WHAT a week.
What a gang of lads.
What a set of Reds.
Did you have a little cry? I know I did. 4-3 and I am full of joy, that angry joy, that ‘stitch that’ joy, that joy unconfined, that joy that is the language of heaven with the noise of hell, that joy that fingers you behind the bike sheds, that joy that sticks it and gives it and takes it and drains it and makes it. That joy that means you have a little cry because these Reds. These fucking Reds…
These Reds were outclassed where class is concerned. They were never out-fought. They were never out-battled. They were superior in all areas bar quality. Quality can only take you so far. Because when quality isn’t quite the gulf you hope it is then football can happen. Then moments can happen and if a football match comes down to moments then anything is possible. Then The Reds are possible.
The Reds picked their moments.
The shift in game intelligence is the most noticeable direct improvement since the shift in manager. Liverpool believe in every moment and Liverpool believe any moment is possible. They can plot their course through a game by them when they look adrift. When they are two goals adrift.
Liverpool doesn’t so much have excellent performers tonight as it has excellent shock therapy. The game wasn’t sculptured. It was attached on and off with sticks. But Joe Allen stands out after coming on, Divock Origi stands out for running the channels. Alberto Moreno impressed me but I am often wrong.
So often wrong. I predicted Dortmund on away goals. I forgot. I forgot that Liverpool can take a pulse. Liverpool can squeeze. Liverpool are becoming a side that know chances are ample even when time is short.
Tonight at Anfield something really quite remarkable happened. Something that defies these words other than to say that where moments are concerned, Jürgen Klopp’s men are very good; the Anfield crowd is better.
The Anfield crowd doesn’t sing for 90 minutes but it knows when guttural screaming is required. Football is hard, it only gets harder when 40,000 people scream at you.
At 2-3 Dortmund get in a mad huddle. A mad ‘heads have gone’ huddle. A mad ‘what do we do about these mad bastards?’ huddle. The mad bastards are the Reds on and off the pitch.
We give ourselves a hard time. I give us a hard time. But no crowd in the world does moments better, clambers the line between intimidation and support better than we do. No one.
There’s a Yellow Wall. Great set of lads. But stitch that, lads. Stitch that. We all have our own culture. Ours doesn’t bounce. It swaggers.
Soz abar us.
Liverpool and their crowd do moments. Embrace moments. Understand moments. Nothing has ever been more ‘town’ than that.
Town.
Video from inside the team bus taken by Alberto Moreno. We willed that to happen tonight the Reds, willed it. #LFC pic.twitter.com/Qp36c10CTO
— The Anfield Wrap (@TheAnfieldWrap) April 14, 2016
Nothing has ever been more ‘stitch that’ than that.
Stitch that.
Nothing has ever quite felt like that. Not Olympiakos. Not Chelsea however many times. Nothing has had to be that defiant perhaps since Barca in 2001 and then that wasn’t as eventful. My chest rattles from roaring.
Across two games there were two memorable renditions of You’ll Never Walk Alone. Two memorable ones. The first soft rock in Germany. The second a lament before kick off at Anfield. These were memorable. They will live long in the memory.
There was a third. After the final whistle at Anfield. It wasn’t simply memorable, it was glorious. In excelsis deo. It was love, it was ‘stitch that’, it was ‘get on this’, it was ‘walk around us’, it was ‘here we are’, it was ‘understand this’, it was ‘you get your education’, it was ‘this is everything and this isn’t nice but this is what this is’. This is that you will never walk alone because we will scream and roar next to you.
We understand moments. Know that. Take that.
The Reds. Drag them down and kill them.
Up the Reds. Up the momentary Reds. They aren’t down here for your money. They aren’t down here for your love. They are down here for your soul.
Time for a break.
I like Dortmund, great set of lads. But I hope that whenever they sing YNWA from now on they remember this day. What a day! I need the pink!!
You’ll never walk alone is in my soul. It will never be taken from me. I’m in London tonight. The pub rocked for us. Amazing. YNWA
Up at 3 am in Perth WA to watch it.
3.15 – why did I bother? Stick with it lad.
4.10am that’s why you stick with it!
4.30am bollox!! Might as well stay up
4.50 jumped out of bed waking the wife and both cats!!
Into work – total delight.
What a way to start your working day……..
Same here mate, we have to get up early up our neck off the woods. Off to work at 7am but can’t shake it out of my head.
