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What a finale. What drama. Arsenal and Manchester United had lost this season at this footballing idyll by the Thames. Chelsea had drawn. 

It looked as if Liverpool would leave with less than they wanted too. And if they had only the man upstairs would have known how. 

Four times Liverpool hit the woodwork. Through Fernando Torres and Xabi Alonso. And Andrea Dossena twice. They played some magical football, too, but try as they might they struggled to breach the iron curtain Fulham manager Roy Hodgson has draped around Craven Cottage this season. 

Much is made of the importance of confidence in football and Liverpool have been stacking that commodity like beans in Tesco this past month. 

They had scored 11 goals and conceded just one in their last three league games, a period which had also seen them dispatch Real Madrid from the Champions League.