Robbie Fowler knows a thing or two about scoring goals, and luckily for him so did a number of his Liverpool team mates over the years.
From breaking into the Reds’ first-team alongside Anfield legend Ian Rush, becoming best mates with Steve McManaman and having a telepathic understanding with Stan Collymore, many of Fowler’s 163 Premier League goals were made via these prolific partnerships.
Speaking exclusively to UCFB as part of the LMA Insight Series, Fowler explained how each of these relationships blossomed.
He said: “When I was coming into the team Ian Rush was, and probably still is, one of my favourite ever players. He’d done and achieved everything that the game had offered, so for me being on the training park and the pitch with this really iconic player there wasn’t a day that went by where I wasn’t learning.”
Fowler added: “It sounds a bit silly but he taught me how to run. I don’t mean with my back up and in a straight line, but as a striker you need to know how to bend your runs and get in and around defenders – Rushy was the master at that.”
As well as on the pitch, the former England international struck up a huge friendship with McManaman which aided their devastating partnership on it. Fowler explained: “With Stevie we had a great understanding on and off the pitch, but regardless of whether you’re mates off the pitch or not, as long as there is that good understanding on the pitch I think that is what primarily we need as football players.”
Perhaps most surprisingly Fowler cites his partnership with Collymore as his favourite. He said: “I never socialised with Stan like Stevie, but when we were on the pitch he knew what I was going to do and I more or less knew what he was going to do. Rushy will tell you that the best player he ever played with was Kenny Dalglish because of the goals he scored; my best strike partner was Stan simply for the fact that I scored more goals with him.
“It’s a selfish attitude but the relationship we had on the pitch was frightening. We both weighed in with goals and helped each other out.”
