HALF time.
Half time and my Lord, my hand to God, Liverpool look a mile away. As though the game has come as an enormous surprise to the lot of them. A day out at the Gower and Colin Pascoe says: “Forget this area of outstanding natural beauty lads, we kick off in 60.”
Only Joe Allen appears to be au fait with the whole enterprise. Only Joe Allen seems to understand there is a football match here and that they need winning. Joe Allen, looking around, presumably wondering why no one covers but him, no one takes care of the ball but him, the rest of them crabbing on the Gower Peninsula, having a great day.
The football match can’t stop coming at Liverpool yet time and again Liverpool appear surprised. The goalkeeper sparked into life. Can given a torrid time. Henderson booked early, convenient his name has been taken because it could be the only evidence he’s here; his double presumably elsewhere executing the perfect crime.
Liverpool’s forwards are nowhere, Lallana swapped with Sterling which resulted in no apparent improvement. Coutinho constantly patrolled by Ki, cutting off the passing angle at every opportunity. Moreno steady and able.
This is half time. What it looks like. Sakho and Skrtel doing the defending. Mignolet keeping the goal. But this:
Swansea should have scored.
Swansea should have taken advantage.
Swansea should have more cutting edge.
When I bang on about goals, just imagine I support a Swansea and treble it. With penalty box threat this good side goes in two ahead of The Reds. Without it, I expect Liverpool to still win this game. They can’t be this poor again and at some point Swansea tire.
That’s half time. The score should be Liverpool -2. Instead they have parity they simply don’t deserve.
32 – Since Christmas Liverpool have taken 32 points from 12 PL games, 10 more than Chelsea have in that period (from 11 games). Hunt.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 16, 2015
Full time:
The Reds.
The Reds improved.
The Reds are f***ing mustard. Sort of. Sort of mustard. More horseradish but definitely, inarguably victorious.
If you take the game as a 45 minute game then The Reds got just about what they deserved. Just about. Through my teeth.
Joe Allen remained imperious. This run of games he is putting in is the essence of the business. Few can match it.
The change to put Gerrard on and change to 3-Gerrard-Pentagon-1 was tremendous. Liverpool got right in Swansea’s face. Didn’t allow them to get moving. Gerrard impressive, the lads in front irresistible. Like a magnet, not like a beautiful human.
Results change games. They change perceptions of games. Emre Can has still not conceded a league goal away from home playing in this three. Today’s performance makes you go, er, OK, off that fact. Sakho on the other hand was magnificent. Not quite the full Joe Allen but almost there.
So many weren’t brilliant. So many. But they won and second half they looked like winning was inevitable. That is the key thing about these boys. They have a switch they can flick and winning becomes inevitable. These lads.
When The Reds Are Jammy We All Are Jammy.
When The Reds Are Inevitable We All Are Inevitable.
When The Reds Win We All Win
Full time:
Swansea City 0 Liverpool FC 1.
Read: How we rated the players against Swansea.
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Pics: David Rawcliffe-Propaganda
If Sterling thinks he’s worth £150k a week on that and recent performances, he’s having a laugh! Poor touch, lack of effort, someone should say sign or you’re up for sale.
I don’t want anybody playing for us who doesn’t want to. If Raheem wants to be the next Shaun Wright-Phillips he should nominate the top-dollar bench he wants to warm and sign a new contract that allows us to peddle him. Good players come and go. He’s a good player but not a great player, not yet, anyway.
Having said that, I wrote him off two years ago as having a future of ‘Raheem Who?’, so I’ll be happy to eat my words.
Or you know, play him where he’s effective and remove Lallanna
The Sterling bashing begins….. Pathetic.
Not at all. His agent is pushing him as better than Suarez – the agent who has no top clients and is using Sterling as his cash cow. The club thinks otherwise. Sterling has been rather lacklustre many times this season, but as the side was so poor pre the Mancs, it made him look better. Now the team is doing much better, his level hasn’t changed. He’s a talent, probably has a bright future if he can keep out of the courts for women bashing, but you’re fucking deluded if you think he’s worth anywhere near £150,000.00 a week on this season’s form. And don’t forget, last season many were talking about farming him out to some mid-table in side Jan as his form had gone. He’s basically had less than a year of good form in the last three seasons.
I’d suggest he could do with a rest, but he’s already been given special time off to piss around in Jamaica.
I personally suspect he’ll be yet another great England hopful that fails to make genuine world class and does a runner for more cash under a Bosman overseas, only to come back within two years to be left doing the rounds as a bench player. We’ve had far better players than Sterling that could it at the top level while being two years younger.
