Let?s be getting one thing perfectly clear from the off ? I don?t particularly care for Stamford Bridge. The new one or the old one. Never did. In the interest of fairness, however, I feel I should be honest and point out that the place is special to me in one regard. You see it?s where I first laid eyes on the real Liverpool FC. Up until that point in time (February 13th 1982 to be exact) they had been little more than figments of my imagination? all relevant newsprint was devoured, and European adventures came courtesy of crackling bedside radio and a BBC commentator hell-bent on mispronouncing players? names (just who was Graeme Sowness?) Viewing was confined to Saturday night?s Match of the Day, Sunday lunchtime?s The Big Match and the very occasional live game. In black and white too, I might add.

Imagine the fevered excitement then, as I took my seat pitchside to witness my idols take to the field in the flesh and in full colour. My heart threatened to pound it?s way through my chest and the itchy umbro replica shirt I wore, and not for all the right reasons. Stamford Bridge circa ?82 was an intimidating place for an eleven year old to be, even if he was with his dad. The walk from Fulham Broadway tube station was an education in itself if you happened to be wearing a Liverpool scarf and from my wooden seat the famed Shed seemed every bit the seething mass of skin-headed hostility I?d anticipated. The ground itself was a soulless affair, with a huge gap between pitch and terracing and the visitors end open to the elements? thank the slate-grey heavens, a football match was to break out in due course.

The visitors? line-up included Dalglish in his prime, Souness in all his pomp while a callow-faced Whelan and novice striker Rush were still felt their way into first-team affairs. Then second division Chelsea fielded such luminaries as Clive Walker and Mickey Fillery, and went on to win the game 2-0 and dump us out of the FA Cup. We went on to lose 2-0 away to Swansea the following week. There was no panic, no hysteria and no press questioning Bob Paisley?s position as manager? and he duly led us to another League title.

How things have changed? Stamford Bridge is now a luxury hotel and shopping centre with a football pitch adjacent, while developments on the pitch have been equally revolutionary. One thing hasn?t changed at all, however, and that?s Liverpool?s results down there. A Zola-inspired Chelsea came from two down to knock us out of the Cup again in the late nineties, and the Bridge was the graveyard of our Champion?s League ambitions in 2003 when the Blues beat us to fourth spot on the eve of their Russian revolution. January 2004 provided the one highlight that springs readily to mind when a stunning Bruno Cheyrou strike sealed a rare away win, and that wasn?t a typing error. By and large though, victories down the Kings Road remain as rare for Liverpool as Cheyrou goals? or even Cheyrou appearances for that matter.

The irony is that on Sunday Liverpool showed some promising signs of bucking the trend for good with their best performance there in some time. Benitez had taken his side back to school in Eindhoven, ensuring that the defensive bedrock of last season was put firmly back in place with PSV finding no way through. A first clean sheet of the season was the requirement and with Dan Agger excelling again on Sunday, it seemed another shut-out looked a distinct possibility. Drogba had ideas of his own, as we all know, and beat us with a startling strike that simply no amount of work on the training ground could have prepared any team for. Agger?s emergence, along with Kuyt?s buccaneering displays, seems one of the few highlights of a truly torrid week. Some 21 year-olds look just that ? young and inexperienced. Some, the proverbial ?ones for the future?, show great promise. Meanwhile a tiny few seem to be the finished article from the off. Agger looks the latter.

Bought with one eye on the future last season, a gradual introduction to the first team seemed to be the idea ? with Hyppia and Carragher sharing the on-pitch mentoring duties. Already it?s looking like he can do without the tutors. Watching him at PSV, I found it hard to recall a Liverpool centre-half looking so comfortable on the ball so far up the pitch since the playing days of a certain well-known TV pundit. And while Hansen chipped in with the odd goal (thirteen in all), he certainly never made as spectacular a contribution as the Dane?s belter against West Ham ? a goal which was more Molby than Hansen. Those inclined to see that as a fluke would do well to speak to his former team mates at Brondby or indeed to his training mates at Melwood, where the odd thirty-yarder flies in off Agger?s boot from time to time.

In truth Liverpool did little wrong on Sunday. A full-strength side was well organised, composed and solid at the back with barely a Reina flap in sight while as the second half developed the extra man showed. One trend that shows little sign of change is our abysmal run of bad luck. For the third match running our opponents relied on their woodwork as Kuyt?s power left Cech for dead, following good work from an otherwise subdued Alonso. But for that and Gerrard?s tired finishing, and we might have been celebrating. Indeed Gerrard?s comparative lack of impact should be food for thought for those who insist he play every minute of every game.

Our race isn?t run yet, but at least it?s looking like we have actually heard the starter?s pistol now. And whilst no team is out of the title race after four games, it remains to be seen if we can afford to be giving our rivals the now-traditional head-start. No-one has exactly haired off into the middle distance just yet ? United?s bright start shuddered to a halt yesterday as they met their first ?top four? side, and Middlesborough have already suggested that another huge points total for Chelsea isn?t a forgone conclusion. Arsenal have only just got out of the blocks. Rafa?s assertion that this season?s title could be won with as little as 75 points seems a trifle optimistic but it?s clear already that points will be lost a little more frequently all round in an ever-strengthening Premiership.

One trend however, was happily reversed. Common sense seems to have won the day in the ever-entertaining mind of Jose Mourinho. Thanks for the handshake.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 18th, 2006 at 11:30 am and is filed under Liverpool. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.