Chelsea

[Fagan]

Does anyone else think that Chelsea?s Russian revolution have actually been good for us? There is certainly an argument to be made that they have given us the kick up the backside we needed. If abramovich had not arrived on the scene then it?s not unreasonable to say that united and arsenal would still be the top 2 teams and we might still have Houllier in charge and our hand may not have been forced to go out and get Benitez at the time when we did. We could have actually ended up with Mourinho possibly.

 

Its much harder to improve when your at the v top like Chelsea and for us I can only see us striving and achieving to get the level of domestic dominance that Chelsea enjoy, that sort of standard would not have happened had it not been for Chelsea I think. As much as I hate Chelsea and think all their money is horribly bad for the game, the money had already ruined it long before they came on the scene.

 

But they have the raised the bar and we as a result have a manager who is far more capable than fergie or wenger of closing the gap. We now, when bringing in new players, have to bring in quality and class that can immediately make an improved impact into the first team, and we have also seen the massive benefits of having a strong bench like Chelsea and as a result we have a much improved squad.

 

Would we have made such dramatic improvements had it not been for Chelsea? Would we have got rid of Houllier that summer? Would we be desperately seeking investment in order to invest heavily in the team?

[Kvarme Ate My Food]

I don't follow your logic. If we didn't look like challenging for the league, we'd have changed the manager and looked to improve, Chelsea or no Chelsea

[Fagan]

I don't follow your logic. If we didn't look like challenging for the league, we'd have changed the manager and looked to improve, Chelsea or no Chelsea

 

Yes but, that summer Houllier left, Owen and Gerrard we're on their way out of the club. Because of Chelsea's millions and they likelyhood of them dominating, it was looking less and less likely that we were going to be in a position to challenge.

 

Gerrard was gonna go to chelsea had GH stayed, Owen, well he was gonna go anyway as we saw.

 

so i think the arrival of chelsea on the scene. or the arrival of abramovich, meant that Houllier just had to go, there and then and Rafa was available that summer.

 

were it not or chelsea i believe GH would have been given another year and more money to turn it around and we would have missed out on rafa, and possibly ended up with the special one or somebody else. somebody less able than rafa is what i mean. I think we would have gone on believeing that we were on the brink of challengin united and arsenal and not enforcing the radical changes that have happened, and needed to happen.

 

It was all about timing i believe and chelsea;s money forced us to act at that crucial moment, otherwise we would have lost stevie to them, and still have a lot of the GH buys in our squad

Edited April 30, 2006 by Afgan

[Guest AnfieldGrass]

The only thing we have to worry about is winning our games, don't care about Chelsea very much except when we play them, and then it's only a wish to beat them on the pitch. But to answer your question I think that they have bought the premiership with money and when it dries out they will go back to being a no-mark club. Maybe then the billionaires will realise you can't buy history and leave football well alone.

[Swipe]

Houllier had to go.

 

Would have been sacked regardless, IMO.

[Guz]

Looked clear from January onwards that Houllier was on his last legs. And the board almost surely had Benitez tied up long before anyone in the press got hold of it. Chelsea havent been good to us because they've simply raised the bar of consistency even higher than what it was 2-3 years ago.

Edited April 30, 2006 by Guz

[Guest Ant]

Chelsea have given us something to fight, Like Man Utd and Arsenal, I get what you mean, And although some might not agree, I do not believe we would not be were we are now if it wasn't for the rivalry between us both Then I do not think our drive would be there.

 

Let's Be Honest, from the fans to the Players and Staff

 

Every single one of us is striving to be better then each other.

 

Had Chelsea not been their I believe the Pendulum of Power would still firmly be in Man Utd's and Arsenal's Grasp.

 

Thank f*** For Rafa

[Crazy Horse]

Chelsea have not been good for us.

 

Rafa Benitez has been very good for us.

[Fagan]

Chelsea have not been good for us.

 

Rafa Benitez has been very good for us.

 

 

obviously..

 

but the point was/is; would we have sacked GH when we did and got benitez when he was available were it not for the very real threat of chelsea's new found dominance?

 

did the fact that gerrard was going to leave for this new massively rich club make it an immediate imperative that we got rafa in when he was available. its open for debate that had chelsea still been the rubbish nowhere men that they were before abramavich that GH might have been given 1 more season as we may have been looking a lot closer to catching up with united and arsenal rather than being way behind the chelsea revolution.

