The new Anfield and the Bell Centre
I live in Montreal and have watched ice hockey at the Montreal Canadiens' Bell Centre twice in the last 12 months. The first time was a playoff match (the equivalent of a cup tie) and last month I went to a regular season game with my 3 year-old son. Due to in-law connections, I've also seen behind the scenes a few times.
A bit of context: the similarity between Liverpool and the Canadiens is striking in almost every respect, not only the fact that the locals speak a foreign language.
Compared to the old Montreal Forum, the Bell Centre (which was built under the owner prior to Gillett: Molson Brewery) is modern, easy-to-access and safe, while retaining a great deal of the tradition and atmosphere of its predecessor.
Yes, the NHL is a North American league, with its commercials and ra-ra music (no cheerleaders - sorry lads), but the Montreal Canadiens is a true club, like the Reds (the word club is in its official name) and when you walk the corridors there are reminders of their glorious history at every turn. In January I was in the former players' lounge and the hockey equivalents of Ron Yeats, John Toshack and Roger Hunt were having a drink before the game. There are plaques, memorabilia and photos all around the corridors – you walk around steeped in the club’s history more than at Anfield (unless you visit the museum).
So what could be 'imported' from the Bell Centre to Anfield?
The pre-game video. The excitement provided by a well-edited montage of highlights from years gone by is electric. The only thing is that in Montreal the video is projected onto the ice. So the new Anfield needs a big screen or two.
Video monitors in the corridors. When you leave your seat for a wee or a snack/beer during the match, you can watch the match live on TV sets all around the 'concessionary area'.
Beer. But it always tastes more watered-down than in the pub, even in Montreal.
Restaurants. Not haute cuisine, but still real restaurants where you can sit down before or after the game (what a concept – after the game!!!) and have beer and cheapish food.
Sponsored sections. If you buy a ticket in the Bell Centre 'Air Canada Zone' you get free food (pizza, crisps, hot dogs, etc) throughout the match. But you buy plenty of beer to go with it, so the club makes money from the sponsorship and the beer sales.
Half-time video ads and games. These must bring in a fair bit of money for the Canadiens and help pass the time.
Ushers. You can't return to your seat until there's a break in play.
Video replays for referees!!! We can only hope...
So there are plenty of areas where the new Anfield experience can improve over the old one for fans.
But don't worry about losing the Kop, the intimidating atmosphere or the club's history: the Canadiens haven't lost them [though they never had a Kop ;-)]
Oh, and by the way, nobody in Montreal seems to mind that the naming rights to the new stadium were sold when it was built.
What’s for sure, as others have said, is that the fans have to be as close to the pitch as possible.
History
I've noticed that in online public forums other teams' fans often criticize Liverpool fans for referring to their team's history. The gist of the argument is that nobody cares what happened in 2005, 2001, 1987, 1977 or any other year. A slanging match usually develops which goes on until the participants give up.
So I'd like to propose a short argument as to why history does matter, and not only to fans of Liverpool FC.
Unless you have Alzheimer's disease or some other mental deficiency which keeps you 'living in the present', history is all that really matters. Yes, I know that successive Liverpool managers always talk about "taking each game as it comes" and that this attitude of not dwelling on results or looking too far into the future has served the club well. But from the fans' perspective, part of the reason for our existence is thinking about seasons and games gone by.
And anyway, where do you draw the line? Should Man Utd. fans (and certain Sky commentators) stop harping on about 1999? Should Arsenal fans never bring up the last-minute win at Anfield in 1989? Should Chelsea fans forget that they won the title last May? Surely, it's all or nothing, where history is concerned? Every single fan likes to reminisce about great victories of the past. If all they did was show up at 3pm on a Saturday, cheer for 90 minutes, then forget about the result, they wouldn't be fans.
As far as Liverpool are concerned, with more English titles and European Cups than any other English team, the fans are bound to cherish the club's history. Nobody goes on about us winning the league in 1900, but if you were around for any of the club's triumphs, you're entitled to relive that memory. And because that's what football fans do, you're entitled to remind fans of other teams about it. Every single team's fans do that (except the MK Dons, of course).
Besides, history means something. For better or worse, human culture is based on history. Maybe without it, the Jews and the Arabs would be walking hand-in-hand with flowers in their hair, but it exists and affects reality. As a Liverpool fan who moved to North America, I'm always amazed at how many Europeans I meet think of Liverpool first when they think of English football. It's even happened to me more than once to meet a Frenchman (not even a St. Etienne fan) in a bar who knew David Fairclough's name because of a goal scored in 1977 in a quarter-final!
So, LFC fans, don't get het up when someone criticizes you for referring to the club's past achievements. And as for the rest of you, you're only jealous...
Posts
I've been far too busy with work to post this season. It's a shame, but that's life. My spare time has been spent watching/listening to the Reds...
Lucky?
It takes a bit of luck to win championships. Who knows if, come the end of the season, the point gained at Bramall Lane on Saturday will be vital?
The Reds' fans were probably expecting an easy victory after the disposal of Chelsea in the Community Shield, but with three of our regular back four absent after 28 minutes, and opponents who were up for it after years out of the limelight, it was never going to be easy.
Gifting a goal through poor marking (or poor zonal defending - who was in the zone the two Sheffield United strikers were in?) as Rafa's half-time team-talk was still ringing in the players' ears only made things harder. The ref seemed to be giving 50-50 decisions the home side's way and the yellow-shirted players kept slipping when in useful positions.
But then our luck changed. If that penalty had been given against Liverpool, I would have been swearing at the telly. Every replay from every angle seemed to suggest that contact between the defender and Steven Gerrard was minimal at best. To be fair to the skipper, he didn't dive, but managed to get a shot away. There was no question of cheating, simply an erroneous decision by a referee.
