Slipperduke
The Camden Cad
Perhaps we’ve all been a bit too hard on Peter Scudamore this week. Entire legions of the press corps have mercilessly opened fire on the EPL’s Chief Executive in the past five days after he announced that the 20 top flight teams would be slipping on the thigh-high boots and whoring themselves on foreign streets. However, after sitting through 90 minutes of this, I am now forced to look at him differently. Anyone whose professional career relies upon the ability to recoup huge sums of money for what was essentially sporting chloroform deserves nothing but our unlimited sympathy. You couldn’t give ‘entertainment’ like this away for free.
Sloppy passing, rigid defences, and petty-minded, myopic refereeing combined here at Stamford Bridge to produce a torrid hour and a half that few of the 41,788 present will want to remember in a hurry. Whole swathes of this game passed by entirely without incident and you wouldn’t believe that Chelsea started the game with a chance of re-taking their lane in the title race. Nicolas Anelka was left woefully unsupported up front on his own, marshalled superbly by Jamie Carragher and Martin Skrtel, the latter of whom put in an almost flawless afternoon’s work.
It’s often Liverpool who take to the pitch on their travels with just one striker, but to his credit, Rafa Benitez lined up his troops in an unexpectedly orthodox 4-4-2 and they pushed forward well as a unit, particularly in the first half. There was a more balanced feel about the side and if they could have eliminated the silly mistakes and improved their passing, this game was theirs for the taking and that, in itself, is something of a victory. Liverpool’s main problem of late has been seeing their talented players, shuffled around to the point of distraction. This time the system was good, but it was some of the players who were fell short.
Peter Crouch had a brief series of first half half-chances, but he just couldn’t convert any of them. This was a rare start for the England target-man and, with Fabio Capello yawning in the stands, he could have done with just a little more composure in the box. Crouch tried repeatedly to release his team-mates with knocked on headers, but Ryan Babel, Dirk Kuyt and Steven Gerrard found that the Chelsea defenders were as uncharitably minded as their own. Alex has grown in stature since he arrived in London, and for a man who turned up looking like he could uproot trees with his bare hands without breaking sweat, that’s saying something.
Mike Riley did his best to bring any period of open play to a premature end by blowing his whistle for absolutely no reason. It is a rare thing indeed for an official to manage to alienate both sets of supporters, but Riley has always had a gift for it. When he awarded Liverpool a dangerous direct free-kick after Steven Gerrard air-kicked and fell over, some of the Chelsea fans started openly laughing at him. I suppose it was either that or burst into tears. Thankfully, the football Gods were watching and when Riley was blasted off his feet by a wayward clearance, you sensed that forces, more powerful than we can comprehend, were at work in the galaxy once again.
There was much more entertainment to be found off the pitch than there was on it and it was provided by the fans, the people that Scudamore and his kind rank lowest in the football food chain. The Liverpool supporters gave a typically good account of themselves, baiting and taunting their hosts, but the home fans were raucous and vibrant in their responses and it made for an atmosphere that the game simply didn’t deserve.
For Liverpool, as dull as it was, this was a step in the right direction. After defeat at Upton Park at the end of January, they could have imploded, but as they so often do, they have responded with resolve. This is the second clean sheet in a row for Benitez and with some distinctly winnable fixtures coming up, Everton can’t afford to get too comfortable in fourth place. For Chelsea, it’s simply another draw and another missed opportunity. There are still 12 games left for Avram Grant, but an Arsenal win on Tuesday morning will leave him eight points adrift and there is no longer any margin for error. For Scudamore, it should be a wake-up call, a smack across his chops. When football has the potential to be this uninspiring, perhaps it’s best if it stays in its home country?
Sloppy passing, rigid defences, and petty-minded, myopic refereeing combined here at Stamford Bridge to produce a torrid hour and a half that few of the 41,788 present will want to remember in a hurry. Whole swathes of this game passed by entirely without incident and you wouldn’t believe that Chelsea started the game with a chance of re-taking their lane in the title race. Nicolas Anelka was left woefully unsupported up front on his own, marshalled superbly by Jamie Carragher and Martin Skrtel, the latter of whom put in an almost flawless afternoon’s work.
It’s often Liverpool who take to the pitch on their travels with just one striker, but to his credit, Rafa Benitez lined up his troops in an unexpectedly orthodox 4-4-2 and they pushed forward well as a unit, particularly in the first half. There was a more balanced feel about the side and if they could have eliminated the silly mistakes and improved their passing, this game was theirs for the taking and that, in itself, is something of a victory. Liverpool’s main problem of late has been seeing their talented players, shuffled around to the point of distraction. This time the system was good, but it was some of the players who were fell short.
Peter Crouch had a brief series of first half half-chances, but he just couldn’t convert any of them. This was a rare start for the England target-man and, with Fabio Capello yawning in the stands, he could have done with just a little more composure in the box. Crouch tried repeatedly to release his team-mates with knocked on headers, but Ryan Babel, Dirk Kuyt and Steven Gerrard found that the Chelsea defenders were as uncharitably minded as their own. Alex has grown in stature since he arrived in London, and for a man who turned up looking like he could uproot trees with his bare hands without breaking sweat, that’s saying something.
Mike Riley did his best to bring any period of open play to a premature end by blowing his whistle for absolutely no reason. It is a rare thing indeed for an official to manage to alienate both sets of supporters, but Riley has always had a gift for it. When he awarded Liverpool a dangerous direct free-kick after Steven Gerrard air-kicked and fell over, some of the Chelsea fans started openly laughing at him. I suppose it was either that or burst into tears. Thankfully, the football Gods were watching and when Riley was blasted off his feet by a wayward clearance, you sensed that forces, more powerful than we can comprehend, were at work in the galaxy once again.
There was much more entertainment to be found off the pitch than there was on it and it was provided by the fans, the people that Scudamore and his kind rank lowest in the football food chain. The Liverpool supporters gave a typically good account of themselves, baiting and taunting their hosts, but the home fans were raucous and vibrant in their responses and it made for an atmosphere that the game simply didn’t deserve.
For Liverpool, as dull as it was, this was a step in the right direction. After defeat at Upton Park at the end of January, they could have imploded, but as they so often do, they have responded with resolve. This is the second clean sheet in a row for Benitez and with some distinctly winnable fixtures coming up, Everton can’t afford to get too comfortable in fourth place. For Chelsea, it’s simply another draw and another missed opportunity. There are still 12 games left for Avram Grant, but an Arsenal win on Tuesday morning will leave him eight points adrift and there is no longer any margin for error. For Scudamore, it should be a wake-up call, a smack across his chops. When football has the potential to be this uninspiring, perhaps it’s best if it stays in its home country?
