The chant was already grammatically incorrect. It soon became factually wrong, too. "You ain't got no history," the Liverpool fans used to tell Chelsea, who they deemed nouveaux-riche arrivistes.
Where Jose Mourinho and Liverpool are concerned, however, there is plenty of history. It came with controversy and consequences. It has entailed famous victories and damaging defeats. The latest chapter has the potential to be the most dramatic.
If Mourinho’s last stand comes against Liverpool at home on Saturday, many on Merseyside would relish his fall.
Yet the Portuguese was a contender to become Liverpool manager in 2004. Instead he accepted the Chelsea job before a vacancy opened up at Anfield, which was filled by Rafa Benitez. Antipathy gave way to enmity.
As they met 16 times in three years, familiarity bred discontent. Mourinho had the greater charisma and wit and the stronger group of players, but he and Benitez shared traits. They were obsessive tacticians who, at times, could cancel each other out.
Yet any goal had the potential to assume colossal proportions. The broader trend was that Mourinho reigned supreme in the Premier League but Benitez scored notable triumphs in knockout competitions.
Yet the reality is that Mourinho’s first Chelsea trophy, the 2005 League Cup, came at Liverpool’s expense. Ten years after beating them in the final, his current group secured a semi-final win en route to regaining the trophy.
Like the 2005 final, it went to extra time. Chelsea and Liverpool have taken the long route before. Mourinho’s ambitions have twice been blunted at Anfield, by a formidably intimidating crowd and a resolutely organised team.
The 2007 Uefa Champions League semi-final was eventually determined on penalties, Arjen Robben and Geremi missing. Its 2005 counterpart was decided by Luis Garcia’s infamous “ghost goal”, the shot that never crossed the line.
It formed the basis of many a Mourinho complaint, even if the unfortunate reality for Chelsea is that the alternative for referee Lubos Michel was to award a penalty and dismiss Petr Cech.
All three of Benitez’s Liverpool trophies came at Chelsea’s expense. The Londoners were Liverpool’s victims in the 2006 FA Cup semi-final and then the Community Shield. Yet the 2005 Champions League stung most.
Chelsea, who finished 37 points ahead of Liverpool that season, were Europe’s outstanding team then. Mourinho was on the verge of becoming the first manager to win its most prestigious prize in successive seasons but with different clubs. It would have been another distinction to cement his greatness. Instead, Liverpool deprived him of the trophy he values most.
He, in turn, responded in kind. Fast forward to 2014 and Liverpool had gone 24 years without being champions of England. They were 270 minutes from completing an improbable, exhilarating march to glory. They were confronted by a Chelsea team whose own title ambitions had been abandoned and who fielded a weakened team.
Then Steven Gerrard slipped. Demba Ba scored. Mourinho’s defensive game plan proved perfect, his reserves – Mark Schwarzer, Tomas Kalas, John Obi Mikel, Mohamed Salah and Co – somehow reshaped the title race.
Brendan Rodgers, Mourinho’s protege turned rival, accused him of “parking two buses” in front of the Chelsea goal.
Yet it seemed an example of Mourinho at the peak of his powers. Even without pivotal players, he could outwit and frustrate England’s most dynamic attacking force. His side could keep a clean sheet seemingly at will. Now they have conceded at least twice in eight of their 10 league games.
History provides reasons to stick with Mourinho. It should offer succour in times of need. He has only suffered one defeat in 11 Premier League games against Liverpool. He, and Roman Abramovich, reshaped English football to render their title challenges anomalies.
But Liverpool and Mourinho have had the sort of toxic rivalry where each has damaged the other where it has hurt most. Now, perhaps, Liverpool have the chance to apply the fatal blow to a stricken great.
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