Forever 4﹗Sami Hyypia (3)

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RAFA: WE WANTED SAMI TO STAY James Carroll
	Rafa Benitez today hailed Sami Hyypia as the ‘perfect professional’ and revealed he was keen to retain the services of the defender in a coaching capacity.
Click here to watch our interview with Rafa>> The Finn will bring his 10-year association with the Reds to an end in the summer after it was announced on Monday he has agreed to join German club Bayer Leverkusen on a two-year deal when his contract expires.

Benitez has confirmed he offered Hyypia the opportunity to stay on at Anfield for a further season as well as the chance to take up a role with the coaching staff in the future.

“We are disappointed because we will miss Sami,” said the Reds boss.

“He is so important that we talked about him becoming a member of the coaching staff in the future, but he thinks he can play more and wants to be involved in the first team.

“The fact that we were talking to him about becoming a coach shows how much we think of him – he is a perfect professional.

“We were talking to him about an extension to his contract and the guarantee of becoming a member of the coaching staff. That shows we were really pleased with him and how good he is as a professional.”

Although disappointed to see the legendary centre-back leave, Benitez has wished him all the best for the future and confirmed the door will always be open for Hyypia to make a return to Liverpool.

“In every single training session and in every single game he gives 100 per cent for the team and he has been a fantastic servant to this club,” added Benitez.

“He is always keen to help the youngsters and he sets them a really good example but he has also been very supportive of me and my staff since I first came to Liverpool.

“From my point of view, I have been really pleased to work with him and now I must wish him luck for the future.

“All the fans and all the staff at the club are sad. We were trying to keep him.

“With three other centre backs at Liverpool it was going to be difficult for Sami to play as often as he would like so he has decided to go to Leverkusen and, like I said, we are happy for him.

“We are really happy for him because he can play two more years to his maximum with a good team in a good league. So we must be pleased for him.

“It is sad, but it is his decision and we will support him.”

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THOMMO: SAMI HAS DONE WONDERS FOR LFC Phil Thompson
	Phil Thompson was the Reds’ assistant manager the day Gerard Houllier swooped to sign Sami Hyypia. Here he recalls the first time he saw the Finn in action and pays tribute to a glittering Anfield career.
It’s a pleasure to be here now paying tribute to a foreign player who is bidding us a fond farewell after 10 years at Liverpool Football Club. How many top teams around the world can boast a player who has had that longevity? The fact he has played at the highest level whilst continuously producing high class performances is a credit to him, his fitness levels and his professionalism. He has been a terrific servant for Liverpool Football Club – not just on the footballing side but as a person and a captain off it. Even when Gerard Houllier opted to change the captaincy and give it to Steven Gerrard, Sami took it well. It wasn’t an easy decision and it was one both Gerard and myself spoke about at length. We felt releasing him of the burden of the captaincy would help lift his game because you could see that his level wasn’t quite what it had been. We wondered how we would do it. We were concerned that it would upset Sami. I told Gerard I would speak to him because I could relate to it, as I had seen the armband taken away from me when Bob Paisley gave it to Graeme Souness. I was deeply upset, but as professional you have to get on with your game. It gave me the boost to start playing better. It meant I didn’t get involved in anything else and just focused on what was happening on the pitch. I explained that to Sami and he took it so well. Away from the club he was probably upset, but he took it with the grace that I knew he would. He responded magnificently too, and once again reached the levels that highlighted him as one of the top centre backs in the world game. He had taken a lot of the blame on his own shoulders when things weren’t perhaps going well on the pitch, even if it wasn’t his fault. The same thing happened to me. I would blame myself for a goal against us, even if someone else had made the mistake. That’s what Bob Paisley explained to me, so it helped me talk it through with Sami. He has been an absolute pleasure to work with and was a great signing for the club. I’m glad Sami was a part of the success we enjoyed when both myself and Gerard Houllier were there and I’m delighted he went on to enjoy even more after we left. Being the man he is, he will no doubt say his teammates were a great help to him. I remember going to watch him for the first time. Peter Robinson had got a tape off some random guy and passed it on to me. I have to admit I’m not a fan of analysing a player from video. If you look at me for example, I scored 13 goals for Liverpool. I could have made out to someone in Brazil that I was a top class striker on video! All I had to do was put together a montage of those goals; you see how easy it could be to fool people! So, when it comes down to it, you have to go and see them with your own two eyes. Ron Yeats went to see him first of all and was very impressed. I followed that up and saw him play in Nuremburg for Finland against Germany. He was up against a guy called Oliver Bierhoff who was a fantastic centre forward. His major asset was that he was superb in the air; so for me, the key was to see how Sami handled him. I have to admit he was outstanding. He didn’t give him a header all night long and that was particularly important to me because that’s what we lacked in the side at the time. Gerard had wanted a centre back and we got one with experience in the shape of Stephane Henchoz from Blackburn Rovers. Sami hadn’t played in the Premiership but after seeing him in action we decided we wanted him too. I remember seeing him in our first pre-season training session. I thought to myself, “This guy’s six foot four and he’s got the passing range of Jan Molby!” You’re not supposed to be able to play like that at centre back! He had the ability of a midfield player. He’s never been quick, but it just shows that if you read the game that well, you can get into the right position before the ball even gets there. I must say it’s been a pleasure to have known him. It’s pleasure to have been involved in some of his career at Liverpool. I worked with him every week when I was there as the defensive coach, so if I had any input in what he has achieved, then I am extremely proud. But the credit is all his because he is a fantastic footballer and I can’t think of a bigger compliment to pay him than to say it has quite simply done wonders for Liverpool FC to have been associated with him.

