Hyypia

[05 Milan]

Most good Reds get sexually excited when they see Torres' nubile limbs, but the sight of Sami's chiselled, granite jaw just gives me a kick and the heart rate goes up. Whenever I see him in the starting XI, there's no fear; I know we'll be as hard to beat as th very best in the world, becuse Sami IS the very best in the world. Whenever I think of Sami, one word always flashes across my mind and that is ROCKSTEADY. He's the proverbial brick wall, the immovable object that gives the irresistable force a run for its money.

.

 

Intentional or not, this post is hilarious, bravo sir!!!!

[Herp McDerp]

Only article I've seen anywhere about Hyypia leaving.

 

 

FOCUS ON SAMI HYYPIA

 

Anfield's greatest import

 

By Norman Hubbard

(Archive)

 

May 21, 2009

 

With a fondness for the facts that tends to be derided in Manchester, Rafa Benitez is rarely described as sentimental. Yet there is a case for the Spaniard to make a rare emotional choice on Sunday. Rather than continuing to switch between Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel, the alternative is to acknowledge a decade of dedicated displays and, for one final time, partner Jamie Carragher with Sami Hyypia.

GettyImages

Hyypia has been at Anfield for a decade.

 

The Finn is finished at Anfield. The meeting with Tottenham is his last possible game before Bayer Leverkusen, and a two-year deal in the Bundesliga, beckons. Only Steven Gerrard and Carragher have outlasted him and longevity has been accompanied by a record of distinguished service.

 

While, in his footballing dotage, he is only Benitez's fourth-choice central defender, he deserves to be ranked as Liverpool's greatest foreign player. Bruce Grobbelaar's and Jan Molby's advocates may dispute that, Dietmar Hamann can rival him and, in time, Fernando Torres may displace him but for now, Hyypia's case is compelling. So the great and the good at Anfield argue.

 

Benitez has deemed him a "perfect professional" and "a legend", Kenny Dalglish has called him a "magnificent servant" and Phil Thompson has suggested that, pound for pound, Hyypia is as good a signing as Dalglish himself. The Kop tended to confer their approval seconds before kick-off, when the choruses of his name tended to ring around Anfield in the days when the double 'y' was a fixture on the teamsheet. It was a chant as predictable as Hyypia himself, as reliably repetitive as the Finn proved in heading away thousands of balls in the Liverpool cause.

 

A picture of unflashy dependability, he was nevertheless technically good enough to volley in from the edge of the box against Juventus in the Champions League quarter-final in 2005. However, his name is indelibly associated with that of two other defenders: Stephane Henchoz and Carragher. Hyypia and Henchoz arrived together in 1999, when the former, recruited from Willem II, was much the lesser-known member of the partnership.

 

They dovetailed beautifully, Hyypia attacking the ball and Henchoz using his speed and reading of the game to tidy up behind him. Flanked by the similarly resilient duo of Carragher and Markus Babbel, they formed a redoubtable quartet in the treble-winning season of 2000-01.

 

Each topped 50 appearances in a campaign where the defence were exempt from the rotation policy. Their progress in each of the FA, Worthington and Uefa Cups was a triumph of stamina. Hyypia ended the campaign as de facto captain with Jamie Redknapp injured and Robbie Fowler often on the bench.

 

His subsequent decline in status to vice-captain and then senior professional could have suggested he fell out of favour. Certainly that appeared the case when Benitez signed Mauricio Pellegrino in 2005; instead Hyypia ended the season the undisputed first choice, a champion of Europe and half of a formidable twosome. Whereas Henchoz had effectively operated as a sweeper in his alliance with Hyypia, the Finn's relationship with Carragher was more a meeting of minds. It equated to a doubly defiant duo.

 

They have since been disrupted by first Agger and then Skrtel. If there were thoughts that Benitez would have prematurely pensioned Hyypia off in his first season in England, the opposite applied. Five years on, he was held in sufficient esteem to be offered a coaching role and an extended contract, before deciding Leverkusen provided a chance to prolong his playing career.

GettyImages

The defender will move on to Germany.

 

His time on Merseyside may culminate against Tottenham, but the swansong was supplied at Old Trafford in March; parachuted in when Alvaro Arbeloa was a late withdrawal, his commanding display illustrated his enduring strengths. The cliché that he never had any pace to lose isn't quite correct, but positional play and a sense of authority persist, along with enviable aerial ability.

 

Comparisons can be made with another departure, Aston Villa's retiring captain, Martin Laursen, a second Scandinavian who perfected the role of the archetypal British centre-half. Now that mantle may have passed to Fulham's Norwegian Brede Hangeland.

 

It is a sign of Hyypia's continued suitability for the England game that he has not been short of suitors in the Premier League. The most recent was Mick McCarthy, but the first was Kevin Keegan. Hyypia had a trial at Newcastle in 1995, and it is tempting to ponder an alternative history if that had resulted in a transfer to Tyneside.

 

Because while Liverpool ponder a 20th season without the title, Sunday nevertheless presents them with a chance to celebrate a man who has played a pivotal role in each of their cup successes over the last decade.

 

After Carragher, Hyypia is the outstanding defender the club has possessed in that time. They are rarely slow to remember their own at Anfield and Sunday, which once threatened to be the day they wrestled back the crown from Manchester United, promises to be a celebration of Hyypia. It is not the title they targeted, but he merits the tag of Anfield's greatest import.

 

[Thants]

There better be some good Saturday pieces about him.

Again, has anyone come across a Sami Hatrick bet? I'm serious.

