GREAT games. To be involved in great games is a marvellous thing. Only good teams tend to get themselves in great games. Liverpool have been involved in two great games against Chelsea and one against Spurs recently. This, the fourth, is arguably the greatest and undeniably the one with the greatest result from Liverpool’s perspective.
The reason this Liverpool get themselves involved in so many great games is that they back themselves. They constantly look to play. Against Manchester City they went toe to toe with last year’s champions despite an early scare in both halves. They know they will get their turn to play and they know they have the ability to make it tell.
In the depths of November who could have conceived of a result and a performance like this? Today’s showing is the culmination of months of hard work. Manchester City posed Liverpool a host of questions and while some of the answers were improvised, they were indeed answers.
26 – Liverpool have taken 26 points (8W 2D) from their last 10 Premier League games. Charge.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 1, 2015
Liverpool showed a boldness, a ballsiness, a brassiness that was a joy to behold. They said to Manchester City, yes, we know you are good. We know you can play. But look at us. We’re good. We’re really good. We can really play.
There’s a security about Liverpool in and out of possession. There’s no sterner test than Manchester City and their impossible spells of penalty area dominance but Liverpool were just stout enough in opposition to it though it needs to be said that Aguero is magic. A magnificent footballer.
Lovren did his bread and butter well. Skrtel continues to look at his most impressive being able to see the whole pitch. Can, untidy in his positioning for the goal, epitomises Liverpool’s desire to back themselves and play. He is certain of his own quality and he is winning every battle he can find.
The game was one which continually developed, two sides posing and solving problems. Liverpool grew into the first period, Manchester City responded, their equaliser deserved. The impetus swayed back and forth, each side imposing their will for a period before being forced back as the opposition imposed theirs.
Second half City started quickly, Liverpool weathered the storm before imposing fifteen minutes of dominance on the Champions, leaving Pellegrini needing to add a midfielder. For the ten minutes that followed City had the momentum before Liverpool reasserted themselves, solving problems on the pitch. A tactical contest in the best sense, two sides looking to play, to dominate, no one looking to play dead.
Henderson scored a brilliant goal and was again a credit to himself but the midfield belonged not to him, not to Fernandinho, not Yaya Toure but to Joe Allen. This was the complete performance Southampton and the first half against Besiktas hinted towards. Allen led the way, solving the problems Manchester City posed with brains, feet and balls. He backed himself and his teammates, his manager’s representative on the pitch in the best possible way. You pose us problems. We’ll return them two fold because we will play.
Coutinho at it again #LFC @LFC https://t.co/afydNliA29
— Andy (@Andyriley88) March 1, 2015
It may be repetitious, but I’ll keep saying it: It’s all about playing. Months ago I hosted a Citytalk show where we had a good honest exchange about Coutinho. Alison McGovern held firm the lad would produce outstanding consistency and would add goals. I wasn’t sure. Undoubtedly brilliant, but question marks remained. Not any more. He’s Liverpool’s key man, he’s Liverpool’s long distance maestro. A man who has been on a journey, come of age in front of our eyes. He plays, astonishing technique and staggering workrate. It’s been a joy to watch the journey.
The whole side has journeyed together. A young team, a new team, a side who had lost their way has now found it with panache. The manager deserves enormous credit. He’s retained a faith in himself and his players when so many had deserted both, when fingers were getting pointed and axes were getting ground. He’s backed himself to the hilt and now he deserves full unequivocal backing. He’s come back from a brink no Liverpool manager in living memory has managed and he’s done so with brio. His principles are the soundest, his teams giddily pleasing. These are lads you can love, lads you can burst with pride for. A credit to both him and themselves.
By the time Bony elbows Lallana and Toure climbs all over Coutinho, City’s race is run. A great side can know when they’ve just been second best, can know when it isn’t their day. They knew; they were bowed. Liverpool’s will, their ability, their work, their 90 minutes work and their months and months of work, had won the day. It belonged to Phil Coutinho, to Brendan Rodgers, to Liverpool, to the 42,000 Liverpudlians in the ground and the millions the world over. All of their journeys continue as one.
When the Reds. When the Reds.
