CHELSEA v LIVERPOOL (CL Semi Final - 1st Leg)
| Start: | Apr 26, '07 |
| Location: | Stamford Bridge, London |
Jonathan Northcroft
April 22, 2007, www.timesonline.co.uk
Liverpool play Chelsea on Wednesday for the 14th time in three seasons with both friendship and enmity among the players
Before fighting George Foreman, Muhammad Ali said: "We’re gonna get it on because we don’t get along." The same is true and yet not true of Liverpool and Chelsea. By the time their Champions League semi-final is completed, the clubs will have played one another an extraordinary 15 times in three seasons. Proximity has brought some of the protagonists closer; with others, familiarity has bred contempt.
The most compelling, most convoluted relationship remains that between Rafael Benitez and Jose Mourinho. Ali added of Foreman: "I don’t like the man, he talks too much," a line rich both in self-mockery and in mischief regarding his opponent, whose persona was famously taciturn back then.
Benitez would say the same of Mourinho but be playing it straight. Once again the Chelsea manager is twittering about Luis Garcia’s "ghost goal" in the 2005 semi-final and Benitez sighs "we don’t need to talk again. They can talk about the goal, we can talk about the penalty and the red card [which could have been awarded against Petr Cech in the build-up]. We can talk about this for days but it is better to think about a new semi-final."
Benitez observed last week that he and Mourinho used to be friends "until we started beating them". He smiled wryly when reminded how, upon Mourinho’s first visit to Anfield in a league game on New Year’s Day, 2005, they spent 25 minutes locked in conversation at full-time. "January 1, I remember," Benitez said. Does he like Mourinho these days? "As a manager, he is a good manager."
When did they last speak? "It makes no sense to talk about that. We shake hands. It is not easy to be friends with another manager. You are doing your jobs and are really busy. You cannot have a good relationship, you don’t have this contact. When we see each other at matches, you are trying to win. There is a winner and a loser — it’s not easy."
Nonetheless, Sir Alex Ferguson was at Anfield for the FA Youth Cup final first leg on Monday and had a glass of wine with Benitez. Ferguson and Mourinho are always quaffing with each other. Mourinho and Benitez? "We haven’t done this. But we invite all the managers to the boardroom. I don’t know if he (Mourinho) goes with other managers. I was with (Gareth) Southgate the other day and David Moyes. I don’t have any problem with other managers."
On the pitch, as in the dugouts, there are convoluted histories. Xabi Alonso was outraged by a tackle by Frank Lampard that broke his foot in that New Year’s Day game. Lampard repaired relations by telephoning to apologise on the evening after the match but Alonso’s feelings towards Chelsea darkened again when Eidur Gudjohnsen dived to get him suspended in the Champions League semi-final.
Steven Gerrard took against Ricardo Carvalho for his part in Wayne Rooney’s sending-off when England met Portugal at the World Cup. Carvalho was "fouling him (Rooney) 24/7", according to Gerrard, and exaggerated when Rooney trod on him in the challenge that led to Rooney’s red card. "Players like Ricardo Carvalho are damaging football, not Wayne Rooney," Gerrard said. On the other hand, Gerrard and Carvalho’s defensive partner, John Terry, are good friends.
Terry put the disappointment of the semi-final behind him to send Gerrard a good luck message before, and one of congratulations after, the Champions League final in 2005. "JT already had massive respect from me but he went up even higher in my estimation," Gerrard said.
Never mind whether it is true, internet gossip encourages fans to believe there is an issue between Terry and Jamie Carragher. Ashley Cole and Jermaine Pennant are close. Pennant triumphed over his mate when scoring a wonderful goal in Liverpool’s 2-0 victory against Chelsea in January, but Cole then subdued him when the teams met earlier in the season. "On the pitch we have a good battle, we’re both focused, we’re both professionals who have a job to do. We’re very friendly off the pitch but not so friendly on it," Pennant said. Peter Crouch and Joe Cole are pals, so too Dirk Kuyt and Khalid Boulharouz.
At boardroom level, Liverpool’s owners, George Gillett and Tom Hicks, formulated their strategy for expanding the club after studying a leaked copy of Roman Abramovich’s five-year plan for Chelsea. The supporters, one set self-styled flash west Londoners, the other working-class heroes, have their own beef with one another. Only in their views about Manchester United is there common ground.
"Tactics will be important as in 2005 but it’s not just the coach, it’s the players, it’s the fans, it’s the whole club that will be at the two games and it’s the whole club that will fight for playing in Athens," said Liverpool’s Bolo Zenden.
