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Anfield's Big Friendly (Finnish) Giant at the Back
- By Juha Sainio in Liverpool
Photo: Peter van den Berg
- Whichever way you cut it, a lot has happened to Finnish football since I last paid a visit to Anfield Road, back in the fall of 1980. On that occasion, Liverpool strolled past Oulun Palloseura by the margin of (whisper it, please) 10-1 in a home European Cup fixture. Now the heart of the Liverpool defence and one of the new favourites of a notoriously demanding set of fans is none other than Sami Hyypiä, who admittedly doesn't come from Oulu, but from out east in Kymi.
Sami Hyypiä has scored two headed goals for Liverpool in the Premier League this season. |
- Sami Hyypiä nods: "Yes, the game has moved forward a lot in Finland. One of the reasons is that training facilities have improved so much in the 19 years you are talking about. There are all those indoor halls now, and more are going up all the time. Let's hope the next generation of players are even better."
"Just enjoying the
game these days"
- Hyypiä, at 6' 4", has the air of a big friendly giant, unless of course he's tackling you. He spreads his long legs in the meeting room at the Liverpool F.C. training facilities at Melwood. The man seems to ooze a relaxed confidence and a healthy sense of self-esteem, despite the exalted company he is keeping these days. Things are going nicely: "I'm just enjoying the game a lot these days", he says.
- And why not: Sami and the Swiss international Stephan Henchoz are currently the first-choice pair at the back for Liverpool's French manager Gerard Houllier. Things have changed quite a bit at Liverpool, too. In recent seasons their defence has not risen much above "mediocre at best", but with the arrival of the new men, things have looked up appreciably. Hyypiä and Henchoz have played nine or ten games since Henchoz returned after injury. In those matches, Sami recollects that the defence have kept their end clean on six occasions.
- "Hey, but it's not about two players; there's eleven out there on the pitch and the whole team is defending better now than it did last year", says Hyypiä modestly.
- Others see things a little differently, however. Hyypiä's talents have been noticed at a high level: he was voted Carling Player of the Month for November, an award that would have been unheard of for a Liverpool centre-back a few years ago.
- Perhaps equally important, his form on the pitch has won compliments from two BBC commentators in Alan Hansen and Mark Lawrenson, both former Liverpool backs from earlier days when the club's defence was something to brag about. Others have likened the Finnish newcomer to this pair, which he finds flattering, but a little premature in only his first season.
- "To be honest I've been a bit surprised myself at how well things have got going. I set myself some targets, of course, but things have gone a lot faster than I had expected."
Captaining
the Reds
- To top it all, in the last couple of weeks Houllier put the captain's armband on Hyypiä, when the normal captain Jamie Redknapp and his deputy Robbie Fowler were both out with injuries. "The manager just came up one day and said 'You're captain now, alright?'", says Hyypiä. He admits that it was a pretty big display of confidence from the Frenchman, but says it has not affected his game at all, and nor have the other players commented on the matter.
- Hyypiä says that the team spirit at Liverpool has been great from the start, even though a clutch of foreign players came into the side during the summer recess, raising one or two doubts about how the players would gel together.
- In spite of a relatively successful first half of the season (after last Saturday's 2-0 defeat of Coventry the club were lying 5th in the table, 8 points behind Leeds, and with the fewest goals scored against them of any side in the Premier Division), Hyypiä says the Liverpool side has still not really welded together fully.
- "It will take a while before everyone learns how their colleagues play. We've still got some way to go. It sometimes feels as though we still can't control a game for the full 90 minutes, and at times things slip away from us when they shouldn't", says the latest Finnish import into British soccer.
- Hyypiä clearly has settled well at one of Europe's most glamorous and history-rich clubs. As we start to chat at Melwood, the interview is interrupted for a few moments as Jamie Redknapp pokes his head round the door and asks to have a few words with the Finn about internet matters. Robbie Fowler and England striker Michael Owen grin and make faces through the window as they leave the training ground. It looks as though the move from Holland, where Hyypiä played for Willem II, has not ultimately presented that much of a culture-shock.
- Sami and his girlfriend live in a rented terraced house in a southern suburb of Liverpool, not far from manager Houllier. They have not bought their own place, so that they don't have to spend their time gardening. In what must be seen as a wise move in view of Liverpool's recent influx of foreign players, the club has taken great pains to make the life of the newcomers as smooth as possible - a member of the staff has been placed on call at all times in case some problems come up that might otherwise keep their minds off football.
No Christmas
break
- One drawback of playing in the big leagues is of course that Hyypiä won't get much time off for Christmas. Liverpool are away to Newcastle on Boxing Day and have a home game against Wimbledon on the 28th.
- To some extent, although this season has been a surprise to some with so many non-British players joining the squad, Liverpool is the sort of side where nationality doesn't count: the players' country is Liverpool FC and the language is soccer. Team success is larger and more important than life itself for many in these parts, and Liverpool and Everton stars are demi-gods to the dedicated fans. Thus far Sami Hyypiä has been able to walk in the city without much trouble. Even though fans recognise him, he does not get mobbed, except on one occasion when he was surrounded by autograph-hunters in a supermarket and had to beat a hasty retreat.
- It is clear from speaking to him that the transfer to Liverpool was a cherished dream for Hyypiä and the realisation of lifetime goal. Now is not the time to set new ones, but to buckle down and earn a place through hard work. So far it seems to be paying off. Eighteen appearances in eighteen Premier League games is a fair enough testimony.
Target: Europe, and
tripping up Keegan's lot
- He takes a very down-to-earth view of success, arguing that the individual wins when the team wins; there are no prizes for scoring two and losing 3-2. Liverpool's aim is to get into Europe next season. Victory in the Premier League is not really an aim this year, but an F.A. Cup title or a finish in the top five in the league would do very nicely, thank you.
- A few weeks back Hyypiä and his colleagues watched excitedly as the draw was made for the 2002 World Cup. Finland were drawn in an iron-hard group along with England and Germany. This means it is pretty likely that Hyypiä will get to line up against his team-mates Redknapp and Owen, and perhaps also against midfielder Dietmar Hamann, who has been capped for Germany.
- "The psy-war started within minutes of the draw", laughs Hyypiä. "To be honest, Finland has a rather slim chance of going through, but we'll be doing our utmost to give England and Germany a hard time. In any event it means we've got four great games coming up, and they will offer a terrific shop window for some of those Finns who haven't already found their way abroad."
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 19.12.1999 |
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