Houllier convinced Liverpool on brink of big things ahead of Carling Cup final
Former Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier feels they're on the brink of big things ahead of Sunday's Carling Cup final.
Houllier feels lifting the League Cup 11 years ago provided his team with the momentum to go on and add the FA and UEFA Cups to the trophy cabinet and seal a Champions League berth - and he reckons it could be a similar story for Kenny Dalglish's side if they can prevail against Cardiff on Sunday.
"It takes time to build a team and this is a transitional season for them. I think Kenny has made some very good buys. They are young players and they will get better and better over the next few years.
"Winning the League Cup in 2001 gave us so much confidence for the rest of the season. It was probably the most difficult final we had.
"But when you've done it once, you want to repeat it. The fans and the press said 'you've won one, why can't you win another one?' They pushed us towards the treble.
"Trophies exhilarate a team. Not only did we win two more finals but we went on a long unbeaten run in the league and got into a play-off for the Champions League.
"Liverpool have still got the FA Cup and a lot of good teams have already gone out of that. They have a good chance of getting a cup double.
"Winning the League Cup would be a tremendous boost for the rest of the season and will help Liverpool in their push to get into the top four.""There are similarities in the reconstruction programmes between when I took over in 1998 and Kenny this time around," he told liverpoolfc.tv.
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Results & Fixtures
Matches
| Home | Away | Score | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun May 13th | |||
| Stoke City | Bolton Wanderers | 2 - 2 | 14:00 |
| West Bromwich Albion | Arsenal | 2 - 3 | 14:00 |
| Everton | Newcastle United | 3 - 1 | 14:00 |
| Sunderland | Manchester United | - 1 | 14:00 |
| Wigan Athletic | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 3 - 2 | 14:00 |
| Manchester City | Queens Park Rangers | 3 - 2 | 14:00 |
| Swansea City | Liverpool | 14:00 | |
| Norwich City | Aston Villa | 14:00 | |
| Tottenham Hotspur | Fulham | 14:00 | |
| Chelsea | Blackburn Rovers | 2 - 1 | 14:00 |
Tables
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester City | 38 | 28 | 5 | 5 | 64 | 89 |
| Manchester United | 38 | 28 | 5 | 5 | 56 | 89 |
| Arsenal | 38 | 21 | 7 | 10 | 25 | 70 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 38 | 20 | 9 | 9 | 25 | 69 |
| Newcastle United | 38 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 5 | 65 |
| Chelsea | 38 | 18 | 10 | 10 | 19 | 64 |
| Everton | 38 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 56 |
| Liverpool | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 7 | 52 |
| Fulham | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | -3 | 52 |
| West Bromwich Albion | 38 | 13 | 8 | 17 | -7 | 47 |
| Swansea City | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | -7 | 47 |
| Norwich City | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | -14 | 47 |
| Sunderland | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | -1 | 45 |
| Stoke City | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | -17 | 45 |
| Wigan Athletic | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | -20 | 43 |
| Aston Villa | 38 | 7 | 17 | 14 | -16 | 38 |
| Queens Park Rangers | 38 | 10 | 7 | 21 | -23 | 37 |
| Bolton Wanderers | 38 | 10 | 6 | 22 | -31 | 36 |
| Blackburn Rovers | 38 | 8 | 7 | 23 | -30 | 31 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 38 | 5 | 10 | 23 | -42 | 25 |
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