Simmering down nicely!

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I thought I’d give us all a couple of days to simmer down from what was an awe-inspiring Monday night showing from our Reds. I am usually one of the first to come on here and let off steam when I feel the Reds have not been up to it, so it’s only fair and logical that I heap praise on them where this praise is deserved….thoroughly.

Let’s start by saying that it was a ‘perfect’ night in every sense of the word. There were so many positives I would almost be inclined to deem it flawless. The Hillsborough remembrance, the solidarity with the Fairclough family, the starting berth for young Liverpool lad Flanagan and then, a jam packed Anfield in full song.

So Anfield was buzzing, but from kick-off all eleven Reds bar Reina (will explain later….!) were fizzing! It was one of those nights that after the first ten/fifteen minutes you say, ‘this is the night!’ It seemed evident that the Reds were on another level and that Man City where in for a torrid time. I kept telling myself ‘I don’t know what Kenny told them before hitting the turf, but it must have been highly motivating!’

A special word of mention for young Flanagan, because this was a special night he will not easily forget! Trusted by your Manager, encouraged by your team-mates, and applauded at each touch of the ball by the Anfield faithful is nothing short of unbelievably special. Carroll! What to say? Well, at 22 and costing Stg 35 million or thereabouts, if this is just the start, than what we paid for him was a bloody bargain. Suarez!?! I understand he has technique, I comprehend he is a constant menace to any defense, but to also see him go down to the half way line and beyond, pick the ball and drag the whole Liverpool team behind him was something to behold. Now for the Carroll/Suarez duo! It’s only been a couple of months and they already are the envy of many. There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that things can and will only get better.

Another special mention for Jay ‘Atomic Bug’ Spearing and Lucas ‘Blondie’ Leiva! They certainly sent their respective detractors reeling didn’t day. I could not help smiling when I saw little Spearing winning crunching tackles with the gigantic Yaya Toure. I don’ know what materials they have in their socks, but on the night, both lads battled and mastered the midfield with ease. Well done!

Kuyt and Meireles underwent huge personal tactical sacrifice to support, supply, create and interdict, with the Dutchman scoring a sublime goal while the Portuguese confirmed all the good we have been reading and seeing even though he was intrinsically out of position.
Carra and Skrtel were solid, with our veteran vice-captain marshalling the back four in a way that rarely gave Man City the opportunity to be dangerous. Aurelio, just back from injury, gave a fantastic shift and put in a sterling performance notwithstanding that he was perhaps harshly yellow-carded quite early in the game. Did I forget anyone??? Err….yes I did…Reina! Never really troubled but was there the one time he was called upon and otherwise was fantastic with his legwork and distribution.

Yes, a truly magical night. Now back to reality and to analyze what this result translates too in terms of the Premier League table and the final run-in. Yesterday’s result dented Man City CL pretentions, and with Spurs having a game in hand and now only three points adrift the equation becomes a tad more complex. The Reds are five points adrift from Spurs and eight from City. Spurs still have to play Arsenal, Chelsea, Man City and Liverpool! In comparison, City’s path seems to be less steep. The Reds too have it theoretically easier on paper, with Arsenal (A), Birmingham (H), Newcastle (H), Fulham (A), Spurs (H) and Aston Villa (A) all in the way between us and a possible 5th place finish. Instead of asking if we will or will not make it how about giving the Reds the benefit of the doubt until the mathematics say ‘YES WE CAN!’

4 Comments

  1. having a go, is what we say in liverpool, losing playing that way is acceptable, winning is deserved reward.

  2. Nice words, well written and couldn’t agree more with all the points.

    Still feel we are at least 5 or 6 players off contending with the top four and if all goes well in summer it wouldn’t be such a bad outside bet on Liverpool winning the league next season (wishful I know).

    YNWA

  3. Slippa,,, finally a liverpool fan that will not stop until we are back up at the top end of the table and playing at the very end of the champions league!.

    While the club is well on the way after the last ownership nearly made us all ill! the club the players and indeed the fans are getting their breath back….

    But as much as i love the result and flanno’s first game, thats not enough, we are liverpool and i so much agree that unless we go out and add 5-6 new quality, young proven, aggressive fast, sharpe players then we are going to go backwards again.

    WE MUST INVEST AND INVEST VERY WELL.

    we are still x2 left sided left backs – wing backs away,

    we either need x2 left backs, or one left back who can get up and down and one left winger who can play in different roles, either way we need two left sided pros.

    need a center half too. a winger for the right side, hence we have not got one decent wide player that just does what we need.

    a center mid would do too, a powerhouse of a player.

    please see;

    coentrao, and enrique

    moussa sissoko

    lavezzi

    sanchez and young and cahill or sakho or even get hummels

    thats the type of players we need

  4. We ARE LIVEREPOOL FC, WE taught every one the philosophy of “Believe”, Istanbul comes to mind.
    It is not over until it is no longer possible.
    We must simply go out and try & WIN every match, if in the meanwhile we lose, so be it, nothing ventured nothing gained.

    Lets look at the current situation.

    1 – We gave Arsenal a real outside chance to go on and win the PL by beating manure, so far they failed miserably. I really thought they could stop manure getting No.19 !

    2 – Chelsea are in a mini turmoil as I said previously, our agent (Their new rent boy)has shifted the glooming dark clouds over to Stamford Bridge, obviously Anelka & Drogba are big fans of him !! I can see them dropping points to lesser teams. There is bound to be disharmony within their camp as they all try & buy their No.9 A GOAL

    3 – Man City are not the same without Tevez who picked up an injury against us, they will probably lose to manure on Sunday, they will be deflated and a long season will take its toll. Don’t be too surprised if they drop quite a few points

    4 – Tonio as you say Spurs have a number of hard matches coming up, including play ourselves at Anfield. So 5th place for them is not guaranteed either

    So I Say and wish for the following;

    – Arsenal to finish top (highly unlikely unless they can beat manure at home).
    – Liverpool to be in the top four
    – Chelsea to be in the Europa League !!

    It would simply be poetic justice if we ended up playing in the CL next year and Chelsea didn’t. So that their No.9 can watch ours scoring for fun in the CL.
    Pool No.9 TWO – Chelsea No.9 (BIG FAT ZERO)after eleven outings! Thank god he went.

    Sam; Lets worry about the hopefully signing of the BIS STARS like Sanchez in the summer recess, I am sure the boys are working overtime behind the scenes and will hopefully bring in big names as well as squad players with potential. We HAVE HAD far too many players good enough for Bolton/Wolves (may be)but not for Liverpool.
    I would rather have one world class player than three/four crap ones which we end up selling at a loss ( also please no more injured players like Aquaman) huge gamble which did not pay off, if Rafa had to pay out of his own pocket he would have thought twice !!

    Come on you REDS, please deliver against Arsenal, we owe them.
    YNWA

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