I think one out of Sterling , Sturridge , Lallana and Coutinho has to be dropped.
Ibe cant come back quick enough.
An enormous 3 point tonight, we looked like the 8 day break was hard to shake off.
Again, Mignolet keep us alive.
Too much, too soon for Sterling over the last 2 years, been poor last 4 games.
If he’s dropped, he’ll probably get the hump.
I’m not sure we need him, as much as his agent thinks we do, Walcott could be available in the summer, pretty good swap.
Fuck me, that was a horrible game. Even the dog was nervous tonight. Great result though, we managed the game really well once we got in front. That’s new. These are the types of games that sort the men out from the boys, the games you win despite playing shite. You find a way to win. Happy with the lineup too, glad to see Allen keep his place and Sakho come straight back in. His timing, positioning and recovery speed are needed.
Couple of points: Henderson was way too pumped up tonight, someone needs to take a look at that. He was swaggering around like Begbie looking for a scrap in the first half, hence the daft early booking. Reminded me of Barry Venison, leaning on the bar staring everyone down with his pink t-shirts and Bundesliga mullet in his Southport pomp. Mignolet remains a worry too. He kept us in the game today, but that roll out to Martin Skrtl was prime Glen Johnson territory. He’s great but he can be a right dozy twat at times. I’m starting to worry about Lallana: is he made out of china? He needs to add pace and speed of thought to his game. The former is unlikely at this stage of his career, but too many passing moves are floundering because he keeps hold of the ball too long.
Fuck off George
Another performance nowhere near the standard required. First half abysmal, second half no better than poor. Again, creating very little clear cut chances.
Some of our wins this year have cone after the most horrendous performances seen in the last 10 years. Away to QPR. Away to Burnley. Today isnt as bad as those but the point remains even when we win we’re not that great. Very sinilar to Utd.
Agree with people saying Sterling needs to be better in the big moments in front of goal to justify his wage demands. But as was the case for the first half of the season, the manager is persisting with something we know does not work, namely, Sterling on the right and Sterling at wing back. He is better centrally or from the left. He is, or should be, our best player. But we’re getting nowhere near enough out of him.
Can’s form has dropped off pretty badly. In defending one on ones he has been very poor. They usually result in him being skint (Gomis in first half) or a foul (Sigurdsson in second half or Hazard at home etc etc)
Sturridge continues to be poor though. Yes we are isolating him too much but that doesnt excuse simple things like his poor touch & misplaced passes. He also needs to stop yapping at teammates when he doesnt get a perfect pass. Throwing his arms in the air and bitching is not helping matters.
Delighted Sakho was back in. Well done Brendan.
Gerrard used as an impact sub. Well done Brendan. (Although Moreno off instead of Lallana was weird)
A win. Well done Brendan.
Guess it shows how utterly rank we were earlier in the season because results wise we’ve had to be nearly been perfect for 3 months and we’re still outside the top 4. Says so, so much. Imagine Rodgers had wised up and not been so stubborn for so long. We’d be in 2nd and closing in on Chelsea. Depressing thought.
Embarrassing mate
Agree on lallana coming off before Moreno but other than that you’re just looking to be a right miserable sod. I would have liked us to not have been dreadful September-December as well so we could be in a title race with Chelsea and still be in the champions league, but the fact of the matter is we were rubbish and the manager and players could only change performances and results in the here and now and not in the past; they’ve done that emphatically. Also, we were far better than poor in the second half.
For all the “supporters” who have been rubbing their hands together waiting for Rodgers to slip up, for all the “supporters” who reveled in proclamations that Allen wasn’t fit to wear the shirt, the “supporters” who nodded knowingly when shite announcers called Sakho uncomfortable on the ball, for all of those “supporters” of that ilk, I have one thing to say: ha.
Four points off 2nd. Allen with another MOTM performance. Sakho being Sakho. Ha.
I love everyone who voted Johnson. I want to be friends with them all.
Hello, new friend.
Shit, I’m still in a bad mood after last night. Too little sleep, the match doesn’t finish till midnight here and then I’ve got to read the reports and listen to The Pink as I wind down…..The problem with watching the game on a crappy stream in a far away country is that you feel so fucking passive when things are going badly. Supporters often delude themselves about the influence they have on games, but at least you feel part of something when you’re there, you feel as though somehow you can collectively transmit your feelings to the players. And sometimes it works, both positively and negatively. At the very least its cathartic and its shared. The first half felt like the Palace game last season, we just kept giving the ball away in stupid areas and I only had the dog to complain to…..