I am in Melbourne
Got up at 4am
An hour drive to work in total darkness
Laptop booted – Beinsportsconnect
7am – pure ecstasy
730 bouncing into workplace
In Perth too, its a hell of time in the morning to go through all that palaver!!!
Rock On!!!
Best thing I’ve seen on an illegal America stream since Pamala Anderson!!! Up the Reds!!
They played with guts, they played with heart, they played with determination, they played with fire inside, they set our hearts alight.
The mighty reds, the dream inducing reds, the long enduring reds.
At least I know what Supraventricular tachycardia is now.
What a night…..summed up beautifully Neil….on my own in my man cave garage watching on the iPad, smoking cigars (the Alaves cigars for desperate times) seeing off a couple of bottles of Merlot…deep red of course and texting my Bessie mate in Jersey throughout….Carling don’t do footie….But if they did :-)
Was anyone else nervous when they had ‘that’ free kick, haha.
This is the start of the future.
I had tears in my eyes when Lovren was lovin it after the whistle. Made up for him.
Loves Liverpool him. We’ve been tight on him. Loves the arm salute to the Kop him.
Hey Neil, we told them about Joe but they wouldn’t listen, haha. Perhaps they’ll listen now. It’s all about the cogs. And when no hope was left in sight on he came. No time to talk about anyone getting wrong. We got it right. Maybe.
Wasn’t right that we should lose tonight of all nights. Winning’s not just about being happy to win it’s also about being happy that people are gutted. Loads loved it at 2-0. More at 3-1. Sakho and Lovren. Brilliant. Who needs Dalglish and Rush? Stayin up tonight watching clips and vines and reading. Well done for getting this out. Loved Lovren pulling shirts all over the place for Sakho’s goal and Sakho pulling them for Lovren’s goal. Fight!!
Believe!! All over Europe kids waking up with a new team they support. Never fully believed we were out of it. This is what it’s all about!!
Sorry Robin mate, I agree with you a vast majority of the time but I need Dalglish.
The sight of the King singing YNWA at the end with the evidence of him having had a little cry written all over his face threatened to burst my already full heart.
Thanks again for your post match words Neil. I don’t know how you do it. I can’t process what happened tonight. Torn asunder at will at times. Up against a glaring gulf in class at times. The speed of thought and action leaving us reeling in the first ten and then again for Reus’ goal.
But.
Our Reds. Our Impossible, Illogical, Indomitable Reds.
Our players, Our players. Us. The ones loved and unloved, unilaterally and universally. Giving it all. Producing. Again. Until the final whistle. Again.
Jurgen said that WE decide. And we did that tonight. We decided that we weren’t beaten. We decided there was time left. The players believed. Anfield believed. I believe.
And now. The rest of the football world had better start. Because the Reds are coming up the hill boys!!!
Up the Reds. Up the impossible, illogical, indomitable Reds. Up our beloved Reds. Credo. !!
Do you really condone shirt-pulling (which is cheating)?
Do you condone other forms of cheating too? Tax-evasion even?
I don’t want to burst the feelings of being on Cloud 9 that we as Liverpool fans will feel this morning, I don’t want to disunite the fan-base but, for me, I’d rather not have had the goals through the shirt-pulling. I felt like another poster that when Coutinho scored I somehow ‘knew’ it would be our night. Typical us. Doing it the hard way – doing it with romance -doing another fairytale comeback. Well in to the 12th man too….Great that Poetry in Motion got sung again. Today I’m gonna party like its 2014
Up the romantic Reds
To be honest mate if someone said to me if you murder that pensioner next door I’ll guarantee you Liverpool will win the cup I definitÛely would so I think a bit of fight from the players isn’t gonna keep me up at night. Regarding tax evasion I’m all in favour of it. I feel I pay too much for what I earn. If I could I would but that’s just me. Obviously if there’s a stick to beat Cameron I’ll take it but I’m a hypocrite.
Behave yourself. Every time someone claims for a throw in when they know they’ve just put the ball out themselves is ‘cheating’.
It happens, teams expect it to happen and plan accordingly. Don’t hear any complaining from Dortmund about it. Possibly best stick to tiddlywinks?
Are you for fucking real? Desperate times and all that….
On almost any corner kick in any football match it goes on.
I didn’t think about it til I read this,talk about depressing.
