There is a rush among some fans and pundits to consign Benitez’s predecessor to the knacker’s yard of football history. Yet it was not all bad under Houllier. The Frenchman did many things right — one thing in particular. No other manager, since the Premiership began, has enjoyed so good a record against Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United. In his five full seasons, Liverpool’s record against their most detested rivals was played 12, won seven, lost four. At Old Trafford, Houllier’s Liverpool were particularly adept, winning three of the past four encounters between the teams.
“The United and Everton games are massive. They’re always the first ones on the fixture list you look for, so you can sort your tickets out,” says Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher. “We’ve put together a decent record there (Old Trafford) over the years, and hopefully we can carry that on. We can ask Danny Murphy if he’ll come back for the game.” The humour is typical Carragher: Murphy scored the only goal in Liverpool’s three recent victories at Old Trafford. The right-back likes a joke. Asked last season whether Steve Finnan’s arrival made him worried about losing his place, he smiled and said: “If Steve gets ahead of me in the team, then I’ll just have to find out where he lives and I’ll send the boys round.”
And when he said he understood his close friend Michael Owen’s reasons for leaving Anfield (Real Madrid were too big to turn down), Carragher was sure he would feel the same when Real came in for him. As it is, he looks secure under Benitez.
When the Spaniard made Josemi, another right-back, his first signing, Carragher was expected to find his starting place under real pressure, but his new manager had other plans. The problems in central defence that nagged Liverpool last season have been eased by moving Carragher there. Just four goals have been conceded in seven games. Carragher was serene against Monaco, undeterred by some twitchiness from goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek.
“There are signs that things are coming together, although it’s still early days, and I’d be saying that if results had been going the other way,” said Carragher. “I don’t want to say one is better than the other because I’ve got a lot of time for him (Houllier) but every manager’s got their way of doing things. The biggest change (under Benitez) has been personnel. He’s brought in new players and got rid of a lot that were here before, sending them out on loan or whatever. I think he’s looking for a smaller squad where all the players are involved a lot. That’ll maybe keep people motivated. Benitez has proved in Spain his ideas are successful, so hopefully he can repeat that success here.”
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Liverpool are without Murphy, now at Charlton, but his replacement is no mean player. Ferguson knows all about Xabi Alonso (“good passer of the ball,” he growled on Friday) and tried to sign the central midfielder from Real Sociedad in 2003. It is becoming evident why he is considered so precious. His performance against Monaco was startling for its maturity from a 22-year-old.
Defensively, Alonso was closing any gaps in the midfield line, dropping into defence as a third centre-back whenever Liverpool’s box was under pressure, all the time keeping one eye on Steven Gerrard and the other on Monaco’s two central midfield players, to ensure Liverpool were not caught whenever Gerrard embarked on a charge upfield.
In attack, Alonso was penetrative and precise. When a Liverpool move broke down on the edge of Monaco’s box, the other players had barely turned their necks to see where the ball had been cleared to before Alonso had read its flight and zinged a first-time pass out to Finnan on the right. “Alonso was man of the match. Wouldn’t you agree? His passing’s very good,” said Carragher. “Luis Garcia last weekend was probably man of the match, and Josemi’s been very solid since he joined us at the start of the season. So up to now, the new signings the manager has made look very good.”
Asked whether Garcia, Josemi and Alonso knew about the scale of the rivalry between Liverpool and United, Carragher said: “Well, if they don’t, they’d better hurry up . . . I’m sure they do. They’ve talked in their interviews so far about how delighted they are to be at Liverpool, and it shows the prestige we maybe don’t realise the club is held in all over Europe.”
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Carragher will be less than delighted by the expected sight of an old friend tomorrow. He and Rio Ferdinand came up together through the England youth ranks and made their first starting appearances side by side for England Under-21s against Switzerland in 1997, aged 18 and 17. The Liverpool defender is pleased to see his United counterpart return from suspension, but perhaps wishes his comeback were a week later: “Rio’s a happy-go-lucky type and I’m sure he’ll have no trouble coming back in. I wish him all the best, because what happened to him was unfortunate, but hopefully our strikers will cause him problems.
“He’s a top player. He proved that in the World Cup, where he was rated the best centre-half in the world, and that was reflected by his price tag when he moved to United. He’ll be a big bonus for them and his return is good news for England.”
Initially, when asked about being “up against Ferdinand on Monday”, Carragher quipped: “What? I’m playing centre- forward?” He had better not be. Though he scored a header in front of the Kop on his debut in 1996, he has scored just once since then — 5½ years ago.
Manchester Utd v Liverpool: Monday, Sky Sports 1, 7pm, kick-off 8pm