Read Online My Liverpool Home by Kenny Dalglish - Free Book Online
Authors: Kenny Dalglish
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while some poor kid writhed on the grass as Benno stalked away.
At Celtic, Jock Stein never allowed matches like this in training, but I took quickly to this Liverpool tradition. The kids loved it, because it made them feel really involved, and it allowed first-teamers who’d been out injured to regain some sharpness. In Liverpool’s constant pursuit of excellence, the staff led the way, rarely losing many games at Melwood. I swiftly learned that the Boot Room boys’ one-eyed style of refereeing would never have been found on any Football Association course. Not that they ever needed a course.
Nobody could teach the Boot Room anything about football. Bob and Joe, Ronnie and Roy were professors of the game and their paperwork was the very best. The two dusty cupboards in the Boot Room contained loads of books, detailing every training session, every match. Every day, Ronnie and Roy made entries in the books with all the gravitas of clerks filling in ledgers, inscribing notes about the weather, the numbers, any injuries, who’d trained well or who’d been off the pace. Liverpool understood better than any club that football was a science and these training books reflected that professional approach. Stretching back to 1966 under Shanks, they grew into great reference books, shaping football operations. One year, the club was plagued with cartilage problems, so Ronnie and Roy flicked back through the books, analysing previous outbreaks. They’d tweak training, maybe give certain players a breather, and the crisis would be resolved. Ronnie and Roy watched us like hawks, scrutinising every move and word. I know modern-day clubs use technology to chart performances in training, but I’d back the eyes of Ronnie and Roy ahead of anyone’s computer.
I resented the suggestion that trophies fell into Liverpool’s lap. People outside Melwood’s high walls and metal gates couldn’t grasp the sophistication of the work going on inside. ‘All Liverpool do in training is just play five-a-sides’ was an ill-informed critique I heard and read countless times, but such ignorance never bothered me. If Liverpool seemed a mystery, that just made it more difficult for other teams as our aura grew. Before Graeme joined us, I was away with Scotland when we talked about Liverpool, and the five-a-side issue was raised.
‘Yes, we play five-a-sides but not ordinary ones,’ I explained. ‘Everything has a purpose. We’re not strolling about – it’s all conditioned. If there’s something specific Bob wants to work on, it’s incorporated into the five-a-sides. It’s so simple and effective.’ Bob’s small-sided games were designed to correct faults from Liverpool’s last game and prepare us tactically for the next.
‘A team like Everton play with a high defensive line, trying to catch us offside,’ I said to Graeme. ‘Before we play them, Ronnie and Joe introduce a high line in the five-a-sides. So we get into the habit of not running offside. Sometimes, Ronnie and Joe don’t tell us. They just whisper to the other team to play a high line. They make us think, react, take control. If we’ve not scored many for a couple of weeks, we move from small goals to big ones, just to get us back into the scoring habit. Whatever condition the staff place on the five-a-side has value. One touch, two touch, pass and move.’
Pass and move obsessed Ronnie and Joe, who considered standing still a crime worthy of a lengthy custodial sentence. ‘Pass and don’t move is a foul,’ Ronnie warned us before every training session. ‘Free-kick,’ he shouted if the conditions weren’t met, making sure the message got through quickly.
Liverpool’s secret could be found in one of the staff’s mantras: ‘Get it. Keep it.’ I loved how Ronnie and Joe preached the importance of cherishing the ball’s company. Guided by such heavyweight football men, Liverpool stayed ahead of the game for years. Nowadays, it makes me laugh when people bang
At Celtic, Jock Stein never allowed matches like this in training, but I took quickly to this Liverpool tradition. The kids loved it, because it made them feel really involved, and it allowed first-teamers who’d been out injured to regain some sharpness. In Liverpool’s constant pursuit of excellence, the staff led the way, rarely losing many games at Melwood. I swiftly learned that the Boot Room boys’ one-eyed style of refereeing would never have been found on any Football Association course. Not that they ever needed a course.
Nobody could teach the Boot Room anything about football. Bob and Joe, Ronnie and Roy were professors of the game and their paperwork was the very best. The two dusty cupboards in the Boot Room contained loads of books, detailing every training session, every match. Every day, Ronnie and Roy made entries in the books with all the gravitas of clerks filling in ledgers, inscribing notes about the weather, the numbers, any injuries, who’d trained well or who’d been off the pace. Liverpool understood better than any club that football was a science and these training books reflected that professional approach. Stretching back to 1966 under Shanks, they grew into great reference books, shaping football operations. One year, the club was plagued with cartilage problems, so Ronnie and Roy flicked back through the books, analysing previous outbreaks. They’d tweak training, maybe give certain players a breather, and the crisis would be resolved. Ronnie and Roy watched us like hawks, scrutinising every move and word. I know modern-day clubs use technology to chart performances in training, but I’d back the eyes of Ronnie and Roy ahead of anyone’s computer.
I resented the suggestion that trophies fell into Liverpool’s lap. People outside Melwood’s high walls and metal gates couldn’t grasp the sophistication of the work going on inside. ‘All Liverpool do in training is just play five-a-sides’ was an ill-informed critique I heard and read countless times, but such ignorance never bothered me. If Liverpool seemed a mystery, that just made it more difficult for other teams as our aura grew. Before Graeme joined us, I was away with Scotland when we talked about Liverpool, and the five-a-side issue was raised.
‘Yes, we play five-a-sides but not ordinary ones,’ I explained. ‘Everything has a purpose. We’re not strolling about – it’s all conditioned. If there’s something specific Bob wants to work on, it’s incorporated into the five-a-sides. It’s so simple and effective.’ Bob’s small-sided games were designed to correct faults from Liverpool’s last game and prepare us tactically for the next.
‘A team like Everton play with a high defensive line, trying to catch us offside,’ I said to Graeme. ‘Before we play them, Ronnie and Joe introduce a high line in the five-a-sides. So we get into the habit of not running offside. Sometimes, Ronnie and Joe don’t tell us. They just whisper to the other team to play a high line. They make us think, react, take control. If we’ve not scored many for a couple of weeks, we move from small goals to big ones, just to get us back into the scoring habit. Whatever condition the staff place on the five-a-side has value. One touch, two touch, pass and move.’
Pass and move obsessed Ronnie and Joe, who considered standing still a crime worthy of a lengthy custodial sentence. ‘Pass and don’t move is a foul,’ Ronnie warned us before every training session. ‘Free-kick,’ he shouted if the conditions weren’t met, making sure the message got through quickly.
Liverpool’s secret could be found in one of the staff’s mantras: ‘Get it. Keep it.’ I loved how Ronnie and Joe preached the importance of cherishing the ball’s company. Guided by such heavyweight football men, Liverpool stayed ahead of the game for years. Nowadays, it makes me laugh when people bang
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