I’ve often held this grouse against Liverpool and Manchester United’s fans that when you tend to have a discussion with them they bring out the reference of the “glory” days of the clubs. Man U in some respects have continued their supremacy owing to the twin factors of a tenacious manager and some poor performances of their rivals. But Liverpool as long as I have followed the league have been very patchy. They throw in some brilliant unstoppable performances some times and play utterly clueless football at other times.
There is no denying the glorious history of the club. They have been the club with the most number of premier league titles and a history that’s etched in stone and full of achievements. If anybody does begin giving me a lesson on the history of football where the club that I follow features very little in, one would still find an ardent listener in me, because ‘we love this game'.
But to all those people who have followed the glory days of Arsenal and Liverpool, I have observed that it is extremely difficult to digest the fact that clubs such as Manchester United and Chelsea have come from nowhere and have started leading the way. Ask them reason for the hatred and back we go into the 90’s. I have never been a football lover. My introduction to football came very late in life according to me. A bunch of my friends during my MBA wanted to watch the FIFA world cup. I had no choice but to tag along. Then I saw something that is peculiar to this sport. The passion with which one supports a team is probably equivalent to the passion with which a player plays in the team. That was reason enough and the love affair had started. Many people have strange introductions to the team they have become ardent fans of. For me, I don’t even remember when and why I started following Chelsea. I think it was a rub off effect as my closest friends were all Chelsea fans. Thus I started watching the premier league and especially the matches of Chelsea.
I saw Chelsea in the last days of Jose Mourinho where matches were a drab after the one goal from Drogba. The then Chelsea concentrated on the results of the game than goal scoring. Of course the defense was way better then. Then came Scolari who ripped the team apart and benched a disgruntled champion in Drogba and chose Anelka to play ahead of him. Guus Hiddink had to do a favor to Roman Abrahmovich and boy, was he good! He restored Chelsea to its potential and almost snatched a Champion’s league victory had it not been the familiar devil, Iniesta, who scored an extra time winner. Carlo Ancelotti had a job at hand but he had a fantastic team and it is great to see him still holding his job in a league where a manager like Sam Allardyce can be shown the door as if he was born yesterday. Yes, Chelsea slumped but they are back!
Chelsea is easily a hated club. The haters usually come from clubs that have glory behind them and no cash at their disposal at the time being. Having said that, looking at the unpredictability of this year’s league, quite a few clubs have lightened their purses. Chelsea have not been a Manchester City but they have never shied from spending. With money comes the power to buy players and displace certain teams because of the damage caused, hence the hatred. But there is a lot more reason to love this team. Their brand of football has gone through a lot of change over the years. From the team with a one goal winner philosophy it has gone to a team that scored the highest number of goals by a team in the season. The game that they currently play is special and you can see players like Drogba, Lampard and Terry take the leadership onus and egg the rest along. It is delightful to watch this team play. It is a matter of pride to support a team that goes 4 – 0 in the 88th minute and their only focus is to get to 5-0 at the end of injury time. I didn’t find a reason to start supporting this team I don’t think I am ever going to find a reason to stop supporting this team. Yes, a premier league team is an obsession and I don’t think you qualify as a fan is you aren’t obsessed with your team and don’t stand by it through its worst moments.
The latest addition of Fernando Torres was seen as a desperate attempt to win the champion’s league title this year. I don’t quite see how true that is. The one guy who sat at the bench and never got a start has scored two goals in two starts on loan to Bolton. Salomon Kalou has scored 12 goals this season with fewer than 5 starts. Where is the question of lack of quality? Torres brings in a rare blend of talent and precision which I have seen in just one striker and he is Fernando Torres. Though Liverpool was never a club I supported the link up play between Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres is a delight and it is amazing how many times they get it right. Though I am happy Torres plays for Chelsea I will miss the Stevie+Torres combination. So when Chelsea did buy Torres I couldn’t help but wonder how Chelsea bought half of Liverpool for 50 million pounds.
In the clash ahead of Chelsea vs Liverpool at the Bridge where ironically it was Torres’ brace that put Liverpool ahead at Anfield we will now see Torres in a blue shirt. I am waiting to see him bend one past the far post of Pepe Reina. And Merseyside fans, sit back, relax this is football and the league we love!
