The 96-97 team was the one that should have won the league ... They were the best side in the country that year, and Mark Wright has spoken about how they would constantly let themselves down, mainly due to James brain farts in goal. Yeah Collymore dropped off a bit, but he still got 16 goals that season, and combined with Fowler's 31 goals they had a total of 47 ... That's a really great strike partnership. Berger was a very exciting signing, and his 9 goals was an excellent return in his first season. They needed a world class keeper ... and I will NEVER understand why James was persisted with for much of the decade. They also needed a top class central defender and a leader in midfield.
I was jus remembering Dalglish when Liverpool win the league and he was player manager great player n like I said I'm a utd fan but Liverpool are a great club always have been
Initially I think the main thing we lacked in those years was an elite goalkeeper. Schmeichel was a difference maker for United. The other thing we lacked was a midfield enforcer on the level of Roy Keane. You can see the sort of difference Alisson made to Klopp. Fergie thought Schmeichel was worth 10pts a season but I think he was worth more than that over David James. That's not to be horrible to James but just an acknowledgement that certain postions are critical. Great teams almost always have a great keeper and a great general that can take control of games. United had those, we didn't. We had them during the glory years, but in the 90's we didn't. Then we fell off the pace in terms of finances and our ability to compete for the best players on the market.
Injuries killed us. Fowler looked like a future world class player. Debut season 18 goals. Then he went onto score 30+ in the following three seasons and then he did his knee in and suffered with fitness problems ever since. When he went down for the 97-98 season Owen was fast tracked in and in his first two years won back to back PL golden boots and was one of the stars of the 98 world cup. Then in his third season he snapped his hamstring and while he was still really good for a while, he never became what he should have and also suffered with fitness problems until he became a shell of himself in his mid 20's. Just imagine Owen and Fowler up front with Macca playing behind them 🤯 Add to that a fully fit Jamie Redknapp partnering Steven Gerrard in central midfield. That could have been Liverpool in the early 2000's. With the right pieces around that core of guys maybe they'd have won titles. Fowler and Owen alone would get you 40+ Premier League goals a season. And they could play together. Pre injury, Owen was much more of a dribbler. He could have developed into a top false 9 type player who could pick up the ball outside the box and run at defenders and Fowler could have been the true 9. Just give Macca a free role to get the team involved.
McManaman wanted to leave though, he waited down his contract and left for Real on a free in ‘99. I agree Fowler’s career didn’t quite hit the heights it looked set to after around ‘97/‘98. Great instinctive goal scorer. Also I think Redknapp was under rated, again his career hit the skids with injuries around the same time as Fowler, but he was technically excellent, two footed, great passer with an eye for goal. He changed the game against Scotland at Euro ‘96, but that was the highlight of his England career, he did his ankle and missed the rest of the tournament, looking back that summed up his luck with injuries. (I’m not a Liverpool fan by the way, I just enjoyed the football they played in the 90’s). I also think Fowler and Collymore was a very promising partnership, Collymore was an exciting and unique British striker, powerful, fast, two footed and skilful, but the emergence of Owen pretty much put paid to his Liverpool career, as well as his off the field problems.
If if and if. Utd and Arsenal had plenty of injuries. Souness was simply the Harvey of Liverpool. Unlike Dalglish and Paisley, he didn't replace quality with quality. Evans did no better. Not a single player in the 90s sides would have got in the 88 side - that is how bad they were.
@@garethfieldstead7547 Young Fowler or on form Collymore instead of Aldridge? Barnes instead of the likes of Nicol or Molby? McManaman I’d say was better than Craig Johnstone.
Stan Collymore’s Liverpool career was destroyed by Stan Collymore. He managed to ostracise his teammates, his form fell off a cliff, and the rest of his off-the-field behaviour… well, that’s one for another time. Liverpool made Collymore the most expensive player in British football; he was junked because he had become a liability who they could still recoup a tidy sum for (he was a disaster for Villa), not because Michael Owen - who had only played two league games when Collymore left - had knocked him out of the team. On paper, Collymore was great, and he was the solution to having a side which was too dependent on McManaman for its creativity. Instead he was an absolute disaster, a worse influence in the dressing room than Ruddock.
