Welcome to my weekly blog “The Igor Bišćan Hall of Fame”
every week I’ll be adding two new additions, one will be a Liverpool Legend or
fans favourite, the other a Player, Manager or Club who have contributed to the
world game we all love (Gary Neville need not worry). Please comment below who
you’d like to see make the IBHoF, here are this weeks entries. YNWA
GRAEME SOUNESS
1977/78 - 1983/84
There can hardly have been a more all-pervading influence in
the middle of a football field than that of Graeme Souness; in his pomp he was
the emperor of Anfield, a dead-eyed dictator of all that came his way. He was
one of the few British players of the eighties to merit world-class status, but
perhaps the greatest tribute to the lethal Souness combination of the
devastatingly skilful and the crunchingly physical is that when he left for
Italy in 1984 he was actually missed. When the likes of Kevin Keegan and Ian
Rush moved on, and even when Kenny Dalglish forsook the red shirt for the
manager's tracksuit, Liverpool merely shuffled the pack, changed gear and
carried on with the business of winning trophies; the Scottish international
play-maker's departure, however, left a void which took a full season to fill.
Few would have predicted such an illustrious career for the
17-year-old rookie when, after signing for Spurs as an outstanding schoolboy,
he failed to settle in the south and left for Middlesbrough without making the
White Hart Lane first-team. At Ayrsome Park he began to realise his potential
and looked every inch a star of the future just waiting for a wider stage. That
stage, of course, was Anfield and immediately after Bob Paisley signed him in
January 1978 for £352,000 - then a record deal between Football League clubs -
Graeme began to hint at the riches to come. In his Reds debut at West Bromwich
he scarcely misplaced a pass and settled quickly to become the hub of a
midfield which already contained McDermott, Case and Kennedy.
Graeme's first taste of glory with his new club came four
months after his arrival, when his incisive through-ball created the winner for
Dalglish in the European Cup Final against FC Bruges. In the campaigns which
followed, his dominance mushroomed as he orchestrated some of the most
compelling football ever served up by a Liverpool side, spearing passes to all
corners of the pitch and tackling with an implacable ferocity which at times
bordered on the brutal. Tottenham felt the Souness bite in March 1982 when he
came on as substitute - he was returning after a back injury - with the Reds
two goals down in a match dominated thus far by the strength of Graham Roberts
and company. The abrasive number 12 soon made his mark, and the final score was
2-2. Graeme supplemented his creative and ball-winning talents with occasional
displays of potent finishing, none more emphatic than the thunderous volley
which screamed past Paddy Roche into the Manchester United net at Anfield in
February 1978, though his swivelling drive which beat Everton in the 1984 Milk
Cup Final replay was more valuable.
Was Graeme the complete player? Well, he lacked pace, though
the side's pattern of play rendered the defect irrelevant, and for a man
standing only an inch short of 6ft he was poor in the air. But such a trifle
paled into nothingness compared with his overall contribution which, after a
wretched team showing at home to Manchester City on Boxing Day 1981, increased
still further when he replaced Phil Thompson as captain. In his 29 months in charge
Graeme led Liverpool to three successive League titles and League/Milk Cups and
one European Cup to become the most successful skipper in the club's history,
forcibly demanding - and usually getting - the highest standards. In June 1984
he made a £650,000 move to Italy, where his brand of play was appreciated
avidly, and he prospered there for two years before returning to Britain to
have an even more significant effect on Rangers than he had exerted on
Liverpool. 'Suey' - a man held more in awe than affection by most fans - was
once again stamping his authority on one of football's greatest institutions,
though turbulent times awaited. In due course, there would be a second coming
at Anfield which would prove as traumatic as his first had been triumphant. For
now, it would be monstrously unjust if Graeme Souness’s managerial
imperfections were allowed to obscure his sheer majesty as a footballer.
BORN: Edinburgh, 6.5.53. GAMES: 350 (2). GOALS: 56.
CLUBS: Middlesbrough 72/3-77/8; Liverpool 77/8-83/4;
Sampdoria, Italy, 84/5-85/6; Rangers 86/7-89/90.
