Dudek inspires Liverpool

Liverpool 2

AT the end Gerard Houllier afforded himself a smile, then a huge gasp of relief and there was just a suspicion of a tear.

The Liverpool manager had ridden a tumult of emotions with great dignity these past few months, but yesterday there was also a supreme calm as he wrapped his arms around the Worthington Cup, the first domestic trophy of the season.

True, Liverpool rode their luck. They had to thank man of the match Jerzy Dudek for a portfolio of superb saves.

They survived a penalty claim when Dietmar Hamann seemed to bring down Paul Scholes. Their defence staggered from one crisis to another potential calamity.

They clung on at times like a man sliding down the abyss. But in the end they triumphed and no-one could say they did not deserve it. Most of all Houllier.

Houllier even had a premonition that Dudek would be the hero of the final: “I told Jerzy three days ago ‘I can feel you will be the hero.

You were too unlucky when we played them. Today he was man of the match. But football can be like that. Sometimes you can be at the bottom and then be a hero again.

“I just had a feeling. I’m a great believer that when you have the right attitude everything else follows. He had a good run after the World Cup, but then he made some mistakes and we had to support him.

"The squad get on very well. There was no finger-pointing after that game. He has saved us before in games and we had to keep faith in him.”

Houllier’s praise was echoed by Alex Ferguson, whose side now face a tough Premiership battle against Leeds United on Wednesday.

“Their goalkeeper has won them the game,” said Ferguson. “Sometimes you just have to put your hands up on these occasions. Dudek has won them the cup. He deserved to be man of the match.

“We didn’t get a break. Dudek’s performance encouraged them to stay near their penalty box. In tough games like that, the first goal is very important. It’s a test for us.

"We can either accept defeat or we can fight back. Games between Manchester United and Liverpool are always big games and there is tremendous pressure on everyone.

"I thought the first half was poor but, when the first goal went in, it turned into an engaging cup final.”

Steven Gerrard at last produced the form which swept him into the England side, Danny Murphy was increasingly influential and El-Hadji Diouf arguably had his best match in a red shirt.

“I thought the whole midfield played very well,” said Houllier. “Diouf’s work ethic was phenomenal and Murphy was brilliant, but you need to have the whole team give a high performance because we have beaten a great team.

“They are a bit ahead of us still but it is a great moment. We did it for ourselves, of course, and our families and friends, but we also did it for the fans.”

Houllier also said it was an important victory because it guaranteed Liverpool European football in the UEFA Cup next season, though he was still hopeful of earning a Champions League place.

First, however, he hopes United go on to win the Champions League this season, a sentiment he conveyed to Ferguson: “I wished him the best in the Champions League because he represents the best in English football. He congratulated every Liverpool player after the final whistle and that shows that he is not just a great manager, but a great man.”

Make no mistake, Houllier has suffered these past few months. Every time he turned on the radio, national or local, it seemed the phone-in cynics were queuing up to complain he was ruining his beloved Liverpool.

Bad signings, bewildering tactics, a lack of adventure. He had been ridiculed at every turn as Liverpool inexplicably had gone from the top of the Premiership to approaching mid-table.

The final wasn’t a classic. There was too little quality, not enough style, but did Liverpool or their fans care? Not a chance.

It was a week Alex Ferguson’s side had announced themselves as perhaps the most potent footballing threat in Europe and while the Champions Cup is clearly their highest priority this was a trophy they wanted to win if only for the momentum it would have leant the run-in to their season.

Too many of United’s big-name players failed to perform when it really mattered. Perhaps it was a hangover from that intoxicating triumph against the Italian champions. That night United were supreme. Yesterday, they were ordinary.

True, much of the first-half was rarely less than torpid as both teams seemed interested only in strangling the life out of the slightest notion of adventure. It needed a spark.

When it arrived in the 39th minute, it was spectacular enough to grace any showpiece. Fittingly it came from Steven Gerrard, the man whose urgency and thrusting determination was at the heart of Liverpool’s challenge.

Gerrard’s 30-yard thunderbolt clipped David Beckham to send it on an arc which looped agonisingly over the anguished dive of goalkeeper Fabien Barthez on its way into the net. It brought Houllier out of his seat, too.

Too much excitement is not allowed in the world of a man who has suffered such a serious heart scare and Liverpool have done their best this season to keep their manager sitting firmly in his seat.

Caution is the watchword of this Liverpool team but there is a resolve, too, which has gone largely unnoticed these past few months.

Not this time. If United had scored first perhaps it would have been different, but, once United were forced to press, it was right up Liverpool’s alley.

So it was no surprise when Owen wrapped things up in the 86th minute on one such break after having been brilliantly set clear by Hamann.

LIVERPOOL: Dudek, Carragher, Henchoz, Hyypia, Riise, Diouf (Biscan 90), Hamann, Gerrard, Murphy, Owen, Heskey (Baros 61), Baros (Smicer 89).

MANCHESTER UTD: Barthez, Gary Neville, Brown (Solskjaer 74), Ferdinand, Silvestre, Beckham, Keane, Veron, Giggs, van Nistelrooy, Scholes.

Referee: P. Durkin