What a team they were so many good youngsters when I was a kid Liverpool were the best team I remember the Europe nights before that juventus game and I'm a united fan me ma n dad got married the day we drew 2-2 with u lot in fa Cup semi when we went on to beat Everton in the final n whiteside scored that classic goal.there was even a time for years if rush scored Liverpool never lost people forget bout thease times too much man some great football going down
I remember in the mid 90s 90s Manchester United had shops all around the world Liverpool hada little shed selling merchandise that was the big Manchester jumped on the globalisation and marketing of the Premier League
Manchester United are well into their Liverpool in the 90s early 2000s phase, success never last forever they are 20 years at the top come back around to them like it did Liverpool
We played some great stuff under Evans but was let down by the defence. Sounds obvious, but if we just had an Alisson and VVD type back then. Plus, our inconsistencies were too apparent on the pitch. Big win, followed by a poor loss.
Dalglish should have been given sabbatical for as long as he wanted. Boot Room taking charge, however doing only training, team selection etc, not being able to trade players without Dalglish authorisation. Only job of boot room in transfers is to ensure Shearer and Roy Keane are signed, sealed, and delivered. And Mark Wright is brought in to replace Hansen in interim. Then when Dalglish comes back he can decide transfer policy. This means the likes of Beardsley, Staunton stay, and the likes of Paul Stewart and Julian Dicks were never liverpool players. As the souness clearance sale never happened.
What Liverpool lacked under Roy Evans was a world class goalkeeper. David James was always error prone. The central defenders we had in that time were also lacking. Mark Wright was world class in his day but was past hos prime and injury prone, Ruddock was actually very good at his peak but his fitness and activities off-field became a problem, John Scales was good but not great, Kvarme was garbage and Phil Babb was poor and never lived up to his early promise at Coventry. With a better defensive core and keeper Liverpool would have won the PL at least once during that time.
This roy evans team lacked a goalkeeper, no 10, proper left winger, drive from midfield, and two quality centre backs. That's six players short of winning the title. May I recommended: Nigel Martyn instead of Dave James. Gareth Southgate and Martin Keown instead of many centre back. Phillip Albert from keegans Newcastle team. Bryan Roy Dutch left winger. One of either Dwight Yorke or Teddy Sheringham. Honourable mentions: Dennis wise aswell to play with phillipe Albert in engine room, and be a nasty savage in there. Furthermore Ian Rush, instead of molly coddling fowler for so long, should have had Shearer or Ian Wright in place. I like the look of Ian Wright due to his rasping pace. Utd had Cantona/ Hughes. Blackburn had SAS. You needed a proper partnership, get fowler a lethal partner. Along with Mark Wright, barnes, mcmanamam, and the like , more of a title winning outfit. ... martyn. Petrescu. Keown. Southgat matteo Wise. Albert. Mcmanamam. B.Roy I.wright. fowler. Subs. Mark Wright, barnes, Sheringham, redknapp, bjornebye
All I am saying IF social media existed in the mid 90s none of them would be where they are now. I was shocked what I heard even if I am a Arsenal fan!!!!
Compare that Liverpool side to the cup final team of 88. Toss up between James and Bruce the drop who where both shit but not a single outfield player from 96 would have gotten in that 88 side. Redknapp - McAteer and Babb where utter rubbish.
Redknapp was actually a good player, he under achieved due to injuries. He was Dalglish’s last signing age 17 and there was a reason, he was a technically excellent player and great passer. He was actually made captain by Houllier then his knee went soon after. Even McAteer was a decent wing back. There were far, far worse players than him at Liverpool in the 90’s, mostly under Souness - Julian Dicks, constantly fat Neil Ruddock, Nicky Tanner etc.
That was when things started going really downhill for Souness - the interview with The Sun, which I think was the same weekend as the FA Cup final, which turned the fans against him. That first season actually wasn’t that bad, it was just a big drop from challenging for the league. They won the Cup, got to the quarters of the UEFA Cup in their first season back in Europe, losing to a crack Italia team in Genoa (check Branca’s Roberto Carlos like free kick). They also helped Leeds beat United to the league by beating United in the title run in. Then John Barnes got a career changing injury playing for England, and the following season is when it started going really pear shaped.
