With Michael
Owen scaring the life out of every Premiership defence he faces and the
new management team of Gerrard Houllier and Roy Evans working better than
anyone could have thought. Liverpool have started the campaign with a look
of Champions about them.
And that
is exactly what Jamie Redknapp thinks they'll be come the end of the season
- Premiership Champions.
"We really
believe that this can be our season," says the Anfield midfielder. " The
defence is looking stronger this year and the new manager has been working
on that part of the team more than any other since he arrived here."
"With players
like Michael Owen and Steve McManaman around. We are always going to score
goals, but our problem has been letting them in. Hopefully we can put that
right this season."
Redknapp
is back to full fitness after the injury problems which always seem to
strike when major England games come around, but he is confident that a
full year with Liverpool can strengthen his international claims.
"I always
knew I would get back into action and never had any major concerns about
the injury, but it does feel great not having to worry about fighting for
fitness any more," he says. " And being involved with the England squad
for the match against Sweden last week gave me a great boost as well."
So could it be a
successful year for Jamie at club and national team level ?
Q.
What is different about Liverpool this season, Jamie?
A. The new manager has been working on the defence and it seems to be paying
off. Jamie Carragher has come in and done a good job at the back and we
proved at Newcastle that we can score goals and defend properly at the
same time. To win 4-1away from home was a great result and gave us a lot
of confidence.
Q. A stronger
defence has given the team a real boost, then?
A. It's
a relief that w can now go forward with a bit of confidence. In the past,
I have run forward with the ball desperate not to give it away because
of the fear that the defence would not be able to handle it. But that is
not a problem anymore. Not many people were looking at us to win the Championship
at the start of the season, but that was fien by us. We knew we had a good
enough squad.
Q. You must
have a lot of sympathy for Robbie Fowler?
A. I know
more than anyone what he is going through as I have had my own injury problems
in the last few years. I am looking at Robbie trying to get himself fit
and I see a lot of me in him. You set yourself targets all the time and
every one is a mjor achievement. Trying to get fit is much harder than
playing.
Q. Glenn Hoddle
has said he admires your passing. That must make you feel good?
A. He's said I was one of the best passers in the country and coming from
a player as good as Glenn was, that's praise. I have always passed the
ball and worked on that part of my game. The reality is that if you whacked
it long at Liverpool, it would be no good to anyone. People like Michael
Owen and Steve McManaman like the ball to feet and I have a job to give
them that service.
Q. How do you
feel about playing as sweeper in the future?
A. I was
tried as a sweeper in an England Under-21 game last season and it probably
didn't work out as well as we would have hoped. But it was a new position
for me. I have always thought of myself as a midfield player first and
foremost, and though I would play in any position England asked me to,
I feel I can do a better job in the middle of the park,really.
Q. How disappointed
were you to miss the world cup finals?
A. I knew when I came down to train with England at the end of last season
that I wasn't right. After all, I had only damaged the ankle a few weeks
before. But there's no point in looking back and saying I was unlucky.
This season could be the start of my England career.
Q. Was it difficult
to tell Glenn Hoddle that you were not fit?
A. I had to be honest and tell the gaffer that I wasn't going to be ready
for the World Cup Finals. It was a horrible feeling to know that I was
going to miss the biggest football competition in the world, but there
was no point in fooling anyone. You have to be professional and think about
the future. It also wouldn't have been fair to the manager for me to delay
making the decision.
Q. Did you ever get
depressed with the string of injuries you've had recently?
A.
I never got to the point when I felt like running away from it all. I am
a positive person and do not allow things to get on top of me. At no point
was my career under threat, so I always knew that I would get back into
action.
Redknapp's Q & A on Shoot magazine,3rd
Oct
When it comes to pop star looks, Jamie Redknapp was at the front of the queue, but when it comes to good luck he must have slept right through the chimes of his alarm clock! Following his injury set-backs and World Cup woe, how has Jamie battled back? he told his road to recovery!
Q. How hard was it to sit and watch the world cup finals when you could easily have been there?
A. It was disappointing to miss out in France, but life goes on and before you know it there are European Championship games for England and you are looking forward to qualifying for another tournament. There are also some big matches coming up for Liverpool and playing for the club is as important as anything to me. It's my 'bread and butter'.