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Pics: David Rawcliffe-Propaganda
Joe… well just Joe…
and ..we are mad again… I love mad…
Joe is … movement ..outlet…
Its amazing that a performance like that came off the back of such a poor one midweek. Maybe this team just cares more about the league? Unfortunate that both of Lallana’s goals were offside, thought his performance deserved a goal. I think I’m starting to love this team more than last season’s version. When they are all committed to pressing and winning the ball back, they are tough to beat. Amazing that not too long ago we’d groan whenever Coutinho would go for goal… WTRWWAW
I love them (our Reds). I love that Vine, especially Brendan’s photoshopped head. I love this match review. I love that scoring screamers is evidently our new modus operandi. I think the only thing I don’t love right now is my hangover, but being honest, I’m staring to feel a certain affection for it.
We don’t tap ins.
Was Big Jan playing today?
Metronomic little Joe. 10 feet tall today.
Tick, tick, tick. Pass, shuttle, pass, shuttle. Tick, tick, tick. Look up, pick up, look up, pick out. Tick, tick, tick.
Fantastic result today, the performance was secondary. Allen MOTM by a country mile, he was playing a different game to those around him today. We can be proud of the lads today! What courage!
More Joe Allen “propaganda”. I bloody LOVE Joe Aen propaganda.
Great performance from the entire team. Could be a season-defining result. Jordan H and Joe Allen dominated midfield and Lallana and Coutinho out-passed them. All four players put in MOTM performances – let’s call them Men Of The Match.
Only dampener for me was a complete tosser in the Upper Centenary by me nearly having a coronary such was his purple-faced bellowing at players he’s paid money to come and support. If you can’t watch a performance like that without screaming abuse at your own players, there’s a wooden ground half a mile away, and a blue seat with your name on it. Tit!
joe was immense. Immense and beautiful, bossed Toyr all afternoon, had the centre of the park to himself and showed what he could do with space. Always moving and always forward. Can we have a yell for Dejan Lovren though? To come back from Thursday night when the lad must have been utterly destroyed, to be clearly targeted by City and to respond by winning pretty much everything – last gasp tackles, cushioned headers, the defensive toolbox? Takes some cojones that. Calling it now: turning point.
Can’t agree with you about Lovren, he’s still flaky and impetuous but improving. And you’re right, this was a big game, being part of that could prove cathartic: let us hope so. Joe was the best player on the pitch, beating players for fun.
It’s all a matter of opinion I suppose but I totally agree about Lovren. Best of the back 3 in my opinion.
Heard a stat on the French commentary saying that Rodgers’ Liverpool in his first three seasons (including this one, to date) have lost only four times in total across the second halves of each season. Just need to make a quicker start next time around, eh!
Character, heart, determination. Add skill and intelligence. Rinse and repeat. BR’s reds.
On days like today, I surprise myself by how much happiness a bunch of blokes kicking a synthetic leathery orb around a park can bring.
What a performance, when we play football like that it is up with the best I have seen from a Liverpool team. This side has so much energy and is so quick it is frightening.
Given the age of our team we are going to be in for an exciting few years. Credit to BR and co the futures bright, the futures Red.
Completely agree about Allen and Coutinho. Allen’s work rate and passing was immense and Coutinho was just sublime with his movement and touch.
With regards to Lovren, I think off the ball he did really well, got his tackles in and won his headers. Lacking confidence on the ball but hopefully he can take heart in being part of the last 2 big wins and start to live up to the expectation I (we) had at the start of the season
Nice to see little Joe getting some love.
That open goal v Everton last season still irks some people and he’ll always have to keep proving himself to those that think he’s Brendan’s golden boy.
Need to refocus now. Would hate for all this good feeling to be undone by a side battling for their future on Wednsday because we dont take them as seriously.
I can’t believe how good we are!! It’s days like today that make me really excited for the future. None of that team are on the verge of retirement. What happens if these young lads follow the trend and become even better by their mid 20s? The only real danger is Rodgers is making them so good that there is still a next step in ones career as we found with Suarez. After the adrenaline of that win today followed by lads team winning the league in the last few minutes I’m emotionally drained. I’m just loving watching football. The future’s all good though, I’m convinced after that.