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ENNY ON SAMI, TITLE AND MEMORIAL GAME Kenny Dalglish
	It was sad this week to hear that Sami Hyypia will be bringing his 10-year association with Liverpool to an end in the summer.
Sami has been an absolutely magnificent servant to this football club. He came in and showed his worth immediately. He was made captain of the club and even when the decision was taken to make a change and give the armband to Steven Gerrard, the dignity he showed was brilliant and reflected tremendously well on him as a person. To spend 10 years at the same club is a remarkable achievement, and even more so when that club is Liverpool and the demands to succeed year after year are exceptionally high. But Sami’s performance levels have always been very, very high. When he first arrived people commented that he wasn’t quick – but over the years he hasn’t lost any of that pace because he didn’t have too much to start with! He reads the game so well and has made a massive contribution – at both ends of the pitch – to Liverpool Football Club. I’m sure it was a hard decision to reach but sometimes even the best things have to finish. He made a lot of friends during his 10 years at Anfield and I am sure he will leave with the very best wishes of everybody connected with the club. News of Sami’s departure came just a few days after we heard Daniel Agger had agreed to sign a new contract. That’s great news and continues the positive messages coming out of the club at the present time. It seems that the bad news is behind us. Rafa has signed his new contract, key players like Gerrard, Dirk Kuyt and Agger have agreed new deals and that can only augur well for the new season. Whatever happens this season, it has been one of progress and now we have to make sure we build on it for next year. By now the manager will know which players he would like to bring into the club and will have been working for a few months on identifying his targets. I hope we’re able to do our business as soon as possible because I always feel new players benefit from a full pre-season under their belts. We don’t yet know how this season is going to finish, but if we can’t win the league title then we have to keep going and look to pick up as many points as possible, because that would give us the belief that we can take the next step in 2009-10. The impressive thing of late has been the way the boys have kept going, kept winning games and kept the pressure on Manchester United. Games are running out and with each passing week our chances of winning the league are becoming slimmer, but still we’re turning in top-class performances and playing a lot of good football. Of course when you’re a player at Liverpool the pressure is there to deliver every week because if you can’t then you won’t be hanging around too long. When you play for Liverpool you expect to be challenging for the top prizes in the game, but it’s been a while since we were so close at this stage of the season and so it’s been commendable the way they’ve stuck at the task in hand. Unfortunately, United don’t look like slipping up at the moment, but there’s nothing we can do about that. When they play their game in hand against Wigan next week we’ll have a clearer idea of what the situation really is at the top of the table, but clearly we’re looking for them to make mistakes. It’s difficult to find anything original to say about the situation because the facts are the facts – we have to keep winning. We can’t afford to become discouraged by the fact they haven’t yet slipped up because we have to hope that somebody soon will catch them on an off day. We need to go into games in the right frame of mind and believe we can take the three points. If we take nine points from the last three games and it still isn’t enough then so be it. We’ll all be better for the experience of this season and we’ll be able to look forward to the new campaign with optimism. We can go back to the top of the table with a victory at West Ham this weekend and that might put United under more pressure ahead of their derby on Sunday. The first task is to do our own job, but that won’t be easy because West Ham are on a good run at the moment and are chasing a European place for next season. In this league no-one is ever going to roll over and let you take the three points, so again this weekend we’re going to have to work really hard and play as well as we can. The good thing is we’re showing such great commitment and desire at the moment and that reflects well on every member of the squad. We’re not giving up hope because you never know what might happen in football, but if it’s not to be this season then we have to make sure it’s a stepping stone for success next year. Away from the pressures of the title race, and preparations for the ‘Hillsborough Memorial Match’ to take place at Anfield on May 14 are going well. We’ve a number of personalities who have confirmed they will play and a whole host of former players will be turning out as well. It won’t be a joke of a match. I think that’s important. It doesn’t matter who wins but it does matter that we put on a decent spectacle for the fans who come along on the night. The older boys will start the game and then when tiredness kicks in – after about two minutes – the younger lads like Robbie Fowler, Jamie Redknapp and Gary McAllister will come on to save us embarrassing ourselves any further. The important thing is it’s for a brilliant cause. New names are being added to the list all the time so it’ll be a great night and well worth coming along to watch. Every penny raised will go to the Marina Dalglish Appeal in its bid to raise money to build a Radiotherapy Unit at University Hospital in Aintree. It’ll be fantastic to see as many people as possible there, but if you can’t make it on the night and still want to contribute to the cause then you can take part in the ‘Buy a Brick’ campaign – again with all money raised going to the appeal.