If you do a Souness video, the seeds began in 1988. Not just the scars of Hillsborough later that season, but Dalglish’s failure to keep replenishing the side after that brilliant series of signings in 1987. Dalglish’s only major buys after that were Ian Rush (a qualified success, considering the vast sum), Glenn Hysen (one good season, one bad season, and a year in the reserves), and Ronny Rosenthal (brilliant on loan, but never repaid the eventual £1m fee). Middling fees went on David Burrows (he was OK for a bit), David Speedie (electric but hardly a long-term signing and gone within a few months), and Jimmy Carter (a flop). Liverpool’s holes were obvious. The team weren’t actually that old - a common myth - but they were all reaching their late 20s/early 30s together. Mark Lawrenson wasn’t replaced after injury finished him off, with Gary Gillespie and Alan Hansen also being injury-prone and leaving big gaps in the middle. Jan Molby’s refuelling problems only got more pronounced. Peter Beardsley was capable of going long patches of very middling form. Very useful squad players like John Wark, Nigel Spackman and Kevin McDonald were nobody’s favourites, but when they left there was no equivalent replacement. Liverpool didn’t need an overhaul, but they did need the right signings to keep everyone on their toes and in some cases to replace established stars. That didn’t happen. Even when Dalglish made some astute signings for the future, the likes of Mike Marsh, Steve Harkness and Jamie Redknapp were a long way from being ready. At the same time, Manchester United *were* going big, outspending Liverpool every summer. The team that won the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1991, a few months after Dalglish resigned, was unrecognisable from the 1988 team. Souness’s tragedy is that he saw what Dalglish didn’t - that Liverpool needed an overhaul by the summer of 1991 - and then he got it entirely wrong. Almost every signing failed. When he was brave enough to quickly ship out big money flops, they were often immediate hits elsewhere (hello, Dean Saunders). He got in a muddle over who was first choice goalie, with three mediocre choices. He binned non-English players because of the new rules on the number of foreign players, yet somehow still bought Torben Piechnik and Istvan Kozma. Everyone in Britain wanted Neil Ruddock, Spurs were desperate to hold onto Paul Stewart, Nigel Clough looked tailor-made for the Number 7 shirt… was Anfield built on a Native American burial ground?! I could go on, but the short version is that Souness was left a challenging but enticing legacy, and botched it badly. No wonder he’s still gutted.
Stop showing text over action. I'm not sure if it's a rights issue, or you think the teamsheets and results tables are more important to the story. Either way, it doesn't matter. The eye is naturally drawn to the live action and the text is just an irritant. Show the text on it's own and show the goals seperately. Don't show the set up to the goal, then block the goal itself out with a wall of text. It's almost like you're trolling us.
What team shall we cover next?
Atletico Nacional's rise to win the Copa Libertadores in the 90's - and the man behind the team.
Iiverpool in the 2000s.
Man Utd post Ferguson as that is one lost club trying to be relevant again.
Poland 1974-82.
wengers arsenal golden era
The 96-97 team was the one that should have won the league ... They were the best side in the country that year, and Mark Wright has spoken about how they would constantly let themselves down, mainly due to James brain farts in goal.
Yeah Collymore dropped off a bit, but he still got 16 goals that season, and combined with Fowler's 31 goals they had a total of 47 ... That's a really great strike partnership.
Berger was a very exciting signing, and his 9 goals was an excellent return in his first season.
They needed a world class keeper ... and I will NEVER understand why James was persisted with for much of the decade. They also needed a top class central defender and a leader in midfield.
David James lost Liverpool a league and at least 2 cups.
@@theculturedthug6609 Yup. Quite possibly.
The season after when we played the mancs at Anfield. That goal he conceded to Andy Cole still bloody haunts me 🤦🏿♂️
Ah well all ancient history now.
Yeah, David James should have been sold and replaced by a quality keeper.
