Now that was one draw I will not complain too much about! Why? Because we played with the intensity we played against Man Utd and Chelsea, because we played against a team that is leading the PL, and because that team cost two or three times as much as ours to build!
I woke up telling myself I’d be happy with not losing to Man City and I ended up going to bed unhappy that we had not managed to take all three points. I still had that feel-good factor though, as now I know had I needed confirmation, that we can mix it with the best! So here are my considerations on the game:
• First things first! I was pleased to see Dalglish prove his coherence in playing Agger and Skrtel again as the central pairing. I had thought he might be tempted to play Carra but it seems the Scot is looking at facts and stats and not at hierarchy. Agger and Skrtel are not the future, they are the present! Prophetic.
• Lucas is a rock. Adam is getting better, much better! These two are fast becoming the best midfield pairing in the PL and with their mates making a concerted effort they dominated the park’s engine room for the majority of the match. Indestructible.
• Joe Hart showed today why he is England’s No.1! He was superlative but Reina was, in my view, even better. We had three centre backs against Man City, Pepe was the third. More of a sweeper really but I really don’t think that there is another keeper with the sense of positioning and distribution as our shot-stopper. Extraordinary.
• We were lucky to get back in the game so soon and even luckier for having Lescott stick out his foot where he should not have! Kompany scored with his shoulder but our fault here was that Kuyt was marking him on set pieces and he was making a complete mess of it. A complete mismatch in my view. Risky.
• The general performance across the board was very satisfying. Everyone, including Henderson, was pro-active and there was intensity about our play and a win would have been entirely legitimate and profoundly deserved. No one would have cried ‘scandal’ had we snatched the winner, even in injury time! The level of fitness seems excellent and this will be a determining factor in the congested fixtures which the Reds will face in the coming five weeks. Tonic.
• With 51.3% possession, 6 shots on target against 3, 24 tackles to 20 and 502 passes to 489, the Reds showed they can battle it out with the best. Warriors.
The Reds have just played two very tricky fixtures against two top sides in succession. Four points out of a possible six are a very good tally against sides that are challenging for honours and that aim for high standards. Tuesday we play our away League Cup tie at Stamford Bridge and it is possible Kenny with ring the changes. Let’s wait and see what these changes will consist of.
A final thought. Rest in Peace Gary. You have our prayers and our thoughts go out to your family. Brad, your Luca is in heaven. May you find solace in all the wonderful memories and smiles he brought to your faces when we was here with us. Amen.