Crystal Palace, if you don’t follow English football, sounds dreamy, a magical place where fairy tales can happen. It could be a Disneyland attraction. Visit ‘The Crystal Palace’, where all your dreams can come true.
For Liverpool however, the visit a few years ago under Brendan Rogers was the opposite. Your worst nightmares always emerge from what looks like a dream, a fairy tale. 3-0 up, marching towards a possible Premier League title, what could possibly go wrong…
Visiting Crystal Palace isn’t the Premier League dream, it’s in a less affluent part of South London and the ground is old-school, with a raucous home fanbase who let you know where you are. Except by all accounts, this year will be different. The organised group of ‘ultras’ who created the atmosphere have disbanded, frustrated by the club and other fans in their attempts to relocate behind the goal.
So when Liverpool visit the ground tonight I’m wondering what the atmosphere will be like, and whether it will be quite so hot as in previous visits. Liverpool’s win v West Ham was actually easy, but this challenging first away game of the season comes with perils other than the crowd and atmosphere. In actual fact, Liverpool haven’t lost there since the 2014/2015 season, struggling instead in games at home v Palace.
But it still annoys Roy Hodgson that he never got a fair crack of the whip while Liverpool manager, was unfairly treated, etc etc. The thing is, he’s right to an extent, he should never have been appointed and was never the right fit. The appointment at the time screamed out that there were serious problems at Liverpool, which actually wasn’t a secret if you follow the club closely. But it was a few months later that those would emerge more publicly, flirting with administration and eventually changing ownership in a dramatic series of events that some day will probably become a film. It’s true, Roy Hodgson was a patsy, and those events prove it. The fans were never happy with the appointment, a lot didn’t know the wars going on behind the scenes, and it is to the credit of those involved in the tense courtroom takeover that Roy even had a club to manage.
Roy will always set out to frustrate Liverpool, and I expect no different tonight. Their team is capable of damaging anyone, with Zaha the star man at a club which is showing the classic signs of a Hodgson team. Starting from a solid base, able to play football when needed, and able to defend a lead should they get one. To crank up the potential banana skin potential, they have Martin Kelly, Mamadou Sakho and Christian Benteke, ex-reds who have a point to prove every time the play Liverpool. Sakho was quite rightly never forgiven after blowing his chance with Klopp, and anyone looking at Van Dijk would realise that the long game Klopp plays is worth the wait. It was a shame Kelly never quite made the grade at Anfield, he gave his all, had some fine memories, but it wasn’t to be. Benteke on form is as deadly as any striker when played in the right team, his form before signing for Liverpool excellent even if the signing saw more head-scratching than a plague of nits brings. So Liverpool come up away from home against an ex-manager with players bristling to prove a point.
In this league if you’re not on it, you’re not going to win. The overall league quality is high, much higher than the equivalent leagues across Europe, but also paints something of a contradiction. On the one hand, no game is a given and anything less than full concentration can see the best sides slip up. That is despite there actually being a quality gap between the top 6-ish and the rest of the league. Those below the top 6 often have either experienced and wily, or up and coming managers who make their teams organised, stubborn, disciplined, focussed, and have enough talent to frustrate and disrupt, then take their chances when they come along. One would hope that Jurgen Klopp has highlighted the result at Brighton yesterday. Whether it’s an off day for Man Utd or something more fundamental, either way it demonstrates the points above.
I don’t like to give predictions, this is as close as I will get. Liverpool should be too good for Palace tonight despite all of the above. Building on the great pre-season, the result at home v West Ham allowed the confidence to soar. Mane’s speed will be key to break beyond the tight back lines. The movement of the front three will eventually create the space required. Keita will get to taste what English football is really like, but he’ll relish it and I expect him to step up. And if it’s not working, there are players on the bench who can win games with a brief moment of top top level class. Klopp cannot afford to let Man City get a lead on them so early in the season, he knows that and will ensure the players treat this like one of those Champions League knockout games, and go all out for the win.