I was jus remembering Dalglish when Liverpool win the league and he was player manager great player n like I said I'm a utd fan but Liverpool are a great club always have been
Was it u lot who beat Palace 9-0 sure I remember that unless we did n I'm getting confused utd n Liverpool won so much in my lifetime
Initially I think the main thing we lacked in those years was an elite goalkeeper. Schmeichel was a difference maker for United. The other thing we lacked was a midfield enforcer on the level of Roy Keane.
You can see the sort of difference Alisson made to Klopp. Fergie thought Schmeichel was worth 10pts a season but I think he was worth more than that over David James.
That's not to be horrible to James but just an acknowledgement that certain postions are critical. Great teams almost always have a great keeper and a great general that can take control of games. United had those, we didn't. We had them during the glory years, but in the 90's we didn't. Then we fell off the pace in terms of finances and our ability to compete for the best players on the market.
Thanks for the series brother 😍❤️
Another one on Friday!
Injuries killed us. Fowler looked like a future world class player. Debut season 18 goals. Then he went onto score 30+ in the following three seasons and then he did his knee in and suffered with fitness problems ever since. When he went down for the 97-98 season Owen was fast tracked in and in his first two years won back to back PL golden boots and was one of the stars of the 98 world cup. Then in his third season he snapped his hamstring and while he was still really good for a while, he never became what he should have and also suffered with fitness problems until he became a shell of himself in his mid 20's. Just imagine Owen and Fowler up front with Macca playing behind them 🤯 Add to that a fully fit Jamie Redknapp partnering Steven Gerrard in central midfield. That could have been Liverpool in the early 2000's. With the right pieces around that core of guys maybe they'd have won titles. Fowler and Owen alone would get you 40+ Premier League goals a season. And they could play together. Pre injury, Owen was much more of a dribbler. He could have developed into a top false 9 type player who could pick up the ball outside the box and run at defenders and Fowler could have been the true 9. Just give Macca a free role to get the team involved.
McManaman wanted to leave though, he waited down his contract and left for Real on a free in ‘99.
I agree Fowler’s career didn’t quite hit the heights it looked set to after around ‘97/‘98. Great instinctive goal scorer.
Also I think Redknapp was under rated, again his career hit the skids with injuries around the same time as Fowler, but he was technically excellent, two footed, great passer with an eye for goal.
He changed the game against Scotland at Euro ‘96, but that was the highlight of his England career, he did his ankle and missed the rest of the tournament, looking back that summed up his luck with injuries.
(I’m not a Liverpool fan by the way, I just enjoyed the football they played in the 90’s).
I also think Fowler and Collymore was a very promising partnership, Collymore was an exciting and unique British striker, powerful, fast, two footed and skilful, but the emergence of Owen pretty much put paid to his Liverpool career, as well as his off the field problems.
Trent also leaving shame on Liverpool they cannot even satisfy their own son
If if and if. Utd and Arsenal had plenty of injuries. Souness was simply the Harvey of Liverpool. Unlike Dalglish and Paisley, he didn't replace quality with quality. Evans did no better. Not a single player in the 90s sides would have got in the 88 side - that is how bad they were.
@@garethfieldstead7547
Young Fowler or on form Collymore instead of Aldridge?
Barnes instead of the likes of Nicol or Molby?
McManaman I’d say was better than Craig Johnstone.
Stan Collymore’s Liverpool career was destroyed by Stan Collymore. He managed to ostracise his teammates, his form fell off a cliff, and the rest of his off-the-field behaviour… well, that’s one for another time.
Liverpool made Collymore the most expensive player in British football; he was junked because he had become a liability who they could still recoup a tidy sum for (he was a disaster for Villa), not because Michael Owen - who had only played two league games when Collymore left - had knocked him out of the team.
On paper, Collymore was great, and he was the solution to having a side which was too dependent on McManaman for its creativity. Instead he was an absolute disaster, a worse influence in the dressing room than Ruddock.
