Early criticism of Liverpool FC is unjustified

Aug 17 2007 Fan Scene by Sam Johnstone, Liverpool Daily Post

Steven Gerrard celebrates his goal during Liverpool's 3-0 Champions League win over Bordeaux (158)

BEARING in mind that we have had two victories in two games this week (as well as two wonderful winning goals) I’m more than a bit surprised that the sniping has started already against Liverpool.

The cries of "Boring Liverpool" from the national media are just crazy when you look at the facts.

The Villa match saw Liverpool give a good attacking performance against a much- improved Martin O’Neill team, so how some leading pundits could still moan is beyond me.

The Toulouse match, on the other hand, was played in the searing heat of an August afternoon in the South of France, so it would understandably be a slow-paced affair.

Is it the manager the journos don’t like? Or is it the fact that Liverpool are very real contenders this year against the media darlings of United and Chelsea? Whatever the reason, the nagging has no basis in fact.

The game against the French wasn’t the most exciting, fair enough, but it was a performance that was professional and thorough, and Liverpool fully deserved the win. The only sour point was the injury to the skipper, the result of a fairly cynical stamping if reports are to be believed.

Rafa reckons Stevie will be fit to play against Chelsea on Sunday, but will miss the meaningless England friendly in midweek… expect some more moans from that lot in the South about the club-versus-country debate!

Sunday’s match will be a pointer to the rest of the season, with Chelsea adopting a much more attacking game-plan than in recent years. This will be good for Liverpool, as Mourinho’s decision to be more offensively minded has seen his team scrape victories against "lesser" sides. It will be a huge test for both teams and their title aspirations, but I am loathe to make predictions as games between the two teams are always tight affairs.

One thing that is certain is the atmosphere at Anfield: first home game of the campaign, a full house and Chelsea the opponents make up all the vital ingredients for a wall of noise around the ground, and I can’t wait to sample it once more.

The league won’t be won or lost this weekend, but if we can steal a march over Chelsea on Sunday, things will be looking bright. With United dropping points from their first two games and Chelsea not looking as solid at the back as they have been it’s a great opportunity to lay down a marker and begin the campaign with huge optimism.

The return of John Terry will bolster the Londoners defence, but I’ve been encouraged by the clever interplay of our forward line so far this season. The goals will come for Torres, Crouch and Kuyt, I’ve no doubt, but if the likes of Pennant, Babel, Gerrard and Voronin keep chipping in then we should be able to overcome any side in the League.

I won’t be too disheartened if we fail to break Chelsea down, but I will be ecstatic if we get the three points.