da leao： As part of a new feature on Football FanCast we will be looking back at moments which have defined the football landscape we see today. These can be full games, decisions or goals which have had a major bearing on the game. We begin at Stamford Bridge and a cup tie from the 1997 FA Cup.
No.1: Chelsea Vs Liverpool, January 26th 1997
da winzada777： –
It’s funny what you remember. Before Chelsea played Liverpool in the 4th round of the 1997 FA Cup, the BBC put together a short video of Ruud Gullit playing pool with Gianluca Vialli, as the pair discussed the upcoming clash at Stamford Bridge.
Gullit explained the need for his players to be cool, that they had the ability to play; “sexy football” but that they must not be scared of a Liverpool side that had demolished them 5-1 in a league clash earlier on in the campaign. “It could be the biggest game of our season…” the Dutchman concluded. In reality it turned out to be the most pivotal game in the club’s history.
When the whistle went for half-time, all of the pre-match optimism had completely vanished. Goals from Robbie Fowler and Stan Collymore had seemingly buried Chelsea’s chances of chasing their first major trophy in 26 years. Liverpool looked every bit the title challenging outfit they had become, squandering several chances to put the game to bed before half-time. The hosts for their part looked overawed, lacking the fluidity and quality that Gullit had promised.
With seemingly nothing to lose, veteran striker Mark Hughes was brought on for the ineffectual Scott Minto after the interval, and within five minutes, the former Manchester United striker had changed the game. Taking a long ball down on his chest, swivelling on the edge of the area and sending a laser guided shot into the corner of the net past David James.
Gullit had gambled and elected to keep his misfiring strike force of Vialli and recent signing Gianfranco Zola together to supplement Hughes, an unusual move from the Dutchman, but the decision paid dividends. Vialli, in particular, had struggled under the watch of the former AC Milan legend and was given limited opportunity to impress over the course of the 1996/97 season.
If Chelsea’s first goal gave the Shed End hope of a miraculous recovery, the next took the roof off. Taking advantage of a bustling run from Dan Petrescu, Zola picked up a loose ball and steadied himself before unleashing a curling left footed strike from 25 yards out. Chelsea level.
Even at this juncture, Liverpool were shell-shocked. The game had been as good as over at half-time, and in the time it had taken Chelsea to level the tie up, all confidence had evaporated from Roy Evans’ men and there was little in the way of response.
From there, the cup tie was only going to have one winner. The Blues poured forward, Zola almost scoring a carbon copy of his first, and by the time Dan Petrescu’s exquisite through ball had dissected the Reds’ back line allowing Vialli to give the hosts a first lead in the match, Chelsea were rampant. Before the end, the much maligned Italian had added a fourth, sweeping home a Zola free-kick.
At the time beating Liverpool at home was in itself a reasonable achievement, however the knock on effect of the win had massive implications for the football club. A highly controversial penalty decision in the 5th round replay against Leicester was equally pivotal, however from there, the Blues made serene progress to their first silverware since winning the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1971.
From there, things started happening quickly in West London. With a major influx of foreign talent arriving at Stamford Bridge that summer, another Cup Winners’ Cup followed to compliment a League Cup triumph in the 1997/98 season. The following year, the Blues managed a third place league finish and a first crack at Champions League football. Where previously the club struggled to convince Eddie Newton and Frank Sinclair that their futures lay at Stamford Bridge, players like Didier Deschamps and George Weah were happily recruited.
A brave exit at the hands of Barcelona ended the Champions League dream in 2000, but with the consolation of another FA Cup triumph under then manager Vialli, the club announced themselves as a big name in the Premier League. By the time Roman Abramovich landed in England three years later, a financially weak but Champions League based outfit such as Chelsea became the prime target for a major financial takeover.
Gullit’s managerial career never hit the heights after an acrimonious split with Chelsea chairman Ken Bates and a dispute over the Dutchman’s new contract midway through 1997/98. His words to the Chelsea dressing room at half-time in the 1997 FA Cup clash and decision to introduce Mark Hughes into the action, however not only altered landscape of the tie but would also impact on power balance in English football. Not a bad managerial legacy.
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