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This is never easy to say, but this week Liverpool bested Manchester United.
The atmosphere at last night’s friendly against Melbourne Victory showed how much noise can be made when you fill a ground with genuine fans, and showed that the A-League All-Stars concept doesn’t have the merit I originally thought it had.
I don’t like to admit it, but ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ is a magnificent football anthem.
It ebbs and flows in the right places, and the rousing finale presumably leaves home fans shaking prior to kick-off.
I’ve witnessed it live once, at Celtic Park back in January (Celtic claim ownership of the song too), and it was moving.
Last night it was electric. I turned the volume up, and by the second round of the chorus I thought my telly was about to lift off the table.
Craig Johnston, whose pioneering career on Merseyside did so much to create Liverpool (and football more broadly)’s enormous fan-base in Australia, said he’d never heard anything like it outside Anfield itself.
He would have heard a few renditions.
Perhaps, and I promise I am not being snide here, Liverpool’s comparative lack of success in recent seasons has weeded out the bandwagon jumpers.
As I wrote here earlier in the week, the bandwagon mob were out in force at Homebush on Saturday night.
Don’t get me wrong, as a United fan I had a terrific night on Saturday, but I felt it lacked a bit of atmosphere during the game itself, as if many were watching thinking ‘Is this it?’
By contrast, the Liverpool crowd was charged with energy throughout, chanting and singing and clapping as the unfolded in front of them.
Where the United game had the feel of a hit and giggle exhibition match, the Liverpool game was accompanied by the sound of a near-religious fervour.
An example was the almost uniquitous standing ovation for Steven Gerrard as he left the ground.
In Sydney, the departure of Ryan Giggs was engulfed by anticipation for the arrival of Robin van Persie. The people who got in on Wednesday night knew their history better.
The size of the ground probably helped too. United’s game in Sydney sold out in the time it takes Usain Bolt to run 100 metres.
The extra seats at the MCG allowed everyone who sought a ticket with relative urgency to get one, rather than simply the quickest people on the ‘Buy Now’ button.
The final factor in the electricity may have been the fact that Liverpool were playing a real team, rather than a marketing confection like the All-Stars.
Originally I thought the All-Stars would be an excellent annual curtain raiser to the season, making people aware that football is back in town and that the A-League is not far away.
However the merit of having a club side oppose the foreign giant was clear on Wednesday night.
There was a united bunch of home supporters to add to the atmosphere, a more genuine feel to the spectacle, and the combinations and understandings of a club side added to the quality of the game itself.
The scoreline reflected that last point, Melbourne’s terrific performance was surely assisted by the fact they had trained toether for more than a couple of days before the match.
The result of this experiment should be that the A-League Premiers from the previous season play the big visiting club. However the match should be played at the MCG regardless.
The ‘G and Melbourne more broadly proved their credentials yet again on Wednesday night. Don’t worry if next year Perth or Brisbane are involved, their fans will travel.
So we’ve learnt a lot this week, and as much as it pains me to say it, I reckon the all round better set up allowed Liverpool to shade the battle of the English giants.
Still, on the pitch it’s 20-18. Bring on the new season.
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