Ahead of Merseyside

Ahhhh Merseyside. So many scousers in one place. Blegh, makes me shudder just to picture it.

Club	Pld	Pts
Man Utd	28	67
Man City	28	66
Tottenham	28	53
Arsenal	28	52
Chelsea	28	49
Newcastle	28	44
Liverpool	27	39
Sunderland	28	37
Everton	27	37
Fulham	28	36
Swansea	28	36
Norwich	28	36
Stoke	28	36
West Brom	28	35
Aston Villa	28	33
Blackburn	28	25
Bolton	28	23
QPR	28	22
Wolves	28	22
Wigan	28	21

In any case, this Merseyside Derby is actually significant. Liverpool stands at 7th with 27 games, and Everton stands at 9th with the same count. The two teams are only 2 points apart.So that’s what the table looks like ahead of today’s match. Notice the league leaders. Notice how right the table looks now. It finally looks like how everyone thought it should look like. Like balance has been returned to the world, a grave injustice has been corrected, and the proper order is restored to mankind.

Before I go on, I have to reiterate my continued admiration for the genius that is David Moyes. The guy spends an average of 3-5 million a year and puts the team in the top 8 every season. If you think about all the other teams, newly promoted, or mid-table, (who spend the same or more) but end up back in relegation zone, it really demonstrates his value as a manager. First off, he is loyal. Despite being at a club where he gets pennies for transfer budgets, he sticks at it, works hard at it, and never complains. That is something that I value very highly. There are plenty of managers who would have left after a few seasons in that situation. I know that he has good tactical instincts from watching him the minute he came into the league. He has a good range of formations, makes timely substitutions that actually make sense, and also ensures that the workrate is high across the pitch. On his human side, by all player accounts, he is firm but fair. I admired how he dealt with the Rooney libel suit. Wayne was a idiot for writing that garbage and Moyes handled the situation perfectly by going through legal channels to clear his name. He just went about his business, didn’t talk much to the press, and it ended up with Wayne apologizing. Wayne was of course already with us at the time, and I remember feeling embarrassed about the situation, and even apologetic to David Moyes during that lawsuit. On top of all this, his eye for spotting talent at a bargain is top drawer. I think some weeks ago I wrote about how I marveled at his recent signings of Velios and Stracqualursi – rare cases where I literally had no idea of their existence prior to their transfer to Everton. If only Moyes had more european experience and management experience with difficult personalities, I’d have him succeed Sir Alex. Unfortunately, I think the limits of Everton’s well-documented financial troubles will always stop him from venturing into Champions League. I’m not entirely sure why Bill Kenwright has trouble finding investors, considering that the club has a solid supporter base and puts out a competitive team every season.

Back to the derby. For both teams, it is a crucial fixture. Everton could potentially jump into Europe contention with a win, while Liverpool needs a win right now to keep their Champions League hopes alive. The Merseyside Derby has always been a fixture key to morale. Liverpool’s morale is at an all-season low, while Everton has been winning left and right for the past month. This could either dent Everton, or boost Liverpool. Dalglish certainly seems to be banking on it and he continues to stress the significance of this fixture to the media. Daglish is a cautious man when it comes to saying anything definitive to the media, so the fact that he is talking about shows that he is willing to take the risk of placing pressure on his players in order to influence a positive result. As the table indicates, 13 points separates Liverpool and Arsenal, with Liverpool having a game in hand. If they cut it down to ten, its game on again. Arsenal has a tough run in with City still left in their fixtures, Chelsea will be inconsistent to the end, and Newcastle isn’t really producing their early season form anymore. Having said this, if the gap is still 13 after this game, its probably is safe to say that Champions League is gone for Liverpool.

I remember a time when not much was made of the Merseyside Derby. This was when I first started watching, and it was one of the tamest derbies that I saw. I specifically remember Everton that year because that’s when we gave away ak14. In any case, I would later be informed that this was because even within families in Merseyside, some can be Everton fans and some can be Liverpool fans. Essentially, friends and families sit it different sections. Furthermore, when I started watching, Everton was the Wigan of today. They were terrible and constant relegation candidates. I think its always harder to fuel a derby match when one team is significantly better than the other in league position. The only instance in England that I’m aware of that has kept the fire going even despite a vast difference in league position is West Ham Mill Wall. Over the years, the Derby did continually get more more intense with Everton climbling up the table under Moyes, and games in the 06′ and 09′ stretch becoming more booking heavy. And today, we have a derby where that really is no love lost between the two sides, with the two sets of supporters clearly divided for at least 90 minutes.

It should be a good game at Anfield, and I think a difficult one for Liverpool. The blue half of Merseyside is currently fearless, so I expect them to really have a go. Having said that, Anfield is Anfield, so anything can happen. I expect Steven Gerrard to return to the starting lineup, and I expect to see Andy Carroll. For the visitors, I expect Jelavic to retain his starting spot, but also Steven Pienaar to return to that left wing role. If that happen, Martin Kelly will have a good test. The return of Jags is not the best news for Liverpool, but I think they can trouble him enough with Suarez. Kenny knows that his one is a must-win, so I’m keen to see a more open game on both sides.