Conversation with former Liverpool player and manager, Graeme Souness
He’s hardly arrived in the United States before he’s already on his way to Rome. The ex-Liverpool captain is going back to the Eternal City, where, on 30 May 1984, he held aloft Liverpool’s fourth European Cup. The final trophy of an impressive season, which also saw them win the league championship and the League Cup and the first under manager, Joe Fagan, who had replaced Bob Paisley.
Souness, the Number 11 in the red shirt, remembers that final well. The Roma side of Bruno Conti, Paulo Roberto Falcao, Ciccio Graziani, Roberto Pruzzo and a young Carlo Ancelotti (now manager of Chelsea) were regarded as odds-on favourites. Playing at home, with the fans behind them, they had already proved their ability (through convincing and impressive football) to win the previous year’s Scudetto. It was a zonal style of playing, which was put into practice very effectively under the guidance of Swedish manager, ‘Il Barone’ Nils Liedholm – a renowned midfielder from the 1950s, who went on to manage a host of Italian sides over a 30-year period. And yet, despite being favourites, the score was 1-1 after 90 minutes (goals from Phil Neal and Pruzzo). After extra time, they finally bowed out to the English side
4-2 on penalties. Graeme Souness didn’t fail with his kick, the third in the sequence, high towards the angle of post and crossbar to the left of Roma keeper Franco Tancredi. Bruce Grobbelaar, the South African who came up with his ‘spaghetti legs’ routine (never forgotten by the Liverpool fans and successfully reprised by Jerzy Dudek 21 years later in the final against Ancelotti’s Milan) unnerved the unfortunate Graziani so much that he ended up shooting over the bar. The big-handled Cup was Liverpool’s. Michael Robinson – to whom the trophy had been entrusted – left it in a shop at Fiumicino Airport. Fortunately, he remembered it at the last moment and managed to get it back.
It’s 25 years since that day. Souness is now 56, returning to the Stadio Olimpico – minus his distinctive moustache and thick curly hair – via the Sky Sports commentator’s box.
He’ll be asked for his opinions on the Manchester United of Cristiano Ronaldo and the Barcelona of Lionel Messi, the teams contesting the Champions League title. Because of his intelligence and experience, Souness is someone well qualified to talk about Fernando Torres. And yet he says that he doesn’t have much in-depth knowledge about football. This admission leads to a chuckle from the Scot and the interview begins
…
‘I have played in many games like that and we were the best team but we never had a result like that. For me, the turning point was when Torres outpaced Vidic (Manchester United defender, Nemanja Vidic). Vidic thought he was quite comfortable in his defensive position but Torres, with his electric pace, got there before him and from that moment on,
Manchester United found it very difficult and Vidic, especially, was frightened to death by Torres’ pace.’
‘They’ve got closer this time but they rely too heavily on Steven Gerrard and Torres for goals. Manchester United have five or six very special players. Liverpool have two very special players. I think it’s all about quality at the end of the day. I think for any Liverpool player the concern is that Manchester United have a good group of young players coming through, where that is not the case at Liverpool. Liverpool will have to buy and I’m not sure they have the money. They will have to go out and buy another two or three very special players. But I’m not sure at Liverpool because they have to spend their money on a bigger stadium.
‘We’ll have to get a new stadium because we’ll just keep dropping further and further behind Manchester United and Arsenal. But a new stadium obviously costs a lot of money and that will mean we’ll not be buying new players. As a Liverpool supporter, looking forward, I’m still worried about that. Because the two people who now own Liverpool, what have they done? All they did was go to the bank and borrow money to buy Liverpool. The previous chairman, David Moores, could have done the same thing. The previous board could have done the same thing. Liverpool are no further forward now for me than they were before these two Americans came in.’
‘Well, I just think we had better players. There’s no secret in football. I think this group of players is very good. The
supporters are the best supporters in the country because they allow you to play football the right way, they are patient with you. In my day we were a solid group of seven or eight very, very good players and we had the support, like this group have, of the supporters. But when things aren’t going well, we were all in it together. This group of players understand that but I don’t think they’ve got six or seven very good players. They’ve got two very, very special players and another three or four that are good players but not special players.’