Enjoyed the show last night, despite the whole talking over each other thing (it’s been worse, believe me). Very impressive that you’re able to gather your thoughts so quickly after a game. Couple of questions/points:
Why do you think we were so shit last night? (I’d put it down to too long without a game, too much thinking and tinkering)
I’d like to take issue with Rob on the Chelsea claims. We may be more pragmatic and mature (good things), but we’re not dirty and cynical. We’re like Chelsea with class. Rafa or Carlo’s Chelsea, not the current shower.
Still in a foul mood after last night. Too little sleep. The match doesn’t finish till midnight here, then I’ve got to read the reviews and listen to The Pink while I wind down. You fellas are lucky, there’s nothing worse than watching your team play shit in front of a crappy stream in a far away country: no-one to share it with apart from the dog who just looks at me quizzically. The wife’s not interested, and who can blame her? You just feel so passive and useless. I sometimes think supporters are deluded, we think we make a difference, and, on occasion, we do, both positively and negatively. But more than that, there’s a catharsis in being part of a shared collective, you can release your emotions unselfconsciously: there’s a lot to be said for that. Anyway, I haven’t felt so helpless watching a game since the Palace game last season: we just kept giving the ball away. It was infuriating.
Big shout to Neil and the guys for getting the review and The Pink out so quickly. Enjoyed the show despite the er…overlapping dialogue (it’s been far worse in previous podcasts)! Mad props, as I believe the youngsters say, for gathering your thoughts so quickly after the match and delivering an entertaining show. Helps with the old catharsis: secondary or vicarious catharsis. I need it out here in the cold!
Couple of questions/issues:
Why d’you think we were so shit last night? I put it down to too long between games and over-thinking.
Rob, we’re not like Chelsea. Whilst our new found maturity and pragmatism is to be welcomed, we’re nowhere near as cynical or dirty as Chelsea. Like Rafa’s Chelsea perhaps, or Carlo’s, but not the current shower. And I wouldn’t want us to be.
Enjoyed both The Pink’s last night although I didn’t realise there’d be a pre match one. I ended up listening to it after the game while waiting for the post match one but will enjoy that in future. Those hours between 6 and 8 on evening kick off days are torture. I try and keep busy to settle the nerves. That could help.
As usual, I was worried about last night. Swansea’s a tough place to go. I don’t think we like being pressed which was a concern. Say what you want about us first half, Swansea were good. They worked us out and stopped us playing. If we were poor then that was the reason. It was clear we had no outlet in the final third. When it goes across the back too much nerves creep in.
By half time I was even more worried because It was clear the game could go either way depending on who scored first. I had it in the back of my mind though that Rodgers would know how to counter Swansea and we’d be better second half. I’m not convinced all the managers in the Prem could have seen the problem and addressed it so convincingly. Rodgers continues to impress me. I’m sure Swansea tired a bit but for me the credit goes to Rodgers. We’ve got a really good manager, far better than say, Utd and City.
After we scored I wasn’t even nervous. That’s so unlike me. We completely controlled the second half. I thought it was a very professional performance to go there, not concede and come away with the points. I’d billed this game as the one where the world would end if we didn’t get 3 points. During the first half my partner walked in and asked me what was wrong. I was so tense I hadn’t realised my jaw had locked up from having it so clammed shut and I was only breathing every few minutes when I had to. That led to my chest seizing up so I couldn’t move at all. I can still feel the effects today. We had to go into the Utd game with the chance to go above them. It reminds me of last season when I thought, surely, we can’t win again. We have to come unstuck at some point but we didn’t (except for that one game) and again, we’re not. We keep winning.
Seriously, come the end of the season Allen’s first half performance in holding it all together last night might look like the most important 45 minute stint by any individual of the season. Might be a little quiet lad but he’s a player with a pair of bollocks who takes responsibility and doesn’t hide in situations when we’re against the ropes at 0-0. That’s what separates just good talent and the actual winners. Sakho more than made up for can’s off day as well.
6 gritty points from the likes of Swansea and Southampton away is the stuff of future champions too. Rolling shite over at home is one thing, getting up for it against the big teams is another but beating good mid table sides who can really play a bit at home and work their socks off because they’re playing Liverpool in front of their own fans is were it’s at when you tally up points in May. The goal is the type of United under ferguson forced fluke that would have had me tearing my hair out when they used to do it. Huge win and in it’s own way as promising a sign as say, outclassing city for practically an entire 90.
Spot on.
What Tom M said. No style points awarded at the business end of the season. Just keep winning Redmen. These grinder wins are impressive in their own right .
Mignolet was surely the man of the match.
