The 2001–2002 season was Liverpool Football Club's 110th season in existence and their 40th consecutive season in the top-flight of English football.
Season summary Having finished the previous season in third place in the Premiership, as well as winning an unprecedented treble of the League, FA and UEFA Cups, hopes were high for Liverpool going into the new season. However, fixture congestion meant that Liverpool could only play six games, taking 12 points to stand in sixth place, before Gérard Houllier was forced to go to hospital after falling ill during a game against Leeds United. It was later discovered that Houllier was suffering from a heart condition and was forced to take a five-month period of convalescence, with assistant manager Phil Thompson stepping up to take over caretaker responsibilities. In spite of this crisis, Liverpool climbed to fourth at the end of October before topping the Premier League table at the end of November, with a two-point lead over second-placed Leeds while holding a game in hand. November also saw the sale of fan favourite striker Robbie Fowler to Leeds.
Liverpool kept their lead until 17 December, when Newcastle United overtook Liverpool at the top by virtue of goals scored (30 vs 25). During the month, French striker Nicolas Anelka was signed on loan from Paris Saint-Germain until the end of the campaign as a replacement for Fowler. By the end of December, Liverpool were back to fourth (albeit with the game still in hand and a margin of only two points between them and leaders Arsenal). However, Liverpool failed to take advantage of their extra game and at the end of January were still two points off the top (Manchester United now the league leaders), although they did defeat the Red Devils 1–0 at Old Trafford. This gap increased to four points by the end of February, despite a 4–0 win away to Leeds, but Houllier's return in March coincided with an upturn of form that saw Liverpool reach the Champions League quarter-finals and reclaim top place in the Premiership with five matches left to play, although fellow title challengers Arsenal had two games in hand. Arsenal, in the midst of a twelve-match winning streak, soon overhauled Liverpool and sealed the title with a 2–0 win at Bolton Wanderers. However, on the flip side Arsenal also defeated Manchester United during this winning run, allowing Liverpool to take runners-up spot with a 5–0 home win over Ipswich Town.
The 2001–02 season was the first in which Liverpool had competed in the UEFA Champions League, and their first campaign in Europe's premier club competition (previously the European Cup) since the 1984–85 season. Liverpool topped their group in the first stage, and also progressed through the second group stage, before being knocked out into the quarter-finals by eventual finalists Bayer Leverkusen, 4–3 on aggregate.
During the close season, Houllier turned down the opportunity to sign Anelka, in favour of signing temperamental Senegalese striker El Hadji Diouf, following the latter's role in Senegal's World Cup campaign. For the fifth consecutive season, Michael Owen finished the campaign as the Reds' top goalscorer, with 28 goals in all competitions (19 in the league).
Competition Result Top scorer Premier League 2nd Michael Owen, 19 Champions League Quarter-finals Michael Owen, 5 FA Cup Fourth round Michael Owen, 2 League Cup Third round Gary McAllister, 1 Charity Shield Winners Michael Owen, 1 Gary McAllister, 1 UEFA Super Cup Winners Emile Heskey, 1 Michael Owen, 1 John Arne Riise, 1 Overall Michael Owen, 28
First-team squad Squad at end of season
Left club during season
Reserve squad
Statistics
Player statistics
Transfers
In #PosPlayerFromFeeDate18 DF John Arne Riise Monaco £4,000,000 20 June 20015 FW Milan Baroš Baník Ostrava £3,200,000 26 July 200122 GK Chris Kirkland Coventry City Undisclosed (estimated £6,000,000) 31 August 200112 GK Jerzy Dudek Feyenoord £4,850,000 31 August 20019 FW Nicolas Anelka Paris Saint-Germain Loan 20 December 20013 DF Abel Xavier Everton £750,000 30 January 2002
Out #PosPlayerToFeeDate3 DF Christian Ziege Tottenham Hotspur £4,000,000 17 July 20019 FW Robbie Fowler Leeds United £11,000,000 29 November 20011 GK Sander Westerveld Real Sociedad £3,750,000 17 December 200121 MF Gary McAllister Coventry City Free 14 April 200211 MF Jamie Redknapp Tottenham Hotspur Free 16 April 20029 FW Nicolas Anelka Paris Saint-Germain Loan expired 12 May 2002
Pre-season and friendlies DateOpponentsH / AResult F–AScorers10 July 2001Bayer LeverkusenA3–2Owen 41', Heskey 46', Redknapp 87'16 July 2001Singapore XIA2–0Heskey 42', Owen 85'19 July 2001ThailandA3–1Owen (2) 8', 44', Barmby 64'26 July 2001ValenciaN1–0Litmanen 84'28 July 2001AjaxN3–1Fowler 38'3 August 2001Wolverhampton WanderersA3–0Hyypiä 27', Hamann 32', Fowler 57'
Competitions FA Charity Shield
UEFA Super Cup
Premier League
League Table
Results by round
Matches The league fixtures were announced on 21 June 2001.
FA Cup
Matches
League Cup
Matches
Champions League
Matches
References