Category: Sports/Sports gt; gt; Football

Analysis:

Premier League History of Liverpool: The Great Shankly and Paisley Era (Photo)

1. Living in the shadow of Everton

In 1878, Liverpool’s city rival Everton Club was founded and they played at Anfield. In 1892, a dispute over business operations led to an internal schism, with some leaving Anfield and moving to Goodison Park, where the club's name remained Everton. Club chairman John Holding and other people stayed at Anfield. Due to the late registration, they could no longer use the name Everton. Later Holding decided to name the club after the entire city. So on March 15, 1892, Liverpool Football Club was established. In 1894, the club decided on a red uniform.

Due to the existence of Everton, Liverpool's survival was difficult at the beginning. John McKenna became the first head coach in the club's history. Prior to this, many players left Anfield for Everton, and McKenna had to go to Scotland to find players. There, he recruited 12 players in one breath, but because of this, Liverpool received far less attention than Everton because locals were unwilling to watch a team composed of Scots.

After their first application to join the Football League was rejected, Liverpool could only play in the Lancashire League. On September 1, 1892, they played their first game at Anfield, defeating Rotherham 7-1. Coincidentally, on the same day, Everton also played their first game at Goodday. In the first game after Johnson Park, only a few hundred fans came to Anfield to watch the game, while more than 10,000 people came to watch Everton play.

Two days later, Liverpool played their first game in the Lancashire League. Liverpool once again won with a disparity of 8-0. The game was postponed for several hours due to the late arrival of the visiting team. This time, only a few hundred fans witnessed the team's victory. On the day of the match, Liverpool captain McWayne won the coin toss and chose to start the first half in the direction of Anfield Road. Many Liverpool captains continue this tradition to this day. The club's first official match was at home against Walton Town on September 3, 1892, but this time Liverpool again won 8-0.

One year later, Liverpool was admitted to the Football League, but was unfortunately relegated in the first season. However, 12 months later, they came back as the second division champions and won the second division title. In the same year, they ranked fifth in the First Division again, higher than their arch-rivals Everton for the first time. In the following 10 years, although Liverpool experienced relegation several times, they also won the league championship twice (1901, 1906). They finally established a firm foothold in Liverpool City.

2. Shankly’s innovation

Before the 1950s, Liverpool won the league championship three times (1922, 23, 47), but in the 1950s, the team fell into a trough. . In the 1953-54 season, Liverpool ranked bottom in the First Division and was relegated to the Second Division. In the following years, the Red Army struggled in the quagmire of the Second Division, but was unable to escape.

In December 1959, after the resignation of former coach Taylor, Liverpool made a decision that would later go down in history and appointed Horsfield coach Bill Shankly as the new coach. , as a result, this legendary figure turned a team struggling in the second division into the English First Division champion in 5 years, and thus established Liverpool's dominance.

Before Shankly took over Liverpool, he made a lot of preparations. Previously, the transfer rights of players were in the hands of the board of directors, but after negotiations, Shankly, who was born in Scotland, became the first to freely select players. He is the head coach, and he has made great efforts to rectify everything from transfer decisions to minor stadium turf repairs. Roger Hunter, a player who played for Liverpool at the time, recalled: "After Shankly took office, he brought a lot of new things to the club. He persuaded the club to invest in buying players, transformed many training methods, and we also got brand-new training. The equipment and the stadium have also changed from muddy to green grass. Shankly is like a breath of fresh air, bringing new life to the team."

In the 12 months since taking over, Shankly has become a new player. Klee carried out a major overhaul of the team. He sold 22 players in one year. The introduction of players was judged according to his team building philosophy. The then Liverpool star Moran recalled: "He brought us a lot of small team exercises. This training method is very good, and we always practiced running in the past." At the same time, Shankly was also a master of psychology, according to Liverpool Hickson, a player in the 1950s, recalled that Shankly would always make disparaging comments about superstars such as Bobby Charlton in order to increase the confidence of the players.

On December 19, 1959, Shankly lost his first official game, Liverpool was defeated 0-4 by Cardiff. But under his coaching and influence, the Red Army began to have a clear upward trend. In the early 1960s, Liverpool not only was promoted back to the First Division, but also gradually became a strong team. During Shankly's coaching period, a large number of talented players came to Liverpool. Kevin Keegan, John Toshack and others have built a formidable team. In the 1963-64 season, Shankly led his team to win the league championship for the first time, marking the beginning of the Red Army's dominance. In 1965, Liverpool won the FA Cup for the first time and dominated the league the following year. In 1973, Shankly won the league championship again, and also won the UEFA Cup in the same year. The FA Cup championship in 1974 was his final honor for Liverpool.

After the 1973-74 season, Shankly unexpectedly announced his resignation as head coach. At the age of 60, he planned to spend more time with his wife Nice and his family. This decision shocked the city of Liverpool. In September 1981, Shankly died of a heart attack. When his friend and former Manchester United legendary coach Sir Busby heard the news, he was so sad that he was speechless for a long time on the phone.

3. Outperforming others

After Shankly resigned, there was only one suitable successor, Bob Paisley. Paisley is a former Liverpool player. He has assisted Shankly for a long time and is familiar with the team. However, Paisley was unwilling to take over at the beginning. The achievements left by Shankly were so brilliant that any successor would face tremendous pressure. In the end, the Liverpool board of directors spent a lot of effort to convince him and Paisley officially took office.

Liverpool should feel lucky that they have found an excellent successor for Shankly. Paisley's achievements even surpassed Shankly's. During the 9 years of coaching, Paisley brought great success to Liverpool. He has won an astonishing 19 championship trophies, including 6 league championships (1976, 77, 79, 80, 82, 83), 3 European Champions Cup championships (1977, 78, 81), 3 League Cup championships (1981, 82, 83), 1 UEFA Cup (1976), 1 European Super Cup (1977) and 5 Charity Shield titles (1974, 76, 77, 80, 82). Shankly created an era and Paisley carried it forward. In the hands of his reluctant successor, Liverpool not only established themselves as England's hegemons, but also became the best team in Europe during that period.

In the 1976-77 season, Liverpool got involved in the European Champions Cup for the first time, and the Red Devils put their own mark on the European arena.

In the final in Rome, the opponent was Monchengladbach. McDermott scored first. After the opponent equalized, Keegan rushed into the penalty area and won a penalty. Neal scored the most critical penalty. "We won honor for the country, and this is also my most successful moment," Paisley said after the game. "But I don't want to drink. I want to be sober and experience every second now. Tonight the Pope and I will be in Rome. The two most sober people."

In 1978, Liverpool won the European Champions Cup again and won it again in 1981. Paisley brought the Red Army to the highest peak. Favorite Kenny Dalglish has such memories of this amazing manager. "He was the greatest of them all, his knowledge of football was amazing, sometimes he would look at a player taking two steps and he would know if there was an injury or where it was. There will never be another like Paisley Coach."

In 1977, when Keegan left, Paisley signed Dalglish as a replacement, and the latter became a legendary star in Liverpool history. Also signed by Paisley were Graeme Souness and Alan Hansen, who formed the skeleton of the new Liverpool.

After the 1982-83 season, Paisley resigned as Liverpool coach, and Joe Fagan became his successor. In 1996, Paisley passed away, and Liverpool built the Paisley Gate at Anfield Stadium to pay tribute to the legend