YOU trudge out of Wembley. You have a face on. The face on. The face of yours that your loved ones know. It’s the football. It was more than that though, you know. It was the feeling you were part of an eternally losing battle. Against the system. Against the overbearing pound. Against a lottery Liverpool haven’t won. Walking out of Wembley. When you left you were defeated and depressed.
Then that.
You walk up the stairs towards your seat. You walk up the stairs and suddenly this becomes the most serious of things. You walk and every pace doubles down your intensity. You walk and every pace, every look, means something.
You reach the seat and you see the Reds come out and you begin to sing You’ll Never Walk Alone and you see they don’t seem to have sold their end out and you double down again. You belt out You’ll Never Walk Alone. That slow baritone version that means business.
Since Sunday there has been this twitch, this limp. This phantom limb, adrift. You realise you’ve been grinding your teeth for three days. You realise that there has been something that needs to get sorted out. All day. Growing.
There’s been this thing where you don’t quite sleep properly. This thing where you sleep in pain. Wake dehydrated and disorientated. Snapping. Snarling.
You want this now you see them emerge from the tunnel. Two thems. Our them. Their them. You need it more than want it. And you’ve wanted it since Sunday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzhZybfp_ho
The game kicks off and you start talking and you can’t stop. “Get back in. Get the fuck back in.” You can’t stop. “One more.” You can’t. “It goes.” You. “Step. Fucking step.”
Everything elicits a response. Sunday you watched. Sunday you feared. Sunday you were swallowed by it all, the facelessness. Today you kick every ball. Make every shout. Grit your teeth for every tackle.
And there were so many of them. Tackles. Shuttles. Reassertions. This is our space, our pitch. This is our gaff. Our manor.
You watch Flanagan assert early. Henderson never shutting up like you. You see two sides that aren’t settling. Aren’t allowed to settle. This isn’t gegenpressing. This is gegenthrottling. Foot on the throat. You watch your Reds decide that no-one is allowed to play football today. Your Reds match your grim intensity. Fucking ruin these, Reds. Fucking ruin them.
https://twitter.com/LiverpoolGifs/status/705126766424301568
Lallana opens the scoring just as they don’t look ruined. Just as they look in control. Lallana opens the scoring and it doesn’t elicit a cheer as much as growl. There’s the first.
“Now massive 10, Liverpool. Massive 10.” Liverpool double down. Every stride means more. Is more. Liverpool double down and double their lead. Milner over extended and The Reds dominant.
But even then. Big five, Reds. “Big five.” Flanagan stops Sterling because he doesn’t switch off. Can’t switch off. Can’t stop talking and thinking, knows the threat is always just around the corner. Switching off is a luxury Liverpool cannot ever afford. You need their vigilance to be endless.
The half. And you are goosed. Language a disgrace. Teeth ground further. The half. The lead. The Reds.
City throw the kitchen sink. Big 15, lads. “Big 15.” You sit in your seat and all you think is “big 15.”
Sometimes you think football might drive you mad and you remember blubbing in your seat watching Joanna Newsom the night before because there are times and days when your relationship with reality and linear time might be fracturing because the days they become one and the feelings they become one and there is always something to do and think about and now these bastards have put you through this and so you can’t stop talking and shouting.
You can’t stop saying “win your battle” and “go one more” and “harry, harry, close him, Milner.”
The third. A blur. Snake hips. Swivel. Firmino and stick it up your jumper. And stick it. And stitch it.
Man City in ribbons. You in excelsis deo.
Three and you know they are vanquished. You know. Only half a football team. You talk less. You smile more. The tension leaves your shoulders. Your glare less intense.
Navas gets a response and a reminder that Manchester is full of shit and a reminder that the other half are coming next week but you know what at least they’ll have the decency to sell out and have some alright clobber.
That is next week’s problem. You’ve dealt with this week. You can enjoy the world again, get the tunes on again.
