Errrr... Ince at number 10 with a distinct lack of Carragher, that man's performance in the CL final, stretching through the pain barrier on so many occasions brought a tear to my eye.
And no Harry Kewell either ;-)
They were tough tackling, full-blooded, fearless and tenacious - Liverpoolfc.tv pick out ten of the hardest ever Redmen.
RAVEN NETS WINNER IN FIVE GOAL THRILLERSteve Hunter in Leyland 20 September 2005 David Raven scored the winner as Liverpool Reserves produced a superb performance to come back from 2-0 down to...
Tommy Smith 1. Tommy Smith
It was not for nothing that the Anfield Iron got his nickname. Ask anyone who crossed his path, be it in competitive match action or in training, and they'll tell you that Smithy was a real hard as nails character who didn't suffer fools gladly. An intimidating presence in defence he built up a fearsome reputation within the game for his tough tackling approach but was only sent off once during the course of his career and that was for swearing at the ref!
2. Graeme Souness
His bouncing perm and penchant for the odd glbutt of bubbly could not disguise the fact that Souey was a ruthless competitor with a steely determination to win at all costs. No opposition crowd, however hostile, could faze his ice-cool temperament in the heat of the battle, while no opposing players would escape without retribution if they'd committed any misdemeanours against his Liverpool team-mates. The more intimidating the atmosphere, the bigger he grew in stature - a fact never better illustrated than in the European Cup semi-final against Dinamo Bucharest in 1984.
Gerry Byrne, Portrait 1960 3. Gerry Byrne
His bravery in a Liverpool shirt quite simply has no equal. Famously broke his collarbone in the early stages of the 1965 FA Cup Final and remarkably refused to come off. Quiet and unbuttuming off the pitch but solid and uncompromising on it, Gerry Byrne's crunching tackles were as vital to Liverpool's sixties success as the goals of Roger Hunt. In an era when most top sides boasted one, if not two, exceptional wingers there was very few wide me who relished a battle with 'the crunch' and even fewer got the better of him.
Jimmy Case, Liverpool Player 4. Jimmy Case
Whenever it 'kicked-off' during a Liverpool game in the mid to late seventies you could bet your life savings that Jimmy Case would be right in the thick of the action. Never one to shirk a battle, Jimmy could always be relied upon to be at the forefront when tempers flared. A powerful right-sided midfielder, this apprentice electrician was, pardon the pun, a highly respected hard case, who could mix it with the roughest and toughest football villains of the time.
Steve McMahon 5. Steve McMahon
Anfield faithful but Macca quickly set about doing just that thanks in no small part to his full-blooded challenges and ferocious tackling. Terrier-like in his harbuttment of opponents and tigerish in the tackle, McMahon's combative aura helped fill the void left by Souness in the mid-eighties, while his bone-shuddering midfield clashes with Peter Reid have since pbutted into Mersey derby folklore.
Ron Yeats 6. Ron Yeats
Six foot two and strong as an Ox, Rowdy Yeats was a man mountain of a player, the 'Colossus' of Shankly's first great Liverpool team and as commanding a centre back as you'd wish to see. The big man from the Granite city was as solid as a rock and not many opposing centre forwards deemed it wise to mess with him. Those who did were more often than not left to rue their mistake, as Arsenal's Joe Baker will testify to after riling Yeats in a fifth round FA Cup tie at Highbury in 1964.
Steven Gerrard after scoring v West Brom 7. Steven Gerrard
The current driving force of the Reds team, Stevie G's tough tackling approach has drew favourable comparisons with the hard men of the past. Ever since stepping up into the Liverpool senior side as a raw 17-year old he has displayed a willingness to get in where it hurts. Never one to go hiding amid the heat of an intense midfield battle, nor be intimidated by any situation, the so-called 'Huyton Hammer' strikes fear into the opposition.
Ray Kennedy 8. Ray Kennedy
He may not have come across as the archetypal hard man on the pitch, but with the build of a heavyweight boxer Kennedy could certainly pack a punch. A burly centre-forward turned left midfielder he was renowned among his team-mates for having a short fuse and it was not advisable to get on the wrong side of him. Villa's Allan Evans and Arsenal's Peter Nicholas were just two opposing players who foolishly did so, while training ground bust-ups and off-the-field scrapes were also not uncommon during the course of his Anfield career.
Neil Ruddock 9. Neil Ruddock
He may not have been the most graceful of defenders but any opposing forward who came up against Razor Ruddock knew they'd been in a battle. In one of his first games for the Reds Peter Beardsley, then of Newcastle, suffered a fractured cheekbone after coming off second best in a challenge during Ronnie Whelan's testimonial at Anfield, while even best pal Alan Shearer did not escape his wrath and the pair famously traded blows in the heat of a League Cup tie against Blackburn at Ewood Park in the mid-nineties.
Paul Ince, Liverpool v Leeds 10. Paul Ince
The self-proclaimed 'Guv'nor', Incey arrived at Anfield in the summer of 1997 with a tough guy reputation that had been forged during his time with West Ham, Man U and Inter Milan. Results-wise his time with the Reds may not have gone as well as expected but there's no doubt his presence added some much-needed steel to the midfield of Roy Evans' team. A cousin of boxer Nigel Benn, the former Reds skipper was a fierce competitor who was loathe to back down from a confrontation or shirk a tackle.
