[lfc-news] Kings of Europe - Observer

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The Observer, 8 May 2005
Kings of Europe
By Paul Wilson

Surprise, Surprise, as Cilla Black used to say. Liverpool are in their
sixth European Cup final while the wait goes on for a London club, any
London club, to break the capital's duck.

With a European pedigree like Liverpool's the stage is set for the
biggest surprise of all in Istanbul later this month, even if Rafael
Benítez's team have spent the domestic season floundering in Everton's
shadow and losing at places such as Birmingham and Crystal Palace. It
will not have gone unnoticed in Milan that in the last two Champions
League rounds, Liverpool eliminated the English champions and the joint
leaders of Serie A, and in those four matches they conceded one goal.
That earns respect in Italy and it is doubtful whether Milan will be
relieved at having to face the four-times winners rather than Chelsea.

For all their dominance of English football, Chelsea are still novices
in the Champions League and the unhappy truth for Roman Abramovich is
that his expensively assembled side have gone out in consecutive
semi-finals to perceived underdogs. That will be a tough obstacle for
José Mourinho to overcome, even if Abramovich ploughs in more money. The
Chelsea coach's European record is excellent and he defended it
vigorously on Tuesday night when asked if he still regarded himself as
the 'special one', but he had an element of surprise on his side when
leading unfancied Porto to their two trophies. It is an entirely
different matter producing results in big games when you are the
favourites and are expected to win as Benítez and his team might
discover next season.

For now though, in honour of Liverpool's first European Cup final
appearance for 20 years, here are 15 other implications of their
unexpected success - one for every Champions League game this season.

1 Plaudits for the Premiership. How can anyone sneer at English football
if a team more than 30 points off the Premiership pace can progress to
the top table of European football? The current equivalent in Italy
would be Messina or Cagliari, in Spain it would be Real Zaragoza or
Athletic Bilbao. If Uefa softened their stance on a maximum of four
teams per country, a Liverpool victory in Istanbul could lead to five
Premiership teams in the Champions League next season, and who could say
that would be undeserved?

2 Fergie's reputation suffers. It is six years since Manchester United
were in a Champions League final and two years since they won the
League. Sir Alex Ferguson will be furious. United have spent massively
over that period, with the board believing they have the wisest, most
experienced and most successful manager around, yet one foreign coach
has just won the title and another has taken Liverpool to the European
Cup final - both in their first season in England.

3 So does Gérard Houllier's. The former Liverpool manager can take
credit for having signed eight of the starting XI against Chelsea, but
if he is as clever as we all think he is he will not be shouting it from
the rooftops. Benítez has been the extra ingredient that has propelled
Liverpool to the final. Before his arrival Liverpool were a collection
of individuals - now they are a team, and one to be reckoned with. The
importance of choosing the right coach, and the ability of one man to
change the way a team performs, has not been so starkly demonstrated
since David Moyes took over across the road (although, whatever the
Premiership table may say, Everton are still a long way from a European
Cup final).

4 Birmingham, kings of Europe. They did the double over Liverpool and
that makes Birmingham City the team that beat the team... and therefore
up with the best in Europe. No one thought much of a 2-0 win at St
Andrew's and a single-goal victory at Anfield at the time, but if
Liverpool become European champions Steve Bruce can put himself forward
for Sven-Göran Eriksson's job.

5 Burnley's Cup pedigree. The team that finished in the bottom half of
the Championship can also take a bow. Burnley beat the European Cup
finalists in the FA Cup in January, and even if it was against the
reserves they can boast of being the only team in Europe capable of
preventing Liverpool reaching a final this season.

6 England's finest. There were five English players on the pitch at the
start of the Anfield semi-final, a typical and fairly damning proportion
for an all-Premiership encounter. But, and here's the good news for
English football, four of those five were credible candidates for player
of the year. Even Joe Cole, the odd man out, has had an excellent
season. At the heart of Chelsea's success this year have been Frank
Lampard and John Terry, while Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher have
been equally monumental for Liverpool. While there are too many foreign
players in the English game, at least homegrown quality is still around.
When was the last time the leading four candidates for individual
honours were all English?

7 Benítez is best - it's not official. The Spaniard has to take the
'unofficial' title because no one can ever agree on what constitutes the
greatest achievement - winning a title, avoiding relegation, spending
wisely, or getting the most from players who cost peanuts. The list of
contenders included Mourinho, Moyes, Iain Dowie, Mick McCarthy, Mike
Newell and Peter Taylor - putting that lot into an order of merit would
give anyone a headache. So thank goodness someone made a late run with a
truly astonishing feat. Step forward Rafael Benítez. Reached the
European Cup final with Igor Biscan, Djimi Traoré and Harry Kewell. Wow.

8 It's grim down south. Sorry Arsène, but this shift in the balance of
power from north to south really is taking its time. A slight shift to
the west, perhaps, both in London and along the East Lancashire Road.
Talking of which, Ferguson might not be completely washed up after all.
He did at least predict that Chelsea would come a cropper in the north.

9 Capital gains. The good news for Wenger is that Abramovich's millions
cannot buy everything, well not all at once, and Arsenal still have a
chance to become the first London team to reach a European Cup final.
Then again, so do Spurs or Crystal Palace.

10 Owen's rightful home... Michael Owen left Liverpool in search of
Europe's top honours, but it could be worse. It could be Wayne Rooney
contemplating Everton in a Champions League final. At least Liverpool
might be in a position to buy Owen back. Real Madrid might even make a
profit.

11 And then there were four. Liverpool, with some Champions League
wealth, should increase the competitiveness at the top of the
Premiership, and at least one team will not be running scared of Chelsea
next year.

12 How much? Chelsea showed that they can get it wrong, too. While
Liverpool's Djibril Cissé looked over-priced, at least he could claim he
was short of fitness. Didier Drogba, who missed a clear chance to steal
victory at the end, and Mateja Kezman had no such excuses. Drogba and
Kezman must have struck even a spendthrift like Abramovich as poor
value. Don't forget Chelsea still have Hernán Crespo parked in Italy.
Abramovich will have to keep an eye on Mourinho if he moves for a new
striker this summer, or, more important, keep an eye on the price.
Chelsea are not the only club he is currently keeping afloat.

13 On the cards. Champions League referees are not always superior to
the domestic version. All that happens is that with two bookings leading
to a ban in Europe, against five at home, players are better behaved. An
English referee would not have given Luis García's goal, but he would
have dismissed Petr Cech and awarded a penalty.

14 To err is human. All the goalline technology in the world is no
substitute for a good talking point. Those who would change the game
would do so at their peril.

15 Let's hear it for the fans. Liverpool supporters will find it hard to
be as impressive in the Atatürk Stadium, though they will not find it
difficult to outsing Italian rivals. It will be a long time before
anyone in an all-seat stadium in England betters last Tuesday's show of
support, so noisy and emotional it is still a hot subject on internet
football chatrooms all over Europe. Benítez had 20 friends over for the
match and they could talk of nothing else afterwards.

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