Liverpool 3 Manchester City 0: Player ratings
Liverpool 3 Manchester City 0: Five from Fitzgerald
Liverpool 3 Manchester City 0: Post-match reaction show (£)
You can go to town again. Because when you left Wembley you were defeated and depressed. And when Firmino arrived you were ripping high.
The mountain can be clambered up. It won’t be easy but it can. Hard work and hard lads are a blueprint. Not the only one but one to start from. And until then you can say this:
“Stitch that, you pricks. Up the gnarly bastard Reds. Stitch that.”
You can say that.
Brilliant!
Agreed on many counts mate – it was proper throat-stand football from all the reds tonight. Really good, passionate write up – and what’s not to admire about a fella who can get one of the best lyrics of all time (from Glen Campbell’s Wichita Lineman) into a match review. Belter.
pretty sure “Stitch that, you pricks. Up the gnarly bastard Reds. Stitch that.” wasn’t written by glen Campbell…….
Loved Flanos challenge on Sterling.
Loved Henderson applauding it almost as much.
Think I was the only one not bothered by Sterling (other than him being a good footballer for them that we needed to get stuck into). A load of old men calling some 21 year old lad who used to play for us a cunt. Ellie would have been having kittens.
City are the most cowardly team of largely world class players ever assembled. No wonder they’ve been a continual joke in the champions league. Compare that to when Chelsea got their money and only took about a year to become a consistently formidable team in all competitions season on season for a decade.
They’re singing about Gerrard slipping, meanwhile Tottenham, Arsenal and Leicester are contesting this season’s title that they should be walking after Chelsea decided not to bother. Yeah, well in lads and congrats on Sunday. Now fuck off.
LOL! I’m allergic to cats. But I leaped out of my seat each time Flanno took Sterling out. And Pellegrini made a point of telling the media ahead of the game that being booed would make him better, stronger. The little weasel. The longing for a silver cup pales when you can get so much satisfaction from seeing an ungrateful little twat who betrayed the club that nurtured and developed him get his comeuppance like he did Wednesday night — and from a scouser.
Hang on, only yesterday you were on your fucking moral high horse about abusing players on social media, and here you are calling Sterling, a player who helped Luis challenge for the league, “a weasel” and “an ungrateful little twat”?
All because he left to pursue champions league football, as professional footballers like to do?
Haters always hate.
Ellie, you can’t have it both ways. Either you think human beings deserve to be treated decently, or you don’t. If Sterling had dumped City for us, I’m sure you would have been just fine with it.
There is something pretty disgusting, about hoards of 40-something white men (and a few women) turning on a very young black man did what anyone else in his position would have done, unless they were too stupid to know better. Pretty disgusting, when you think of Liverpool’s troubled history.
You can imagine the great-great-great-great-great grandfathers of some of our home fans standing on the Liverpool docks, faces twisted with the same hate and contempt, shrieking obscenities at the human cargo.
Thatcher may have made the city poor, but let’s not forget how it first got rich. The terms of trade may have changed, but black boys are still being bought and sold in Liverpool, by grinning white men in fine linen.
Fine words.
Not to mention that “ungrateful little twat” contributed handsomely to the outstanding profits reported yesterday.
They should be grateful.
Booing Sterling has NOTHING WHATSOEVER TO DO WITH THE COLOUR OF HIS SKIN. It’s about his conduct (and that of hs agent) whie the transfer went through. Anyone can leave a club and join another one but how you act makes all the difference. Bringing up his colour is ridiculous.
You’ll be saying you never hear racist shit at the ground next ..in addition to speaking for every beaut who booed Sterling…
He acted fine. We got paid fine. Sterling has looked no better for City than he did for us. He’s good, but not quite top class and is frustrating to watch. He always tries his best though. If he did anything wrong, why aren’t we taking the lad to court?
What’s ridiculous is middle-aged men screaming at players who are still kids. I find it even harder to watch, when it’s a black player being turned on by a Liverpool crowd over a matter of ownership.
‘Dance for us son, we’ll throw pennies and clap, but never forget who you belong to’.
