10 games from greatness, but don't quote me! (ESPN article)

by Dave Usher for ESPN

"Hopefully we are 10 games from greatness," Gerard Houllier infamously said back in April 2002. "We're still in contention to win the title and the Champions League. The vision is to win both," the Frenchman added, not unreasonably at the time it must be said. The "vision" sounded great, but unfortunately it never came to fruition and Houllier ended up with egg on his face that he's still wiping off now all these years later. As recently as two weeks ago he was having to explain that quote again; it's something that will probably never leave him.

The Reds had gone 13 games undefeated prior to Houllier's battle cry and responded by beating Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 at Anfield in the Champions League quarterfinals only to then be eliminated from the competition a week later after losing the away leg 4-2. They then won four of the five remaining league games, but it wasn't enough to prevent Arsenal claiming the title by seven points. It was an incredible effort from the Reds, but the damage had been done earlier in the season and try as they might, they just couldn't close the gap on the Gunners.

I can't help but sympathise a little with Houllier over the "10 games" quote though; he was simply trying to inspire his men, and while it looks a bit daft now, it wasn't as though Liverpool completely imploded after his proclamation. Far from it, in fact. Yet the comment has now gone down in Anfield folklore as one of those embarrassing "foot in mouth" moments that are given far more relevance than they probably should.

Football fans are notoriously superstitious by nature and declarations such as Houllier's are seen as needlessly "tempting fate." Of course Houllier's words had absolutely no bearing on Liverpool losing in Leverkusen or not winning the title, but in saying what he did he set himself up for a fall and he'll never be allowed to forget it, not least because people like me keep bringing it up (see also "Rafa's rant," which was actually nothing of the sort and had no bearing whatsoever on the title race).

Fast forward 12 years and Liverpool are once again in a title race and are potentially "10 games from greatness," although you'll not hear Brendan Rodgers making any such declarations, at least I hope not. Much like Houllier, Brendan loves a sound bite and he'll talk all day if you let him, but so far he's handled this title challenge and all that comes with it in an exemplary manner, refusing to make any bold claims or grand statements of intent. It's all about the next game, don't you know?

It remains to be seen if he'll continue to be so calm and unflustered if Liverpool are still in title contention deep into April -- especially if his "mentor" at Chelsea starts with his tedious mind games -- but to this point it's definitely a case of "so far so good" as far as Rodgers is concerned. He can do little wrong at present.

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