‘He’s an exceptional talent. He’s explosive. I think he’s like all the top strikers. He can be having a quiet game but if you’re playing against him you’re always aware that you can keep him quiet for 89 minutes and in that 90th minute he can kill you. His pace is his obvious attribute. But as well as that, he is a good finisher, he’s brave and he works hard.’
‘It’s enormous. There are the two very obvious threats of him and Gerrard. Gerrard’s not a midfield player, he’s like a central striker. And I believe those two strikers are the best out there. For me, Steven Gerrard is not a midfield player. He’s behind Torres. Torres can make the little, quick runs in behind defenders and Gerrard will find him. Those two are the best front two out there today.’
He was young and he’d never played outside Spain before, so there was always an element of risk. I think that, in his first season, he very quickly understood that he was playing for a special football club and the relationship between the players and the supporters is a special one. But I reckon you can analyse it and analyse it but he’s just a very, very good footballer and he felt at home immediately when he went to Liverpool because Liverpool supporters appreciate players who give 100 per cent, who score goals. There’s no acting with him, he’s not throwing himself to the ground, he’s not looking for fouls in the box all the time. He is a Liverpool player and I believe that very quickly he won the hearts of the Liverpool supporters.
‘Because he’s good! All clubs like a star in the team, a goal-scorer. He’s following on from people like Ian Rush, Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen. They were all great goalscorers. He’s built up their hopes. He’s now their new hero and I always think that getting off to a good start helped him. But I come back to him being young, when he arrived nobody really knowing him and everybody took to him immediately, all the supporters liked him immediately and he would have realised that, they would have got that message across to him and from that point on the Kop was won over, he feels loved and the rest was history.’
‘He seems a very modest, humble young lad.’
‘Exactly, he does his talking on the pitch. When I met him, that time, he was very respectful. He’s the sort of boy you knew you’d be happy if your daughter brought home. During the two hours that I spent with him, that was the image I got from him.’
‘I think he’ll be happy to stay there as long as they want him because he feels loved by the crowd and I think the only way he’d leave Liverpool would be if Liverpool dropped out of the Champions League and then they couldn’t afford to keep him. But I think that as long as Liverpool play in the Champions League, he will stay there. The fans would not allow the board of directors to sell him.
‘I think he’s scored some fantastic goals but beating Manchester United so convincingly at Old Trafford, I can never remember that happening before. I think his goal set them on the way to win that game – it would have to be that one because it meant so much to every Liverpool supporter. It was a very special day.’
‘I called him ‘The Cat’. He thinks he is a goalkeeper!’
Bon voyage Mr Souness, and enjoy the final in Rome …
Conversation with Julián Hernández and Ángel Sánchez
Both of them are wearing their work clothes. A red-and-white-striped shirt and a red tie – the colours of Atlético Madrid. They work as receptionists at the Vicente Calderón stadium. You see them as soon as you enter the old stadium, after the glass door that leads to the management offices. Julián, 24, from Carabanchel Bajo, a neighbourhood of Madrid, has worked here for four years. Ángel, a 25-year-old and also from Madrid, arrived a bit later. They’re both close friends of El Niño. They got to know him by chance. Ángel, who used to play as a striker for Roma Club de Futbol, a junior team based in Ventas near the Plaza de Toros in Madrid, first found himself facing Torres as an opponent but then, thanks to Oscar (who played with him and knew Fer from when they were juniors), joined their group. Julián was a friend of Hugo, who knew Torres through football and ended up being inseparable from his group. They’ve known each other for eight years. And even though Fernando plays in England they have not lost contact. Julián spent two weeks in Liverpool and London, the two weeks in which the Reds played in the Champions League semi-final against Chelsea, so that he could watch both games and be with Fer. Ángel wasn’t able to go … otherwise, who would answer the phones at Atlético Madrid? But he’s promised himself
that he’ll go over just as soon as he gets a few days’ holiday. Neither find it difficult to talk about having such a famous friend, who has appeared on the front pages of newspapers around the world. But they’re careful not to say anything that could show him in a bad light. That’s normal, it’s the way close friends are. Seated in the office of Manuel Briñas, they chat about their famous friend’s past and present.
