WORLD-FAMOUS psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud once wrote a book called The Interpretation of Dreams. I’ve leafed through it, but there are very few mentions of football.
I had a dream on Friday night and being rather rubbish at being a bloke, I decided to tell someone about it. It was only in jest, but I informed them that my dream was of the Villa game, and we were losing 3-2 in injury time. I was watching it on the telly and tearing my hair out. I decided to flick onto another channel, where we were playing Ludogorets. It was 1-1, and then they broke through in the last minute and scored an incredibly soft winner. My heart exploded and I woke up.
In hindsight I realised that we probably lost both games because we were playing them simultaneously, even UEFA haven’t managed to balls up the schedule that much yet, but there was obviously something in my head trying to warn me. The return of the Champions League is a wonderful thing, but it evoked memories of the last time we were there. In 2009-10, both at home and abroad, we were suffering and losing games, looking toothless and limp in the process. However, it was only a dream. Any subconscious fear would be extinguished once I’d seen Balotelli and company destroy a defence that contained Alan Hutton, Philippe Senderos, Nathan Baker and Aly Cissokho.
What followed from Liverpool was a performance so flacid that I can only assume that the lads had been standing in cold showers during the international break, eradicating any of the momentum that the hammering of Tottenham created. Villa had that backline, we had £70m of talent in attack, and we mustered one shot on target. One. That’s one shot on target. At home. To Aston Villa. One shot on target. Against Hutton, Senderos, Baker and Cissokho. One… shot… on… target.
All of a sudden I was living my nightmare. It was like a sh*t version of Inception… which I suppose would just be Inception.
It was a different type of game, and we’re in a different time now, but what freaked me out most about the game was that it mirrored the subconscious fears of my dream. Fears I didn’t know I had. This performance reminded me far too much of the 3-1 defeat to Villa in August 2009. They were not a good team at the time, just like they aren’t now. This isn’t bitterness. Anyone who has followed English football in recent years knows that far more often than not, Villa are bad at playing football. They know how to get something from Anfield though.
That game happened in the last season we had Champions League football. A season where we were appalling in the Champions League, as well as in the league. It was a season that would ultimately cost Rafa Benitez his job. It was also, noticeably, a season following a second placed finish in the Premier League.
ASTON KILLER: Curtis Davies celebrates Villa’s second goal in the 3-1 win at Anfield in 2009
The most sickening thing about Saturday was, for all the goals we’ve scored in the past 12 months, for all the talent on show and the relative strength of the bench, once Agbonlahor’s toe poke rolled in, you kind of knew that was game over. The goal was so farcical that it was inevitable it would be a winner.
Which brings me to another point. Does it feel to anyone else that we are only capable of conceding daft goals? Perhaps it is just because you watch from a fan’s perspective and so you are immediately critical of your own guys before you give the opposition credit. However, remind yourself of all the goals we have conceded already this season. Try and remind yourself of the ones we conceded last year. Now try and remember ones where you went: “Fair enough, not much we could have done about that.” It doesn’t seem to take moments of class to score against this Liverpool team. The opposition merely has to wait for a mistake, and generally doesn’t have to wait too long, then just prod the ball in and run away with a look of faux amazement on their faces. There was not one single set piece on Saturday that Villa didn’t almost score from.
I may have oversold how sickening the inevitability of Saturday’s loss was after going 1-0 down. The very worst thing, the thing that made me scream into a pillow, go for a walk, avoid Match of the Day and all other football for 24 hours was that everyone who has been talking complete and utter b*llocks about how Liverpool will struggle this season, how they’ll ‘do a Spurs’, fall down the table without Suarez and with the distraction of Champions League football, how in spite of finishing above Chelsea last season they don’t have a prayer of touching them this campaign, well Saturday’s result, performance and the timing of it gave those people all the ammunition they could possibly need. It was like that moment when you tell your missus that the dog won’t ever be sick in the living room again, then hear strained chundering echo through the house from downstairs.
Time is a great healer, and given a day or so to think about it, I can now stop cursing the players and wishing a plague on their houses for making fools out of us. We dismissed the ‘doing a Spurs’ stuff out of hand, and in large it is nonsense, but we cannot overlook the fact that a team with so many new faces will take time to gel. The most noticeable part of Saturday’s sponge-like performance was that none of the attacking quartet looked like they’d ever been introduced.
“Hi, I’m Mario.” “Hello, mate. You must be the one the papers have been talking about. So you’re kicking that way, yeah?”
Something that the game magnified was the increasing regularity that teams are successfully playing the anti-football smash and grab for 1-0 away wins. Stoke did it to Man City two weeks ago and Chievo did it brilliantly to Napoli on Sunday. No interest whatsoever in doing any more than scoring a single goal and sabotaging the home side’s attempts to break through the cliched parked bus. Personally I hate it, but without it the gap between the small clubs and the big clubs would be far greater than it already is, so you cannot dismiss it. The signings we made were supposed to lessen the chances of that happening to us, and hopefully once Lallana, Markovic and the rest have settled, they will.
