Can Mick "Make it Happen"?

Posted by Jon Champion on 05/11/2009

Even by the standards of Rafael Benitez over the past five years, the act of escapology now required by Liverpool if they're to reach the knockout stage of the Champions League is one of forbidding proportions. Lisandro's painfully late goal in the Stade Gerland wiped away the euphoria of Ryan Babel's wonderful drive and ensured the dissection of Benitez's stewardship of Liverpool will be no less intense as they approach ESPN's Monday night game against Birmingham.

The Spaniard regularly points to an abnormally long injury list by way of an excuse for a run of one win in the last eight matches. His critics question his strategy - or lack of it - in the transfer market. It's all too easy to pick holes in someone else's work, but the reliance on the two stellar talents of Gerrard and Torres does seem at best unwise and at worst irresponsible.

Birmingham should have beaten Manchester City last weekend. If Shay Given's penalty save from James McFadden was admirable, his diversion onto the post of a deflected shot by Christian Benitez was world-class. A display of similar resolve from Alex McLeish's Blues would ask serious questions of a Liverpool team which will again be lacking key components.

No such problems for Arsenal, who continue to carry all before them and feature in ESPN's Saturday teatime game at Molineux. Whilst Liverpool were suffering in Lyon, the Gunners were swaggering their way past AZ at the Emirates. They've scored in all 18 fixtures this season - 51 goals in total - and Arsene Wenger's apparently over-optimistic summer suggestion that they were ready to challenge meaningfully for the Premier League title is now looking factual rather than fanciful.

I still wonder whether they'll discover the pragmatic edge required by all champions. The loss of a two-goal lead at West Ham recently indicated they may not have found it yet. They are, though, far better without the ball compared to last season, and aesthetically, they're as pleasing on the eye as any of Wenger's works of footballing art down the years.

Facing them this weekend, a team who has manager has earned the nickname 'Magic Mick' amongst those who wear the Old Gold with vocal pride. Mick McCarthy is refreshingly straightforward in all he says and does and he seems to have found a club with similar values. There's nothing fancy about Wolves, so if they beat Arsenal for the first time in 30 years, it'll be down to determination and diligence. By the same rule that allowed Burnley to beat Manchester United and Wigan to see off Chelsea, they have a chance - and that's what makes the Premier League a compelling competition.

Win or lose, McCarthy will approach the post-match interviews with his usual mixture of dry wit and searing honesty. I was fortunate to spend two weeks of my life in his company back in 2000 when we were paired as a commentary team for the World Club Championship in Brazil. Whilst we had hoped for a posting in Rio, we were given a base in Sao Paulo, a city that made every other industrial wasteland in the world seem appealing by comparison.

Billeted in a hotel devoid of English-speaking staff or company, our only entertainment came from the hotel bar's solitary DVD, a recording of the 1998 charity concert held by 'The Five Divas', a dream team of songbirds comprising Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Gloria Estefan, Shania Twain and the incomparable Aretha Franklin. When the local brew began to take effect, as it did on a nightly basis, the bartender would proudly put on his disc of Divas.

By the end of the fortnight, we knew every phrase and chord of every song - and the Divas made such an impression that they are still a subject of critical debate whenever we meet. One track in particular sticks in the mind, and a decade on, Mariah Carey's 'Make It Happen' resonates as a mantra for a manager breathing life into one of the country's grandest clubs.

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