green winger

Chapter 219 The Boot Room and Houllier
So here comes the question, does the head coach who is currently coaching Liverpool have such ability?

There is no doubt that Liverpool fans have the right to comment on this issue, but for the head coach who led the Red Army Liverpool to revival and won the Cup Triple Crown, the Red Army fans love and hate, because he ended The Boot Room tradition that Liverpool has had for many years.

Some people may ask, what is a boot room?In fact, there has always been a saying among English football and Liverpool fans, that is, King Arthur has the Knights of the Round Table, Shankly also has the legend of the boot room, and it is the boot room system created by Shankly that has created Liverpool's glory in Europe.

In fact, when Kenny walked through the player tunnel that said this is Anfield, he had already most intuitively understood the domineering performance of the legendary coach Shankly who created a brilliant dynasty for Liverpool.For this legendary coach, he said many famous words that have become classics in the football world, such as "Football has nothing to do with life and death, football is higher than life and death." "The first is the first, the second is nothing." etc. A series of words, but in fact, when Shankly was in charge, he had not created another glorious tradition for Liverpool, that is, the boot room.

We all know that Shankly is a bold and innovative head coach.At the beginning of his tenure, he brought a series of professional measures to Liverpool, which was in a trough, transforming the dilapidated Anfield Stadium, forming a training mode of team confrontation, and instilling football ideas that focus on overall coordination into the players.And he built his think tank with assistant coach Paisley, reserve team coach Fagan and Bennett as the basic members, and the legend started from here.

At that time, a room under the main stand of Anfield Stadium had been used to store players' boots, so it was called the boot room.But then assistant coaches Paisley and Bennett moved in. At first there was no chair in the boot room, and the only beer crate that could sit was obtained by reserve team coach Fagan from an acquaintance.But since there was beer, Paisley and others often invited the coach of the visiting team to the boot room for a drink. Later, even a large group of Scots in the Liverpool club also liked to come here after the game to discuss the game in the afternoon.

So the boot room gradually became an office for studying strategy and tactics. Paisley, Fagan and Bennett often discussed issues here, and its importance increased with Liverpool's progress.Unknowingly, the boot room became the nerve center for the work of Shankly's assistants, where the team's daily training and game records and accurate information were collected.But Shankly seldom visited, because he reserved it for his assistants.

And as the boot room culture continued to develop, so did Liverpool's first glory. In the 1961-1962 season, Liverpool was promoted as the champion of the second division.Two seasons later, Shankly won the League One title for Liverpool.So at this point, Liverpool began to reach its peak. In 1973, Liverpool won the League One and UEFA Cup double crowns, and ruled Europe.

But if it develops like this, the boot room that has become Liverpool's tactical research room and brain will not be as important as later generations. At best, it is just a deputy to the head coach.A year later, Shankly, who had just turned 60, made a shocking decision: to retire!He publicly explained that he wanted to leave time for his wife Ness and his family, so he resolutely chose to leave when the Red Army had just reached its peak, leaving behind a legend that will amaze future generations for a long time.

However, he was still worried about Liverpool. Before leaving, Shankly recommended his assistant coach, Paisley, one of the members of the boot room, to the club.At the age of 55, Paisley was the former captain of Liverpool. He was self-taught and became the club team doctor. Later, he also served as an assistant coach and became Shankly's right-hand man.It was not an easy decision for him who was used to standing behind the scenes to succeed the great Shankly, but in the end he accepted the mission.

Since then, the succession of assistant coaches has become a symbol of the boot room, and has also become the core of Liverpool's boot room tradition. From Shankly to Paisley, to Fagan, and then to Darglish, the boot room culture has become Liverpool's precious tradition and winning philosophy Passed down from generation to generation.But when Liverpool fell back to the bottom, the board of directors made a surprising decision.After six years without a championship, Houllier was appointed to co-coach with Evans in 1998, which is also the so-called double leader.

At this time, Houllier, as an outsider who had not been influenced by the boot room culture, could imagine the pressure he was under.A few months later, after Evans, the last coach of the boot room culture, resigned voluntarily because he was often unable to coordinate with him in management, Houllier was criticized by Liverpool fans and public opinion.Even he had a solid experience before coaching Ligue [-] powerhouses Lens Football Club and Paris Saint-Germain, and coaching the French national team to cultivate strong players such as Henry and Pires.

So amid such criticism and scolding from the fans, Houllier began to drastically reorganize the team. He sold most of Liverpool's old main players and replaced them with another group of players like Steven Gerrard and Dietmar. Young talents like Harman and Hyypia.Then he started his journey amidst the more crazy scolding of the fans. In two years, in just two years, he made Liverpool, which was only ranked seventh in the Premier League in the 1998-99 season and could not participate in European competitions, become the English Football Association. Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup three champions of the Cup Triple Crown.

It can be said that Houllier, the lone hero, slapped Liverpool fans and the major media severely with his actions, but when the fans began to support him, he did another amazing thing this summer What happened instantly made Liverpool fans give up on him.Liverpool, the triple crown champion, only spent 400 million pounds to acquire the Norwegian teenager Rees after 400 million transfers from Zieg!

And not to mention Maxwell and Ian Armstrong were allowed to leave the team on a free transfer during this period. In the eyes of fans and reporters, this kind of transfer window operation is simply not what an ambitious team should have. !Therefore, when Liverpool ushered in their strongest opponent so far this season, everyone turned their attention. If Houllier wins, then he can shut everyone's mouths.

If he fails then the outlook can be said to be bleak!
　In the chapter of transition, write about Liverpool's legendary culture.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)