The likes of Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres are now under the spotlight
By Greg Stobart at Old Trafford
Jan 10, 2011 5:30:00 AM
The chant descended from the Liverpool supporters like a visceral battle cry as their hero saluted them with a fist pump. 'Dalglish! Dalglish' they roared here as they had done in the Kop just a week earlier to voice their opposition to Roy Hodgson.
Liverpool fell to a 1-0 defeat at arch rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup third round but – strangely given their attitude in recent times – the 9,500 Reds fans left the ground in largely positive mood about where their side's season may go from here.
Kenny Dalglish met the squad for the first time as their manager just hours before the team bus set off for Old Trafford, but he picked the starting line-up himself and instructed the players to adopt more of a passing approach to the game than in recent times.
The reaction of fans in the ground, in pubs and on the internet resembled the Messianic reception given to Kevin Keegan when he returned for a second spell at Newcastle.
A journalist asked Dalglish after the match whether he feared his reputation may be tainted should his spell until the end of the season end in failure. The dry Scot replied that he was ready for the challenge, adding that the Liverpool fans have "long memories".
Those memories after all are of King Kenny, the wonderful player who won six top flight titles and three European Cups as a player before lifting three more league championships as manager between 1986 and 1991.
Such is the reverie afforded to the 59-year-old that post-match analysis among supporters – whether praising a performance or playing the blame game – will take on a shift in emphasis.
Dalglish has not even taken charge of a training session at the club's Melwood training ground yet some fans are already crediting him for instigating an immediate paradigm shift in the Reds' style of play and – even more outrageously – suggesting he made them more organized at the back.
From a manager who could do nothing right, they now have a man who can do no wrong at the helm at Anfield.
And that means the focus will shift onto the players. It is the players – the very ones who hid behind Hodgson during those disastrous last six months – who will from now on be in the firing line.
Liverpool great John Barnes told Goal.com UK last week that he thought the Liverpool players, 13 of whom played in the World Cup, were able to get away with playing badly because they knew Hodgson – undermined and lacking authority – would get the stick if and when it went wrong.
He added: “If the players feel that if they don't perform, no one's going to question them, then subconsciously, do they have to perform?”
When Dalglish hauled off the hopeless Fernando Torres 13 minutes from time and replaced him with David Ngog, it was a moment that at once highlighted the unquestionable authority of the new boss and shined a new spotlight on stars who have consistently failed all season.
If Hodgson had been in charge at Old Trafford, he would not have dared substitute his main goalscorer with Liverpool a goal down heading into the final moments of the game. The abuse he would have received from Reds fans would have made the derision at the Wolves game sound like lullabies.
But under Dalglish the switch took on a different meaning, a signal that he is prepared to take the tough decisions, to manage as a meritocracy and not on reputation or past success. Dalglish is a big enough figure at the club to make decisions he feels are in the best interests of the team without inhibitions.
With the focus now squarely on the team, the shift in blame should Liverpool's mediocre season continue will turn to the players, with the like of Torres and Steven Gerrard in the firing line.
Dalglish admitted after the game that getting Torres back to form will be one of his priorities if the club are going to salvage anything from this season, with the Reds currently 12th in the Premier League.
Torres was too often excused under Hodgson as negative long ball tactics and poor man-management were attributed as significant reasons behind the Spaniard's malaise. He worked hard against United but once again nothing seemed to go right for him as he was bullied off the ball, scuffed shots and mishit passes.
It was the kind of performance he has been producing all season, and if it continues in Dalglish's tenure only one man will be getting the blame.
Likewise Gerrard, an Anfield legend in his own right, has no excuse. The Liverpool captain's horrible two-footed lunge on Michael Carrick could well have denied his side a shot at staying in the FA Cup. But no-one can say it was the tackle of a man frustrated with life under Hodgson, as they might have done had the game been played two days earlier.
It was an act of utter stupidity that deserved a red card and for which he will take sole responsibility in the eyes of the Liverpool support.
Sir Alex Ferguson can manage effectively because he has unanimous respect within the dressing room, the corridors of power and in the stands thanks to 24 years of service to Manchester United.
Most managers don't have that – but Dalglish, or 'King Kenny' had it the second it was announced he would take charge of Liverpool until the end of the season.
No more excuses for the players, the Hodgson nightmare is all over, consigned to the past. Now it's time for the players to shoulder responsibility because the Kop will never stop singing 'Dalglish!'
