When the legendary Ian Rush, Liverpool's goal-machine, left in 1988 there was a gap in Dalglish's Liverpool side. With a tidy £3.2mil in the bank; Kenny set to work of revitalising his team. Firstly, Kenny realised the need for another goal-machine. So, on the 27th January 1987 he bought John Aldridge 1987 for £750,000 from Oxford United. He then realised he need a speedy winger to run past defenders and make something happen. John Barnes then arrived on the 9th June for £900,000 from Watford. Kenny then saw the need for a creative, dynamic and elegant centre forward to play slightly behind Aldridge. Peter Beardsley from Newcastle United, was the final piece of the jigsaw and on the 27th June Liverpool completed the signing for a national record £1.9 million.
Many people say how this was one of the greatest footballing sides in history. People even started to compare it to the legendary Real Madrid, who won the Champions League 5 times in the late 1950's. The beautiful pass and move football was a delight to watch. Not only was it a joy to watch it worked. In 1988, Liverpool played Brian Cloughs great Nottingham Forest side . Both teams were hoping for a win but Cloughy would leave Anfield rather disappointed. A rampant Liverpool won 5-0 and has been hailed as one of the greatest performances of all time. John Motson, who was commentating on the game, described it as "almost fantasy football". Liverpool's performance was described by former England international Tom Finney as "the finest exhibition of attacking football ever seen". while former European Footballer of the Year Michel Platini said Liverpool resembled "a continental team, not an English one".In his 1999 autobiography, John Barnes said it was "the best Liverpool performance he ever played in.
On 27 January, Torres was the subject of a £40 million bid from Chelsea, which was rejected by Liverpool. Then, on the 31st January Fernando Torres joined Chelsea for a Premier League transfer record of £50 million. Once again, Liverpool were left with a huge gap in their team that needed addressing. They had £50 million to spend and they didn't hang about. On the same day, Liverpool announced the signings of Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll. El Pistolero joined the reds from Ajax for £22.8 million and then Andy Carroll joined from Newcastle United for £35million. Unfortunately for Dalglish, the bad timing of the Fernando Torres departure meant he didn't have enough time to bring in anymore players.However, on the 15 July 2011 Dalglish completed the signing of Stewart Downing for Aston Villa for £20million. The new look Liverpool attack was complete. Pace, Power and Finesse was added to an already solid Liverpool side.
The similarities between both situations are uncanny. The only thing I, and many thousand Liverpool supports will be worrying about is can they have the same effect. And so far the signs are promising. Suarez looks twice the player Torres is. Andy Carroll scares defenders and his heading ability can match any footballer in the world. Stewart Downing is the winger Liverpool have been crying out for over the last 5 years. If all the components of this attack come together Liverpool fans will be on top of the world.