‘There is something pretty disgusting, about hoards of 40-something white men (and a few women) turning on a very young black man’
Come on now. No need for the undertones there.
Torres got it much worse.
‘You can imagine the great-great-great-great-great grandfathers of some of our home fans standing on the Liverpool docks, faces twisted with the same hate and contempt, shrieking obscenities at the human cargo.’
Perhaps you can. Perhaps they did. The relevance doesn’t stand up though. Grown men hurling abuse at a kid is never going to be the most savoury sight, but that’s all it is. You don’t need to make references to the slave trade or any other inferences to that effect. It may have validity in other discussions but this is a football website.
Football fans tend to like the footballers that kick the football into the goal for them and dislike the ones that try to kick it in the goal against them.
Football fans also tend to be racist fuckwits who read tabloids with pictures of tits in. So much so, the game has a “Kick it out” campaign aimed at tackling the endemic racism in the game.
Or am I Imagining this?
‘Football fans also tend to be racist fuckwits who read tabloids with pictures of tits in. So much so, the game has a “Kick it out” campaign aimed at tackling the endemic racism in the game.
Or am I Imagining this?’
Not imagining, just generalising. Yeah some football fans read tabloids. Some are racist also. Fans don’t ‘tend to be’ racist. That is just a hopelessly naive, sweeping statement made for effect.
I still don’t see what relevance this has to booing Sterling last night, regardless of whether or not it was ‘mature’?
Sterling got booed because he is an unpopular player amongst our fan base. It’s a bit childish but there you go. Nothing more to it.
I always thought you were just some sad bluenose trying to wind up a TAW readership long since bored by your bile. Now though… I think you might have some serious psychosis. Seriously seeing fans boo a returning player, a player who left after a nasty spat with the club and seeing scenes from the slave trade!! it’s not normal behaviour.
It must be a living hell to be inside your head.
Brilliant stuff Neil. I felt so low on Sunday as I made my way out of Wembley; largely because I couldn’t see how it would get better again this season. Our apparently strongest front 6 had played & Man City made them look powerless & ineffectual. Great. Every other f’ing team would follow the same pattern & the season would die a slow, tortured death.
Then tonight happens and the Reds gave me hope again. Who knew that if you press teams and play with an intensity & aggression, you force them into making mistakes?!
Now we’ve got a taste for exacting revenge, there’s a couple more candidates that have been handily served up for our next three matches, that are more than a little deserving of the same treatment City got tonight.
Up the gnarly bastard Reds indeed
“Gegenthrottling”……. loved that!
Fucking A Neil
classic piece, Neil.
As good as the match itself (or even better?)
Hope this sets the tone for remaining 10 league matches plus Europa league. Maybe the same 11 should start against MU?
Wow. Where did that come from? End products from Lallana and Milner, consistency from Can, a Kolo sprint and a crunching Flano. Great performance, now let’s see if we can reproduce this form at the weekend.
Great write up btw. I’m with Glen Campbell all the way.
Lads, it’s a Jimmy Webb song. C’mon, you should know that!
Can’t speak for Neil T but I know the following: that it’s a Jimmy Webb song and that Glen Campbell made it famous. So, in the spirit of harmony and community I’ll say I’m with Glen and Jimmy all the way.
Dead good, this. A great assessment of how I’ve felt for the last 90 hours or so. (Mainly the expletives).
The in your face Reds are the best Reds.
Fucking, Wembley.
City will do well to make top-4. Announcing your manager is quitting, months in advance is insane. I could see Chelsea finishing as high as 3rd.
Good performance from us and a fantastic result. We’ve wasted a great opportunity this season though.
I’m not happy with what Klopp has achieved with our squad, but it would have been a much better idea to get him in during last summer and let him get some players in. The number of points required to get 4th is going to be really low.
We’ll be better next season, but so will City, Chelsea and United.
And the Bitters. They have Billions now.
They will be a lot stronger in future.
