Believing the hype for another flurry cross the Mersey
(Long-suffering readers should note that this column probably won’t get any better than that. Or worse, sez you).
Liverpool might currently be experiencing something of a mini-resurgence but they are still a long way short of the standard they achieved last season when, inspired by Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge, Brendan Rodgers’ team mounted a formidable title challenge only to belly flop, Devon Loch-like, in the final furlong.
But Everton, even though they managed a first win of the year at Crystal Palace last Saturday, are in a much darker place, having swapped tapping on the Premier League’s glass ceiling for teetering on the edge of the relegation trap door. The prospect of two under-achieving sides meeting at Goodison Park in the 224th Merseyside derby today might not be one to entrance neutrals but then a derby game — which injects a death or glory, cup-tie vibe into even the most humdrum league campaign — is first and foremost, if not almost exclusively, a parochial affair, and all the more intensely committed for that.
Still, Sky Sports must always appeal to a broader public and so, for this latest instalment of the ancient Red-Blue rivalry, the station has taken to flogging Steven Gerrard’s “last Merseyside derby” as the game’s unique selling point. One fears this is just be the beginning of very long goodbye, incorporating such unmissable milestones as Stevie G’s last game against Burnley, Steve G’s last visit to the KC Stadium and Steve G’s last game against a team managed by ‘Arry Redknapp (oops, probably too late for that already).
That said, today’s clash at Goodison is not without fascination, even if it is mainly of the damage limitation kind. Defeat for Liverpool would rekindle all those nagging doubts about the Rodgers era; defeat for Everton would bring talk of crisis to the foreground again and heap renewed pressure on Roberto Martinez.
Earlier this week, a few of us got to speak to Liverpool legend and Sky pundit Phil Thompson, a man whose passion for Anfield doesn’t detract from his ability to dispassionately analyse the current state of play on Merseyside. I began by asking him if he thought the return of Sturridge might make all the difference for Liverpool or if, in the absence of Suarez, they would continue to struggle to replicate last year’s thrilling form.
“I don’t think anybody — any team — is ever going to get away with or feel secure with someone like Suarez going, because he was absolutely world class,” he replied. “Sturridge could become that, but he is not yet world class.”
Nevertheless, on the back of the striker’s goal-scoring return against West Ham — and assuming he can remain injury-free — Thompson thinks that a fit and in-form Sturridge could yet propel Liverpool to a top-four finish.
“If you’d asked me two and a half months ago I’d have said it would be very difficult,” said the man they call ‘Thommo’. “But I think the way Liverpool are playing, and then look at Manchester United, Arsenal, and Tottenham — all those teams who are vying for fourth spot — I don’t think there is going to be a lot between us. And it could be the emergence of Sturridge that could be the difference.”
Everton, Thompson is not alone in suggesting, are in need of much, much more extensive repair.
“James McCarthy has been a massive miss. Him and Gareth Barry were absolutely made for each other. Barkley has gone backwards. Seamus Coleman is a very good player but he is still learning the game. Where Everton are having problems is that Coleman and Baines are a major part of their attacking threat and they are full-backs. Distin has been very poor, as has Jagielka.”
Thompson made headlines this week when he suggested that Aiden McGeady was never going to be anything more than a “5 to 9” player, and too often registering at the bottom rather than top end of that ratings spectrum. Frankly, it’s hard to disagree with that assessment, although Irish supporters will join with Evertonians in hoping McGeady’s patented moments of magic — such as his spectacular winner in Tbilisi — can yet make a difference for club and country.
As for today’s Merseyside derby, Phil Thompson is going with both his head and his heart.
“You’d have to back Liverpool on the form of the teams. You take it for granted that for Everton, getting that win (away to Palace), will be like a monkey off their backs. They needed to break the cycle they were in. Everton, like a lot of teams, are a confidence side.
“I came back from ‘Soccer Saturday’ by train from Euston Station after that game and the train was full of Evertonians so I got absolutely battered! But a lot of them were as nervous as kittens going into the game. They said the result was more important than the performance. They just needed to get that win. And me, being a Liverpool fan, I wanted them to have a win. You know the way football is — you know Everton sooner or later would get a result. I wanted them to have that result before the derby. That’s the rule of football sometimes — there’s no explaining it.”
