Dominant teams of the 1980s produce flashes of highest quality which suggest gap to Manchester and London leaders can close

Bright spring sunshine bathed England’s third football city in a warm, distinctly flattering light on Sunday. It was the sort of afternoon when the hurt involved in Liverpool falling behind Manchester and London in the domestic game’s pecking order could be, albeit temporarily, forgotten.

As a string of 1980s pop hits boomed out of the Anfield sound system before kick-off, the clock seemed to rewind to a time when Liverpool and Everton were the pre-eminent football forces in the land.

Once the game actually kicked off that notion was swiftly dismissed – and yet amid much typical derby scrapping there were some moments of class that belonged at the Premier League’s top table.

Regardless of the little detail that Everton are poised to finish above their neighbours from across Stanley Park for a second successive season, most such cameos came from Liverpool and Philippe Coutinho in particular.

If the 20-year-old Brazilian midfielder’s marker-deceiving turns, inventive passes and incisive movement explained why Southampton’s Mauricio Pochettino – Coutinho’s coach at Espanyol – described Rodgers’s January import from Internazionale as a hybrid of Lionel Messi and Ronaldinho, he also served as a reminder of two things.

Firstly, although Jamie Carragher’s final derby before retirement may have marked the end of a sporadically glorious Anfield era, sufficient talent remains to ensure that Manchester and London are unlikely to regard Merseyside with pity more than fear indefinitely. Secondly, Brendan Rodgers owes a considerable debt to Rafael Benítez.

Liverpool’s manager seems a little wary of the Spaniard who once occupied his office with distinction, yet Benítez – whose arrival for a brief stint at Inter coincided with Coutinho’s from South America – recommended Liverpool sign a midfield creator who should be challenging Gareth Bale and Luis Suárez for all sorts of awards next term.

Moreover Rodgers, widely regarded as inheriting a poisoned chalice when he swapped Swansea for Anfield last summer, also appears to have been done some transfer market favours by his immediate predecessor, Kenny Dalglish, after all.

Admittedly Dalglish paid top dollar for Andy Carroll, Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson and Carroll is on loan at West Ham, future uncertain, but, after the most underwhelming of beginnings, the latter pair are finally emerging from hibernation.

Those who initially believed Henderson to be a midfield dud dumped on Dalglish via some smart hype from his old club Sunderland and their former manager Steve Bruce especially, are – almost imperceptibly – changing their minds.

Early on he unleashed a 70-yard defence-splitting, Gerrard-esque, perhaps even Hoddle-esque, pass in Daniel Sturridge’s direction. With a little luck it might have produced a goal and Henderson – who came off to generous applause when he was replaced midway through the second half – continued to suggest he may yet win a regular England place.

The blameless victim of a tactical tweak, Downing, too, found himself withdrawn – but not until, courtesy of an odd fabulous cross and pass, he had revived memories of his early pomp at Middlesbrough when he was regarded as one of England’s finest young talents.

Rodgers is big on the importance of coaching and Henderson’s and Downing’s double renaissance represents an impressive endorsement of his skill in this department. Significantly, their revivals also indicate a new-found willingness to compromise on the part of a manager who, at Swansea, was so slavishly addicted to a carefully choreographed, short-passing possession game that you initially wondered whether Gerrard would have a place in his Merseyside blueprint.

The way Liverpool now punctuate an already varied passing range with some accurate long deliveries of the sort which would warm Sam Allardyce’s heart suggests Rodgers has learnt to value pragmatism. This flexibility suits Henderson and Downing while offering Coutinho and – when not suspended – Luis Suárez a suitable framework on which to construct their personal challenges to Manchester’s and London’s finest.

David Moyes – who may or may not be at Everton next season – has long been a tactical pragmatist but, whereas his extremely low budget, heavily set-piece reliant side are surely operating at their maximum level, Liverpool possess much more in reserve.

The heady 19th-century days when this city – one of the British Empire’s foremost international trading ports – exceeded London in wealth and had a US consulate established may never return. But Rodgers’s team is not necessarily in terminal decline.

A news article on 2013-05-05 16:49:00 from: The Guardian

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