| HIGH STAKES, BIG STRESS Paul Tomkins 09 May 2007 | |
 | It's still sinking in: a second European Cup final in three seasons, when just three years back I'd given up hope of Liverpool ever again getting to one. |
| Firmly in self-preservation mode, I was preparing myself for defeat against Chelsea last week on the basis that at least it wouldn't mean meeting Manchester United in the final. But it all went out the window once the game started, and the Reds poured forward. I am a masochist. Clearly. I desperately wanted Liverpool to reach the final, even though I knew it could have meant the chance of an unbearable match against United, the stress of which would have landed me in intensive care, or perhaps even a mental asylum: with no hair to pull out, I'd have pulled my scalp off. And that would have just been from the warm up. My scalp aside, what I seriously feared were the future implications for this current team, following a final against United. Let's make no mistake. It would have been the biggest game in the history of club football; akin to Barcelona playing Read Madrid, or a Milan derby – the kind of games yet to be seen on the biggest possible stage. It would just be too huge to comprehend, and could come with a lot of negative aftershocks. It could have been a game that destabilised everything, and grew way out of proportion. If it comes to pass, losing to AC Milan is something that, while disappointing, can be recovered from. The same would have been true of losing the shoot-out to Chelsea, especially having been the better team. But losing to United in the final would have been just too much to take. Keeping football in perspective is difficult at the best of times, so the hysteria that would have surrounded such a match is thankfully no longer a possibility. Being beaten by United in Athens – and it would have been a 50-50 chance – could have done long-term harm to the progress of this fledgling team. United, with the league in the bag (and perhaps the FA Cup too), would have that notable success as recompense if they were beaten by Benítez's men, even though they'd still have their summer ruined. The Reds would be less protected by such weighty shock-absorpbers. And as it's still a young team Benítez is shaping, you'd fear for such a symbolic setback when the future, otherwise, should prove ultra-bright. Taking players' ages at the time of the final in two weeks' time, Liverpool's average age is far lower than both United and Chelsea's (when comparing each team's perceived strongest XI); an example of how Liverpool's team has more potential to mature the longer it stays together. And also an example of it's greater tenderness. Everyone talks of Arsenal's young team, but the Reds' average is just 25.6 years – rather surprisingly, a full year younger than Arsenal's at 26.6. It's Arsenal and Liverpool, adrift of the top two, who have teams that will develop most in the next two or three years, and who have the fewest players who will need replacing. How will United, in two years' time, cope without Giggs, Scholes, Neville and Van der Sar? The only Liverpool player in their age bracket is Sami Hyypia, and Benítez has already found a wonderful replacement in Agger, who this season usurped the great Finn (even if Hyypia still has much to offer in the short-term). Steve Finnan, recently turned 31, is the only other one who comes close, and Arbeloa already looks an able young deputy. I talk a lot about the average age of a team because almost every successful side I can think of has an average somewhere between 27-29, i.e. what are seen as an individual's peak years. It's that mix of youthful gusto and canny experience that makes teams tick. A lot is also made of United's star younger players, Rooney and Ronaldo, but the average age of their team is 28, fractionally higher than Chelsea's (27.2). One of the main reasons United improved to win the league this season is because, with the barest of changes to their squad, the team is now one year older. What I found interesting is that in the wake of their semi-final humiliation, Alex Ferguson said his team lacked experience. "We have to keep the team together and grow the team like Milan have done," he noted. While it's the right principle, how does he expect to keep that team together for much longer, when so many of its key elements are in the twilight of their careers? He may well beat the odds and do so, but it's obvious that you can't rely on older players in the long-term. It's in stark contrast to Liverpool's situation, where all of its key elements can theoretically be in place in five years' time. Of course, it's not as simple as throwing together eleven players with an average age of 28 or 29; they need time to gel as a unit, and it's no good if that happens when they're all over the hill. Benítez has started building a top-class outfit significantly younger than that peak, and now needs to let it mature while adding the right ingredients to perfect the blend. With this is mind, it's perhaps no surprise that the league title was out of reach this time around. The manager also needs to avoid the trap Gerard Houllier fell into of continually lowering the average age. Having said that, it's one thing buying a 22-year-old like Javier Mascherano and another buying a 22-year-old like El Hadji Diouf. The former, like Alonso, Agger and Reina when they arrived as 21/22-year-olds, is mature beyond his years; the latter was like a teenage tearaway. It's also ludicrously expensive to buy fully established top-class players; Liverpool have had to look to players like