In the previous edition of my series looking at Liverpool players from the 2000s’ I looked back at Yossi Benayoun’s time with The Reds. This edition will focus on Norwegian left back/left winger John Arne Riise.
Liverpool hijacked Fulham’s deal to bring Riise to England from Monaco, and did so with a £4m bid. It proved to be money well spent as Riise went on to make 348 appearances, scoring 31 goals.
Riise’s Liverpool career started really well – he played in 56 games in all competitions -including 38 league games and scored some great and important goals (more on those later). He featured in 56 games the next season too, before a difficult third season that had a few people questioning whether he had a future at the club.
However, Riise turned things around in 2004/05 and played in 57 games, scoring 8 goals. He was a key member of Liverpool’s Champion’s League winning side – despite missing his penalty in the shoot-out. It was his cross that set up Steven Gerrard’s header afterall.
An FA cup winner’s medal followed in 2005/06, and Riise made amends for his penalty miss in Istanbul by converting his spot kick in the final against West Ham.
Riise’s final two seasons at the club were a bit hit and miss – a goal in the Nou Camp in 2007 (see below) and an own goal against Chelsea in 2008 being perfect examples of this – and it didn’t really come as a surprise when he left for Roma in 2008.
Riise’s ability to attack is probably what most Liverpool fans will remember him for. He wasn’t always regarded as the best defender, but that isn’t to say he was poor in that area, it’s just that his main attributes seemed more suited to an attacking role.
Here are my top five strikes that had Reds around the world singing the famous “Ohh Ahh” song:
5. 22nd April 2006 vs Chelsea
John Arne Riise scored more goals against Chelsea (3) than he did against any team during his Liverpool career. An odd stat is that all three of these goals came at neutral venues; he scored the first goal in the 2005 League Cup final at Cardiff’s Millenium Stadium, he netted a very good goal in the 2006 Community Shield (also at Cardiff) and he also scored in this FA Cup Semi Final at Old Trafford.
Liverpool were awarded a contentious free kick as John Terry was penalised for a dubious high boot on Luis Garcia. Riise stepped up and curled a 20 yard effort right through a poor Chelsea wall and into the bottom corner of Carlo Cudicini’s goal. Liverpool went on to win the game 2-1, and booked a trip to Cardiff where they defeated West Ham United on penalties.
4. 23rd September 2006 vs Tottenham
The third goal in an early season home game againt Spurs wouldn’t be classed as one of the most vital in Riise’s career but I felt compelled to include it just because it was such a sweet strike. It was the 89th minute and Liverpool were leading 2-0. Riise recieved the ball from Luis Garcia and from about 35-40 yard out, unleashed an absolute thunderbolt past Paul Robinson and into the Kop end goal. It was as true a strike as you’ll see and has probably become somewhat forgotten do to the game and game situation at the time.
3. 15th September 2001 vs Everton
Liverpool fell behind early in this Goodison Park Derby thanks to a Kevin Campbell goal, but were soon level thanks to a wonderful Steven Gerrard strike. The Reds took the lead thanks to Michael Owen’s penalty and the game was pretty much put to bed soon after thanks to Riise’s first Premier League goal. He recieved the ball deep from Danny Murphy, ran almost half the length of the pitch, turned Steve Watson inside out before placing the ball past Paul Gerrard.
2. 21st February 2007 vs Barcelona
This goal makes number two in my list more due to the circumstances of the game, the standard of oppositon and the odd build up to the game. Stories emerged prior to the game about an incident in the Algarve in the build up to the game which alleged that Riise and Craig Bellamy had a dispute that ended with the Welshman threatening to attack his team mate with a gof club. It was hardly ideal preparation for such a huge game, and things got worse for Rafa Benitez’s side when Deco scored in the 14th minute after a cross from Gianluca Zambrotta. Liverpool levelled through Bellamy’s header which somehow Victor Valdes failed to keep out. 1-1 would have been a very good result for The Reds – or the White & Greesn in this case – but Riise’s 74th minute winner made it an unbelievably great one.
Dirk Kuyt miscontrolled Gerrard’s pass, but Rafa Marquez didn’t deal with the danger and knocked the ball straight to Bellamy. The Welshman, just days after delivering a golf club in Riise’s direction, delivered him a pass instead, and the Norweigen’s right foot drive beat Valdes to give Liverpool a famous win at the Nou Camp.
1. 4th November 2001 vs Man United
Not many times, if ever has a ball has ever been hit this hard at Anfield. Liverpool lead 1-0 thanks to a typically cool Michael Owen finish, and deservedly so too. The Reds were much the better team and fully deserved to extend their lead. They did just that after Wes Brown fouled Owen. Didi Hamman, who had a great game, rolled the ball to the left and Riise unleashed one of the most powerful strikes you’ll ever see. Fabien Barthez barely had time to see the ball, let alone react to it, and he was just a spectator as the ball rocketed past him. Later analysis showed that the ball travelled at 70mph – as fast as a car on a UK motorway – so it’s probably for the best that the Frechmen didn’t get near it as it’d have probably took him into the net with him!
Liverpool won the game 3-1 and that goal will always be remembered by Reds fans.
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