Liverpool trophy cabinet empty after traumatic season

A season that started with five new pieces of silverware in the Liverpool trophy cabinet has ended in empty-handed disappointment for the Anfield club.

It was always asking too much for Liverpool to match their feat of winning the UEFA, FA and League Cups, to which they later added the European Super Cup and the Charity Shield.

But nobody could have foreseen the off-field problems that were to turn the 2001-02 campaign into a highly traumatic one for the Merseysiders, and especially for their manager Gerard Houllier.

On October 13, the Frenchman was rushed to hospital with chest pains at halftime during a home game against Leeds United.

With Anfield in a state of shock, Houllier underwent life-saving heart surgery and it was to be five months before he would return to full-time duties.

"What happened to me was more to do with the workload than stress. My body was complaining," Houllier said later.

Thanks to the manful efforts of Houllier's assistant, the previously untried Phil Thompson, the damage to Liverpool's fortunes on the field was minimal.

When a withered-looking Houllier reappeared on the touchline to a hero's welcome for a game against AS Roma on March 19, Liverpool were still in contention for the Champions League and premier league.

BRAVE CLAIM

Houllier bravely claimed his team were just "10 games from greatness" but it turned out they were in fact seven games from the end of their season.

Liverpool exited the Champions League at the quarter-final stage after defeat by Bayer Leverkusen and their valiant premier league title bid ended after a 1-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur in their third-last game of the season.

The Merseysiders had meekly surrendered their League Cup crown when they lost 2-1 at home to first division Grimsby Town in the third round four days before Houllier's collapse in October.

They were beaten in the FA Cup fourth round by Arsenal in a stormy Highbury encounter that will be remembered for Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher's moment of madness when he threw a coin back into the crowd.

But Houllier's problems were not the only ones Liverpool had to contend with.

German defender Markus Babbel was struck down by a debilitating viral infection on September 19, from which he has yet to fully recover.

Further the club's fans were forced to swallow the galling sale of local hero Robbie Fowler to rivals Leeds United in November as the benched England striker's patience finally snapped.

Throughout it all, Liverpool have been forced to put up with the unjustified tag of being a "boring" side because of their counter-attacking style.

BITTEREST RIVALS

They still managed two more wins over Manchester United, their fifth successive victory against their bitterest rivals and, despite all the tribulations, Houllier believes progress has been made.

Houllier has already vowed to go shopping for new players in the summer, although it is likely to be a case of adding one or two select items rather than emptying out the wardrobe.

There is not a lot wrong with Liverpool's complement of strikers, especially if on-loan Frenchman Nicolas Anelka is permanently added to Michael Owen and Emile Heskey.

Finn Jari Litmanen, frustrated at being left on the bench, could be one candidate to leave.

But in midfield Steven Gerrard is blossoming into a player capable of dominating a match like Arsenal's Patrick Vieira or United's Roy Keane, while Danny Murphy continues to improve with each season.

Houllier is unlikely to tinker with his central defensive partnership of Sami Hyypia and the under-rated Stephane Henchoz who, together with impressive Polish goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek, have formed the meanest defence in the premier league this season.

Whoever Houllier decides to buy, Liverpool fans can be sure that the Frenchman will keep the pressures of his job in perspective.

It was another iconic Liverpool manager, Bill Shankly, who famously said: "Football is not a matter of life and death, it's more important than that."

After all he has been through this season, Houllier may care to disagree.