There is no denying the glorious history of the club. They have been the club with the most number of premier league titles and a history that’s etched in stone and full of achievements. If anybody does begin giving me a lesson on the history of football where the club that I follow features very little in, one would still find an ardent listener in me, because ‘we love this game'.
But to all those people who have followed the glory days of Arsenal and Liverpool, I have observed that it is extremely difficult to digest the fact that clubs such as Manchester United and Chelsea have come from nowhere and have started leading the way. Ask them reason for the hatred and back we go into the 90’s. I have never been a football lover. My introduction to football came very late in life according to me. A bunch of my friends during my MBA wanted to watch the FIFA world cup. I had no choice but to tag along. Then I saw something that is peculiar to this sport. The passion with which one supports a team is probably equivalent to the passion with which a player plays in the team. That was reason enough and the love affair had started. Many people have strange introductions to the team they have become ardent fans of. For me, I don’t even remember when and why I started following Chelsea. I think it was a rub off effect as my closest friends were all Chelsea fans. Thus I started watching the premier league and especially the matches of Chelsea.
I saw Chelsea in the last days of Jose Mourinho where matches were a drab after the one goal from Drogba. The then Chelsea concentrated on the results of the game than goal scoring. Of course the defense was way better then. Then came Scolari who ripped the team apart and benched a disgruntled champion in Drogba and chose Anelka to play ahead of him. Guus Hiddink had to do a favor to Roman Abrahmovich and boy, was he good! He restored Chelsea to its potential and almost snatched a Champion’s league victory had it not been the familiar devil, Iniesta, who scored an extra time winner. Carlo Ancelotti had a job at hand but he had a fantastic team and it is great to see him still holding his job in a league where a manager like Sam Allardyce can be shown the door as if he was born yesterday. Yes, Chelsea slumped but they are back!
Chelsea is easily a hated club. The haters usually come from clubs that have glory behind them and no cash at their disposal at the time being. Having said that, looking at the unpredictability of this year’s league, quite a few clubs have lightened their purses. Chelsea have not been a Manchester City but they have never shied from spending. With money comes the power to buy players and displace certain teams because of the damage caused, hence the hatred. But there is a lot more reason to love this team. Their brand of football has gone through a lot of change over the years. From the team with a one goal winner philosophy it has gone to a team that scored the highest number of goals by a team in the season. The game that they currently play is special and you can see players like Drogba, Lampard and Terry take the leadership onus and egg the rest along. It is delightful to watch this team play. It is a matter of pride to support a team that goes 4 – 0 in the 88th minute and their only focus is to get to 5-0 at the end of injury time. I didn’t find a reason to start supporting this team I don’t think I am ever going to find a reason to stop supporting this team. Yes, a premier league team is an obsession and I don’t think you qualify as a fan is you aren’t obsessed with your team and don’t stand by it through its worst moments.
The latest addition of Fernando Torres was seen as a desperate attempt to win the champion’s league title this year. I don’t quite see how true that is. The one guy who sat at the bench and never got a start has scored two goals in two starts on loan to Bolton. Salomon Kalou has scored 12 goals this season with fewer than 5 starts. Where is the question of lack of quality? Torres brings in a rare blend of talent and precision which I have seen in just one striker and he is Fernando Torres. Though Liverpool was never a club I supported the link up play between Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres is a delight and it is amazing how many times they get it right. Though I am happy Torres plays for Chelsea I will miss the Stevie+Torres combination. So when Chelsea did buy Torres I couldn’t help but wonder how Chelsea bought half of Liverpool for 50 million pounds.
In the clash ahead of Chelsea vs Liverpool at the Bridge where ironically it was Torres’ brace that put Liverpool ahead at Anfield we will now see Torres in a blue shirt. I am waiting to see him bend one past the far post of Pepe Reina. And Merseyside fans, sit back, relax this is football and the league we love!
Comments
Nicely written! :)
I was actually hoping that Sturridge would come to Liverpool, he's a good player! :(