Liverpool's tactics reap their reward

Liverpool got the first return of their insurance policy when they played Cologne here tonight in the first leg of the quarter-final round tie in the European Cup. A goalless draw away from home in this competition seems these days to be a victory. That is how the game has gone. Beleaguered though they may have been, Liverpool achieved what they were in pursuit of, mirroring the modern pattern. The hour-glass is not yet empty; nor shall we know the final result until the return leg on Merseyside on March 3.

Here was a match in which the body dominated the mind. Nor was the body always in control, since the pitch was demanding. Snow, which had drifted down all morning, turned to rain in the afternoon and evening, and the night brought freezing temperatures. The ground was soft on top, bone-hard underneath, and something of a skating rink.

This was the stage of a theatre holding a 63,000 crowd, in which not only the brave band of Lancastrians made their presence felt, but also Dr. Erhard, the Chancellor of West Germany, showing a democratic touch as he queued up shoulder to shoulder at half-time for a cup of warm tea. The interest in the struggle was wide and European in content, for not only were there 160 journalists of the inner "Six" and outer "Seven" nations present, but also television and radio.

The atmosphere, in fact, was greater than the play. There was tension from beginning to end, and as the Merseyside voice broke through the Germanic roar with its "Liv-er-pool", one felt that this was a match of nerves. Yet somehow there was a compelling quality which drew the watcher, if only to leave him gasping and perhaps in some cases sickened, because here was the naked exposure of what these two-legged ties mean; defence away from home, with hopes of a snatched victory by your own fireside.

Liverpool's tactics were even clear before they took the field and, within this context, rightly so. They did not come here for fun and games. They came here on business. Yet the match itself proved barren and sterile. There was no elasticity in the Germans, and it was they who will look back on the night and feel, at this moment at least, that they have failed.

They stood - indeed, both sides stood - at the blind ends of a football cul-de-sac. There is little that remains to be unravelled and explained.

Within the struggle, there were some personal conflicts - Yeats blanketing the dangerous Muller through the centre; Stevenson likewise shutting out Sturm, and Smith, in spite of wearing the number 10 figure on his back, overshadowing the clever, left-footed Overath in the deep Liverpool defensive scheme. Sadly, there was no-one sensitive enough to provide the breakthrough.

Liverpool, though, can be praised. In their 4-3-3 formation they played as they had planned, leaving Hunt, Callaghan and Thompson on the flanks as their outriders and strikers. Both the wingers kept switching positions to worry the opposition and Callaghan, in particular, not only falling back in defence, but also found time for his own personal raids. More than once did he leave Regh standing.

The pattern of the match can be easily dismissed. It did not flow. Rather, it was hewn. The field of vision was narrow and primitive. For a quarter of an hour mid-way through the first half Liverpool were hanging on with the skin of their teeth as Thielen scraped Lawrence's post from 25 yards, and then missed from a reasonable opening at inside left.

Stronger and fitter

After the interval there was one concerted move by Liverpool involving Smith, Milne, Callaghan, St John, and then Callaghan and Milne again, with the right-half finally shooting wide. In all this struggle Smith, treading every yard, caught the eye, defending heroically and still finding time to support depleted attacks with Milne.

The last running was made by Liverpool, who seemed the fitter, the stronger and more determined side. The final stroke was a rousing shock by Byrne as he emerged suddenly from defence to test Schumacher under the angle of crossbar and post from 25 yards and more. That was the way Liverpool played - like a concertina. The roaring crowd may not have liked the tune, but it struck the required note in the circumstances, Liverpool's eighteenth unbeaten match in a row.

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