We had 75 per cent possession. That’s ridiculous. Even if we’d won 9-0, you would still be astonished at possession that one-sided. Think about that, 75 per cent of the ball in 90 minutes plus stoppage time means we had the ball for roughly 70 minutes. 70 minutes of possession, and had ONE SHOT ON TARGET!
KEYSTONE KOPS: Woeful defending handed Villa the winning goal at Anfield on Saturday
On a slightly positive note, it felt a bit odd hearing the level of astonishment from people at the result. Not so long ago Liverpool losing to a sub-standard team at Anfield would be met with a response of: “What, again?” However, after last season, our home is once again considered a fortress, a place where people have to claw points desperately away from us by playing that anti-football. We have to make sure that the veil doesn’t come down like it did five years ago.
The good thing is that we only have to wait until tomorrow to play again. The best thing to remedy such a heartbreaking performance is another game. Unfortunately for the lads, they’ve put themselves under real pressure now. They have to make their first appearance in the top club competition in world football since that woeful 2009-10 season and not only win, but win well. A 1-0 win, such as the one experienced against Debrecen five years ago, will not answer any questions, more likely just add to them.
I was fuming just as much as Brendan after England’s carelessness saw Daniel Sturridge ruled out for three weeks. However, one thing I kept saying to others who were panicking was that if we need Sturridge to beat the likes of Villa and West Ham, then we have some serious problems. Balotelli needs time, as do Lallana and Markovic, but we cannot allow ourselves to let accusations of ‘one-man team’ come back, just with a different half of the SAS.
I spoke of it a couple of weeks ago post-Spurs. We look infinitely better with the diamond midfield. It was a warning against Southampton, but it is now a siren that is alerting all and sundry. Liverpool offer very little without the diamond. If Rodgers plays a five-man midfield then it is insanely easy to nullify the threat, especially with no Sturridge or Sterling.
Which leads me to tomorrow night. Do we use it to play a 4-2-3-1 again and try to get the team more used to a formation we may have to play at stages again this season? Or do we simply admit that we can only be the force we were last season with a diamond, therefore with two up front? Do we have to start Rickie Lambert or Fabio Borini alongside Balotelli?
What is for certain is that this Liverpool squad needs to figure out what it is and soon. I would love to think that Saturday’s performance was an unfortunate result of circumstance, that with Sturridge’s injury, a need to get new signings to gel as soon as possible by throwing them all in, by playing against a manager whose coaching manual is titled ‘How to get something from Anfield, but probably nowhere else’, this all led to a horrible conclusion that saw Nathan Baker named man of the match (oh the humanity!).
The loss at City was disappointing and raised questions, but this defeat was a ring-enhanced slap across the face and a middle finger from that devil on our shoulder. Brendan Rodgers, you need to make sure that this was merely a hiccup, a one-off like Southampton was last season, or this could all unravel astonishingly brutally and quickly. Just ask Rafael Benitez.
It’s a good job I waited a day to calm down or this piece would have been rather negative.
Tonight, I intend on dreaming about driving a Lamborghini with Shakira in the passenger seat, a crate of beers in the back seat and derby tickets in the glove box. Oh and an 8-0 win over Ludogorets.
Pics: David Rawcliffe-Propaganda
Excellent writing, really enjoyed (as much as you can after a loss) that. Keep up the good articles.
At least it wasn’t just me who felt the game was over when they scored. It was that stomach niggle that grew especially once Moreno fluffed his chance.
The worrying thing for me is that whenever we play that formation our midfield is atrocious and personally I don’t want to see Henderson deeper than SG – I mean that is why we kept Lucas isnt it, someone that can actually play as a Defensive Midfielder, I mean we spent all those years converting him into an excellent one after all.
The substitutions continue to make me head boggle and Mignolet sadly seems to be regressing. Has he hit his level or is our coaching at that position what Corrigan’s was up until 2006?? ie- atrocious
Lets hope for better days tomorrow
Not sure you can blame the coaching. Pepe was almost back to his old self when Carra came back in to the team. Mignolet’s just not a dominant keeper and we should have known that when we signed him.
Wanna hear a funny joke? Liverpool when they go down 1-0 and the other team doesnt wanna play football
Didn’t understand the logic of selection at the time and still don’t understand it. What is the point of two defensive Mids against Villa? SG is 34, one game per week is enough. If you play him play him in the diamond, he can do that, he has never ever done well in a two with either Lucas, Henderson, Lampard, pick some others it stifles what he is good at.
Mario is short of games but even with Sturridge playing well against Southampton and City he needed help up front to provide space, two up front occupies defenders especially if they are of the plodding type. Borini and Balotelli may not be the SaS but they can drag defenses about and provide space for either Henderson and llalana running through from deep or whoever is at the tip of a diamond. I have no problem with saving sterling for Tuesday after enduring a Hodging, because there is Coutinho or Markovic to play at the tip of the diamond. We have a squad now with options and they all seem good.
