much was also made of ‘Rafa’s rant.’ (Incorrectly attributed to that season’s failure to win the league title) The same fellas, wearing vertical striped shirts to try to mask their manly paunches are now salivating at the thought of Brendan Rodgers’ team climbing to the summit of the Premier League.
Why the change of heart ? Style of play – we are playing a very attractive brand of football, attacking from the off, scoring goals, goals, goals the papers love all that don’t they? Alliteration – Sturridge, Suarez, Sterling, Skrtel Stevie G – Headline writers love a bit of alliteration – remember we never called them SAS; the papers did – if you call them that you are a sheep and probably deserve a good hiding.
English Players- southern based press and media love English players – well especially in a World Cup year – they can get all jingoistic and casually racist and nobody complains. English players in a team reassures them that we are not rubbish at a game that we invented.
Story – newspapermen unsurprisingly love a story. And this team has got stories all over the shop. Take your pick. The ‘young manager’ story, the ‘David vs the Goliath’ story, the Man United decline story, the Stevie Gerrard’s last roll of the dice story and quite frankly the crass ‘Doing it for the 96’ story. They love a story and simply us winning the league is a more interesting story than City or Chelsea winning it. The role as the nation’s favourites may have appealed to me as a younger man. But I can say without a moment’s hesitation. I am not interested one bit in the approval of ‘the people.’ The neutral’s favourite – why would I be remotely interested to be the favourite team of someone who has no interest in football or my team? People in general (sorry people, I’m about to make a gross simplification and sweeping statement about you no offence intended) are a bit thick. They motor along like a whale shark hoovering up whatever plankton is in their path – no selection, no critical reasoning. The papers say I should think this so this is what I’m going to think today. This insidious force is one of the prime reasons why the lies of Hillsborough sustained in the public consciousness for so long. So claiming in any way our desire to win the league this year is stimulated by the loss of 96 lives at Hillsborough 25 years ago – is to suggest that we were somehow waiting for this amount of time to elapse before trying to win the league. Just because the media have only just recently woken up to the truth after the publication of the Hillsborough Independent Panel report – don’t think for one second that you understand our collective psyche. By the time you read this we will have a much better idea if Liverpool Football Club are going to win their 19th League title this year. If we do I will celebrate like a lunatic until I cannot sing another word or consume another drop. I will also of my own free will raise a glass to the 96. I’m a proud Liverpudlian and I’d forgotten what being this good at football was like. Being in the chase with just 3 matches to go and in our hands has been a long time coming. I want to wring every last drop of fun out of it. It’s harder than you would have imagined to actually enjoy this run in! As for being the ‘people’s choice or the neutral’s favourite – I couldn’t care less. All I care about is Liverpool Football Club, I cared when we won everything, I cared frankly when we were a bit shit, I cared even under Hodgson. Now that the red-tops think we are interesting copy and will sell papers they are interested again. Who wants the support of a neutral anyway? By their very nature they are passive. Leave us alone – you are not coming to our party!
REBUILDING AN EMPIRE Si Steers gets political and charts Liverpool FC’s ideals from Shankly to Rodgers. As a staunch socialist Bill Shankly was very much a believer in the ideology of the strength of the collective. Shankly once said ‘Chairman Mao has never seen such a show of Red strength’ – a very deliberate nod to the one of the great Communist leaders of the 20th Century, and a man that Shankly shared a common view with. Both men succeeded in building empires (on differing scales) that had a single philosophy at its core – and that philosophy was about people. Liverpool Football Club has always had socialist roots at its core. That is because it is the supporters that have always been the heart and soul of the football club. The supporters are what makes up the club’s identity, the Spirit of Shankly is quite literally the heartbeat of the club, without it, the club is just another soulless entity. Times have changed since Shankly’s day; the political and social landscape have shifted. Shankly would likely turn in his grave at the modern day Labour Party; it is difficult to differentiate between the right and left of politics in today’s world. The same is true in society, and the same is true in football. Even Liverpool has changed; it is still a city with strong socialist roots, but it is now a thriving city that has reinvented itself to become a magnet for opportunity. Both the city and the football club have changed – but the one fundamental thing that has stayed the same is the importance of people and community. If a manager is to succeed at Liverpool, then they have to tap in to the culture of the city. The reason that Benitez remains incredibly popular at Liverpool is that when it really mattered, he stood on the side of the people. He sacrificed his own personal gain to take a stand against capitalist vultures that took the club to the brink of administration. When Roy Hodgson was appointed he spent his brief tenure stumbling his way through one disaster to another. Despite the team tumbling down the league it was perhaps his inherent lack of understanding of what the club was about, and what makes its supporters tick that was the most soul destroying thing to take. Kenny Dalglish came in to begin the rebuilding process; the role Dalglish played in helping the club rise from the ashes should never be forgotten. That is twice during his lifetime that he has been there when the club has really needed him – he carried us through the darkest moment in our history during Hillsborough – and he took on a club that was literally on its knees in the post-apocalypse era of Hicks & Gillette. Dalglish understands exactly what makes the club tick, and will forever be revered as one of the architects of what makes the club so special. A new direction Bill Shankly was a transformational manager; he came to the club with a socialist ideology and a vision to build the club into a ‘bastion of invincibility’. He built an empire on those principles.
What Shankly achieved will never be replicated; but that same fundamental principle of building a club on the collective strength of its people is something that is very much part of Brendan Rodgers’ vision. Rodgers has taken the time to understand the history and heritage of the club, what makes it unique, and what makes the supporters tick. He understands that the clubs roots are very much aligned to the culture of the city. He understands that the club’s global support feels a deep connection to the club because they feel part of something – something bigger than a football club.
The ‘Liverpool family’ is a cringe worthy phrase to describe the collectiveness of the Liverpool community. The term may raise the heckles of some locals, but it is really a compliment to Scouse culture. It is a compliment because it is Scouse culture that gives the club its identity – and it’s the club’s identity people across the world want to be part of. There are different communities within the Liverpool fan base, and that can sometimes create divisions or friction. ‘What unites us is greater than what divides us’ – and that is very much at the core of the Liverpool that Brendan Rodgers is looking to build. Rodgers wants the new Liverpool to bring together communities, to bring together people to build a new empire. He has spoken about collective contributions; from the tea lady at Melwood to Luis Suarez, everyone at the club has a role to play in succeeding. Rodgers also knows the power of the supporters. When we are at our best, we are the best in the world. And we are at our best when we are in one voice. Rodgers is looking for formula that Bill Shankly built his Liverpool empire upon, he is looking to build those same foundations. He knows that the collective Red strength will help him to build a new empire – and that it will be the catalyst for Liverpool FC to rise again.