All of the great sides are ‘masters of the dark arts’ Jmbob. For years (apart from Carra and Luis) we’ve been far too nice. Look at some of Dortmund’s tactical fouls last night. I know where you’re coming from but personally I’m delighted that we are learning. If UEFA/FIFA won’t do anything about these infringements we have to either join the offenders or lose. And I’m sick of losing…
Up the defiant Reds
Klopp said some thing about the crowd being more important than the away goal. I can’t sleep. The players were amazing. Ama-Zing. Dortmund had not lost this year. I said to my boy Lovren and Sakho were good headers if the ball. Why the heck can’t Milner do corners. When we were 2-0 down I said to my boy We have HISTORY. Istanbul.
I’ve never been fingered behind the bike sheds…
Never even contemplated ur.
What’s it like?
What a game. But, as the fans of one of the teams at other end of the East Lancs Road say (you know, the ones that have never been to Manchester) in the Daily Mail)…’Dortmund are the most overrated team in Europe, they are rubbish!’
As I said to my son just now, two
months ago EVERY Liverpoolmfan would have paid Lovren’s fare if he’d only leave, and many would have chipped in for Sakho. I would have kept Sakho…
Btw, I ONLY READ THE FOOTBALL IN THE DAILY MAIL!!! I’ve voted Labour and Labor (Australian LABOR party) all my life. But ‘know thine enemy.
I think Tuchel summed it up best when he said that he couldn’t explain what happened as it wasn’t logical, it was emotional. Dortmund were clearly the better side for most of the match but the will of the Kop warped the spacetime continuum to allow that corner to find its way through to Sakho’s head and sucked Ramos’ feet to the turf as Lovren towered above him for the winner. Well in lads!!
Shankly twigged it over half a century ago. When it stirs itself, the Kop is a single entity. and it’s power is irresistible,
Exactly that. Emotional. Great review of the game Neil, thanks. After Phil scored I *knew* we were going to win. Also had tears in my eyes for much of the second half. Dunno about the bike sheds though.
How the fuck am I expected to do a days work after that. I’ve been here an hour and a half already and can’t concentrate for more than a minute. Its going to be a long long day; but a rather happy one.
Yeah so I’m lying in bed not sleeping. Obviously.
I generally consider us over the course of a season a gang of angry heads, gob shites and shit bags second only to the other rabble over the park booing all the while but under certain conditions no one in world football gets it more right than us. As a support we’re like a great cup side which feels fitting with the endless leaguelessness on the pitch.
A woman on the top deck of the bus on the way home from town had a pint and was having murder with the world. An actual pint glass though. These incredible scenes don’t happen if we just settle for a brave 3-3 exit. What times we’re living in.
Seen Sevilla have finally been knocked out of this competition as well… Things have gotten slightly interesting.
JFT96
No luck there, 5-4 on pens to Sevilla. Doesn’t get any easier from here!
Ah fucker. Are they just gonna keep winning this Europa every year by constantly aiming for 3rd in their champions league group? It’s no way to be. No wonder Moreno’s mad as a box of frogs if he’s come from there.
The thought of Neil getting fingered behind the bike sheds put me right off.
I also don’t think he’s the type to have done any fingering any girls behind the bike sheds himself whilst he was a schoolboy!
Still, what’s past is past. A great article and a great day to be a Liverpool fan. You could never have imagined Wenger’s perennial 4th place Arsenal to have out in as spirited a performance as that.
That performance for me, sums up Liverpool’s personality
Ha ha.. Horrific now I think of it..
Sums it up for me this: “…what do we do about these mad bastards?”
(Not going near the fingering / shed thing even if I had a barge pole) LOL!
Great article encapsulating what it means to be a fan of Liverpool football club, joy unbounded, the unexpected expected…we really do write the script ourselves don’t we? A Hollywood Club. The Hollywood Club.
This set of lads, Klopp lads have it within them. We learnt that today, the right mentality to stare down any challenge, however see,ingot insurmountable.
Europe will take note, Europe was watching. Not because of the so-called Klopp Derby, but because we are Liverrpool FC – and Europe watches our every move. Everything we do is an event.
Klopps Reds (just like Rafas 05 lads, the ‘comeback kings’) are like a Nazi Panzer Division smashing their way across Europe….smashing and grabbing, devouring opposition with a great big Fuck You. We really do Blitzkrieg our way through teams, leaving them stunned and mortally wounded, as our Phoenix rises from from the flames and turns the stormy rainclouds into a Golden Sky
That’s the best analogy I can come up with to describe our sudden and dramatic turnarounds and comebacks. YNWA
We may be many things, but we are absolutely not the Nazis.
