Bournemouth produced a stirring fightbacks on the Sunday, the first time in 16 years that Liverpool have been on the wrong end of a 4-3.
Rarely is one scoreline so synonymous with an opponent.
Arguably the most thrilling Premier League game in the competition’s history, Liverpool 4-3 Newcastle United in the 1995/96 season has been ingrained into the club’s DNA forever. Yet, Sunday’s topsy-turvy seven goal thriller against Bournemouth, The Reds ending up on the losing side after conceding three times in the final 14 minutes, is the first time Liverpool have encountered such a scoreline in over 16 years.
The second-most recent? That infamous defeat to Leeds United at Elland Road, market by a four-goal salvo from one Mark Viduka. But what on earth happened to Gerard Houllier’s XI?
Sander Westerveld
A six-time Dutch international who played on either side of the Merseyside divide, Westerveld manned the sticks at Anfield for two seasons until he was forced out by the arrival of Champions League hero Jerzy Dudek.
Anyone wishing to engage in a spot of nostalgia can watch Westerveld pull on the famous Liverpool shirt once more alongside the likes of Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen in a legend-filled friendly against Real Madrid in March.
Jamie Carragher
A bonafide Liverpool legend, Carragher probably doesn’t get the credit his career deserves but his Champions League, FA Cup and UEFA Cup medals tell their own story.
A committed, old-school centre-back, the long-serving vice-captain now picks apart, rather than organises, Liverpool’s defence on punditry duty for Sky Sports. How they’d love him back right now.
Christian Ziege
The bleached-blonde left-back only made 16 Premier League appearances for Liverpool in 2000-01 and it’s fair to say they never quite saw the best of the German international due to persisting injury problems.
A three year spell at Tottenham Hotspur proceeded the 2005 retirement of a 72-time international with two Bundesliga titles, a Serie A crown and a European Championship winner’s medal in his personal trophy cabinet.
These days, Ziege is embarking on a coaching career with Spanish Segunda B outfit Atletico Baleares.
Marcus Babbel
A fellow German stalwart, Babbel’s raiding bursts down the right became a reliable source of goals for The Reds in the early-noughties, until his Liverpool career was brought to a premature half when he contracted Guillain-Barre syndrome.
Thankfully, he recovered to while away his playing career with Blackburn Rovers before ascending to managerial roles at Stuttgart, Hertha Berlin and Hoffenheim. He’s earning his wages at FC Luzern these days because who doesn’t want to live a stone’s throw from the Alps.
Sami Hyypia
Some players are just born to be managers. And, having earned a reputation as an influential leader and a charismatic captain, Hyypia looked destined for great things off the pitch after cementing legendary status at Anfield on it.
However, after finishing fourth with Bayern Leverkusen in the Bundesliga, the Finnish giant parted ways with Brighton after one win in 18 before steering FC Zurich towards relegation in Switzerland. Nothing is ever guaranteed after all.
Vladimir Smicer
That’s one way to go out. On his final appearance for Liverpool, at a certain Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul, experienced Czech international Smicer stepped off the bench to replace Harry Kewell midway through the first half and helped spearhead one of the greatest nights in the club’s history.
Thumping a drive beyond Dida in normal time to bring Liverpool back to 3-2, he then struck the decisive penalty in the shootout before Dudek did his thing to send the Champions League trophy Liverpool’s way.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the fitness issues which blighted his career, Smicer stood in the European Parliament Election in 2014 with the aim of tackling child obesity.
Danny Murphy
An intelligent, technically astute midfielder, Murphy could be considered unfortunate for only earning nine England caps between the years of 2001 and 2003.
A dead-ball specialist, with a helpful knack of netting winners against Manchester United, Murphy also stood out at Charlton, Tottenham and Fulham before offering insight from the sofa on Match of the Day and talkSPORT.
Gary McAllister
Returning for a shock second spell at Anfield at 35 under Gerard Houllier, McAllister proved once and for all that age is indeed a number, playing an influential role as Liverpool sealed a treble-of-sorts in 2001, lifting the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup.
Post-playing, McAllister’s coaching career has taken him to Leeds, Aston Villa and back to Liverpool once more, where he now works in an ambassadorial role.
Dietmar Hamann
German midfielders in the early noughties were a lot different to the stylish young whippersnappers of today. Nonetheless Hamann, a powerful enforcer with a thumping long-range drive in his locker, became a firm favourite at Anfield and, via a spell at Bolton amounting to precisely less than one day, Manchester City too.
These days, Hamann pops up on the odd radio or TV talk show to offer his tactical insight after a four-month managerial spell with Stockport County in 2011 amounted to very little.
Patrick Berger
Runner-up in Euro ’96 and a serial trophy winner with Liverpool, Czech talisman Berger is perhaps most fondly remembered for lighting up an otherwise forgettable August fixture between Portsmouth and Charlton Athletic, thumping a 35-yard volley into the top corner on the turn.
A certain Steven Gerrard, who knows a thing or two about half-volleys, described Berger as the best striker of a ball he had ever seen. He now tours the world with the Liverpool Masters team while dipping in and out of punditry.
Emile Heskey
Either the worst striker in the history of England or a criminally underrated targetman who got the best out of his partners; even to this day the merits of Emile Heskey stirs debate. True, 7 goals in 62 caps is hardly World Cup winning form but, on his day, the former Leicester, Wigan and Villa brute was one of the toughest Premier League strikers around.
The 38-year-old seems to have been around forever but, after being released by Bolton in the summer, his playing career looks at an end.
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