He made two saves, or was it three? None were spectacular or “oooh” moments. He did his job, he did it well. MoM? Get out of here.
He’ll pass with his right,
He’ll pass with his left,
Joe Allen makes Xavi look SHYT!
Thought Skrtel was imperious again. It’s getting to the point where you nearly don’t notice anymore because it’s_just_another_game_where_Skrtel_bosses_it. The more times he plays in the centre of that three, the more of a leader he looks. For me, he’s finally becoming the player I always hope was in there somewhere.
Agree with Tom up top that Allen’s first 45 was as good as anything our midfielders have produced all season.
For Utd, I want Lallana benched with Markovic coming in and Sterling pushed up to play off Sturridge. Markovic and Moreno have both got the pace to stay with Valencia and Young and Jones and Smalling would rather see Sterling anywhere else than through the middle.
BTW, a draw on Sunday is not a bad result. Comparing Utd’s remaining fixtures with ours, a two-point deficit is more than manageable. Sunday is a ‘don’t lose’ game so far as I’m concerned. Perversely, their good result against Spurs and new found confidence may help us. If Utd come wanting to make a real game of it, I think that’ll do us nicely.
Fighting talk. Nice. Lets get these clumsy Salford arseholes booked and going backwards.
Not a great performance but we got the 3 points and at this stage in the season that’s all that matters…
No chance mate. A draw would be horrendous at this point in time. I think people are making a mistake regarding Utd’s fixtures. I’ve had a good look at both teams fixtures by the week and they’re much of a muchness. If we don’t beat them it’ll be psychologically disturbing because we go away to Arsenal the following week while Utd are home to Villa. If results go wrong that weekend we could find ourselves 5 behind with 7 to play. If we beat them then the worse case scenario is 2 behind.
So, 9 left but we play each other so that’s 8 left. Yeah they play Chelsea away but then so do we. Yes, they play Arsenal at home but we play them away. Hull at home, we play them away. West Brom at home, we play them away. They go away to Palace we play them at home in a game that may well get side tracked. There’s nothing in that above but there’s absolutely no question ours is harder by quite a bit. We’ll do very well to take more than Utd from those. That leaves 3 games each. While they go to Everton away, we go to Stoke. We have Newcastle at home, they have Villa at home. Again, I’m expecting an exact outcome for both teams from those. Finally, they’re home to City and we have a home game against QPR. There’s nothing to say they can’t beat City. I just think every point is gonna be vital now and we can’t afford to lose the pack at any time. That’s why a win is imperative.
I don’t think there’s as much difference in the run-ins as some people, but there’s is still harder in my view. So a win is not imperative. Just like it wasn’t (but some people thought it was) against Chelsea last year.
“theirs” ffs.
I hope they buy an edit facility with all this money the lads will be getting :-)
When the teams were announced against Chelsea I thought we should go for the win with palace away coming up. I’m not convinced we did go for it though. We conceded from passing around at the back.
I’m looking at our next 6 games and I think 14 points would put us in a very strong position going into the last three. 14pts would turn a 2pt Utd advantage into at least a 2pt advantage for us. This means we could draw with both ManU and Arsenal if we beat Newcastle, Hull, WBA and QPR. I don’t see the Mancs getting more than 11 maximum from their next 6 (probably 9 rather than 11). We could lose at Chelsea and with wins against Palace and Stoke we still get 74pts. There is the nightmare scenario that having only picked up 9pts from their next 6, ManU win their last 3 and tie us on 74pts. They will probably have a superior GD and just pip us if that’s the case. But then who’s to say Arsenal or City are not sitting on 73?
We play Arsenal next week before ManU kick-off at home to Villa. If we lose to United, without a huge result at the Emriates the Mancs will likely go into that Villa game with a chance to stretch their lead to a 7 or 8 points. I think we’re toast at that point. Even if we draw our next two games, United will kick-off against Villa with a 1pt advantage.
Jesus, I love the way we talk about this stuff like it’s a science :-)
Maybe mate, but I want us to beat Utd so badly I can’t settle for a draw. I’ve missed a few Sunday games because of my lads footy and because I don’t like Sunday games. His team have won the league now but got a big cup game on Sunday. I’ll be at Anfield though. No way I’m missing this. If we win we become favourites for top 4 ahead of Utd. I’m so nervous about it I can hardly sleep at night.
That’d be nice actually. Just spotted a ‘were’ when it should be a ‘where’ in my comment. Feel as though I’ve massively let myself down if I’m being honest, Brownie.
You’ve not just let yourself down, Tom. You’ve let your family down, your friends down, etc…