Are Liverpool the Most Exciting Team in the World?

By: chris | April 21st, 2009

They may be out of Europe and the title may be an uphill climb – Manchester United now have two games in hand, after all – but Liverpool can take a small bit of consolation in the fact that they are, over the last two or so months, Europe’s most exciting team and perhaps the world. For the second time in a week they’ve provided a 4-4 barnstormer with a team from London, both times providing the fans with memories for the ages but also crippling their ultimate goal. Maybe not winning trophies, but at least hearts.

First off, Andrei Arshavin may have scored a greedy hat-trick (four goals) today, but because he’s just one man he’s sadly s not eligible as the most exciting team in the world – at least not yet. But there’s little argument that he is one of the world’s greatest game-changers, along with a certain Argentine current employed in Catalonia.

Speaking of that Argentine, many will point to the attack of Barcelona as the most exciting, but they, as a team, aren’t flawed enough to be considered such – aesthetic absolutely, but not exciting. They hold too much possession, don’t concede a mess of goals and the result is rarely, if ever, in question. They’re simply too good to put people on the edge of their seats. It’s like the difference between a brilliantly academic art house flick and a Hollywood blockbuster: one may clearly be the more superior product but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll get the old ticker pumping with the thunderous pounding of a thousand thoroughbreds.

Others may point to another Spanish team, Sporting Gijon, who live and die by the motto, Refuse To Draw. Their record is nearly unbelievable at this point in the campaign, so you’ll have to look for yourselves:

Zero draws all year and a back line not even the boy from Haarlem could save.

But they’re not quite good and Liverpool is, which is half the fun. Schadenfreude is nice and all but it’s not necessarily exciting when the scoreline gulf is reaching six or seven. Liverpool is prolific enough — an absurd 31 goals across all competitions since March 10th – yet flawed enough to provide memorable games on a weekly basis these days – as well as in the past, with 3-3 in Istanbul and the FA Cup final v West Ham coming to mind. They can thump Blackburn four-nil on a Saturday and then concede eight in two games across six days. They’ll score a bundle of goals and they might well concede another bundle.

Liverpool are kind of like Goldilocks and the Three Bears: not quite the hot of Barcelona, not quite the cold of Gijon, but just right.