There's nothing much more hurtful in sport than "so near and yet so far".Sometimes, it seems that drifting satisfactorily by is preferable to aiming high and just missing. Southampton, for instance, were never going to win the League But no one's on their back They feel no pain.Arsenal keep going for it.. and just missing. It's surely wrong to judge them harshly for that.Peter Drury is an ITV sports commentator. Gerard Houllier has brought so much, so quickly to Liverpool it seems almost churlish to ask the question that cried out from the exuberant chaos of his team's third straight Cup final victory in Dortmund this week.
Gerard Houllier has brought so much, so quickly to Liverpool it seems almost churlish to ask the question that cried out from the exuberant chaos of his team's third straight Cup final victory in Dortmund this week. But it is one that needs to be answered with some urgency, and especially if the Anfield renaissance reaches the point of entry to the Champions' League with victory at Charlton tomorrow. The question is simple enough: having provided a new set of values which have swept away the old Spice Boy image, a depth of playing strength which is second only to Manchester United's, and a competitive character of thrice-proven force, when does Houllier hand down a clear playing philosophy, a tactical conviction which was the hallmark of the great Liverpool teams?This, plainly, was lacking in Liverpool's remarkable trio of Cup triumphs. They laboured to beat a physically diminished First Division Birmingham City in the Worthington Cup final, they were utterly outplayed by Arsenal for much of the FA Cup final, and victory over a nine-man Alaves came in the lottery of golden-goal overtime. Lump Liverpool's trophies together and you have a massive season of redefined performance and expectation. But scrape the surface of the silver plating and you perhaps find something else, something the hero of the Uefa Cup final, Gary McAllister hinted at broadly when, amid the celebrations, he talked of the need for a much quicker supply of the ball to the front men and, by implication, a much more positive approach to the game.In the wake of Liverpool's glory, some may see this as carping.
They may see it as a less than generous reaction to the extent of Houllier's progress and could well point to the assertion of Newcastle's Bobby Robson, who after his team was ransacked by a Michael Owen hat-trick and some brief but dazzling bursts of creative play two weeks ago, declared: "There is no doubt Liverpool are going to chase Manchester United for the title next season."But will they? When Robson said they would his own wounds were still vivid, but yesterday another old pro had a more guarded reaction to Liverpool's recent advances, saying: "Houllier clearly knows what he wants for Liverpool, but sometimes I wonder if he quite knows how to get it. He has done some great work, but all the time you are wondering, 'When are Liverpool going to get down to really playing?' Liverpool have had a great season and to a certain extent they have made their own luck. But they have been very lucky, no doubt, and in these big games I've wanted to see quite a bit more from them. In one way, they have backed into the glory."Houllier may complain about the curse of faint praise, but from time to time he has highlighted his own team's failings. Often he has bemoaned Liverpool's tendency to give the ball away.
