| STEPHANE HENCHOZ PROFILE
by Dave Usher
Date of Birth - 07/09/74
Nationality - Swiss
Position - Defence
Cost - £3.5m
Games - 205
Goals - 0
Club Hons (Lpool) - League Cup 2001,2003, UEFA Cup 2001, FA Cup 2001, European Super Cup 2001
Intnl Hons - Swiss Caps
Other Clubs - Stade Payerne, Bulle, Neuchatel Xamax, Hamburg, Blackburn, Wigan |
A few eyebrows were raised when Stephane was signed from the newly relegated Blackburn Rovers for £3.75m in the summer of 1999, but Gerard Houllier knew what he was doing and it proved to be a very shrewd investment.
Injury meant that the Swiss stopper missed the start of the 99/00 season, and it wasn't until October that he made his debut, at Aston Villa. The reds kept a clean sheet that day, despite going down to ten men, and from then on the defence proved to be the meanest in the country.
Henchoz struck up an instant understanding with fellow newcomer Sami Hyypia, and the due were the rock on which the treble success of 2001 was built.
Good in the air with a fair turn of pace, Henchoz's best asset is his reading of the game and strong tackling.
Stephane's red cheeked, contorted-face style of defending gives a strangely re-assuring presence to the side, and we don't look the same side without him.
Injuries meant he missed a large chunk of the 2002/03 campaign, and the following year Gerard Houllier preferred Igor Biscan to Henchoz for long spells, prompting the Swiss star to speak out against his manager.
Usually such actions have dire consequences, but Houllier couldn't leave Henchoz out even had he wished too as Biscan's fragile confidence was shot to pieces after conceding a penalty and collecting a red card during the UEFA cup defeat in Marseille.
So Henchoz regained his place in the side alongside Hyypia, and the defence stopped leaking as many soft goals. The pair's performance during a 1-0 win at Old Trafford brought back memories of the treble season, but the arrival of Rafa Benitez spelled the end for Henchoz who moved on to join Blackburn Rovers.
