LFC's Biggest Mistakes: No 1 - Houllier robs fans of the game of the century

On the 9th April 2002, a particularly catastrophic tactical decision by Gerard Houllier robbed Liverpool FC of the chance to participate in what would undoubtedly have been one of the games of the century.

On the night in question, Liverpool faced Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League quarter-final second leg. Awaiting the winners was a mouth-watering, once in a lifetime semi-final tie against...Manchester United.

Liverpool-United in a CL semi-final? It’s the stuff of dreams, especially since both teams had never before crossed swords in European competition.

With a 1-0 aggregate advantage from the first leg at Anfield, I had no doubt Liverpool would beat Leverkusen, and given the club’s record v United that season (3-1 win at Anfield and 1-0 win at Old Trafford) the odds of victory were most definitely in Liverpool's favour.

Gerard Houllier sent out a strong team that included the likes of Steven Gerrard, Sami Hyypia, Michael Owen and Jamie Carragher, but within 15 minutes, Leverkusen had taken the lead with a Michael Ballack special.

With the aggregate score at 1-1, things were tense; Michael Owen squandered chance after chance and Emile Heskey limped off injured, allowing Finnish maestro Jari Litmanen to enter the fray.

Then, just before the interval, Abel Xavier headed-in a precious away goal from a Danny Murphy cross. 2-1 on aggregate with the advantage of an away goal. Job done, right?

Wrong.

In the 61st minute, Houllier made a decision that to this day I cannot understand: He replaced Dietmar Hamann with Vladimir Smicer.

Before this catastrophic decision, Liverpool had kept Leverkusen at bay, thanks mostly to Hamann’s outstanding defensive work. Clearly, the right move here was to protect the lead and preserve the prospect of dream date with Man United in the semi-final. That possibility was, however, destroyed as soon as Smicer set foot on the pitch.

Within two minutes of the substitution, Michael Ballack scored again to bring the tie level on aggregate. A brilliant solo goal by the Jari Litmanen swung the game back in Liverpool’s favour, but by this time, Leverkusen were growing in confidence, and anyone who watched the game will remember the growing sense of impending dread.

Without Hamann’s physical presence, positioning and organisation, Leverkusen poured forward, completely bypassing Liverpool’s now non-existent (and lightweight) midfield and scored a further two goals, giving them a 4-3 aggregate victory.

The dream was dead. Liverpool were out of the competition and the fans were cruelly robbed of the game of the century.

Having watched the game many times, it is crystal clear that the turning point was the substitution. Indeed, I have absolutely no doubt that if Hamann had stayed on the pitch, Liverpool would’ve beaten Leverkusen.

What was Houllier thinking?! What possible tactical advantage was gained by removing one of Liverpool’s most effective players and replacing him with one of the club’s most inconsistent, lightweight performers?

Houllier’s disastrous decision not only cost us the sublime satisfaction of knocking United out of the European Cup, it arguably cost us another European trophy. With Zinedine Zidane in his prime, Real Madrid would’ve been a tough prospect in the final, but they were definitely beatable.

Due to Houllier’s gargantuan blunder, it was sadly not to be. The players picked themselves up and went on to finish second in the league that year, but for me, the Leverkusen disappointment but a dampener on the whole season.

Opportunities to face United in a CL semi-final (or Final for that matter) don’t come around that often. Indeed, in the previous 47 years of the competition, it didn’t happen once.

Hopefully, Liverpool fans won’t have to wait another 47 years before we get to experience the pleasure of knocking Man United out of the Champions League.

Of course, just being IN the damn competition would do for now (!)



Jaimie Kanwar