Alonso and Agger, who were rising stars at the time they signed. AC Milan's Kaká, on current form the best player in the world, only cost in the region of £5m. Nineteen at the time, he was bought when his class was evident, but when not yet a household name. Contrast this with how Chelsea bought Milan's Shevchenko, aged 30, for £31m. So it's worth bearing in mind how young this Liverpool side still is. That has to be cause for long-term optimism. I'm not 100% sure of what Milan would consider their best side, but the XI that beat United averages out at a whopping 29.7, and that's not including Cafu, at 36, and Maldini, at 38. Their concern would be that perhaps they're too old, but their experience is vast. The Rossoneri clearly want revenge for Istanbul, but then so too did Chelsea, and that didn't exactly help them. Unlike two years ago, when it was a rearguard action, the Reds were the better team over the two legs. Both finalists have beaten top-quality opposition to get to Athens. Milan have to be favourites, given their experience. While I believe the Reds are capable of winning, this team is not at their overall level just yet. Milan ooze top-level nous. Paulo Maldini played in his first big final while still in nappies, and this will be his 73rd European Cup final, one behind Clarence Seedorf. Or something. While Istanbul will serve as a calming influence on Gerrard, Carragher, Alonso, Riise, Finnan, and Hyypia (if selected), it remains to be seen how the rest of the side will react to what will be a new experience; after all, this is a squad that has been extensively rebuilt since 2005. Two other outfield players remain, but Luis Garcia is definitely out, and Harry Kewell, while on the verge of a return, has missed the entire season. Thankfully one newcomer, Mascherano, has a wealth of big-game experience for one so young, so there's no sense that he'll be overawed. It's also worth remembering that Milan will have a psychological fear of Liverpool; after all, they will not feel 'safe' even if they get a 3-0 lead. Just as Wimbledon and Leicester could always trouble Liverpool in the '80s and '90s, despite a massively inferior sides, a mixture of hard work and a perceived hoodoo can make a real difference. Click here to visit Paul Tomkins' official website>> My personal perspective This is M.E. Awareness Week in the UK, and it would be remiss of me, as a sufferer, to not mention it. It's a condition I've had for many years, but recently worsened enough to stop me writing about the club on a professional basis. M.E. (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) is a chronic, fluctuating illness. Fatigue is just one of many symptoms of M.E.; others include muscle weakness, exhaustion after any form of exertion, disrupted sleep, pain, and neurological and cognitive problems. Seeing as it primarily affects the nervous system, stress makes it worse. Football and stress go hand in hand, for fans, players and managers alike. Once the players are on the pitch it's unlikely that they feel stress, as the body's 'fight or flight' chemicals take over and they get engrossed in proceedings, but off the pitch, especially in the build-up to big games, or following a bad performance, it can be a stressful occupation. I get grief from disgruntled fans after a bad result, and I only write about the club. But the trouble is in being stressed before a match, and using up too much nervous energy, and end up with no gas in the tank. I believe Liverpool's players did this in Istanbul (although were able to recover after half-time, before tiring markedly in extra-time). And in many ways it's reminiscent of my illness. When I go to a match, it's thoroughly exhausting. In recent years it has become a quasi-military operation. But it's not just the journey from the midlands to Anfield (or elsewhere), which causes ill affects, but also the game itself, and all the nervous energy I expend. In recent years I've come close to passing out on a number of occasions. It takes me several days to get back to what are my 'normal' levels of being unwell, and with a young son whose spends part of the week with me, and who obviously needs me to be as well as possible, that's a sacrifice I only wish to make in exceptional circumstances. If that makes me a glory hunter in some people's eyes, so be it. I did enough of the winter mid-week away games at places like Stoke in the far-from-glorious League Cup to feel I've earned the right to pick and choose the occasions; and ideally, of course, I'd be in perfect health and able to go every week, even if Liverpool were mid-table also-rans. If my health remains relatively stable I will taking up my option of going to Athens (albeit in the neutral Uefa section), and hope to be writing about a great occasion, and a sixth success. But with each passing year it becomes harder and harder. One thing being ill does do is help me keep things in perspective as far as the football itself is concerned. I have good weeks and bad weeks, good months and bad months. So I know bad periods can be temporary, and recovered from, just as success does not last forever – and with that in mind, you have to savour each great moment as if it's your last. I savoured Istanbul as if it would be the last European Cup final for a long time, given it had taken a wait of 20 years to reach that one. But then another has come along, just 24 months later. Even in difficult times, life can throw up a sensational surprise or two. For more information on M.E. visit www.afme.org.uk | |
Article from Official website
No comments:
Post a Comment