IMHO masih panjang perjalanan.
Tapi melihat awal yang baik di EPL, berharap Liverpool bisa at least berada
di 2 besar dan bahkan jadi juara liga setelah 17 tahun puasa sih akhirnya
realistis.
Semoga aja Gerrard (dan tentunya seluruh skuad LFC) kembali fit dan bermain
minggu depan lawan Portsmouth. Semakin lengkap skuad LFC semakin baik.
C'mon you Reds!!!!!
Daniel Vero <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
BIRMINGHAM, England At last, it seems that Liverpool, after so many
years of talking the talk on the basis of their tradition and huge
fan base will actually be able to walk the walk, too. The mighty
Reds are sitting proudly at the top of the EPL for the first time in
five years. Yes, five years. That is far too long for a club of their
immense stature.
And let's not forget too that, but for an inexcusable decision by
blundering referee Rob Styles who gifted Chelsea a game-tying penalty
at Anfield last month, Liverpool would be 4-0 in the league with a
perfect 12 points.
So why is that great news for the neutrals?
Because English football needs Rafa Benitez and it needs a strong
Liverpool to avoid the relative tedium of another two-horse battle
between Chelsea and Manchester United this season.
We are fed up with Sir Alex Ferguson and maxed-out on Jose Mourinho.
Arsene Wenger? The admirable Frenchman is just a little too
boring.
More to the point, he does not have a team capable of mounting a
serious challenge. At least not until his players start to shave.
A couple of years ago, Mourinho arrived with a big reputation and an
even bigger ego to revitalize our game, breaking the domination of
United and Arsenal thanks to the rubles of Roman Abramovic. For a
while, we loved Jose. The male football fan admired his
self-confidence; female fans could not fail to notice his Latin good
looks.
Unfortunately, self-confidence has a nasty habit of eventually giving
way to arrogance.
Anointing himself "The Chosen One" was interpreted as partly
tongue-in-cheek, but as time wore on, more people were simply turned
off by Jose's boundless self-assurance. The average EPL fan has now
tired of his arrogance.
The anti-Mourinho movement, also drawing ammunition from the fact his
owner spent over 130 million pounds in the transfer market, was so
strong by the turn of this year that the vast majority of neutrals
wanted Manchester United to win the 2007 title. How crazy is that?
Which is why Benitez is such a savior. Obviously, he owes a huge debt
of gratitude to the bank roll of U.S. billionaires George Gillett and
Tom Hicks at Anfield, for digging deep to the tune of over 45 million
pounds this summer, especially for the funds to sign Fernando Torres.
In the fresh-faced Spanish superstar, arguably the most exciting
player to arrive on English shores this summer, Liverpool now
possesses the one dimension it has been lacking of late a guaranteed
predator with a different style to Ian Rush or Robbie Fowler but the
same kind of goal menace.
So all is good with Benitez, right?
Well, not quite.
His new found levels of nationwide bonhomie might not last the season
if he persists with the current stance toward Steven Gerrard, his
broken toe and England duty. The way Rafa is trying to dictate to
national team manager Steve McClaren over the midfield icon's
participation in two crucial Euro 2008 qualifiers against Israel and
Russia is a dangerous game.
A couple of weeks ago, Gerrard played with an injection in the crucial
game against Chelsea as Benitez wanted to make a statement of intent
against his rivals. Two weeks later, Benitez rested him for the
obviously less taxing game against Derby and quickly asked McClaren
not to pump Gerrard full of painkillers at a time when the nation's
side is mired in one of its biggest crises for many years.
Imagine Phil Jackson adopting that approach by telling a slumping and
injury-plagued Team USA that Kobe Bryant was not fit enough to play in
the FIBA Americas Championships while participating in summer league
for the Lakers.
Gerrard would want to play for Liverpool with a broken ankle, and his
thoughts on representing his country are exactly the same, perhaps
even stronger.
"Steve wants to play, I want him to play and his country wants him to
play," said McClaren when quizzed earlier this week.
Allow Gerrard to get there against Israel on Saturday, Rafa. England
needs Stevie G.
And Benitez trying to deprive long-suffering England fans of their one
true world-class player, at a time when David Beckham, Wayne Rooney
and Frank Lampard are out injured, is a an endgame that will not
endear him to the nation. Gerrard is a national treasure, not just
your property, Rafa. So tread carefully.
Also make sure this impressive start at Anfield is not another false
hope. After the political maneuvering that followed the Champions
League final defeat to AC Milan when you criticized chief executive
Rick Parry and the owners for the club's lack of ambition and planning
in the transfer market you were backed to the hilt this summer.
Hicks and Gillett have dug deep, even though they might not have
appreciated your attempts to interfere in the way they run one of
their many multi-million-pound industries. They might not have enjoyed
the way you seemed to play them off against interest in you from Real
Madrid to get the money you were crying out for to invest in new
players. But they happily paid the checks this summer.
After all, Hicks and Gillett would not be the first members of the
English football community to be won over by your disarming demeanor,
the common football sense that usually comes out of your mouth and
some undeniably impressive accomplishments on the field (two
Champions' League finals in three years certainly helps your cause).
But you know the way the deal works, Rafa.
They have kept their part of the bargain. Now it is up to you to keep
yours and win that Premiership title for which one of the most famous
clubs in the world has been forced to wait over an appalling barren
stretch of 17 years. (Just remember that in that time, Blackburn
Rovers and Leeds United have won the title while Liverpool have not).
Somehow, judging from the noises that are coming from people close to
the American owners, a third-place finish in the Premier League this
season might not be the result your ambitious employers expect. And as
football has shown us countless times before, dissatisfied owners
generally mean only one thing for the manager below them on the food
chain.
If that is the best you can do, it won't be good enough for George and
Tom. It won't be good enough for Liverpool fans, who are starting to
believe it is their time again, and it won't be good enough for us
neutrals whom you have seduced up to now.
Ian Edwards, of the Wardle Agency, has covered English football for 18 years.
HAPUS BAGIAN EMAIL YG TIDAK PERLU SEBELUM ME-REPLY.
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