What a team they were so many good youngsters when I was a kid Liverpool were the best team I remember the Europe nights before that juventus game and I'm a united fan me ma n dad got married the day we drew 2-2 with u lot in fa Cup semi when we went on to beat Everton in the final n whiteside scored that classic goal.there was even a time for years if rush scored Liverpool never lost people forget bout thease times too much man some great football going down
I remember in the mid 90s 90s Manchester United had shops all around the world Liverpool hada little shed selling merchandise that was the big Manchester jumped on the globalisation and marketing of the Premier League
I'm gun subscribe n check out ya vids salutes this one was good
Manchester United are well into their Liverpool in the 90s early 2000s phase, success never last forever they are 20 years at the top come back around to them like it did Liverpool
I never got the whole suits thing, it was just FA Cup smart suits.
Some of football under roy Evans was fantastic
3:40 can we mention how good that goal was?
What. A. Channel.
What. A. Comment.
We played some great stuff under Evans but was let down by the defence. Sounds obvious, but if we just had an Alisson and VVD type back then. Plus, our inconsistencies were too apparent on the pitch. Big win, followed by a poor loss.
Maybe even a Carragher - professional homegrown defender
# 1997 , Man U won the with a meagre # 75 points , Reds finished fourth on # 68 .
Dalglish should have been given sabbatical for as long as he wanted.
Boot Room taking charge, however doing only training, team selection etc, not being able to trade players without Dalglish authorisation.
Only job of boot room in transfers is to ensure Shearer and Roy Keane are signed, sealed, and delivered. And Mark Wright is brought in to replace Hansen in interim.
Then when Dalglish comes back he can decide transfer policy.
This means the likes of Beardsley, Staunton stay, and the likes of Paul Stewart and Julian Dicks were never liverpool players. As the souness clearance sale never happened.
What Liverpool lacked under Roy Evans was a world class goalkeeper. David James was always error prone. The central defenders we had in that time were also lacking. Mark Wright was world class in his day but was past hos prime and injury prone, Ruddock was actually very good at his peak but his fitness and activities off-field became a problem, John Scales was good but not great, Kvarme was garbage and Phil Babb was poor and never lived up to his early promise at Coventry.
With a better defensive core and keeper Liverpool would have won the PL at least once during that time.
This roy evans team lacked a goalkeeper, no 10, proper left winger, drive from midfield, and two quality centre backs.
That's six players short of winning the title.
May I recommended:
Nigel Martyn instead of Dave James.
Gareth Southgate and Martin Keown instead of many centre back.
Phillip Albert from keegans Newcastle team.
Bryan Roy Dutch left winger.
One of either Dwight Yorke or Teddy Sheringham.
Honourable mentions:
Dennis wise aswell to play with phillipe Albert in engine room, and be a nasty savage in there.
Furthermore Ian Rush, instead of molly coddling fowler for so long, should have had Shearer or Ian Wright in place. I like the look of Ian Wright due to his rasping pace.
Utd had Cantona/ Hughes. Blackburn had SAS.
You needed a proper partnership, get fowler a lethal partner.
Along with Mark Wright, barnes, mcmanamam, and the like , more of a title winning outfit.
... martyn.
Petrescu. Keown. Southgat matteo
Wise. Albert.
Mcmanamam. B.Roy
I.wright. fowler.
Subs. Mark Wright, barnes, Sheringham, redknapp, bjornebye
Championship Manager gobshite.
the dark days
Did Tony Yaboah ever be linked with Liverpool?
Never be
Oh, the true story you say.
Evans served an apprenticeship under #Shanks #BobP #KennyD , yet he was still a sh1te 66 points a season boss .
The Liverpool spice boys....The stories that I have heard about these lot. Probably won't happen these days to be honest....
All I am saying IF social media existed in the mid 90s none of them would be where they are now. I was shocked what I heard even if I am a Arsenal fan!!!!
Yeah there were so many stories I heard that I just didn’t feel it was necessary. Best to keep it on the pitch and more family friendly
Compare that Liverpool side to the cup final team of 88. Toss up between James and Bruce the drop who where both shit but not a single outfield player from 96 would have gotten in that 88 side. Redknapp - McAteer and Babb where utter rubbish.
Redknapp was actually a good player, he under achieved due to injuries.
He was Dalglish’s last signing age 17 and there was a reason, he was a technically excellent player and great passer.
He was actually made captain by Houllier then his knee went soon after.
Even McAteer was a decent wing back.