We see a lot of decisions like that go against the Reds over the course of a season, and with every one I call even louder for video replays to be introduced, as they have been so effectively in rugby, ice hockey and American football, to name just three sports. I still believe replays for a fifth official will be quicker than the minute-long huddle of players around the referee, trying vainly to change his mind. But on Saturday a reply would have denied Liverpool the equaliser. Our luck was in.
However if Carragher and Riise hadn't been unlucky enough to have been badly injured inside the first half an hour, we might never have needed the luck in the first place, so let's get things in perspective.
Maybe this season the scales of fortune will tip ever so slightly in our favour. Sometimes that's the difference between first and nowhere.
We’ve got Robchenko
It was interesting how many comments in the press focussed on the fact that Chelsea’s main positive from the Community Shield defeat to a clearly superior Liverpool was the goal scored by Andriy Shevchenko.
The analysis went along the lines of, “One beautiful piece of control and superbly placed shot showed what you get for £30 million, so Chelsea shouldn’t be too worried about this result.”
The factor that the journalists overlooked is that Liverpool already have a player who can do exactly what Sheva did yesterday, and he cost nothing! That man, of course, is Robbie Fowler, and Liverpool fans have seen him score the same kind of goal as Shevchenko’s dozens of times. And don’t forget, Fowler is only one year older than the Ukrainian, and might even have an extra year or two in his legs, given the amount of time he spent in the treatment room over the last four years.
This doesn’t mean that Rafa shouldn’t bother signing Dirk Kuyt or whoever else is a potential centre-forward target. We need that kind of player, and so do Chelsea, which is why Mourinho didn’t let Drogba leave. But let’s not forget that yesterday’s victory came with Robbie sidelined with a minor injury and an hour played without Gerrard and Alonso.
Ultimately, Mourinho’s pre-match mind-games misfired, as his side were over-run by Zenden, Gonzales, Agger, Crouch and Luis Garcia, all of whom are far-from certain first-choice players in the upcoming campaign. Lampard, Ballack and Essien foundered on the rock of Momo Sissoko, while Gerrard, Alonso, Bellamy, Hyypia and Fowler looked on, rested and ready to go for the title.
Even if the Chelsea fans couldn’t be bothered with the Community Shield, two yellow cards inside the first 20 minutes showed that the players took the match all-too-seriously. Deep down inside, they know Rafa has fashioned a better team than Mourinho and on any given day the Reds can beat the Blues.
The Genius of Rafa
Watching the match against Maccabi Haifa this week was a frustrating experience for 87 minutes. A disjointed Liverpool side saw their defence clinically punctured while their midfield and attack laboured to create clear-cut chances. A pre-season lack of fitness was evident and the new lads weren’t quite in synch with their team-mates.
I was nervous. Bellamy’s well-taken follow-up to Sissoko’s Haman-like effort didn’t instigate the goal-filled onslaught the Kop was hoping for. As time drifted by and the pressure mounted, the absence of an old-fashioned centre-forward (Kuyt?) to get on the end of Pennant’s superb crosses with any conviction became exasperating. Peter Crouch brings several qualities to the team, but only one in five of his headers has enough power combined with placement to trouble a top goalie.
Step up to the plate, our man Stevie G... Except that this time he didn’t. To put it bluntly, he was out of puff. Still, I thought, wasn’t he lying on the Cardiff pitch with cramp just seconds before belting in the last-minute equaliser that ended up winning us the Cup in May?
A Liverpool substitution. Take off Sissoko and go for broke? What? The numbers 8 and 11 being held aloft! Come on, Rafa – this time you’ve made a mistake. We know you love your Spanish signings, but who’s the one player you want on the field when you need a goal in the last five minutes? We all know the answer, and he should have been named the new England captain this week.
But on came Mark Gonzalez. Far from impressive pre-season (but who was?) and now thrown on to deliver crosses from the left for Crouch to softly head into the grateful arms of the Israeli goalkeeper. My hopes faded.
I should have known. When am I going to learn? Rafa is the best tactical coach in the world. Ferguson did this and once undeservedly won a European Cup, but Rafa does it successfully week-in, week-out.
As the ball landed deep in the area at Gonzalez’s feet from Xabi Alonso’s best pass of the night, the Chilean youngster almost fell over it. The goalie rushed out. It looked like another chance had gone begging. But somehow Gonzalez managed to untangle the ball from his feet and get a shot away. Time slowed to a crawl and I imagined the ball flying wide of the post. But instead it arrowed into the top corner of the Anfield Road net and he wheeled away to celebrate one of the most remarkable Reds’ debuts of all time.
In the last seconds, Pepe Reina produced a save that was worth a goal to enable us to hang onto victory. The second leg will be far from easy, but a lot easier than if we’d drawn this match.
Rafa had done it again. That’s why he’s the gaffer and I’m a blogger.
The new season on Pool Drool
I've decided to alter the format of posts for the upcoming season. No more match reports with player ratings. What's the point? You can read them anywhere on the net. Instead I'll be writing articles which may or may not be inspired by the previous match, some short, some long. The first one follows.
Boy band?
I love Rafa. I would trust him to look after my 3 year-old, build an extension on my house and plan my entire menu. I trust him with the Liverpool squad, even though he seems to have suddenly decided to introduce a couple of members of Britain's Most Wanted to the club.
But when I look at the summer signings so far and see the names Jermaine, Gabriel, Fabio and Craig I have to wonder - when are they going to record their first single?
And if Dirk joins up with them, look out for the porn flick too!