The most disappointing thing was we never changed it during the game, we played death by football, unfortunately we were the ones that died. Two goals and 10% possession trumps 1 shot on goal and 75% possession.
We give away soft goals, we did again, it’s not new but having another defensive mid is not going to change that. It’s one thing going down fighting its another thing not trying to shoot your way out of trouble. We are not good at football chess, we are good at British Bulldogs, we need to charge and once we’ve crossed the line then work out what to do.
Great article. Think you put into words what a lot of us feeling & fearing. Chuckled at your nightmare comment. I actually fell asleep waiting for game to start (2.30am) and woke up bleary eyed to see 2′ & 66′ briefly flash on my TV. I promptly put my head back on my pillow in the comfort of knowing we’d won and I could watch the replay later. You can imagine my disappointment 2 minutes into watching the replay and no goal. What made the loss harder to swallow was realising what I thought was the LFC score was actually the Everton results.
I’m still racking my brains to understand why we didn’t just sub Borini for Sturridge and play the diamond as normal. We would have had 2 Italian internationals playing together up front (no language barrier there) and kept the Villa defence guessing all afternoon. Instead we isolated Balotelli enough that Senderos was free to kick him all over Anfield at will, and the poor sod couldn’t retaliate because of red card/financial penalties and “Oh well, that’s Balo”.
As much as anything else it was piss-poor, short-sighted tactics from BR. After last season, and particularly the end of season Chelsea game, teams will come and park two buses against us and we have to figure out a way past it.
Rodgers mentioned after the Villa game that his thoughts before that game were on Ludogorets. Well, that’s a schoolboy error. The most important game of the season should be the one that you play next. And then next, and so on. If we don’t do that, we’ll end up with being kicked out of the domestic cups by some minnows, we’ll end up not getting into knock out stages of the CL, and crucially, we may end up being out of the top four.
There are many teams like Villa that we have to play this season, who will look to do exactly the same, and with the CL fixture a few days later, and cup games, etc, we need to treat every game as the most important one. Only then we may have some sort of a success. Only then the young squad will get this habit of winning, winning, winning. Don’t try to outsmart yourself…
Here is an advice that Ferguson gave to Pep Guardiola, according to Balague’s book:
“.. You have to make sure you don’t lose sight of who you are. Many young coaches change, for whatever reason – because of circumstances beyond their control, because things don’t come out right at first, or because success can change you. All of a sudden, they want to amend tactics, themselves. They don’t realise football is a monster that you can only beat and face if you are always yourself: under any circumstance.”
We may hate Fergie for many reason… but he’s a wise old fox, and he certainly knows a few things about football.
Excellent point about always staying true to yourself!
Excellent piece. Seriously in need of someone to tell me “its going to be ok, we are as good as we were last year!”…. you didn’t. But great piece.
Aren’t we all matey !!!
I’m worried about you mate. You’ve got Shakira next to you and you’re thinking about drinking and footy? What’s wrong with you, man?!?!
I’m worried about you mate. You’ve got Shakira next to you and you’re thinking about drinking and footy?!?!
What can I say Paul, I’m a very greedy man.
You say greedy, I say misguided! :-)
There are loads of questions about what BR did with this performance, all of them fucking worrying. From the off, it looked like Hendo and Gerrard where practicing playing for fucking Woy. We all looked at where the ‘mgr of great experience’ had Hendo playing and pissed ourselves. Then, knowing how fucking wasteful that is of Hendo’s talents, Brendan goes and does it too, Fucksake!
I have watched Serbia play a few times and have always come away wondering what does Markovic do to generate the belief that he is special. I live in hope he will prove me wrong but Saturday didn’t dispel the doubt, he just disappears as he constantly plays easy balls rather than skinning fuckers. Mario just slows attacks down constantly doing what he wants not what the team or game needs. Most of all though is the return of our cretinous defence. Tell the fuckers to attack the fucking ball at set-pieces instead of wrestling with runners; ignore them and attack the flight of the ball. Shite officiating didn’t help with the ‘treatment’ Marion, Raheem et al received. Fat, baldy cunt and his nob-jockey linesmen, used arse-wipe the lot of them. Can I have some tea now nursey?????
Whilst not as pessimistic as Dave (I think we’ll make the top four comfortably), there are worrying signs that Brendan’s trying to impose a shape that doesn’t suit: let’s not forget, our style and system evolved from necessity, he’s always favoured a more possession based style of football. His obsession with wide players would suggest he favours either 4-3-3 or 4-3-2-1 even though its clear that Henderson, Allen, Gerrard and Sterling thrive in the diamond/kite (Raheem in particular, is much more dangerous foraging from deep and running at defences from central positions) and Sturridge thrives with a partner. He does this on occasion; forgets what works and tries to be smart. Fortunately he’s learned from his mistakes in the past; let’s hope he does so again. We need players flooding the box at Anfield, passing in front won’t work against well organised teams.