There were far, far worse players than him at Liverpool in the 90’s, mostly under Souness - Julian Dicks, constantly fat Neil Ruddock, Nicky Tanner etc.
You didn't mention the 1992 FA Cup win???
Briefly in the Graeme Souness section
That was when things started going really downhill for Souness - the interview with The Sun, which I think was the same weekend as the FA Cup final, which turned the fans against him.
That first season actually wasn’t that bad, it was just a big drop from challenging for the league.
They won the Cup, got to the quarters of the UEFA Cup in their first season back in Europe, losing to a crack Italia team in Genoa (check Branca’s Roberto Carlos like free kick).
They also helped Leeds beat United to the league by beating United in the title run in.
Then John Barnes got a career changing injury playing for England, and the following season is when it started going really pear shaped.
put roy Keane in that side they win 5 chips they had the talent but not the steele
This video should be titled: The Club that Souness RUINED
Also true. Maybe I’ll circle back round and do a video on Souness’ Liverpool
The rise of Ferguson can't be overlooked....it was the end of a cycle...
@WhatifDocumentaries3417 you should. That will explain a lot about the failures of years followed
If you do a Souness video, the seeds began in 1988. Not just the scars of Hillsborough later that season, but Dalglish’s failure to keep replenishing the side after that brilliant series of signings in 1987.
Dalglish’s only major buys after that were Ian Rush (a qualified success, considering the vast sum), Glenn Hysen (one good season, one bad season, and a year in the reserves), and Ronny Rosenthal (brilliant on loan, but never repaid the eventual £1m fee).
Middling fees went on David Burrows (he was OK for a bit), David Speedie (electric but hardly a long-term signing and gone within a few months), and Jimmy Carter (a flop).
Liverpool’s holes were obvious. The team weren’t actually that old - a common myth - but they were all reaching their late 20s/early 30s together. Mark Lawrenson wasn’t replaced after injury finished him off, with Gary Gillespie and Alan Hansen also being injury-prone and leaving big gaps in the middle. Jan Molby’s refuelling problems only got more pronounced. Peter Beardsley was capable of going long patches of very middling form. Very useful squad players like John Wark, Nigel Spackman and Kevin McDonald were nobody’s favourites, but when they left there was no equivalent replacement.
Liverpool didn’t need an overhaul, but they did need the right signings to keep everyone on their toes and in some cases to replace established stars. That didn’t happen. Even when Dalglish made some astute signings for the future, the likes of Mike Marsh, Steve Harkness and Jamie Redknapp were a long way from being ready.
At the same time, Manchester United *were* going big, outspending Liverpool every summer. The team that won the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1991, a few months after Dalglish resigned, was unrecognisable from the 1988 team.
Souness’s tragedy is that he saw what Dalglish didn’t - that Liverpool needed an overhaul by the summer of 1991 - and then he got it entirely wrong. Almost every signing failed. When he was brave enough to quickly ship out big money flops, they were often immediate hits elsewhere (hello, Dean Saunders). He got in a muddle over who was first choice goalie, with three mediocre choices. He binned non-English players because of the new rules on the number of foreign players, yet somehow still bought Torben Piechnik and Istvan Kozma. Everyone in Britain wanted Neil Ruddock, Spurs were desperate to hold onto Paul Stewart, Nigel Clough looked tailor-made for the Number 7 shirt… was Anfield built on a Native American burial ground?!
I could go on, but the short version is that Souness was left a challenging but enticing legacy, and botched it badly. No wonder he’s still gutted.
Trent also leaving shame on Liverpool they cannot even satisfy their own son
Would like to see him at Real tbh
Stop showing text over action. I'm not sure if it's a rights issue, or you think the teamsheets and results tables are more important to the story. Either way, it doesn't matter. The eye is naturally drawn to the live action and the text is just an irritant. Show the text on it's own and show the goals seperately. Don't show the set up to the goal, then block the goal itself out with a wall of text. It's almost like you're trolling us.
I agree, why I’ve changed it for the more recent videos
Sounds like Man Utd now.
Thought this the entire time I was researching and writing it
@@WhatifDocumentaries3417Nah....