The Reds have been in quite a bit of turmoil lately, not only losing half the starters to injury, but also major fan, press and shareholder agony for manager Gerard Houllier. There are almost as many calls for his scalp as for that of Claudio Ranieri, the manager of the Chelski Millionaires. Which made for a fine run-up to today’s visit to Stamford Bridge by Liverpool for both squad’s first EPL match of the year.
If the first two things, on top of this, that I told you were: the Reds hadn’t won at Chelsea’s grounds since 1989 and that goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek had to leave for injury (yes, another one) and be replaced for the finish by a player who had yet to play a single minute with the first team, would you think we won or lost? I know, I know, me too but fuck if we didn’t win! Yeah, you read that right! Took three points right out from under them with a 33rd minute goal from little-used midfielder Bruno Cheyrou off a sweet cross into the box from Emile Heskey.
Have to say that the last 20-25 minutes were bad nailbiters, especially after Dudek’s groin injury in the 77th minute and was replaced by Patrice Luzi. Dudek was Houllier’s second choice as it was but Chris Kirkland is out for perhaps two months with a nasty finger bone break. If Dudek is out for any length of time, the team will have little alternative to finding a keeper in the transfer market because as of now Luzi is the only healthy GK on the roster. Though there were few shots and fewer on goal, our defense was stiffly tested as Chelsea had possession almost every second of this period but the backline was impregnable. Special props to Jimmy Traore and Sammi Hyypia.
Yay! The next three EPL matches are against teams below us in the standings, with a UEFA Cup match mixed in, and this would be an excellent time for a run of good luck since Michael Owen and Steven Finnan, then Steven Gerrard and Milan Baros are due back from the injured list.
BillSaysThis 