One player remains from Liverpool’s last FA Cup final – a 2-1 defeat to Chelsea in 2012. Ten years on, they face the same opponents.
Liverpool face Chelsea in the 2022 FA Cup final. It’s exactly 10 years since their last such final, which also happened to come against the Blues. Kenny Dalglish led the Reds out on that occasion and there was another strange similarity – Liverpool had already won the EFL Cup.
They’d suffer defeat in their second Wembley cup final, however. Chelsea won the game 2-1 with goals from Ramires and Didier Drogba.
This, though, is a very different side as Jurgen Klopp has Liverpool thriving at their best since Dalglish was actually playing for the side. Despite all the change, though, one player from that game is set to take to the Wembley pitch 10 years on.
So let’s have a look at how Liverpool lined up in the 2012 FA Cup final.
Liverpool’s last FA Cup final in 2012
Pepe Reina
Reina was quite unquestionably Liverpool’s best goalkeeper for some time at this point. Alisson has overtaken him as a great but the Spaniard was a revelation when he joined the club in 2006. He deserved far more medals than he eventually won.
Glen Johnson
Johnson arrived with much hype as one of the Premier League’s most outstanding right-backs. He didn’t quite live up to that, though, as he arrived during a strange period for Liverpool.
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Martin Skrtel
Like Johnson, Skrtel perhaps suffered from Liverpool’s constant changes across his spell at the club. On his day, though, he was a fantastic centre-back and one we remember fondly.
Daniel Agger
Injuries are devastating. Agger’s talent was undeniable but constant problems prevented him from fulfilling his potential. A fully fit and firing Agger is one of the few players from this side who’d get a game for the current one.
Luis Enrique
Enrique was fantastic for the first few months at Liverpool but declined in his performances quite rapidly. That season, though, we’d say he was one of the best left-backs the Reds had found for quite some time.
Jordan Henderson
Henderson was enjoying his first season at Liverpool and 10 years later, he’s still starting FA Cup finals. One of the club’s greatest and most successful ever captains.
Jay Spearing
Spearing, unfortunately, had a terrible game at Wembley after impressing at times that season. This would be the peak of his career, too, as the academy graduate settled at Championship level.
Craig Bellamy
This was Bellamy’s second spell at Liverpool and, arguably, he should never have left the first time. A great player on his day and one the Reds should have made more of.
Stewart Downing
An infamous season as £20m Downing failed to score or assist across the Premier League campaign. He managed to produce in the cup run, however, as he scored in the third round and bagged the FA Cup quarter-final winner against Stoke City.
Steven Gerrard
A strange season for Gerrard as he led Liverpool out at two cup finals but also battled injuries for the entire campaign. Only 18 Premier League starts – the lowest of his career – sums that up. Wasn’t able to replicate his 2006 heroics to save Liverpool here.
Luis Suarez
This wasn’t quite Luis Suarez yet as the Uruguayan exploded into life the following campaign. He still scored 17 goals in all competitions, though, across a season where he hit the woodwork roughly 300 times.
Sub: Andy Carroll
Have to mention the big man here as Liverpool’s then-record signing came off the bench to score their goal. Carroll is, of course, one of the most disappointing transfers in the Reds’ history but his FA Cup semi-final winner was nearly followed with heroics here. What might have been.