Q. How important to Liverpool is Robbie Fowler's return to first team action?
A. Robbie is such a good player. It's great to have him back. He's worked so ahrd to get himself in this position. The whole club is pleased for him and you can see how keen he is by the way he's knocked in the goals as soon as he returned to the park. His infectious character off the pitch will boost the lads as well.
Q. Did Liverpool buy wisely in the summer?
A. We haven't bought that many players to be honest, but Vegard Heggem has come in and done well at right-back and Steve Staunton was a good player when he left for Villa and he is just as good when he came back. His experience will be vital to the defence.
Q. Have Heggem and Staunton helped improve the defence?
A. The two of them have been good acquisitions to the club and have slotted in really well, but to be honest we are defending well this season anyway with Phil Babb and Jamie Carragher also doing brilliantly. People often question our defence but I think they are doing a good job and can only get better. Players like Jamie and Dominic Matteo are still only young.
Q. Will England's euro defeat in sweden stop us qualifying?
Q. Is it important that Liverpool win games with style again?
Q. What is the key to winning the premiership this season?
It must be hell being a woman in the Redknapp family - a concept that amuses Jamie. When he thinks about it he rocks backward on the chair, throws his head back and laughs with a boyish chuckle.
"You're right. Me grandad is 74 and he's football bananas, so me nan gets loads of grief," he said. "He goes to all the games,
and watches everything on the telly - Sky Sports one, two and three. Me poor old nan, she has to sit in the kitchen all day while he's watching it.
"Me mum's the same. I think she gets it the hardest, because she has twice the panic. She wants me and me dad to do well, but
she takes it all to heart. Well, She's a big worrier, and there's always something to worry about with me and dad. A good weekend is when West Ham and Liverpool both win, but there are times like a couple of weekends ago when we won 7-1, but they lost 4-0 at home, so it was still grief."
The Redknapp family is the ultimate football dynasty. Grandad Harry still watches all Jamie's games, and takes in as many of
son Harry's West Ham team as well.
For Jamie, the relationship with his dad is still a vital influence on his career. The two are close, very close, and they share the
same dreams and frustrations. While Liverpool have been on the climb recently, West Ham have taken a bit of battering, and manager Harry has come in for an unjust cuffing from some of the more hysterical sections of the media.
It bothers Jamie, who is a sensitive soul underneath his bubbly, impish exterior.
"We are very close, and I don't half get the hump when I see some of the criticism he gets, because I know how wrong some of it is. It's the strange thing about my football. I'm looking out for myself, but I'm looking out for my dad, too. Because we are close
we look out for each other. He's advised me every step of the way in my career, and we still talk all the time.
"I love it when he comes to watch me playing. I know I'm 25 now, but there's still that little lad inside me who likes his dad there to see him. My dad knows the business, and he tells me I've got to do what's best for me. He loves me being up here at Liverpool, and
wants me to go on now and start winning things with the club."
That's the crux with Jamie. He is 25 now, and a youthful promise must soon be converted into the fulfilment of trophies if he is
achieve the greatness many predicted for him. He's getting there, though. This season he has astonished many observers.
The quality has always been there, but there is more to his game now, an aggression and commitment that he has not always
had credit for.
Gerard Houllier, his Liverpool manager, puts it simply. "Jamie has developed. He has the strength and determination, and he has
the passing. He has a complete all-round game that is vital in the modern midfielder."
For Redknapp, such praise is confirmation of his dedication and commitment over the past year in reaching full fitness and top
form after a series of injuries threatened to undermine his career. He's hardly a sicknote, but the midfielder has suffered appalling bad luck, particularly in his country's cause.
But all that is behind him, as his consistency over this season has proved. What is also behind him - he hopes - is the constant
hype that has virtually turned him into a pop star. Of course, he is married to a pop star - Louise - but what he wants to be thought of for and remembered as is solely a footballer.
"I suppose it hacks me off sometimes when people go on about all the other stuff, because I have really worked hard at my
game, and I've been incredibly dedicated in getting myself fit, and getting my game right," he said.
