Articles
Kenny Dalglish delighted on European debut as manager despite drab draw
NOTHING could have been worth the long wait Kenny Dalglish had to endure before taking charge of Liverpool in Europe.
But the Anfield manager will be a content figure this morning as his current charges maintained their unbeaten Europe League record this season.
An instantly forgettable goalless draw at Sparta Prague was not desired way to represent a landmark moment in Dalglish’s career.
The Scot, though, will know his team are now firmly in the box seat to reach the last 16 when the second leg takes place at Anfield next Thursday.
This was a typical Liverpool away European performance, the likes of which have been passed down through the Anfield managers and Dalglish the player will remember well.
And it was in keeping with the form shown under his predecessor Roy Hodgson, who successfully navigated 10 games in the competition before Christmas to qualify for the knockout stages with a match to spare.
With first leg ties in Europe traditionally cagey affairs, there was only a remote chance the game could live up to the £145 ticket price Sparta were asking of some Liverpool supporters.
However, those that made the trip might have expected a bit more excitement from what in truth was a dismal spectacle, a fifth clean sheet in six games and the return to action of Joe Cole the only real positives from a fourth successive European away draw.
Some 9,394 days after filling the Anfield hotseat in the wake of the Heysel disaster, Dalglish was in the Liverpool dugout in European competition for the first time last night.
Of course, the Europa League is Liverpool’s final chance of gaining a silver lining from a difficult campaign, success which go a long way towards ensuring Dalglish’s stay as manager is extended beyond the end of the campaign. This, then, was a decent start.
Last night’s opponents Sparta were unbeaten domestically last season on the way to winning the Czech championship, but had already lost four of 14 home games in all competitions this time around before last night.
Their plans for the second half of the campaign have been disrupted by the sale of leading scorer Wilfried Bony and midfielder Juraj Kucka during the January transfer window.
Hodgson had used the competition to give fringe players and youngsters an opportunity, but Dalglish was taking no chances on his European bow by naming a strong starting line-up.
It meant no place on the bench for 16-year-old boy wonder Raheem Sterling, with under-18s captain Conor Coady, 17, the only one of the five youngsters on the trip to Prague to be named among the substitutes.
There was, however, a fourth Liverpool start for teenage defender Danny Wilson, the Scotland international part of a four-man defence that saw Jamie Carragher make his 200th cup appearance for the club.
David Ngog, the Anfield outfit’s leading scorer in the competition this season with five goals, also returned as the lone striker, pitting his wits against 37-year-old Sparta captain Tomas Repka, the former West Ham United centre-back.
A tussle between the pair that saw both go into referee Florian Meyer’s book was a rare highlight during a low-key first-half bereft of quality and incident, with Liverpool’s cautious approach successfully stifling the enthusiasm of their Czech opponents.
Despite having not played a competitive game in more than two months, Sparta had the better of the opening exchanges to warm their supporters on a chilly night at the near-capacity Stadion Letna.
But the Anfield manager will be a content figure this morning as his current charges maintained their unbeaten Europe League record this season.
An instantly forgettable goalless draw at Sparta Prague was not desired way to represent a landmark moment in Dalglish’s career.
The Scot, though, will know his team are now firmly in the box seat to reach the last 16 when the second leg takes place at Anfield next Thursday.
This was a typical Liverpool away European performance, the likes of which have been passed down through the Anfield managers and Dalglish the player will remember well.
And it was in keeping with the form shown under his predecessor Roy Hodgson, who successfully navigated 10 games in the competition before Christmas to qualify for the knockout stages with a match to spare.
With first leg ties in Europe traditionally cagey affairs, there was only a remote chance the game could live up to the £145 ticket price Sparta were asking of some Liverpool supporters.
However, those that made the trip might have expected a bit more excitement from what in truth was a dismal spectacle, a fifth clean sheet in six games and the return to action of Joe Cole the only real positives from a fourth successive European away draw.
Some 9,394 days after filling the Anfield hotseat in the wake of the Heysel disaster, Dalglish was in the Liverpool dugout in European competition for the first time last night.
Of course, the Europa League is Liverpool’s final chance of gaining a silver lining from a difficult campaign, success which go a long way towards ensuring Dalglish’s stay as manager is extended beyond the end of the campaign. This, then, was a decent start.
Last night’s opponents Sparta were unbeaten domestically last season on the way to winning the Czech championship, but had already lost four of 14 home games in all competitions this time around before last night.
Their plans for the second half of the campaign have been disrupted by the sale of leading scorer Wilfried Bony and midfielder Juraj Kucka during the January transfer window.
Hodgson had used the competition to give fringe players and youngsters an opportunity, but Dalglish was taking no chances on his European bow by naming a strong starting line-up.
It meant no place on the bench for 16-year-old boy wonder Raheem Sterling, with under-18s captain Conor Coady, 17, the only one of the five youngsters on the trip to Prague to be named among the substitutes.
There was, however, a fourth Liverpool start for teenage defender Danny Wilson, the Scotland international part of a four-man defence that saw Jamie Carragher make his 200th cup appearance for the club.
David Ngog, the Anfield outfit’s leading scorer in the competition this season with five goals, also returned as the lone striker, pitting his wits against 37-year-old Sparta captain Tomas Repka, the former West Ham United centre-back.
A tussle between the pair that saw both go into referee Florian Meyer’s book was a rare highlight during a low-key first-half bereft of quality and incident, with Liverpool’s cautious approach successfully stifling the enthusiasm of their Czech opponents.
Despite having not played a competitive game in more than two months, Sparta had the better of the opening exchanges to warm their supporters on a chilly night at the near-capacity Stadion Letna.