At some point all of us have thought we need more goals from midfield. These are the results you get if you achieve it. Coutinho seems to have found something that works for him and Henderson scored that with a bad foot. Imagine what he’s gonna be like when he’s fully fit. I don’t think I’ve seen that kind of shot from Henderson much. The whole match was just a joy to watch, although I never really lost that feeling of anxiety at any point in the game. Suppose it’s just because of the players they have and the knowledge that you don’t always get what you deserve in football.
I wonder if we can put the Joe Allen debate to bed now. He’s clearly good enough for Liverpool. He’s just shown that against Toure and Silva. You don’t get much better than that in world football. I suppose the question could move onto can he sustain it but surely we have to end the ‘is he good enough’ question. On the evidence of the last few weeks he’s clearly a very good player. After today, I think it’s time we called Xavi the Spanish Joe Allen.
I see Lovren’s been out on social media thanking the fans for their support in a difficult few days. I’d bet Allen has read the articles about him on here too and realised some people do believe in him. I genuinely think it can give them confidence. Lovren was ok today. He’s not necessarily great on the ball but he won a lot of battles. He’s in the team as a reserve for an injured first team player and he’s done himself proud. Decent back up. I think if the midfield continue to score and we can just up our chances converted ratio, then we’ll be unstoppable.
St David’s day – Wales national day – daffodils etc – John Toshack, Ian Rush and now and Joe Allen – diolch yn fawr (Thank you very much) a great win!
How could you forget Joey Jones? He ate the frogs legs and made the swiss roll!
Don’t really like to judge people (unless they’re reading the S*n of course) but since the end of last season I’ve taken to assessing someone’s football nouse by asking them about Joe Allen. Anyone saying he’s shite or similar goes down in my estimation. Previously Lucas & Hendo were the bellwethers in this litmus test. And like with them I expect those same people to change their tune now. Him and Hendo bossed the bollocks off Toure and Fernando or Fernandinho or whoever it was. Llana might just have played the default performance today that Neil was talking about this week as well. Between them they covered over 22 miles today. But once again this was a consumate squad performance. Those dark days of November & December seem a long way away now and our manager deserves all the credit. He made Pottchetino look very old today.
Can’t believe I said Pottechetino!
For many years Liverpool have produced performances such as this against top teams, only to lose against the also rans in subsequent league games. 09/10 beat United at home 2-0, only to lose away 3-1 at Fulham five days later, just one example. I have often tempered my delight with the knowledge of the harsh reality of how Liverpool raise their game against the glamour teams only to lower their game for a relegation threatened team that produces their performance of the season. I think I know the reason why.
Up next is Burnley at home, by no means fait accompli, but I do not have that fear anymore. For two seasons now Liverpool have been producing these performances game after game. Every game another player picks up the baton and runs with it, there are winners all over the place like Jamaican sprinters when they put their second best team out in the 4×4 and still piss it.
I think this team is better than last season and it can only get better. We have witnessed these players develop, their weaknesses ironed out. It has happened too many times to be luck: Mingolet not dealing with crosses, Coutinhos weak shooting, Balotelli shooting at every opportunity and trying to beat six men. Weaknesses are identified and worked on, individual players games appear to be stripped down to their basic components and then reassembled in perfect working order.
The future is bright, the future is red.
The team was so solid and creative today. Beautiful and intense. Skrtel was a beast, Coutinho magical, Lovren good enough and making progress, Allen everywhere and full of ideas and skill. A joy to watch. Rogers is made all the tough and correct decisions.
Another big win. Three in close succession against Spurs, Southampton and now City. And once again the manager has to take the plaudits. Many are saying City were awful (they were) but we were good enough to deserve the points without being at our best against what is usually a quality side. Resting Henderson midweek in particular paid dividends.
Rodgers is still making many mistakes. He’s still too slow to either spot or change things both in team selection and substitutions. I still think his little to no rotation has already hurt us and will do come April/May. (Resting Hendo midweek is not a rotation policy – there was nothing systemic about it) And I think he’s been lucky with things like the Gerrard injury. If Steven is fit, Rodgers selects him and plays him more often than not. If that’s the case, we don’t sustain the run we have done.
This is not conjecture. Our record with Gerrard: Won 12 Drawn 9 Lost 9. Without Gerrard: Won 9 Drawn 3 Loss 2 (Away to Real Madrid and Besiktas) And Im being kind to Steven – when he went off at home to Spurs it was 2-2 and we were more likely to lose than win. Brownie will say this is merely coincidence. Meanwhile, in the real world…..
