Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Clarke: It's The Way He Talks

Steve Clarke believes the way Kenny Dalglish talks to his players has been a key factor in Liverpool's revival in 2011.

Manchester United is the only team to have tallied more points in the Barclays Premier League since the Scot re-took the reins on January 8.

And the Reds have continued to gain positive results of late despite a lengthy list of injuries.

Clarke points to Dalglish's treatment of teenage defenders Jack Robinson and John Flanagan at the Emirates on Sunday as an example of how the gaffer gets the best from his players.

"Before Jack went on Kenny was making a joke and trying to relax him going onto the pitch," said the first-team coach. "Obviously it's a very nerve-racking moment for a young player and Kenny was trying to take the edge out of the situation. It was the same with John.

"When you've got someone as experienced as Kenny who says the right words at the right time, it can only help.

"Every manager I've worked with - you pick up good qualities from all of them and so far, in a short space of time, I've seen a lot of great qualities from Kenny. I hope to continue the work into the future."

Dirk Kuyt fired a penalty with the last kick of the game to clinch a point for Liverpool against Arsene Wenger's title-chasers before being mobbed by every one of his teammates.

For Clarke the scenes were another illustration of the team spirit within Liverpool ranks.

"The way our lads responded, they knew they had very little time left but they still wanted to get the equalizer," he said.

"Anyone watching us play right now can see the spirit is high, the confidence is good and the performances have been decent. Now we need to continue it.

"If you are working well as a group and working well day in, day out in training - you can see they're taking that onto the pitch right now. If you've got that togetherness it goes a long way in any team sport - especially football."

Liverpool's comeback - secured just minutes after a Robin van Persie spot kick put Arsenal in front - was all the more laudable from the fact Andy Carroll (knee), Jamie Carragher (concussion) and Fabio Aurelio (hamstring) had to be withdrawn due to injury.

Clarke added: "Fabio has picked up another little strain. Hopefully it's not too bad. We have to keep positive with him because he's a terrific player, as he showed in the Man City game.

"Carra seems okay and with Andy Carroll, at the moment we're waiting on some news from the medical department."

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