The autumn sun caressed Liverpool's training ground on Friday, but other factors must have conspired in the good humour of Rafa Benitez.
It was, you appreciated on reflection, a good time to be Liverpool manager. True, Benitez had just heard Fernando Torres confirm unavailability through injury for the match at Chelsea, but the team are unbeaten in the Premier League with confidence buttressed for the trip to London by the knowledge that they have beaten Manchester United at Anfield.
Even the credit crunch may be working for Liverpool, because speculation that Tom Hicks and George Gillett will be forced to sell the club is increasingly plausible and, should the crown prince of Dubai prove the buyer, Benitez would have the stability he craves, probably with a new contract as endorsement.
So come, friendly crunch? There being no Betjeman among the ranks of Liverpool's support, perhaps Roger McGough could pen a poem of hope that the Americans will settle their debts and go back across the Atlantic to a less complicated sporting environment.
Benitez again declined to discuss his wishes in detail, smiling when someone pointed out that he had left Valencia for Liverpool in 2004 because the Spanish club waited until he had won the Uefa Cup before renewing his contract - "I understand your question'' - but leaving it there.
Of the takeover reports concerning Sheikh Mohammed, he said: "When things are just rumours, we have to concentrate on football. Then it's easier for the players to focus.'' But stability, he added, was "a good thing for any club''. Especially one obliged to challenge Chelsea without it.
Will we ever (I wonder) again be able to look at a Premier League football match plain and simple? Today's event at Stamford Bridge certainly deserves it, for Liverpool have not even scored there on Premier business in nearly five years since Bruno Cheyrou secured victory on their final visit under Gerard Houllier, and yet a surprising number of people think this might be the day when Chelsea's unbeaten run in the League finally comes to an end after 86 matches.
I wonder if it might be just a shade early in the season. While both clubs are unbeaten thus far, Luiz Felipe Scolari's Chelsea have been closer to peak form than Benitez's side, whose most impressive results have featured recoveries to beat Wigan and Manchester City. A draw would surely delight Liverpool. They may not have been champions for a while, but they do know the difference between a marathon and a sprint.
Their supporters, led by Steven Gerrard, have been waiting since 1990 to celebrate a domestic title but at least they have a manager who knows how; Benitez guided Valencia to two Spanish championships.
He can see steady progress, moreover, towards the required standard. Mention of Pepe Reina's development into one of the country's top goalkeepers got me thinking about how the current Liverpool might measure up to the Valencia of Benitez, who had the bleached but excellent Santiago Canizares in goal, Roberto Ayala shoring up the defence much as Jamie Carragher does (perhaps with less fuss, but the comparison holds), a solid central midfield pairing in Ruben Baraja and David Albelda (Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano) and Pablo Aimar off the front (where Gerrard likes to wreak his own havoc).
Although I found this mental doodling fun, Benitez was less interested in individuals than the character of his teams.
"I was at Valencia for three years,'' he said (they won the title in 2002 and 2004). "The first year was good, but the third year was fantastic. We were very, very solid, attacking and defending very well. It was a team with a fantastic balance and that was the key.
"Everyone had absolute confidence in everyone else. Every year, I think, this team at Liverpool gets closer to that. We have plenty of room for improvement - but every year it gets better.''
And confidence had been so high since the quashing of Manchester United that he would hardly need to mention that mid-September feat during the build-up to Sunday's game.
"For us,'' said Benitez, "beating United was really important because last season we were not winning these big games and everyone was saying 'OK, you can be close - but against the top sides you can't quite do it'. So this was a positive message to the team. And now we'll see what happens at Chelsea.''
Did he miss the mind-games with Jose Mourinho? "No.'' He preferred to exchange football thoughts with Scolari.”That's the way to do things.''
Meanwhile, down in Surrey, there was reciprocal respect, Scolari acknowledging the threat to his ambitions posed by Benitez's team.
"I believe they are thinking more about the Premier League than previously,'' the Chelsea manager declared. "Many times in the past, I have heard and read that Liverpool are concentrating on the Champions League. But maybe now they have a more balanced squad, one in which Benitez has more confidence. Maybe they have grown up.''
Asked if he would, like Benitez, be granted four years at his club without a domestic title (in fairness to Benitez, he has guided Liverpool to two Champions League finals, one of which was won), Scolari replied that he had only two years on his contract. "I have two years to win this competition - this year and next.''
Stability, I suppose, is in the eye of the beholder, but, for the moment, Scolari and Roman Abramovich seem to be getting along just fine. It is Benitez's mission to sow a seed of doubt.