Henderson as captain: Won 8 Drawn 2. As I’ve said all season (September/October), which has not been his best, he is a different animal not having to do Gerrard’s running. It is not a coincidence Hendo’s form has become so good in Gerrard’s absence. No babysitting duties. No one being carried in midfield. Hendo 13/14 is close.
Nevertheless it can’t be denied how things are turning around. So fair play to Rodgers. He’s got us in a position to finish were we should have been finishing. But note I said turning. Its nowhere near complete. 5th and no trophies is still a fucking disgrace of a season that should cost the manager his job. In fact 5th and the FA Cup still isnt good enough.
Allen was exceptional today, possibly better than Hendo. Its not just the ground he covers – its the clever positions he takes both on and off the ball. Never shirks responsibility. An incredibly valuable squad member. Coutinho has gone up a level. Another wonder strike. If he can keep that up he’ll be world class. Sterling was good without being at his best. His presence was a threat and created room for teammates. He needs to be better in the big moments in front of goal. As does Lallana, who was goo up to a point again. Moreno and Skrtle were fine.
Markovic was poor. In contrast to Joe Allen, he is shirking responsibility. He doesn’t want to try anything risky, always playing safe. Laying it off instead of having a run. A lateral 5 yard pass instead of a 20 yard through ball. Can’s form has tailed off. That’s four games now were he’s been a good bit below what he was for 10-12 games. He’s not getting progressively worse and its not at disaster levels but his excellence (sold defensively, bringing and passing it into midfield) was a big part of our upturn in fortunes since late December. Lovren is and forever will be a mess. Always passing it back to the keeper or chipping it 40 yards straight on to the toe of opposing centre halves. And early in the game today the horror Mignolet turned up. Inextricably linked in my opinion. Hurry back Mamadou.
We’re right in the hunt for 4th but we have two league games before Utd at home that many are already looking at. Its no good beating Spurs/Saints/City if you can’t beat Burnley and Swansea so either side of the FA Cup quarter final (which I couldn’t give a flying fuck about – its all about UCL qualification) we make sure we take another 6 points.
“This is not conjecture. Our record with Gerrard: Won 12 Drawn 9 Lost 9. Without Gerrard: Won 9 Drawn 3 Loss 2 (Away to Real Madrid and Besiktas) And Im being kind to Steven – when he went off at home to Spurs it was 2-2 and we were more likely to lose than win. Brownie will say this is merely coincidence. Meanwhile, in the real world…..”
No he won’t. He’ll say that Gerrard played most of his games during the period when the team was misfiring all over the pitch, and missing (what was then) it’s one true goal-threat, hence our record during that period. There is no-one in the team who hasn’t improved since those dark days.
We were superb today, but as you have pointed out more than once (and more than most), our recent performances prior to today (Southampton and Besiktas twice) were poor (albeit the Southampton result was good). I don’t recall Gerrard playing in any of those poor team performances.
I don’t think there is anyone suggesting that Gerrard should play the moment his hamstring is better; but equally, the idea that Liverpool with Gerrard = shite and Liverpool without Gerrard = brilliant is risible, simplistic nonsense.
Contrary to what you insist, Gerrard played well against Spurs, and since he last kicked a ball the team’s performances have ranged from excellent to pretty dire. I know shades of grey are not your thing, but football – and life in general – is rarely as black and white as you continue to insist.
Steady on Brownie!You’re not alone!
I saw a poll recently asking people how long they had been liverpool fans and who was their all time favourite player and who they rated their best current player.
The majority who had been following the Team for 25/30 years said Dalglish was their all time best and Gerrard was their favourite current player.
So,don’t be too harsh on people who rate Gerrard on the basis of his fantasy football points..
“It is not a coincidence Hendo’s form has become so good in Gerrard’s absence…Hendo 13/14 is close”
I think you’ll find 13/14 was a season Hendo spent most of his time playing in a midfield alongside some bloke called Gerrard.
You might want to think this one through again.
http://tomkinstimes.com/2015/03/now-youre-gonna-believe-us/
When we’re on our game, we’re the most irrepressible team in the league. When we attack teams the way we did City today we’re close to unplayable. The opposition doesn’t repel, rather it simply tries to survive for long enough until our rampaging knights have to pause, take a breath and regroup. Respite is temporary, however, as rather like the Royal Engineers at Rorke’s Drift the opposition know the next wave is coming over the hill. Except this time the Zulus have the rifles.