"Sometimes, you just get a label and it sticks. People have always thought of me as a passer of the ball, but you can't just be that these days. In midfield, you can't operate on the periphery of the game, on the edges. You've got to do it all, the physical as well as the skilful. I think I've done that this season. I've worked on the physical side and I think I am a player that can do most things. You look at Vieira and Petit at Arsenal, and that's the type of player you have to be."
The Arsenal midfield is a slightly touchy subject with Redknapp. He has played brilliantly for Liverpool all season, went to
Highbury and stopped the champions from playing, came away with a hard-earned draw . . . and got panned. It seemed a little unfair, given his consistency, and for a few days, he was genuinely annoyed by the injustice.
"As I say, you get labelled. To stop all that, I've got to win things - that's the only way you make your mark," he said. "I've been
at Liverpool for eight years, and the time has come for us to start achieving. I really think we are ready now."
A. It was a disappointing result in Sweden but there is still a long way to go. I think it's too early to be counting us out yet. We lost at home to Italy in the World Cup qualifiers and still made it to France. But it is important now that we don't get beaten again.
A. It's important we win and because of the players we have we should win some matches in style. But I think it is just as important we still take the three points in the games where we are not firing on all cylinders. The sign of a good team is when they can still pick up points when they don't play well.
A. We must go into every game thinking we can win it because when we hit top form there is no-one capable of stopping us. The secret for us will be to make sure that we hit that peak as often as possible. We hope to win trophies, especially the Premiership. We have always had the squad to take the silverware but perhaps we have let ourselves down a little bit in the past.
We need to win something for the fans because they have been patient and very understanding and we owe them. From a personal point of view I want some medals because that is what you aim for when you start out playing. You want to win things and I am at a club where we have the players to do that. This club needs to be back at the top again!!
Jamie Redknapp's topsy-turvy career finally appears to be on the top after some stunning performances for Liverpool. Having masterminded the recent 3-1 demolition of Middlesbrough, his midfield opponent that day - former England star Paul Gascoigne - picked out Redders as the man England should build their midfield around.
But the Boro game was just the latest in a long line of blinding displays from one of football's genuine Mr Nice Guys. And even though his return to the national team ended on a low note with the Wembley defeat by World Champs France, a return to fitness and the chance to nab a regular spot in England's Euro 2000 qualifying team means the future at last looks bright for Redders.
FIGHTIN' FIT
"I'm enjoying myself this year and for once I'm not chasing my fitness. It's great to be able to concentrate 100 per cent on my game and not worry about anything else. In the past I've had a bad injury, and then struggled when I've got back because I've been unfit. It's meant I've lagged behind the rest of the lads a bit. Physcially and mentally I'm stronger now because an injury is not playing on my mind all the time.
GETTING AMONGST'EM
"You have to be physical - that's the way it is in a midfield in the modern game. You can't just play on the edge of games - you have to be in the thick of it. It's not enough just being a good passer of the ball. You have to get in there and be able to mix it. I like to think I'm a player who can do most of those things. You look at Patrick Vieira and Emmanuel Petit at Arsenal or Roy Keane at Man United, and they are players who can do everything. That's what you have to aspire to as a midfielder."
FAMILY AFFAIRS
"Although my dad Harry is the manager of West Ham, we get on very well. We're very good friends and he's been such a big help to me. He still tries to watch my games and I get more upset about people having a go with him than at me. I don't really mind what people say about me, but if I see anyone having a go at him I get the right hump! He's always advised me throughout my career and, apart from my wife, Louise, he's the one I speak to most."
FLYING FRENCH
"Although we lost to France, the game was a good yardstick for us. The French played like true World CHampions, they stuck to a system which they all know inside out. When you then add the likes of Zidane, Petit and Deschamps to the mix, you have a superb side. They were excellent against us. But now Kevin Keegan's joined the England set-up we've got a chance to reach that standard, too."
SIGN ON!
"Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen are both on long-term deals and that's a big boost for the future of this club. For them to want to remain here is great and there are otehr young players - like Patrik Berger and Jamie Carragher - who are forming a good base from which to build on. We're not saying we're going to be winning thing straightaway - by the next couple of years is when we've got to go and do it."