J.H. ‘He hasn’t changed, he carries on being just like he was before. He hangs around with the same people and the same friends as ever. And he continues being very close to his mates. I’ve heard people say he’s a show-off, arrogant and even conceited because he’s successful at Liverpool. But it’s all lies what people say, people who know nothing about him. Fernando is a modest guy and not at all conceited and with us he’s really good company, amusing and has a great sense of humour. He’s always had his head well screwed-on, with a good family behind him, people who look after him well in every sense, and good friends who for a long time have been genuine mates. Not like those who suck up to you when everything’s fine but disappear if things go badly. And I’m not talking only about the two of us.’
A.S. ‘With us, he’s the same blond, freckly bloke. A really straightforward and compassionate guy. A true friend. We can go for months without talking and then, when we do, it’s as if we’d just seen each other five minutes earlier. Neither the fact that he’s one of the best strikers in the world, nor the money that he earns, have made him behave differently. Fame hasn’t gone to his head either, not like it has with a lot of footballers, who change the people they mix with and their social circle. He’s got the same girlfriend that he had when he was seventeen and the same friends.’
‘It’s true,’ says Manolo Briñas, joining in the conversation, ‘when Fernando was here and already an exceptional player, he didn’t go to Los Angeles or Miami on holiday but instead, here in Spain with his fifteen mates. Ángel, you explain …’
A.S. ‘Yes, every summer we went on holiday for a week or two. I remember we went to Gandía and five years ago to Las Palmas in the Canary Islands. Between World Cups and European championships it wasn’t easy to find a gap. We had such a good time and I still remember the smaller kids, who, when they saw that El Niño was part of our group, couldn’t believe it and started swarming around us like flies.’
J.H. ‘He’s got accustomed really quickly to life in England. Also, because he’s a very home-loving guy and he likes the quiet life. Sometimes he goes out at night but most of the time he stays in with Olalla watching films or programmes on Spanish TV. And sometimes they go to Pepe Reina’s house or Pepe and Yolanda go to his house. Olalla and Yolanda have become great friends. And with Riera as well. They meet up whenever they can.’
J.H. ‘He still likes the Playstation and Pro Evolution Soccer. He listens to music, all the favourites, El Canto del Loco, Andrés Calamaro, Joaquín Sabina, Nirvana, Duncan Du. And later, he likes it when he can go walking with his dogs. When he’s got a free day, he’ll go off on a trip to explore the country. I don’t think he’s changed his life much in England. Apart from one thing, which, to be honest, really shook me. Fernando has always eaten everything but now, in the morning, he also likes sausages and beans for breakfast with a coffee. They give it him in Melwood and he’s got used to it.’
J.H. ‘He seems like that to me because there the media don’t hassle you, nothing like the extent to which that happens here. There the paparazzi don’t go after you. You can get on with your life without any hassle. He and Olalla go out walking, they go shopping at the supermarket and it’s no problem. The people, the fans are very respectful. I was out walking with him and I was surprised because before they even asked Fernando, they always asked me if they could take a picture of him.’
J.H. ‘We don’t talk much about football, which might seem strange, but that’s how it is. We don’t want to bore him with that and besides, there’s much more to talk about than just football.’
J.H. ‘When I was there, it surprised me how much the people really love him.’
‘I don’t know really … He’s fallen on his feet because he’s a really nice guy.’
A.S. ‘And one has to say that he’s a great football professional. He hasn’t got to be almost as popular as Gerrard just because he’s got a pretty face. No, Fernando has worked hard and one’s got to say that he deserves what he’s now got. No one has put him up there.’
J.H. ‘No, he deserves it all.’
A.S. ‘Me, yes! As a striker I’ve always envied his liveliness and power.’