[hamstrung]

Babbel Hyypia Henchoz Carra

 

Some back 4 that was.

[Carradona]

Has Rafa confirmed yet if he will even play?

[Danny_Kop]

Give him another 1 year contract & a place on the coaching staff when he retires.

 

He was offered another 1 year deal i think

 

Legend! Will be sad to see him leave.

[Thants]

Has Rafa confirmed yet if he will even play?

 

Yeah, captained isnt he? I thought I read it yesterday.

[Thants]

Babbel Hyypia Henchoz Carra

 

Some back 4 that was.

 

No, Houllier only ever bought shit and never won anything and was awful.

Legends (henchoz not quite so but . . )

 

 

Sami Hyypia looks back on a brilliant decade at Anfield as he swaps Liverpool for Leverkusen | Football | The Guardian

 

Liverpool will mourn not just the passing of another league title on Sunday but a symbol of their recovery, and one must return to the Liverpool that Sami Hyypia joined in May 1999 to understand the depth of gratitude that will follow the Finn out of Anfield when he joins Bayer Leverkusen this summer.

 

Europe for Liverpool a decade ago was not permanent residence in the latter stages of the Champions League, it was occasional qualification and, in 1998-99, exiting the third round of the Uefa Cup to Celta Vigo. The Premier League was not a story of progress and a near-miss: they finished seventh, behind Leeds, West Ham and Aston Villa and two points ahead of Derby County. Their fans delighted in ­Rigobert Song's early form and Gérard Houllier had yet to rid the dressing room of the indiscipline he believed was a ­ cancer on the club.

 

A few days after that season closed with a 3–0 victory over Wimbledon, it was announced that an unknown defender from Willem II would be signing for £2.6m. A new chapter began with Sami Tuomas Hyypia at its heart. At Anfield on Sunday, following one European Cup, one Uefa Cup, two FA Cups, two League Cups, two European Super Cups and his 464th appearance for Liverpool, it ends.

 

The ­private man who refuses to dwell on the past is not looking forward to it. "I won't like being the centre of attention, not at all. But in this case I have no choice," admits the 35-year-old, who may retake the captain's armband for the visit of Tottenham. "It is not like I am retiring. I have a new challenge ahead of me but it will be very emotional and it is better not to think about that too much before the game."

 

Hyypia's reluctance to look back explains his reasoning for moving on. After 10 years' outstanding service the model professional was offered a role in Rafael Benítez's coaching team, possibly a testimonial with it, and continued involvement from the sidelines. He rejected it, and several other deals from Premier League clubs, to extend his playing career for two more years in Germany.

 

"I would have had to move house wherever I went so I thought, why not a different country and a different league?" he explains. "Plus Leverkusen really wanted me. For 10 years I have played in the same league, in the same stadiums and against the same clubs mainly, so now I have a chance to go to Germany which is a good league.

 

"I still feel I have something to give to the game. I come to training every day and work my bollocks off to play, not to sit at home and watch the games on the telly. It is very hard when I don't play and this season has been very hard mentally. I seriously thought about hanging my boots up at the end of this season but everyone I know who has retired, such as Gary ­McAllister, has told me I should play as long as I can. I have shown when I have played this season that I can still play to a high level."

 

Liverpool have ultimately paid £5,603 per game for their longest-serving foreign import since Bruce Grobbelaar, Sunday included, although there is no figure that gauges the influence Hyypia has had on their dressing room since 1999.

 

"I didn't have any expectations or goals when I joined, I just thought I would work hard and see what happens," admits the man who, in the absence of the injured Jamie Redknapp, captained Liverpool to the cup treble of 2001. "With Houllier there was more improvement in our league positions. With Benítez the highlight was obviously the Champions League but we have been in the same position in the league more or less and then a big improvement this season. He is more of a perfectionist than Houllier in terms of the little details that might be crucial to a result, and he will improve.

 

"When I compare the side we had in 1999 and the one we have now, there is a massive difference but the game has gone forward as well. The players are much quicker and stronger now. I'm not saying we had a bad team in '99, but the game has changed and it is more demanding now."

 

Istanbul and Michael Owen's pickpocketing of Arsenal in the 2001 FA Cup final are Hyypia's Liverpool highlights, Steven Gerrard and Thierry Henry the best players he has performed with and against. His medal collection is complete at Anfield with the notable exception of the Premier League, but even that gaping hole does not consume Hyypia with regret.

 

"I am sad to miss that medal but I don't think I have anything to regret," he insists. "Next season it might happen but I only play 10 games and I wouldn't get a medal anyway. That played a part in my decision to leave. When I first came here I couldn't have believed I would be here for 10 years and win the things I have won. I am sadder for the fans that Liverpool haven't won the Premier League than for myself. I will keep my fingers crossed that the fans get what they deserve."

 

*sniffs*

[AngryOfTuebrook]

Sami and Cally getting reacquainted with an old friend.

 

[Kevin D]

Bring him home.

[Barrington Womble]

4 hours ago, AngryOfTuebrook said:

Sami and Cally getting reacquainted with an old friend.

 

Quality thread bumping after 13 years. 

[Creator Supreme]

I was privileged to be at Anfield for Sami's last game against Spurs. If there was any justice in the world we'd have sealed the title that day, and Sami's late header from a corner would have gone in to make it 4-1!

 

Wonderful to see him chaired off by his team mates at the end!

[Numero Veinticinco]

10 hours ago, Kevin D said:

Bring him home.

Yeah, and Sami