Aldo: Klopp has his Scouse in order
JOHN ALDRIDGE has his Sunday mapped out on Merseyside. He’ll be at the Hilton Hotel at 1.0pm today for lunch, as part of his hospitality engagements on behalf of Liverpool FC. Afterwards, he’ll head to Anfield to provide co-commentary for LFCTV on the Liverpool-Man City game. And then? ‘I’ll have a right few pints if we win,’ he quips.
When it comes to club allegiance, Aldo is red to the core, ever since he first watched Roger Hunt and Co from the old paddock at Anfield as a seven-year-old.
He scored 63 goals in 104 games for Liverpool, remains in demand for Legends matches – ‘I only shuffle about for a few minutes these days’ – and has been chairman of the Liverpool ex-players association for the past seven years.
‘Liverpool is in my blood,’ he says simply.
Either side of his League (1988) and FA Cup (1989) triumphs with Liverpool, Aldridge was at the hub of many firsts, not least Ireland’s first qualification for the European Championships and World Cup finals
With Newport County, there was the club’s first promotion from Division
Four; with Oxford there were Third Division and Second Division titles, and a League Cup win; with Tranmere, there were Premier League and a League Cup final.
Success for him always bred success and it’s something he can sense in the Anfield air.
‘What I find, is that when you win something – at Oxford it was the fourth division, or third division – you want more. You see what it means to the people around you; it gives you more desire. And these Liverpool lads have got that desire as well as the ability.
‘Confidence in football is huge; when your confidence is low, it’s tough. Once you are confident, once you win trophies like the Champions League, it gives you a nice arrogance. It all adds up. Trophies and medals make you feel better.
‘And (Jurgen) Klopp has got everyone feeling better. Inside the camp, the atmosphere is second to none. The mix of personalities works.’
Each time Liverpool have come close to the Premier League title before, under Gerard Houllier (2002), Rafa Benitez (2009) and Brendan Rodgers (2014), they crumbled the following season.
Last season, they chased City to the wire and have not slowed down. In contrast, they have got quicker and now it is City who are gasping for breath. What is the difference this year? ‘The spine of the team as well as the ability around them,’ remarked Aldo.
‘Van Dijk, he’s awesome; the goalie (Alisson) is the best in the world; the two full-backs (Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson) are the best in world football. Fabinho has turned out to be a brilliant player. Then you have the front three. Add in (Jordan) Henderson, and (James) Milner and there is a perfect balance in that side.
‘They are also a team of talkers, whereas in the past, Stevie Gerrard and Jamie Carragher aside, they didn’t talk. That’s a big difference.’
Another difference is the look of the squad as only Henderson survives from the Rodgers team of 2014 which was a Gerrard gaffe away from the title.
How much does that say about Klopp’s shopping and ability to identify talent? ‘He’s a good coach, he has good people around him who has the ability to identify top players.
‘That is why he has built so quickly in what, six transfer windows. It is amazing and you have to give the scouting staff a lot of credit. It’s hard to identify the right players, the right characters but Jurgen and his team have done that.
‘He won’t go out and buy players that are not better than what he already has. Liverpool managers in the past have made that mistake, got players in who wouldn’t take you anywhere. He has been given a few bob – no more than anyone else – but he has balanced the books.’
Klopp has worked another smart trick by getting the Liverpool crowd foursquare behind the team, no matter how they are playing, or what the score is.
‘Jurgen has been very clever. He has said to the fans in the local press: “Don’t respond, don’t make the team edgy” so the atmosphere has been positive.
‘When they go behind, it has not been doom and gloom. It actually has the reverse effect. It gets hotter. They get behind the team more because they know they are needed more than ever before.
‘So if City take the lead on Sunday it will go hotter again and that is part of the recipe.’
Would any Republic of Ireland player of Aldo’s team from 19861996 get into the Liverpool X1?
‘I wouldn’t want to say, we had a great side in our own right. Paul McGrath was the Van Dijk of our era.’ Enough said.
‘HE WON’T BUY PLAYERS WHO AREN’T ANY BETTER THAN WHAT HE HAS’