Well it was clear from the outset.Manchester City are not the sort of team to give up their deckchairs without a fight
If our lads play like that every week I’ll have to revise my post-final list. A Lallana with end product could be a very good player. Needs a few more performances like that: both carrier and player.
A conundrum arises from tonight’s performance: we played better without our two best players. Our two best players tend to slow the game down. We are better when we play at pace. Discuss.
Origi indirectly or directly helped create all 3 goals with this off ball pace and movement.
More of that.
He did, but didn’t look a goal threat himself. Another interesting quandary. It’s fine if we have midfield runners and scorers.
This is it – we’ve probably only had both of those – decent forward link play and willing runners from midfield – a handful of times this season where its actually worked
25 seasons with performances like this spattered throughout. These performances are my reason for being. Inspite of the mediocrity that has become the norm, they have always been capable of a performance like this, a tornado of Whirling Dervishes, a frenzied shoal of piranhas or a horde of zombies. Not the George Romero type I mean the Danny Boyle rage virus ones. We may never win the league for another 25 years but we will still have nights like this.
Oh yeah Palace Sunday?
Fucking here we go.
Some unusually nice football played in space against a side who didn’t show and the superfans are talking of 4th and Europa victory.
Why be objective and look at the season when you can lap up the crumbs of small order statistics?
Superfans. You know the ones. The “True” supporters. Often Bipolar Beauts who will be knives out if Palace twat us after we miss 5 sitters and Mignolet lets in 2 easy corners.
We played some nice footy last night. It’s really stood out against a backdrop of mediocrity.
But the sooner this season is over the better. Please God let’s hope Klopp gets the players he wants, and the Texiera (insert many transfers targets name here) isn’t repeated ad nauseum over summer.
It feels like Lallana’s grown a foot taller, after his surprisingly aggressive confrontation with Yaya Toure in the final. It was like he had finally got sick of being an irrelevant midfield player and just couldn’t take it anymore. I think Toure was quite shocked by Lallana’s anger.
On Wednesday, Lallana gave the best performance that I can remember from him. He’s looked so thin-blooded, since he arrived. If he had Craig Bellamy’s madness and short fuse, the crowd would take to him and he’d probably be a much bigger threat (football-wise).
He’s the one I’ll be most keeping an eye on, in the next game (if he plays).
Lallana certainly was superb. I liked his confrontation with Yaya Toure, mainly because I cannot abide Toure and his lazy, arrogant and self-entitled attitude towards the game.
We had a real nastiness about us in last night’s game that has too long been missing.
I was worried Toure was going to sneeze. Could have ended Llallanas season. Or even his life!
I thought much the same. Good to see Lallana not taking any s*** from him though!
Not sure about the need for a pop at fans who seem to be having a good time off the back of a good result, but I agree with the general point. One swallow … and all that.
Still – please tell me you got some enjoyment out of it :-).
I always enjoy seeing my club win.
So much so, I would like to see it every game. Then I will be satisfied.
Until then, I will never be satisfied.
Fantastic – glad you enjoyed it
Why do people care so much if other fans show enthusiasm over a cracking result?
Too much stock is placed on highlighting the opposition’s faults and not enough on our own role in forcing and exploiting those faults.
The fact is we trashed a side that had their best eleven out and are chasing the title. We overran them and made them look like pansies.
I will never understand why so many fans take such gratification from criticising other fans’ excitement over such a result.
Nobody truly believes we have arrived or will make a late push for the title, but if you can’t enjoy Liverpool thrashing the champions for the second league game in a row then what are you in it for?
No the fact is they didn’t show.
Do you understand when managers urge supporters to “take one game at a time”?
Fact is, nothing makes our enemies laugh more than over reacting to the odd victory and our endless regurgitation of what is long gone history.
Personally I am in it because the club represents my city.
If I was in it for short term victory hunting and it’s associated euphoria, I would support Leicester this season.
And probably City next.
It’s about opinions Football, apparently.
Saying they didn’t show is a little too simplistic for me. Had we adopted a passive approach where we sat back and let them have it, do you really think they would have looked so bad?
