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I gave up wearing Liverpool's number seven - it brought me no luck

Exclusive interview with Liverpool cult hero Vladimir Smicer about the highs and lows of his Anfield career and the Reds' recent midfield revamp

Vladimir Smicer at a Liverpool pre-match press conference before their Champions League round-of-16 clash with Bayer Leverkusen
Vladimir Smicer at a Liverpool pre-match press conference before their Champions League round-of-16 clash with Bayer Leverkusen

The Liverpool number seven shirt is the most iconic in the club’s illustrious history, with some of their greatest ever players donning the jersey.

Kenny Dalglish, Kevin Keegan, and Luis Suarez would become synonymous with the jersey during their time at Anfield, while Billy Liddell, Ian Callaghan, Peter Beardsley and Steve McManaman the other most-successful historic wearers. Luis Diaz is the current holder after the shirt was vacated by departing vice-captain James Milner in the summer, with the veteran winning every major honour with the Reds after becoming their greatest ever free transfer.


However, not all owners have become Liverpool legends while wearing the shirt.


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Vladimir Smicer inherited the famous number seven from McManaman after replacing the Real Madrid-bound midfielder at Anfield in 1999. But while he would win the treble with the Reds in 2000/01 wearing the shirt, he was happy to give up the shirt to new signing Harry Kewell in the summer of 2003.

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Enjoying two more seasons on Merseyside, the Czech’s greatest hour for Liverpool was still to come. Taking on the number 11 shirt, he scored in the Reds’ famous Champions League comeback win against AC Milan in 2005 in what would prove to be his final appearance for the club.

But considering many a Kopite grows up dreaming of playing for Liverpool and wearing the number seven shirt, why was Smicer happy to part with it?

“When we signed Harry Kewell, he called and asked me if he could have it,” he explained in an exclusive interview with the ECHO, courtesy of LiveScore Bet. “He played all his career in number seven, and it didn't bring me luck.


“Before me, number seven was Kenny Daglish and Kevin Keegan. It was always something special for Liverpool fans and there was a lot of expectation for me wearing it.

“I felt it was like a stone on my back so when Harry Kewell called me, I said: "Harry, I didn't have too much luck with number seven. Hopefully you will be more lucky than me."

“So I passed him it and then I chose 11 because it was free. Nobody had it and I don't know. I just like two ones and just decided to have it.”


Smicer would make 184 appearances during six seasons with Liverpool, scoring 19 goals and recording 31 assists. Meanwhile, he’d win the League Cup (twice), FA Cup, UEFA Cup, and, of course, the Champions League during his time with the Reds.

He featured in all of the aforementioned finals during a successful period under Gerard Houllier and Rafa Benitez. However, he also struggled with serious injury and consistency at Anfield.

And while the midfielder believes supporters did see the best of him on Merseyside, he admits he remains disappointed by his failure to stay injury-free.


“I think they saw my best, but not as much consistency,” he said. “It was the issue because injuries always seemed to stop me when I was playing well.

“Suddenly some of the big injuries came and I was fighting to be fit again. I feel it was a bit of a shame because they stopped me from producing at my top level more consistently.

“That was the only disappointment of my career at Liverpool, that I didn't have one, two or three years without a serious injury.”


Ultimately, injury would contribute to the end of his Reds career as he entered the final season of his contract with a new manager in Benitez at the helm. A knee injury suffered in pre-season required surgery and ruled him out for the first half of the campaign.

And while Smicer would make 16 appearances for the club following his return, most famously in Istanbul, Benitez had already told the then-32-year-old that his contract would not be renewed with the Spaniard preferring to replace him in his squad.

“It was a good relationship (with Benitez),” he recalled. “Of course, it was difficult for me because when Rafa arrived we didn't know each other too well and after the first game of pre-season, I got my knee injury.


“But he was quite supportive to me, he said: "Ok, when you are back to full fitness then I will give you the chance to play." But he knew my contract was finished at the end of the season.

“I was ready to play around January or February but I was 32 years old. I had my knee operation and he said he would prefer to sign a new player.

“He was quite honest and as a player, you have to accept it. I was happy that he was honest with me because I had plenty of time to decide what I was going to do.


“It was sad because I knew I'd be leaving after six years. I wanted to finish on a high and I needed to at least play some very good games towards the end of the season that I can now look back on and remember that I had a great time at Anfield and at the club.”

And finish on a high is what Smicer did. Introduced in place of the injured Kewell midway through the first half in the Champions League final, Liverpool trailed 3-0 at the break.

Yet he scored the second of three goals in the space of six minutes to secure the most famous of comebacks, before scoring with his final kick in a Reds shirt in the penalty shoot-out to depart Anfield as a European champion.


Reflecting on the victory, Smicer believes a change of tactics from Benitez at half-time ultimately caught AC Milan by surprise.

“We saw them very happy because they just scored a few minutes before the end of the first half,” he said when asked if the Liverpool squad really could hear them celebrating. “When you are 3-0 up at half time in the final, of course, you go into the dressing room with a smile on your face.

“They were not celebrating too much but they were just happy. For us, we were concentrating on different things. Important was Rafa on how we change the team, and how we react in the dressing room.


“We knew our tactics didn't work, so we needed to change and we changed it. We had plan B, maybe AC Milan. I can imagine in the dressing room probably saying: ‘Okay, let's play the same way and finish the game.’

“But they didn't expect us to change completely the system of the play. One goal came quite early and then it all changed. They were very, very surprised second half.”

Now following his former club’s fortunes from afar, Smicer is excited to see what Liverpool can achieve under Jurgen Klopp this season. The Reds currently sit second in the Premier League table, and are in the Europa League round-of-16 and League Cup quarter-finals.


Meanwhile, Klopp revamped his midfield in the summer with the signings of Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo, and Ryan Gravenberch after a disappointing campaign last time out.

Having been part of a new-look midfield at Anfield himself in 1999/00, replacing McManaman as one of seven summer signings, Smicer, who still refers to his old club as ‘we’, has been impressed by what he has seen so far from Klopp’s ‘Liverpool 2.0’.

“We felt last season that we need to have more of a spark in the midfield and I think we did well,” he said. “Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szobozlai, for me, are very good assets to the team, and they have shown that already in the first half of the season. Both players are playing well.

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“Sometimes the play is not that smooth in the Premier League. Sometimes we are not shining or we are not winning in style, but we still keep winning even the hard way.

“We are in a good position in the league, and we'll see what's happening in the second half of the season. It looks like it's going to be very exciting to watch.”

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