Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Liverpool = Valen-thee-ah



Look at that smile on that man up there. Is that the smile of a man who is overly upset he wasn't able to sign Gareth Barry and it's somehow leading to the destruction of his team's season? No, that's the smile of a guy who has Colleen McLaughlin blowing him under the table while he's giving the press conference.

Benitez came out yesterday and said Liverpool is now like his title-winning Valencia side. Hey, I'm not even going to bag him for putting carts before horses or anything like that. It's Oct. 1 and Liverpool is even with Chelsea on points and in second only on goal differential. As I've said recently, it's a strange new world, and I'm loving it.

The thing that struck me this week was how my reaction to the derby victory Saturday was more one of "Gittin' it D-O-N-E, done" rather than "Yes!!! In your face Everton." There's a whole lot of squawking going on about how this year is different. They've managed to realistically stay in the title race about three weeks longer than usual, and people are getting that tingly feeling in their shorts about what might happen. Hey, that's wonderful, but it strikes me that League winners don't approach late September matches at Goodison Park with any sense of urgency. They approach it like professionals determined to get 3 points.

Obviously, Liverpool/Everton will always be different than any other side that goes to Goodison, but, if you can follow me, I'm actually encouraged by the fact that taking the derby left me with a bigger-fish-to-fry feeling and looking forward to when they line up against Chelsea (Oct. 26, Stamford Bridge).

Meanwhile, ESPN2 has the PSV match today, and we get to enjoy Torres' return to Atletico soon. Right now, it's really fun to follow Liverpool.

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