Bad day for Shankly

"When I have nothing better to do, I look at the bottom of the table to see how Everton is doing," used to say Bill Shankly, the legendary coach who in 1962 took Liverpool to First after five years in Second and made him win three Leagues, two English Cups and the UEFA Cup (1973).

Saturday was not a good day for him because Everton started the derby as leader… and finished it as leader.

Shankly's sarcasms (1913-1981) were legendary and of all kinds, but they were especially stark when referring to the eternal local rival.

Once when he attended the funeral of his friend, albeit Everton star, Dixie Dean, he said: “I know this is a sad moment and I think Dixie would be flabbergasted to learn that, even after death, he is capable of dragging a crowd. bigger than the one that goes to see Everton on Saturday afternoons ”.

There he was right this time because Goodison Park was empty this Saturday due to the coronavirus.

Not only was the stadium empty.

So were the pubs in Liverpool, which the Government has forced to close because it is one of the areas of the country most affected by the pandemic.

The derby was not lived in the stadium or in the bars and the rivalry stayed at home.

A good place to live an Everton-Liverpool because the one in Merseyside is considered the most family-friendly derby in the world.

Not because there is no rivalry, which there is, but because in Liverpool there is the miracle that both teams have similar levels of support in the city and, more importantly, that the rivalry is rooted within the families themselves, in which it is very common for fans of both teams to mix.

That is why it has the nickname of family derby and friendly derby.

And yet the origins of the derby may well have led to the opposite situation.

Everton was founded in 1878 and moved to Anfield in 1884, owned by a friend of a club manager, John Houlding, and charging a nominal rent.

Houlding bought the land in 1892 and wanted to charge a rent more in line with the market.

There was a riot and Everton moved a few hundred yards further north, across Stanley Park, to Goodison Park, where it still remains.

Houlding then founded Liverpool FC, which stayed playing at Anfield.

Even today, although the stands are different, the playing field of the mythical Anfield remains the same in which Everton played in prehistoric times.

The weather has been more benign with the

, the reds, than with the

(Everton's nickname because next to Goodison Park there was a factory of such English sweets).

Liverpool is loaded with trophies (including 20 Leagues and six European Cups) but Everton is not (nine

Leagues, the last in 1987).

The

have not

the

more than 10 years

and on Saturday they entered the derby as leaders for the first time in time immemorial.

The game had the claw and the cataract of goals that are beginning to be the characteristic of English football in times of the covid (2-2).

But the referee and the VAR conspired to deny Liverpool a penalty and the expulsion of the goalkeeper in the opening minutes (that play ended the team leader, Van Dijk, in the locker room with a very serious injury) and a goal in the discount time.

The VAR ruled that both plays were offside, although in the eyes of a human the forwards were in line with the defense.

Everton still haven't beaten Liverpool, but it would be curious to know what Bill Shankly would say about VAR today if he raised his head.