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發表於 2005-10-7 22:26:14
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WHEN WINNING IS NOT ENOUGH ─ BRIAN GLANVILLE
05/10/05
AFTER Chelsea’s triumphant 4-1 win at Anfield against Liverpool, Jose Mourinho demanded “respect” for his team. Forgive me, but I was led immediately to think of that hilarious American comedian Rodney Dangerfield, whose catch line was, “I don’t get no respect.” Another line was, “My mother didn’t want to breast feed me: she said she preferred me as a friend.”
Certainly Chelsea’s performance at Anfield deserved appreciation, but by the same token, their previous display there, only four days earlier, hardly merited respect. A goalless draw, in which Liverpool had no fewer than three arguably justified appeals for a penalty turned down. Previously there have been such dull Chelsea victories as those against Wigan, Arsenal and Anderlecht.
The fact is, as Mourinho must surely understand, that when a club has such untold millions to spend, when it can buy up such an international array of stars, one expects it to not only to dominate, not only to keep winning, but to excite, to entertain. Real Madrid in their prime managed it. Barcelona at their best (whatever happened to them last weekend at Nou Camp) can do it now. Buying up so many of the best players in the world surely places an obligation on Chelsea to win as they won last Sunday: not to draw 0-0 as they did the previous Wednesday.
It now looks, alas that the Premier League is going to become the most tedious of the horse races. For who can challenge Chelsea now? It should meanwhile be recognised that with Abramovich’s millions – and he’s now acquired yet another £5 billion for selling his major share in the Sibneft oil company – Chelsea can not only build an effervescent team but effectively buy up extra stars who are thus denied to their opponents. Moreover, it becomes ever more clear that when BskyB lose their TV monopoly eg the Premiership next year at the behest of the European Union, all the Premiership clubs bar one will experience a sharp drop in their incomes. The one of course being Chelsea who, though they may find the TV money useful, as indeed they must find that derived from their hyperbolic ticket prices, they’ve no urgent need of it so long as Roman Abramovich is there endlessly to pick up the tab.
In some of the reports of the 4-1 victory at Anfield there was almost a gloating, power worshipping tone which was unpleasant to see. With such huge sums at his disposal, such a galaxy of talent, it would be amazing were Mourinho not able to establish Chelsea’s supremacy, at least in England.
Last Sunday, he and they were aided and abetted by Liverpool’s failings. Sami Hyppia’s lack of pace has been all too evident for all too long and it was fatal: Didier Drogba simply ridiculed him as he twice had ridiculed Arsenal’s Philippe Senderos at the start of the season. And yet again it was evident that Rafael Benitez, the chorus of whose admirers I remain reluctant to join (what a first half that was against Milan in Istanbul!) was far too quick to jettison Michael Owen: for a mere eight million pounds, at that. In such circumstances, it seemed somewhat ludicrous to reply to critic that Liverpool wouldn’t buy Owen back at so high a price as Real Madrid were asking. Newcastle, as we know, paid a whopping fee, over double what Liverpool had pocketed. But having acquired Peter Crouch and largely left him alone up field with his back to the goal, unassisted, you wonder why Benitez was so keen to let Milan Baros leave for Aston Villa. As critics have pointed out, you cannot play balls over the top for Crouch to chase, whatever his many qualities: as Owen so notably used to do.
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發表於 2005-10-6 19:00:04
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