 

thats the point, did chelsea's transformation make the board get their sh*t together and give them a rude awakening.

 

obviously rafa is the man behind our success but were chelsea the catalysts in causing rafa to become our manager?

 

that's the question im trying to raise

[kenny7]

Stevie would not have been playing for chelsea, due to the fact chelsea would have gone under.

[Fagan]

Stevie would not have been playing for chelsea, due to the fact chelsea would have gone under.

 

 

i dont think theres any debate that if GH hadnt been sacked stevie would be in a chelsea jersey now, whether it was last season or this season

[tomski]

Chelsea have been very bad for football in england full stop.

[muleskinner]

i dont think theres any debate that if GH hadnt been sacked stevie would be in a chelsea jersey now, whether it was last season or this season

 

If Abramovich hadn't appeared on the scene Gerrard wouldn't have had £120,000+ a week pushed under his nose.

[Fagan]

If Abramovich hadn't appeared on the scene Gerrard wouldn't have had £120,000+ a week pushed under his nose.

 

yes, precisely my point

[muleskinner]

yes, precisely my point

 

Is it?

[Fagan]

Chelsea have been very bad for football in england full stop.

 

 

Noone can argue with that statement

 

i was just wondering if people thougght that they made us buck up our ideas that all

[Guest Ant]

I would go as far to say that Chelsea provoked a reaction from us

[Maldini]

We'd be champions now if Chelsea were just another team

[Fagan]

yes, precisely my point

 

yes, although as a side point i dont think gerrard would have gone to chelsea for the money, he wanted to win trophies, but thats irrelevant for the purposes of this argument.

 

that fact that chelsea were abel to wave such a wad of cash in front of any of our players, and our captain and best player in particular, and also promise them almost guaranteed freshly bought silverware i think forced the club into making radical changes to ensure not only that we convinced such players that we were gonna compete with chelsea but also that we actually followed through on such promises, and as a result, we sacked GH, got rafs in, our looking for extra ways of raising capital so rafa can buy the players he needs to compete with chelsea.

 

thats why in a perverse way i was suggesting they have been good for us

 

i feel like im repeating myself at this stage

 

We'd be champions now if Chelsea were just another team

 

 

i disagree strongly because as i have said, i dont think we would have got rafa in that summer because there would have been no chelsea to buy gerrard or to be walking away with the league every season.

[Guest BigChief]

Though I despise the unaccountable finanaces at Chelsea and their tw*tish manager (I know, he's good for the game), I think Chelsea have done us a big favour. They've stopped manure from winning at least two more league titles, that's good enough for me.

[Magic8Ball]

Noone can argue with that statement

 

i was just wondering if people thougght that they made us buck up our ideas that all

actually I can, chelsea until recently were good for the midtable teams as they would loan out quality players

or sell them cheap there -- what chelsea have been is bad for the top teams who they compete with in the transfer market

and drive up the cost of getting the best players

[Maldini]

Don't really understand your logic. United won the league the season before Rafa came in, they were still the head honchos at that stage. Hardly anyone expected Chelsea to win the league last season, even up to Christmas people were saying they'd collapse.

 

Signing Benitez had f*** all to do with Chelsea and everything to do with Liverpool FC. Chelsea had won nothing when Rafa took over. He was signed because GH couldn't bring us the success we needed and it was felt that Rafa could.

[smokescreen]

Don't really understand your logic. United won the league the season before Rafa came in, they were still the head honchos at that stage. Hardly anyone expected Chelsea to win the league last season, even up to Christmas people were saying they'd collapse.

 

Signing Benitez had f*** all to do with Chelsea and everything to do with Liverpool FC. Chelsea had won nothing when Rafa took over. He was signed because GH couldn't bring us the success we needed and it was felt that Rafa could.

 

100% agree Maldini... LFC are proactive, not reactive.

 

We replaced Ged to suit our agenda, not fit in with others'.

[antidote]

Don't really understand your logic. United won the league the season before Rafa came in, they were still the head honchos at that stage. Hardly anyone expected Chelsea to win the league last season, even up to Christmas people were saying they'd collapse.

 

Signing Benitez had f*** all to do with Chelsea and everything to do with Liverpool FC. Chelsea had won nothing when Rafa took over. He was signed because GH couldn't bring us the success we needed and it was felt that Rafa could.

 

Arsenal won it without loosing a game the last season of GH

[Maldini]

Arsenal won it without loosing a game the last season of GH

Good point, well made