Chelsea feel the same. They’re gonna get it on irrespective of who gets along.
April 22, 2007, www.timesonline.co.uk
Liverpool play Chelsea on Wednesday for the 14th time in three seasons with both friendship and enmity among the players
Before fighting George Foreman, Muhammad Ali said: "We’re gonna get it on because we don’t get along." The same is true and yet not true of Liverpool and Chelsea. By the time their Champions League semi-final is completed, the clubs will have played one another an extraordinary 15 times in three seasons. Proximity has brought some of the protagonists closer; with others, familiarity has bred contempt.
The most compelling, most convoluted relationship remains that between Rafael Benitez and Jose Mourinho. Ali added of Foreman: "I don’t like the man, he talks too much," a line rich both in self-mockery and in mischief regarding his opponent, whose persona was famously taciturn back then.
Benitez would say the same of Mourinho but be playing it straight. Once again the Chelsea manager is twittering about Luis Garcia’s "ghost goal" in the 2005 semi-final and Benitez sighs "we don’t need to talk again. They can talk about the goal, we can talk about the penalty and the red card [which could have been awarded against Petr Cech in the build-up]. We can talk about this for days but it is better to think about a new semi-final."
Benitez observed last week that he and Mourinho used to be friends "until we started beating them". He smiled wryly when reminded how, upon Mourinho’s first visit to Anfield in a league game on New Year’s Day, 2005, they spent 25 minutes locked in conversation at full-time. "January 1, I remember," Benitez said. Does he like Mourinho these days? "As a manager, he is a good manager."
When did they last speak? "It makes no sense to talk about that. We shake hands. It is not easy to be friends with another manager. You are doing your jobs and are really busy. You cannot have a good relationship, you don’t have this contact. When we see each other at matches, you are trying to win. There is a winner and a loser — it’s not easy."
Nonetheless, Sir Alex Ferguson was at Anfield for the FA Youth Cup final first leg on Monday and had a glass of wine with Benitez. Ferguson and Mourinho are always quaffing with each other. Mourinho and Benitez? "We haven’t done this. But we invite all the managers to the boardroom. I don’t know if he (Mourinho) goes with other managers. I was with (Gareth) Southgate the other day and David Moyes. I don’t have any problem with other managers."
On the pitch, as in the dugouts, there are convoluted histories. Xabi Alonso was outraged by a tackle by Frank Lampard that broke his foot in that New Year’s Day game. Lampard repaired relations by telephoning to apologise on the evening after the match but Alonso’s feelings towards Chelsea darkened again when Eidur Gudjohnsen dived to get him suspended in the Champions League semi-final.
Steven Gerrard took against Ricardo Carvalho for his part in Wayne Rooney’s sending-off when England met Portugal at the World Cup. Carvalho was "fouling him (Rooney) 24/7", according to Gerrard, and exaggerated when Rooney trod on him in the challenge that led to Rooney’s red card. "Players like Ricardo Carvalho are damaging football, not Wayne Rooney," Gerrard said. On the other hand, Gerrard and Carvalho’s defensive partner, John Terry, are good friends.
Terry put the disappointment of the semi-final behind him to send Gerrard a good luck message before, and one of congratulations after, the Champions League final in 2005. "JT already had massive respect from me but he went up even higher in my estimation," Gerrard said.
Never mind whether it is true, internet gossip encourages fans to believe there is an issue between Terry and Jamie Carragher. Ashley Cole and Jermaine Pennant are close. Pennant triumphed over his mate when scoring a wonderful goal in Liverpool’s 2-0 victory against Chelsea in January, but Cole then subdued him when the teams met earlier in the season. "On the pitch we have a good battle, we’re both focused, we’re both professionals who have a job to do. We’re very friendly off the pitch but not so friendly on it," Pennant said. Peter Crouch and Joe Cole are pals, so too Dirk Kuyt and Khalid Boulharouz.
At boardroom level, Liverpool’s owners, George Gillett and Tom Hicks, formulated their strategy for expanding the club after studying a leaked copy of Roman Abramovich’s five-year plan for Chelsea. The supporters, one set self-styled flash west Londoners, the other working-class heroes, have their own beef with one another. Only in their views about Manchester United is there common ground.
"Tactics will be important as in 2005 but it’s not just the coach, it’s the players, it’s the fans, it’s the whole club that will be at the two games and it’s the whole club that will fight for playing in Athens," said Liverpool’s Bolo Zenden.
Chelsea feel the same. They’re gonna get it on irrespective of who gets along.
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