The Prem: Football: Hou's year of destiny

GERARD HOULLIER will celebrate the anniversary of his brush with death with a huge smile on his face next Sunday. It will be exactly one year since the Liverpool manager was rushed to hospital with chest pains during a Premiership game against Leeds at Anfield.Surgeons worked for 11 hours to save the Frenchman's life and it was feared he would never again be involved in football. Twelve months later Houllier looks better than ever and admits the experience caused him to re-evaluate not just his life, but also the way Liverpool play. Houllier says there are three things that stood out for him during his absence from the game. The first was theenormous support and warmth he received from everybody at the club, the fans and people within the game. The second was the heroic performance of his players in reaching the quarter- finals of the Champions League. And the third was how he decided during his recovery that Liverpool must play a different way if they wanted to reach their potential. The result on the pitch has been evident this season with Liverpool attacking strongly and scoring freely. Houllier said: "Sometimes by stepping back you can ask yourself 'can we do this, can we do that?' "When I came back in March Isaid we would play different football. I am pleased to say that, so far, the players have responded spectacularly. It helped me to have a different analysis and a different perspective on what we were doing. "After all, it is not as if you have just taken a few days off. You have taken five months off. You can really look at your opponents and your own team. "When you see half of our team is between 20 and 22, there could be some legacy in there." While Houllier refuses to take any credit for the manner in which he has pulled himself through the ordeal of the last 12 months, there is no underestimating his inner strength.He says he is feeling stronger as each week passes, but was surprised how much the operation took out of him. When he returned on that emotional night last March, when Liverpool took on Roma at Anfield, he felt strong enough to start doing his job again. But towards the end of last season he felt he had made a mistake and was left without any energy at the end of each day. He said: "I don't think there was heroism on my part. The heroic thing would have been to stop football altogether. "I feel stronger and stronger as time goes on. I understand that you need a month to get over each hour you were in the operating theatre. So we are now getting there." Houllier's summer signing, Bruno Cheyrou, will be disappointed if Chelsea drop his brother-in-law, Emmanuel Petit, for today's game. Petit was mainly responsible for the pounds 4.5million midfielder's move from Lille to Liverpool. Cheyrou knew the time had come to leave French football but was unsure where his future lay. A call to Petit and the newly-capped French international was invited to London to take in some matches at Stamford Bridge. Once he saw Premiership football, Cheyrou was hooked. So when Houllier came calling, Cheyrou was left in no doubt about where his future lay.

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