HONOURS: European Cup 77/8, 80/1, 83/4. League Championship
78/9, 79/80, 81/2, 82/3, 83/4. League Cup 80/1, 81/2, 82/3, 83/4.
INERNATIONAL CAREER: 54 Scotland caps (74-86).
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ALFREDO DI STEFANO
In the eyes of many judges, Alfredo Di Stéfano was the most
complete footballer of all time. Physically powerful with unparalleled stamina
and supreme skills, he also had an insatiable competitive streak. Francisco
Cento, his Real Madrid team-mate in six European Cup finals, said: 'Whenever we
practised, even when we played cards or basketball in the gym, he would want to
win. When I became a manager I realised how important it was to have a player
like that on the field.'
Curiously Di Stéfano was capped by three different countries
yet never took part in a World Cup. However his other achievements were
sufficient to warrant a place among the world's elite.
Born in Buenos Aires of Italian parents, Di Stéfano worked
on the family farm as a boy and thus acquired the strength that would stand him
in good stead on the football pitch and enable him to play at the highest level
until he was 40. At the age of twelve, he joined a youth team, Los Cardales,
for whom he once scored a hat-trick in just twenty minutes. In 1942 he joined
his father's old club River Plate where he went on to lead a legendary forward
line known as La Maquina (The Machine), helping his team to two Argentinian
Championships. He made his debut for the national side in 1947 but two years
later moved to Millonarios of Bogota to play in the outlawed Colombian League, powering
the team to four League titles and personally scoring an amazing 267 goals in
294 games. He won two Colombian caps before moving on to Spain in 1953 to join
the club with whom he would enjoy his finest years - Real Madrid.
Real had never previously won a major trophy but their
ambitious president, Santiago Bernabeu, had built a magnificent stadium and
needed a team of superstars in order to fill it with spectators. He wanted to
make Real the most powerful club in Europe and, to fulfil his dream, recruited
the best player in South America, Di Stéfano. He made his debut against none
other than Barcelona, scoring four times in a 5-0 drubbing. Bernabeu had reaped
an instant reward on his investment.
The balding Argetinian turned Real from Spanish nonentities
into the biggest club on the planet. The all whites were unstoppable, due in no
small part to Di Stéfano's ability to alternate between midfield and attack.
One moment he was scoring goals, the next he was creating chances for the likes
of Gento and Ferenc Puskas. With Di Stéfano scoring in every final (including a
hat-trick against Eintracht Frankfurt), Real won a historic five successive
European Cups (1956-60).
He scored 49 goals in his 56 games in the tournament, a
record that stood until it was surpassed by Real Madrid's Raúl in 2005, and
Milan's Andriy Shevchenko and Real Madrid's Ruud van Nistelrooy in 2006. As
well as helping Real collect eight Spanish League titles, he finished top
scorer in the Spanish League on five occasions and was named European
Footballer of the Year in 1957 and 1959. He also managed 23 goals in only 31
internationals for his third country, Spain.
Released unharmed after being kidnapped on a 1963 tour of
Venezuela, he joined Espanol in 1964 but ended his playing career two years
later. He went on to coach a number of teams (Boca Juniors, Sporting Lisbon,
River Plate, Valencia and Real Madrid) with varying success, the highlight
being steering Valencia to their first Spanish title in 24 years.
But it is as a player that he will always be remembered.
Matt Busby summed up Di Stéfano's immense talent. 'He was one of the greatest,
if not the greatest footballer I had ever seen. At that time we had forwards
and defenders doing separate jobs, but he did everything.'
BORN: Buenos Aires, Argentina. 4.7.26.
CLUBS: 1943–1949
River Plate, 1946–1947 Huracán (loan), 1949–1953 Millonarios, 1953–1964 Real
Madrid, 1964–1966 Espanyol.
INERNATIONAL CAREER: Argentina 1947 Caps 6 Goals 6, Spain
1957–1961 Caps 31 Goals 23, Colombia Caps 4 (not recognized by FIFA).
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