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The visitors were a man down at Anfield before they started and they showed reduced attacking verve against Liverpool

Tottenham Hotspur were a man down before they even started. Perhaps that assertion just underlines the fact that we put such weight on everything a manager says and does. In practice, though, it was difficult to tell if the visitors would have been more vibrant under the watchful eye of Harry Redknapp.

We have been taking managers very seriously for a long time. It is not enough that they pick the team and lay down the tactics. Their presence on the touchline or in the stand is somehow thought essential. Given that the cult of the manager is so marked, the lack of Redknapp made the scene a little odd. Perhaps, too, it accounted for diminished verve in his Tottenham team.

Regardless of the court case in London and his inability to get to Merseyside because of a technical problem with the plane, it was still hard to forget him. Kevin Bond, the assistant manager, and Joe Jordan, the first-team coach, would have been in no doubt as to what was required and the plan for the night had been laid down already.

All the same the true issue was whether footballers somehow need their leader in view to give of their best. It seems preposterous such an attitude could be allowed in a professional sport where players are paid so lavishly on the basis that they themselves shape the outcome of a match. Even so, this was the type of fixture that did call for managerial expertise and the lack of Rafael van der Vaart because of a calf strain was another factor to be addressed by those in the technical area..

Liverpool held some advantages. They were at home and, just as significantly, far closer to full strength than their opponents. Tottenham mostly had to resist in the first half but they still hinted at the ability that makes a Champions League campaign very likely next season.

That under-strength line-up did at least have Ledley King in its midst. That, in its own way, was a means of compensating for Redknapp’s unavailability. Given the severity of the knee trouble that has bedevilled his career, it said much that the defender was starting a match for the second time in seven days. There is hope that playing the game regularly might again become normal to the centre-half.

If Redknapp, glowering at his television, had a complaint, it would have related to the lack of confidence on the ball that hindered Tottenham’s efforts to take the game to the opposition. It was Liverpool who dominated possession before the interval but Tottenham had an intensity of their own even if they had neither sight nor sound of their manager.

Any small misgiving lay then in the conservatism. The best moment for them in the first half probably lay in Michael Dawson’s impeccable tackle on Andy Carroll after five minutes when a penalty could so easily have been conceded. Even so that stringency would not have sufficed for Redknapp. His emphasis on attacking style has, after all, seen the team notch 20 goals in 11 away fixtures in the league before they got to Anfield.

That incisiveness was out of reach in the opening 45 minutes. The interpretation of that fact is awkward to assess. It is, after all, supposed to be a taxing night when any side takes on Liverpool here. All the same we have come to expect more from Gareth Bale, Luka Modric and others in the line-up.

It was easy to think how exasperated Redknapp would have been at that stage. The bid for the title itself has faded but the manager is still entitled to call for confidence and ambition when his side is on the ball.

Tottenham, too, had beaten Liverpool in all three of their most recent encounters, including a 4-0 spree at White Hart Lane in September.

Given the context, it was natural to ask that Tottenham do more than demonstrate efficiency while containing Kenny Dalglish’s side. They did better in the second half and looked more interested in attacking but still the verve and penetration were in short supply.

The single heartening factor would have been the discipline in Tottenham ranks when Liverpool commanded so much territory.

That focus had to be even more intense when Luis Suárez made his return from suspension and came on before an adoring Anfield in the 66th minute. Everything depended then on Tottenham’s capacity to maintain order even without Redknapp’s presence.

Premier League 2011-12LiverpoolTottenham HotspurPremier LeagueKevin McCarra
guardian.co.uk

“Por fin llegó el día,” was the message Luis Suarez had posted on his Twitter account. “Finally the day has come,” it translated. This was his first game back since the nine-match suspension that threatened to blow a gaping hole in Liverpool’s season and, almost immediately, was reacquainted with yet more of the controversy he finds it hard to shake off.

Suárez had been on the pitch only three minutes when he swung out out his right boot, missed the ball and caught Scott Parker flush in the abdomen. The referee, Michael Oliver, issued a yellow card but this is the generation of Twitter and Wayne Rooney was already typing in his disdain. “If ref sees that kick from Suárez and books him for it, it should be red,” said the Manchester United player.

It was a harsh critique – the kick looked painful but did not appear malicious – and Liverpool will just be glad to have their most incisive player back on the field even if his introduction, after 66 minutes, could not conjure up a winner in a game played in the absence of Harry Redknapp, whose travel arrangements from Southwark crown court never saw him get past London City airport because of a technical problem with his plane.

It was an unorthodox night in other ways given that play was delayed because a cat had strayed on the pitch, with conspicuously few stewards willing to find out how tame it was. A clinging fog had threatened the game at one point earlier in the evening and, once it cleared, it was not difficult to imagine Redknapp seated in front of a television somewhere in London wincing with discomfort about the length of time it was taking Spurs to offer even a glimpse of the exhilarating football that has brought them to third in the league.

This has been a renascent Liverpool side since the nadir of their 3-1 defeat at Bolton three weekends ago and most of the pressing in the opening exchanges came from the side that have just navigated their way to the Carling Cup final as well as eliminating Manchester United from the FA Cup.

They were quick to the ball, strong in the challenge and clearly buoyed by their recent successes but, for the most part, there was still that sense of a team needing a touch more creativity and, in those moments, it was understandable if segments of their crowd found themselves peering longingly in Suárez’s direction.

Dalglish had reasoned that a footballer whose professional life has been suspended since Boxing Day might find it difficult to reacclimatise straight away, and it may also be that the Liverpool manager was also emboldened by Andy Carroll’s improvement over the last few games. Either way, the home side were crying out for the Uruguayan’s ability to get behind opposition defences. Carroll is a far more static player and, though Bellamy darts around with an indefatigable desire to make things happen, he does not carry the same menace.

Their best chance in the first half came as early as the fifth minute when Steven Gerrard, impressive in front of Fabio Capello, sent Carroll clear with a beautifully weighted pass. Michael Dawson’s recovery tackle was timed exquisitely because, as the last defender, the repercussions had he mistimed it would have been grave. Jay Spearing sent in a long-distance effort that struck the stanchion behind the goal and Liverpool played with the great energy, with Gerrard dictating midfield. Spurs were unusually blunt, restricted to only a couple of half-chances. Kyle Walker’s surging runs from right-back were a prominent feature but there were only flashes of Gareth Bale’s penetrative qualities and Emmanuel Adebayor was even more peripheral.

They did, however, start to take better care of the ball at the start of the second half, even if there was the sideshow of Bale trying to deceive the referee, Michael Oliver, into awarding a free-kick from a non-challenge. Bale has too much raw ability to add diving to his repertoire and Liverpool’s players were entitled to feel aggrieved. Briefly, tempers flared, with Daniel Agger and Glen Johnson both remonstrating with Bale, who earned a booking for his deception.

The game needed a spark and it came when Suárez started unzipping his tracksuit top. Tottenham’s supporters taunted him with chants that brought John Terry into the equation, but they could hardly be heard at that point.

Anfield was welcoming back a player the crowd here have largely deemed to be the victim of an injustice. It was a standing ovation and the decibel levels went up another notch when, with his first involvement, he dispossessed Benoît Assou-Ekotto to set up a Liverpool attack.

Suárez went on to have four efforts at goal but the most inviting chance came at the other end when Bale sprinted clear only to shoot too close to Pepe Reina.

Premier League 2011-12LiverpoolTottenham HotspurPremier LeagueDaniel Taylor
guardian.co.uk

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