Obviously this performance was so impressive in light of the 120 minutes and disappointment of Thursday, but it’s worth noting that Besiktas had a really poor home draw against the bottom side in the Turkish league today. We, on the other hand went and beat the Champions on two days rest. I think it’s safe to say they put more into the europa league game than we did.
Joe Allen was excellent today and Lovren’s best performance since joining the club.
Adam Lallana’s best day in the Shirt as well.
At the half I said to my mate we are toast.
It was all City and we looked tired.
whatever was said in that dressing room at halftime was inspired.
There was only one winner in that second half. We were superb. Simply superb.
It’s interesting that Carra and Neville each criticised the City performance rather than praising ours. It has been a trend with pundits the last couple of seasons, a reluctance to give credit where it’s due.
I didn’t actually see the game, but seeing out team sheet I was very apprehensive, particularly the absence of Sturridge and Balotelli from the starting 11. I thought Balo was finally showing some signs of a quality player the last couple of games. In the end I have to give credit to Rodgers (Jesus that hurts), as well as kudos to Hie Allen in particular. Let’s hope RM don’t lose interest in Sterling and focus on Coutino – he’s an absolute maestro!!!
How much fun is it being a proper team again?
Made up for little Joe, the latest to step up and show improvement, just in time to cover Emre’s little dip. This seems to be a recurring theme for me. As someone said above, we’re not just relying on 1 or 2 players anymore – we have a squad’s worth who can come in and contribute. Lovren getting closer to where we need him to be with every game. Passing and positioning his only real issues now. Not insignificant ones I’ll admit, but they no longer look fatal.
Remember when we used to worry about Coutinho in the big games? Hindsight makes fools of us all. Two league games in a row he had me leaping out of my seat and screeching like a pissed up banshee. If he can keep his focus he can be as good as Raheem was in last year’s run in. I’m not even going to let my brain formulate those worries about the potential re-emergence of Chelsea Sturridge. Just leave it brain, he’ll come good.
By the way, City are now almost as close to us as they are to Chelsea. We’ve slowly picked off Swansea, West Ham, Spurs and Southampton. We can get them too.
Lastly, in 90 minutes filled with highlight reel potential, the abiding image for me was Big Vin Kompany charging for the ball and Raheem knocking him flat on his arse. Beautiful.
Been waiting for these last 4 games to be over to give a better idea of where we are.
I thought in the 3 previous games we were not pressing as much, trying to sit back more and catch teams on the break as though we were conserving energy for such a telling run of fixtures.
Trying to get past Besiktas and Southampton only going at say 75% almost paid off and the win yesterday was proof that resting players mid week was the right move even if we didnt scrape through in Europe as seemed to be the plan.
Lessons have been learnt on how to grind out a few results in order to be in the best shape for the most difficult game. Benitez and Mourhino are masters at this and its encouraging to see Rodgers almost pulling off the perfect euro/league/euro/league run bodes well for the future.
Wednesday: Liverpool beaten, wetback Rodgers hasn’t got a Scooby, player X is useless, what the f*ck is going on?!
Sunday: Liverpool win, King Rodgers the tactical genius, player X had a blinder, onwards & upwards.
Rinse & repeat.
Apologies for missing the fantastic Joey Jones from the St David’s day Welsh links………now he had total commitment – pity he went on to play for chelski
Ah…that was before they were Chelski, and we let him go.
A great performance and result. However, Burnley next and if anythng that’s even tougher. I was and am more worried about this game than about the Citeh match. It’s the come-down + complacency factor here. The Clarets got a draw at Stamford Bridge and I wouldn’t be surprised if we slipped up here when the expectation is on us.
There’s a yellow thing with Sean Dyche’s face on it, let’s hope we’re upto the task and take the points…
Re: Chris Mc.
Couldn’t give a flying fuck about the FA cup’ ?
The romantic in you not want to see Gerrard lift the trophy on his birthday?
I know I do.
Brendan’s filthy little gets. Football that belongs in a blue movie from young Phil. Delicious bastards.