Ray Parlour made his Arsenal debut against Liverpool at Anfield and gave away a penalty – ‘I was so nervous, but Tony Adams was brilliant’
Talk about a baptism of fire.
Ray Parlour was just 18 when he was told to try and stop Liverpool, one of the most successful sides of the previous 20 years, on his first appearance for Arsenal.
It was Janaury 1992 and George Graham’s Gunners were on Merseyside where, throughout the 1970s and 80s, reputations counted for nothing as the ruthless Reds conquered all.
“As you get to the stairs and players are touching the ‘this is Anfield’ sign, suddenly you hear the crowd and when ‘you’ll never walk alone’ is being sung, you think this is what being a footballer is all about,” Parlour told talkSPORT.
It didn’t start well, though, as he hacked Ronny Rosenthal down and conceded a penalty shortly before half-time.
“A nailed on penalty,” he laughed. “There was no VAR then because it could have been a six-game ban!
“The late Dave Rocastle was fantastic in midfield and really helped me out, but I was so nervous because I was used to playing in front of 200 people, not 30,000.”
Jan Molby stepped up and smashed the ball past David Seaman.
“I was marking him and he didn’t move,” Parlour added of Liverpool’s midfield general. “He was always one step ahead of you and his passing ability was brilliant.
“At half-time, George [Graham] was brilliant, as was Tony Adams. They told me to keep going and I was doing well in midfield, but Liverpool had a good side.”
It was a talkSPORT combination that saw the hosts seal the game, with Dean Saunders’ dummy allowing Ray Houghton in to score the second goal.
“We went back the following year and we won 2-0. Ian Wright and Anders Limpar scored and it was a much better game for me, but you always remember those nights,” Parlour recalled.
“Liverpool has always been one of my favourite grounds.”
It’s not going to be the easiest place for Unai Emery’s current side to go and the Arsenal manager even joked he’d prefer not to play them.
The game, live on talkSPORT at 17:30 on 24 August, sees the top two teams in the country battle it out to maintain their 100 per cent Premier League record.
Ray, however, believes his former club are ‘a million miles away from winning the title’.
“How many Arsenal players would get into the Liverpool team?
“The most important think is getting back into the Champions League. Maybe they could push a bit higher, but if they get fourth place this season I’d be delighted.”
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