Why Adebayor's optimism is just fine by me
In the aftermath of last week's Champions League draw Emmanuel Adebayor was first Arsenal player to come out and make a bold statement of optimism.
Arsenal face Liverpool three times in eight days in early April and the Togolese striker, who has been pivotal to the Gunners' success this season, was quoted as saying, "We're confident we can win all three."
Now it may be that it was a statement made from fear or doubt. Nobody, as the saying seems to go these days, wants to draw Liverpool in Europe. However, if Adebayor is truly confident then he obviously hasn't read the script of Liverpool's European adventures.
Under Rafael Benitez we have thrived in the role of underdog, marching our way to two finals in three years against all the odds.
Against Olympiakos in the 2004/05 season we looked down and out after Rivaldo's goal, but with our backs to the wall we fought our way through. After being drawn against Juventus, Barcelona, Chelsea (twice), Milan and Inter we were written off, only to rise to the challenge and - deservedly - progress.
Then, earlier in this campaign, needing three wins from three to escape our group we did it, sealing our places in the second round by humbling Marseille 4-0 in their own stadium.
I've always found Liverpool's inability to take European form into the league a frustration. But now I've come to accept that it's the way it is, and it is because the Champions League is a different discipline of the game.
Take cricket for example. The best test players don't always make the best one-dayers or Twenty20 players. The principle of swinging a bat at a ball in order to accumulate runs is the same but differences in tactics, rules, atmospheres and the discipline required, means a player may be better suited to one version of the game than another.
I'm beginning to think it's the same with two-legged, European football. Going abroad on on a Tuesday night to play in one of Europe's premier stadiums against one of its premier sides is, whichever way you look at it, entirely different to returning home to face a Wigan, or a Birmingham, or a Derby at the weekend. Arsenal supporters will understand this too, I'm sure.
With the away goal rule, the possiblity of extra time, 180 minutes of play and the fact that teams are more talented and attack-minded, the requirements of European football are far different from 90 minutes of breaking down a desperate team with 10 dogged defenders behind the ball.
To this end, Liverpool's players and - let's face it - Rafael Benitez are better suited to the European game. Can we go and get a result at the Emirates? Sure. Can we do so at Anfield? Sure. Can we beat Chelsea over two legs? Twice proven.
But can we win a one off game in the final? Who knows? That's another, entirely different, version of football.
[Image: Getty]
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