#18 – 2003/04
TTT Season Rating Score*: 1.59 (League 1.18, Cups 0.00, Finance 0.41).
Manager: Gerard Houllier.
Premier League: 60 points, finished 4th.
£XI rank: 5th.
Europe: UEFA Cup 4th Round.
FA Cup: 5th Round.
League Cup: 4th Round.
Top scorer: Michael Owen, 19.
Final League Table:
| # | Team | M. | W | D | L | goals | Dif. | Pt. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Arsenal FC | 38 | 26 | 12 | 0 | 73:26 | 47 | 90 |
| 2 |  |
Chelsea FC | 38 | 24 | 7 | 7 | 67:30 | 37 | 79 |
| 3 |  |
Manchester United | 38 | 23 | 6 | 9 | 64:35 | 29 | 75 |
| 4 |  |
Liverpool FC | 38 | 16 | 12 | 10 | 55:37 | 18 | 60 |
| 5 |  |
Newcastle United | 38 | 13 | 17 | 8 | 52:40 | 12 | 56 |
| 6 |  |
Aston Villa | 38 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 48:44 | 4 | 56 |
| 7 |  |
Charlton Athletic | 38 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 51:51 | 0 | 53 |
| 8 |  |
Bolton Wanderers | 38 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 48:56 | -8 | 53 |
| 9 |  |
Fulham FC | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 52:46 | 6 | 52 |
| 10 |  |
Birmingham City | 38 | 12 | 14 | 12 | 43:48 | -5 | 50 |
| 11 |  |
Middlesbrough FC | 38 | 13 | 9 | 16 | 44:52 | -8 | 48 |
| 12 |  |
Southampton FC | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | 44:45 | -1 | 47 |
| 13 |  |
Portsmouth FC | 38 | 12 | 9 | 17 | 47:54 | -7 | 45 |
| 14 |  |
Tottenham Hotspur | 38 | 13 | 6 | 19 | 47:57 | -10 | 45 |
| 15 |  |
Blackburn Rovers | 38 | 12 | 8 | 18 | 51:59 | -8 | 44 |
| 16 |  |
Manchester City | 38 | 9 | 14 | 15 | 55:54 | 1 | 41 |
| 17 |  |
Everton FC | 38 | 9 | 12 | 17 | 45:57 | -12 | 39 |
| 18 |  |
Leicester City | 38 | 6 | 15 | 17 | 48:65 | -17 | 33 |
| 19 |  |
Leeds United | 38 | 8 | 9 | 21 | 40:79 | -39 | 33 |
| 20 |  |
Wolverhampton Wanderers | 38 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 38:77 | -39 | 33 |
Transfers In:
| Player | Current Money Purchase Price | Age @ transfer |
| Kewell H | £39,843,218 | 24 |
| Finnan S | £27,890,253 | 27 |
| Sinama Pongolle F | £23,905,931 | 18 |
| Le Tallec A | £23,905,931 | 18 |
| Jones P (I) | £0 |
Transfers Out:
| Player | Sales CTPP |
| Heggem V | – |
| Jones P (I) | – |
| Heskey E | £25,761,607 |
| Berger P | £0 |
| Arphexad P | £0 |
| Diomede B | £0 |
| Xavier A | £0 |
Player stats for the season:
| # | Player | Starts | Sub Apps | Goals |
| 4 | Sami Hyypia | 51 | 0 | 5 |
| 7 | Harry Kewell | 47 | 2 | 11 |
| 17 | Steven Gerrard | 45 | 2 | 6 |
| 10 | Michael Owen | 38 | 0 | 19 |
| 1 | Jerzy Dudek | 38 | 0 | |
| 25 | Igor Biscan | 35 | 4 | |
| 8 | Emile Heskey | 34 | 13 | 12 |
| 16 | Dietmar Hamann | 34 | 1 | 3 |
| 23 | Jamie Carragher | 29 | 0 | |
| 13 | Danny Murphy | 28 | 14 | 8 |
| 18 | John Arne Riise | 28 | 7 | |
| 3 | Steve Finnan | 27 | 4 | |
| 9 | El Hadji Diouf | 26 | 7 | |
| 2 | Stephane Henchoz | 23 | 4 | |
| 11 | Vladimir Smicer | 19 | 6 | 4 |
| 28 | Bruno Cheyrou | 13 | 6 | 4 |
| 22 | Chris Kirkland | 12 | 0 | |
| 21 | Djimi Traore | 11 | 0 | 1 |
| 20 | Anthony Le Tallec | 8 | 15 | 1 |
| 5 | Milan Baros | 8 | 10 | 2 |
| 24 | Florent Sinama-Pongolle | 6 | 17 | 2 |
| 15 | Salif Diao | 5 | 2 | |
| 36 | Jon Otsemobor | 5 | 0 | |
| 12 | Paul Jones | 2 | 0 | |
| 32 | John Welsh | 0 | 2 | |
| 29 | Patrice Luzi-Bernardi | 0 | 1 |
Season summary
Andrew Beasley: It was the dawning of a new era for the Premier League, and the end of one for Liverpool. Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea in the summer of 2003, proceeding to try to blow the competition out of the water with a lavish spending spree. The Reds got to face the Blues’ new firepower on the opening weekend of the season. They lost 2-1, in what was a portent of the season ahead.
2003/04 proved to be the end of Gerard Houllier’s time at Anfield. I remember thinking in the spring of 2004 that he’d keep his job if Liverpool secured Champions League qualification. And they did, but in the least impressive or memorable fashion possible. The Reds crawled home in fourth place with 60 points; Rafa Benitez’ side finished seventh with 63 in his final campaign, to illustrate the general lack of competition in Houllier’s farewell year.
But change was undoubtedly needed. Liverpool finished 30 points behind the Invincibles, and Chelsea were guaranteed to splash more cash. Still, with Alan Curbishley rumoured to be taking the manager’s job, the only way was up.
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