Tuesday 27 January 2015 12:46, UK
With the tie between Chelsea and Liverpool in the balance after a 1-1 draw in the first leg at Anfield, Adam Bate looks at why Jose Mourinho and Brendan Rodgers won't underestimate the importance of Tuesday's Capital One Cup semi-final second leg at Stamford Bridge...
“In time, you come to understand that the most important thing is the trophies you have won. You are defined by them.”
Those recent words by Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish were delivered in praise of Steven Gerrard’s accomplishments at the club. But they might be worth keeping in mind when the Reds travel to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea in the second leg of their Capital One Cup semi-final on Tuesday. “The game is about glory,” as the late great Danny Blanchflower said.
While Jose Mourinho’s critics might question his adherence to the rest of Blanchflower’s famous maxim – “It’s about doing things in style, with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom” – his appetite for glory is unquestionable. While quick to belittle Rafael Benitez’s Europa League win, the League Cup has always had Mourinho’s attention.
He has history in the competition. Ten years ago, it was the first trophy that Mourinho won as Chelsea manager and 18 months into his return to the club, he’s two wins away from repeating that feat in his second spell in charge. Perhaps that explains why there has been such limited squad rotation for these ties. Mourinho is seeking his first trophy since winning the Spanish Super Cup with Real Madrid in August 2012. That’s the longest wait of his entire managerial career.
To end it with victory in the Capital One Cup in March, Mourinho’s Chelsea must first see off Liverpool, the club his side beat in that 2005 final. That was no light-hearted affair either, with the Portuguese manager being sent to the stands for his shushing gesture in the direction of the Liverpool supporters following Steven Gerrard’s own goal that levelled things up late on. Ominously, Chelsea went on to win back-to-back Premier League titles after that watershed win.
Mourinho himself has played down the significance of momentum, saying in a press conference last week that it “means nothing” but Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers might have a different view. He was Chelsea’s youth coach when the teams met in that final a decade ago but there is no suggestion he’ll be using Tuesday to blood Liverpool's youngsters. Rodgers wants this competition to be a springboard.
“I think it is that taste of success that hopefully pushes them on,” he said when discussing Liverpool’s aspirations in relation to Chelsea. “We have worked really hard in the majority of the two-and-a-half years but we are here to win and as I said, we are a club that is synonymous with winning trophies. Over the last 10 years they have shown once you win the first one, you can go on and sustain it. They will tell you that first trophy was the most important.”
For all the excitement that Rodgers has brought to Anfield since being appointed manager in June 2012, such are the standards at Liverpool, the fact that his predecessor Dalglish delivered this trophy in his only full season back at the helm can still be thrown at the current boss when things are going badly. So whether it’s Rodgers with the first major silverware of his managerial career or Mourinho with his first since coming back to the Bridge, the prize of a Wembley final awaits and neither man will underestimate its significance.
Watch Chelsea v Liverpool in their Capital One Cup semi-final second leg this Tuesday from 7pm on Sky Sports 1 HD
