Russian mafiosos 0 - Scouse car-thieves 1

Despite in going against my instincts I was cheering Liverpool on. You can't buy class and looking at the pictures from Anfield last night you remembered the glory days of Liverpool. While looking at Ambramovich you thought about dirty russian oil money. Also some of the simplistic, apologetic media coverage about Chelsea has been winding me up. Didn't buy their success? Comparison to Utd.'s spending power and saying Chelsea is no different? Bollocks. You can't compare a historically great club that with a combination of fortunate timing and wise financial management (debt free!) gradually built a dynasty, to Chelsea. Abramovich has spent over a billion dollars on players and infrastructure. Chelski can afford to ignore a 88 million pound loss and keep buying the best players in the world. They can afford to tempt the man who managed last years Champions League winners to leave his club and move to one that historically wasn't even the biggest in its own city, let alone England. If Al-fayed had another 0 after his fortune, and the desire to use it, Fulham could be Chelsea.

Don't get me wrong, I admire the club and their team spirit. And I certainly prefer them to the Arse, if for no other reason than that they at least have some English players in the ranks and on the fringes. But to try and diminsh the role their financial muscle has played in their success is poor journalism.

mail : bigreg at budweiser dot com