The Kings of Merseyside: Whose crown is it anyway?

   

I love a good rivalry. It’s one of the many things that makes football such a passionate game. And as I have said before, nothing stokes the fire in the belly of a few hundred thousand fans like winning against a rival. The entire history of the English Premier League and in fact, all the top football leagues of the world, has been shaped by age-old rivalries and bitterness. Over the years, the EPL has seen many famous rivalries: Man Utd- Arsenal, Man Utd-Liverpool, the Chelsea-Arsenal derbies, both old and new. But the oldest, and by far the bitterest, rivalry is the Liverpool-Everton love/hate story. This is the kind of derby match that has the entire region wagging their tongues, trash-talking the opposition, cheering and screaming for the entire duration of the match.

Over the years, Liverpool has always been the dominant side. They have a much superior head-to-head record at home and have won 39 games compared to the 40 games Everton have won at Goodison Park. With many league and European titles under its belt, Everton was always considered Liverpool’s poor cousin from an outsider’s perspective.

But in the last few years, the tide has been turning slowly but surely in Everton’s favour. Their manager for ten years, David Moyes, had a lot to do with this resurgence. Always fielding a gritty, combative side, Everton has always relentlessly been grinding out results over the years. But the last few seasons have shown a very different side of Everton. The once bottom-heavy side is now balancing its act out. This is no more a side that fights for respectable mid-table positions, but a side that now harbours big ambitions. The last five seasons have proved that Everton is now gunning for the big boys. Their convincing win against Manchester United has only cemented their resolve. The current Everton team has some serious talent and depth in their ranks. The likes of Baines, Jelavic, Pienaar, Fellaini, among others are certainly some of the most promising players in the EPL this season. After their brilliant display against a new-look Man Utd, they only seem to be getting better. The January transfer window will be especially crucial for them considering the increasing interest in many of their players, most notably Baines. It will be interesting to see how long they can hold on to him.

Liverpool, on the other hand, has been in a sort of free-fall in the last three years. The continuous reshuffling of managers and players has left the club in disarray. Despite having won four out of the last five games versus Everton, they still seem to lack the conviction needed to bring back their former glory. After finishing at a dismal 8th position last season, their worst in eighteen years, Liverpool must have hoped for a better year this time around. Instead, they ended up losing a miserable 3-0 to West Brom in a very one-sided contest. There was no bite in the attack, no real co-ordination or pace in the defence and their midfield was completely out of sorts. Even their talismanic captain, Steven Gerrard, seemed a shadow of his former self. Even Pepe Reina seemed to give up after a while. The problem with Liverpool has been a misguided faith in some of their players. Take Lucas, for example. Although he shows flashes of brilliance every once in a while, he has been highly inconsistent over the last couple of seasons. Andy Carroll, as much as I hate to say it, has so far been a complete waste of 35 million pounds. He is injury-prone, inconsistent and highly temperamental. The class that he showed the world when he was at Newcastle has completely faded away. So much so that he is considering playing elsewhere on loan for at least a season. Gerrard, at thirty-two years of age, cannot play with the same energy he did for the last ten years, no matter how hard he tries. And he does try each and every game. Even Luis Suarez has done little much than grab headlines for the wrong reasons (One word: Evra). And conceding goals from set-pieces and has become an all too familiar sight for the Anfield faithful.

Its too early to even think of making predictions for the rest of the season. But I think Everton might just leave a mark on this season’s proceedings. They have shown that they can compete with and even beat the best on their day. Liverpool needs to wake up now. Whether they need to bring in fresh faces, or even part with the old ones, is a decision only Brendan Rodgers and his team can make. And they need to do whatever they have to as quickly as possible. These two traditional rivals face off on the 27th of October. Which team will be crowned the Kings of Merseyside? Only time will tell.