They looked like they didn’t show because we were in their face from the off. Flanagan on Sterling set the tone and we bullied them out of it. Hart, Kompany, Silva and Aguero are not players who take losing lightly. We battered them.
It’s just three points – of course it is – but it’s victories of this nature that CAN and SHOULD provide the platform for better things. Nobody is saying it will because nobody can, but it’s worth getting wound up about because it was brilliant.
I personally think footy is a fairly simple game. Ball->Net.
The reason they “looked like they didn’t show” might be because…..they didnt.
Personally I would swap conistent lower levels of performance equating to consistent predictable wins over those around us and below us with the odd sporadic victory against a team leagues above us in quality.
For true quality, you need performances that are stable and in control. Last night’s result proves Klopp is unable to achieve that with this squad. And that is no slight on him, just the squad he inherited.
‘Personally I would swap conistent lower levels of performance equating to consistent predictable wins over those around us and below us with the odd sporadic victory against a team leagues above us in quality.’
Of course. I totally agree with that. I’m just saying that wins like last night’s are worthy of optimism. Only a few teams can do that to City once, let alone home and away.
We do lack what it takes to be cold, controlling and ruthless, but we can do without that so long as Klopp is able to assemble a team of maniacs that can produce performances like last night on a consistent basis.
Obviously we will need players who can combat the deep-lying, frustrating as f*** teams like West Brom, but perhaps with better support Coutinho and Firmino will be better at this. Another signing out wide wouldn’t hurt either.
We earned the right to play footbally yesterday.. heavy metal, full throttle.
We’ve seen this in parts this season – encouraging. My concern is against teams that will drop deeper (Palace?), do we have enough guile to break them down.
I am well pleased with the performances yesterday – i’m going to enjoy it, but i’m not getting carried away that some of those players should be starting next season. Lallana & Milner havent done that week in week out – so im not convinced they’ll do it next season – CONSISTENTLY.
I still want to live in a world where both are 2nd choice players (bench, cup, grade C opposition). I want to live in a world where Coutinho collects the ball in the middle and drives to the 18 yd box, in a worls where he sees a truely world class player in front of him and just passes it simple. A world where Studge doesnt play every position on the field except centre forward.
Neil often cites the piano players/carriers anaolgy – i think we need 3 BANG ON PLAYERS, 1 – ‘HE CAN PLAY’ and 8 CARRIERS
Enjoy the Klopp ride
Sterling
I get upset when I hear opponent fans singing the Gerrard song. I have heard the booing given to Sterling.
Maybe I am wrong – the facts. Sterling was a young kid at Liverpool who in the post Suarez era was our best player. Rather than pay him, the club under Rodgers, espoused the idea we give our young players relatively low wages to keep them hungry. When I think about this case and then the Dele Alli one it’s no surprise we are where we are. I wish him good luck. Liverpool fans should appreciate the consequences of booing young black players like that.
Lallana – I heard he has scored about 5 goals this season – not bad. 5 goals and 6 assists. It could be with the team playing better those Stats will to. Will give him another look. He reminds me a bit about how Beckham worked his socks off. Without that talent – obviously.
Clyne and Flanno the way to go. In THAT season, Flanno was one of our best players. Welcome back!
Knocking Man Utd out of the UEFA Cup is obviously all that matters for this season.
Neil Chinaski !!!!!! Well done!! Flano for president !!!!
I am glad we scored three goals and we conceded none.
Our defending, pressing and counter-pressing worked really well. Our buildup play was quite good for the ‘first’ 2/3s of the pitch (although Can and Hendo still appear to ‘refuse’ to turn with the ball when facing Mignolet’s goal and receiving passes from the CBs and FBs). Still, despite scoring three goals, our passing, ‘understanding and anticipating’ each other, and moving in the final third have at least 2 or 3 levels of improvement to go, imo.
Onwards and upwards.
Gegenthrottle my arse, we Gegentwatted them :-)