It was, you appreciated on reflection, a good time to be Liverpool manager. True, Benitez had just heard Fernando Torres confirm unavailability through injury for the match at Chelsea, but the team are unbeaten in the Premier League with confidence buttressed for the trip to London by the knowledge that they have beaten Manchester United at Anfield.
Even the credit crunch may be working for Liverpool, because speculation that Tom Hicks and George Gillett will be forced to sell the club is increasingly plausible and, should the crown prince of Dubai prove the buyer, Benitez would have the stability he craves, probably with a new contract as endorsement.
So come, friendly crunch? There being no Betjeman among the ranks of Liverpool's support, perhaps Roger McGough could pen a poem of hope that the Americans will settle their debts and go back across the Atlantic to a less complicated sporting environment.
Benitez again declined to discuss his wishes in detail, smiling when someone pointed out that he had left Valencia for Liverpool in 2004 because the Spanish club waited until he had won the Uefa Cup before renewing his contract - "I understand your question'' - but leaving it there.
Of the takeover reports concerning Sheikh Mohammed, he said: "When things are just rumours, we have to concentrate on football. Then it's easier for the players to focus.'' But stability, he added, was "a good thing for any club''. Especially one obliged to challenge Chelsea without it.
Will we ever (I wonder) again be able to look at a Premier League football match plain and simple? Today's event at Stamford Bridge certainly deserves it, for Liverpool have not even scored there on Premier business in nearly five years since Bruno Cheyrou secured victory on their final visit under Gerard Houllier, and yet a surprising number of people think this might be the day when Chelsea's unbeaten run in the League finally comes to an end after 86 matches.
I wonder if it might be just a shade early in the season. While both clubs are unbeaten thus far, Luiz Felipe Scolari's Chelsea have been closer to peak form than Benitez's side, whose most impressive results have featured recoveries to beat Wigan and Manchester City. A draw would surely delight Liverpool. They may not have been champions for a while, but they do know the difference between a marathon and a sprint.
Their supporters, led by Steven Gerrard, have been waiting since 1990 to celebrate a domestic title but at least they have a manager who knows how; Benitez guided Valencia to two Spanish championships.
He can see steady progress, moreover, towards the required standard. Mention of Pepe Reina's development into one of the country's top goalkeepers got me thinking about how the current Liverpool might measure up to the Valencia of Benitez, who had the bleached but excellent Santiago Canizares in goal, Roberto Ayala shoring up the defence much as Jamie Carragher does (perhaps with less fuss, but the comparison holds), a solid central midfield pairing in Ruben Baraja and David Albelda (Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano) and Pablo Aimar off the front (where Gerrard likes to wreak his own havoc).
Although I found this mental doodling fun, Benitez was less interested in individuals than the character of his teams.
"I was at Valencia for three years,'' he said (they won the title in 2002 and 2004). "The first year was good, but the third year was fantastic. We were very, very solid, attacking and defending very well. It was a team with a fantastic balance and that was the key.
"Everyone had absolute confidence in everyone else. Every year, I think, this team at Liverpool gets closer to that. We have plenty of room for improvement - but every year it gets better.''
And confidence had been so high since the quashing of Manchester United that he would hardly need to mention that mid-September feat during the build-up to Sunday's game.
"For us,'' said Benitez, "beating United was really important because last season we were not winning these big games and everyone was saying 'OK, you can be close - but against the top sides you can't quite do it'. So this was a positive message to the team. And now we'll see what happens at Chelsea.''
Did he miss the mind-games with Jose Mourinho? "No.'' He preferred to exchange football thoughts with Scolari.”That's the way to do things.''
Meanwhile, down in Surrey, there was reciprocal respect, Scolari acknowledging the threat to his ambitions posed by Benitez's team.
"I believe they are thinking more about the Premier League than previously,'' the Chelsea manager declared. "Many times in the past, I have heard and read that Liverpool are concentrating on the Champions League. But maybe now they have a more balanced squad, one in which Benitez has more confidence. Maybe they have grown up.''
Asked if he would, like Benitez, be granted four years at his club without a domestic title (in fairness to Benitez, he has guided Liverpool to two Champions League finals, one of which was won), Scolari replied that he had only two years on his contract. "I have two years to win this competition - this year and next.''
Stability, I suppose, is in the eye of the beholder, but, for the moment, Scolari and Roman Abramovich seem to be getting along just fine. It is Benitez's mission to sow a seed of doubt.
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