|
|
 |
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
A matter of priorities Liverpool puts Charlton match ahead of UEFA Cup final
Updated: Tuesday May 15, 2001 3:14 PM
LIVERPOOL, England (AP) -- How important to Liverpool striker Michael Owen is Wednesday's UEFA Cup final against Spanish side Alaves? Frankly, it's not as crucial as next Saturday's English Premier League finale against Charlton. Sure, a victory against Alaves in Dortmund, Germany, would bring Liverpool its first European trophy since 1984, and add the UEFA Cup to this season's two domestic trophies -- the FA and League Cup. But a victory over Charlton will guarantee Liverpool a place in next season's European Champions League -- the continent's most prestigious club event. "We will be 100 percent committed in both matches, but the Charlton game is more important," Owen said. "It means a great deal to me to play in the Champions League. All the world's best players are there. If I want to regard myself in a certain way and be seen as I want to be seen, I have to play there." "Winning the Charlton game would give us what we set out to achieve at the start of the season." Owen is hot. His eight goals in four games has added a dangerous edge to Liverpool's tight defense and has propelled the Reds' to the verge of the unusual triple. Owen's ability to rise to the big occasion -- brilliantly displayed with his two late goals in Liverpool's 2-1 FA Cup final victory on Saturday over Arsenal -- should frighten Alaves. Owen's recent goal scoring run is a relief after a series of hamstring injuries over the past year. He was still recovering when Liverpool won the League Cup in February. Owen said even if Liverpool won the UEFA Cup, it would still need to win the Premier League to prove itself. "Personally I would prefer to win the league before trying to conquer Europe," he said. "The league never lies and I think Manchester United have shown that they are one of the best teams in Europe." The form of Owen, fellow striker Emile Heskey, midfielder Steven Gerrard and defenders Sami Hyypia and Stephane Henchoz have contributed to Liverpool's improved season. Wednesday's game is Liverpool's first chance at a European title since 1985. But that European Champions Cup final -- won 1-0 by Juventus -- at Brussels' Heysel Stadium is most remembered because 39 fans were killed. Victory would add another European trophy to the four Champions Cups and two UEFA Cups Liverpool won between 1973 and '84. Striker Robbie Fowler, upset he didn't start against Arsenal, may be on the bench again with reports Fowler may leave the club. But manager Gerard Houllier says Fowler has a role to play with a club that is "going places." "We are on the verge of something special, and if anyone was thinking of leaving, I hope they may now realize what they would be missing," he said. "I want to keep the squad together because we need strength in depth to challenge on all fronts." Liverpool's priorities a commentary on state of gameLONDON -- When Liverpool was the dominant force in European soccer in the 1970s and 80s, finishing third in the league would have been a catastrophe. Now it has become the ultimate target of their season. Because it delivers entry to the promised land of the Champions League, third place in the Premier League rates as more important than the unprecedented feat of winning the UEFA Cup, FA Cup and League Cup, something the present Anfield crop can achieve by beating Alaves in Dortmund on Wednesday. While the Spanish club will be going all out for their first-ever major trophy, Liverpool's players and management have already made it clear that they will be playing with their minds tuned into next Saturday's league game at Charlton Athletic. They may have beaten Italian league leaders AS Roma at the Olympic Stadium and accounted for Porto and Barcelona, but for Gerard Houllier it is the more humble surroundings of The Valley that will define his season. The League Cup success over Birmingham City ended a six-year spell without a trophy, while their European drought dates back to 1984. But such is the all-encompassing financial power of the Champions League that what should be cause for celebration as one of the greatest seasons in the club's history could be written off as failure. Next year the situation gets even more ridiculous as the strong performance of English clubs in Europe recently means that the Premier League is set to have four places in Europe. Being crowned Champions of Europe without winning the domestic league the previous season -- as Manchester United did in 1999 -- was bad enough, but now teams who are virtually mid-table standard have the chance of going on to be declared the greatest on the continent. Money menThe money men who are now trying to run the big clubs as normal businesses have no appreciation of what winning a trophy means, unless it can be quantified on the balance sheet. Supporters know that the league title decides which is the best side over a season, but they have always loved the immediate emotion of cup competition. But as the clubs' interest in them has waned, so has that of the fans. It would have been inconceivable even five years ago for the managers of Manchester United and Arsenal not to field their strongest teams for an FA Cup tie but now it is considered prudent. Sunderland chairman Bob Murray said last week that winning the Cup was only of interest as a passport to the UEFA Cup and that (next year) fourth in the Premier League would be preferable. Murray says it is not the clubs but the fans who are to blame, but those in the stands are only reacting to what they see in front of them. They know when players are committed and when they are going through the motions and are reluctant to waste their money. Career highlightWembley in May used to be the highlight of a player's career, but Arsenal midfielder Patrick Vieira said ahead of Saturday's final that winning it would be "better than nothing," while his manager Arsene Wenger thinks Cup games should be moved to weekend slots The Cup final's place as the finale of the domestic season -- an honor it has held for half a century -- also disappeared this season as the last round of league games took precedence in what has been described as a "one-off." It is a desperately sad state of affairs for the world's oldest and most famous knock-out competition, but it is not all doom and gloom; help could be at hand from the most unlikely of sources. The trophy, devalued so badly when Manchester United chose not to defend it last year, has regained some of its luster this season. The last-minute heroics of Roy Esandoh lifted second division Wycombe to a classic act of giant-killing against Leicester, while Michael Owen's dramatic late strikes to win the final for Liverpool in a fantastic atmosphere at Cardiff made for a memorable occasion. The concept that the Cup winners should be awarded a Champions League place instead of a third (or fourth) placed league finisher also appears to be gaining support. But the best news came last week when UEFA president Lennart Johansson said the number of teams in the Champions League would be reduced starting in 2003 and that his wish would be to return to having only national champions involved. "Too much isn't good for anybody. We can't carry on like this," he said, echoing the thoughts of fans sick of the bloated competition that threatens to destroy all others in what is fast becoming soccer cannibalism. Johansson will face a tough fight from the clubs, whose lobbying for perpetual representation brought about the expansion in the first place, but at least the fightback has begun.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
