Thursday, December 10, 2009

Complacency Liverpool's Worst Enemy In Fine Field Of Also-Rans

Luckily, Liverpool’s fans are inured to the pain by now. They have had a month to steel themselves for the shame, four weeks in which fatalism has replaced fury. On Wednesday night, the third most successful club in European history, boasting more European Cups than Manchester United, Barcelona, Internazionale and Juventus, bow out of the Champions League at the group stage. The club all of Europe once feared demoted to a place among the also-rans. It is a dark day indeed.

The whys and wherefores of Liverpool’s premature demise have been debated endlessly in newspapers, on television screens and radio sets, on countless websites and internet fora, and it would be overkill to offer anything but a brief precis. Rafael Benitez, the manager, has spent badly, or not spent enough, his squad has been decimated by injury, or by an injection of players unworthy of Anfield, his squad has let him down, or his tactics have, his luck has gone missing, or run out. Delete as appropriate, almost. Liverpool’s supporters cannot quite decide what has gone wrong – few clubs in the world boast such a rift between fans who back the manager and those who do not – but they know that it has, and how.

All agree, though, that the Europa League offers some hope of redemption. For all that Europe’s lesser tournament is derided as a distraction from the thoroughly more important matter of qualifying for it next season – Harry Redknapp and Martin O’Neill both took this disdainful approach last year, got exactly what they deserved and should, as I suggested at the time, be banned from entering it for the foreseeable future as punishment – it is still a trophy, a commodity painfully lacking in Benitez’s last three years at Anfield. Liverpool, the consensus is, must win it, for footballing and financial reasons. Not only that, but they should win it. They are Tiger Woods on a crazy golf course, Frank Sinatra in a school music competition. They are the shark among the minnows, or so it seems.

Such a billing, though, is typical of the English attitude to the tournament, one perpetuated by the insular, complacent approach of O’Neill, Redknapp and their ilk, one that dictates that it is a mere afterthought played out in footballing outposts in front of one man, his dog and Colin Murray. It could not be further from the truth, and Liverpool will have to hope neither their players nor their manager buy into it. That way, embarrassment awaits.

The best display I, personally, have seen in any competition this season came in the Europa League, in Benfica’s systematic dismantling of an admittedly scratch Everton side in the the Estadio da Luz. Angel Di Maria, Pablo Aimar, Oscar Cardozo, Ramires and Javier Saviola – as well as Javi Garcia, the excellent midfield anchor – showed that night they would give any Champions League team a run for their money, so crisp was their passing, so free-wheeling their play. Last season, too, the verve of Hamburg, in beating Manchester City in the stadium where the final of the current edition will be held in May, would have been worthy of any team in the senior competition.

Indeed, it is not beyond the realms of possibility to suggest that the Europa League has more strength in depth than the Champions League this season. Obviously, no side matches the majesty of Barcelona, the durability of Chelsea, or boasts the stardust of Real Madrid. But take those sides, plus Manchester United, out, and what are you left with?

In Sevilla, Bordeaux, Bayern Munich – at least on the evidence of their win against Juventus last night – and Arsenal there are some intriguing outside bets, but in truth none of those sides are particularly fine vintages. Milan and Inter are both struggling to live up to the standards their forebears have set, while the likes of CSKA Moscow, Lyon, Fiorentina, Porto, Olympiakos and Stuttgart or Unirea are good, but hardly world-beaters.

Such contestants are not exactly a world away from what is on offer in the Europa League. Liverpool aside, there is the Juventus side eliminated at the last from the Champions League, Valencia, Villarreal, Ajax, Roma, Hamburg, Benfica and their city rivals Sporting, Wolfsburg, Galatasaray, Fenerbahce and Panathinaikos, as well as the holders, Shakhtar Donetsk, and Everton, whose work Liverpool will be familiar with.

It is hardly a competition devoid of stars. David Villa is arguably the world’s best striker, Diego and Felipe Melo both regulars in the Brazil side which will travel to South Africa next summer as favourites, Amauri – overlooked by Dunga and now, somehow, apparently Italian – as well as Marcos Senna, Francesco Totti and, er, Harry Kewell. It is also home to a glut of players who will, in years to come, be multi-million pound, superstar signings. Di Maria, Ramires, Edin Dzeko, Sotiris Ninis, Joao Moutinho, Ajax’s brilliant Uruguayan Luis Suarez, among others.

None of those players, none of those teams, think of themselves as also-rans. It would be idiotic to suggest Liverpool are better off out of the Champions League (though that argument would be valid if they were still in domestic contention), or that the Europa League is a more glamorous, more enticing tournament. It is not, palpably, to the tune of £20 million or so in prize money. But to dismiss it as an irrelevance, a competition fit for nothing more than has-beens and never-will-bes, is misleading. It may be the Champions League’s little brother, but while it is not Bobby to Jack, it is very definitely Liam to Noel. The larger may have the greater talent, but the smaller does not necessarily see it that way.

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