Jeez, is it possible to play a German team without it becoming a thinly veiled rerun of WWII. That’s S*n-like behaviour that, lad.
Mate, I couldn’t agree more. I didn’t even want to go there today and ignored it but as you’ve brought it up I just want to concur with your view entirely.
P.s This is a bloke who’s just slated me for saying I liked the fact that Lovren and Sakho were fighting for each other by pulling shirts in the box which is actually absolute standard behaviour. Somehow, that lead to me seemingly being in favour of evading tax. Then I read this. Warped mate.
Anyway, if any of our German friends read that I’m sure they’ll understand there are weirdo’s in every walk of life.
Get off your high horse robin and stop looking for a fight ESPECIALLY after last night and need I say what day today is.
I wasn’t flaming no-one and was saying nothing argumentative. I said I knew we were gonna comeback and win after Coutinho scored, but I’d have preferred to have done it without the shirt-pulls etc. We won, we went through, we are all happy. There is nothing any of us could have done after the event to affect things so it was hypothetical. I asked a question is it important how the goals are scored, and if it’s cheating, are other forms of cheating (that ‘everyone’ does) if it’s a victimless crime? Genuinely I asked a question and left it at that.
You said you’d evade tax — great socialist you are
You said “if you were honest you’d murder a pensioner”
You said you were a hypocrite also
Then you said all this bitterness and name-calling
I made no response to this before. I literally asked a question and left it at that – I didn’t give any attention or made no judgement on your answer and I didn’t pre-suppose anything either
Ok mate, apologies if I’ve offended you. Wasn’t intentional. Truth is, I’m a bit sick of the amount of people who look to criticise aspects of either the performance, the article or the comments. I may have misunderstood you.
I will say (light heartedly but truthfully) I’m ok with victimless crime. Difficult to think of many examples but let’s say, I want a smoke, you sell it me. Fine. Good look to you.
Regarding being a socialist, I’d be all over It in a fair society. When I look at where tax goes and doesn’t go I’m happy to get what I can these days. Trident, bombing kids in the Middle East, I’ve no desire to pay for these things and would rather spend my share of it on me. I get very little back for my taxes. I had to bang my head against a wall for 4 days last month because I can’t afford the dentist fee’s. It was like pre 1948. It’s not a fair society by any means and I adapt to suit.
Regarding my neighbour, he’s one of the them. One less bitter sod in the world and a cup for Liverpool would be a fair trade off to me.
Your list of my characteristics only touches the edge. I’m fairly vile in a victimless way. I’m the kind of person who seeks out bored single mums and tells them what a great mother they are and how they should be proud of the job they’ve done there regardless of not having a real job. I throw in a few personal compliments too. I’m quite sick actually. My mates say I’ve got sociopathic tendencies. It’s not true though because I have empathy.
Anyway, look, I don’t won’t to become what it is I despise so again, apologies. No offence meant.
Thanks mate – it is such a momentus day with it being the anniversary and the last time the events will happen due to the Families wishes – and as the response on this site proves today, LFC ARE coming back and I think that last nights game will in future be seen as a pivotal moment. Despite the rain today things are bright today!
I wasn’t meaning anything untoward either in my blitzkrieg comment – I think I explained how it came about it another response. Internet eh, makes fools of us mortals what with misunderstandings and the like!
Yeah I get you on the frustration about where tax goes – and about the increasingly unequal society and world.
It makes me mad and angry and depressed too sometimes
It wasn’t a reference to Klopp and Dortmund being German actually, but I can see how it may look like that now I’ve read it back. I was gonna say the Red Army but the only reason I said blitzkrieg was because our turnarounds and comebacks in games do seem to happen very quickly and they leave the opposition usually in disbelief and shock of what’s just happened
Kenny singing YNWA at the end. Oh my…
Difficult not to see metaphors and life-lessons all over a football pitch last night. A team of Reds playing their hearts out, and playing well – but they still looked inferior to the formidable opposition; they’d still come up just short at the end. Still fail gallantly. There are certain obvious truths in life that can’t be altered. Their third goal settles it. Passion can’t quite move mountains. Then Coutinho shapes to shoot.
Beautifully put, mate. Boss username and all!
That was just fucking brilliant. How I longed to be there. Instead I had to watch on my laptop and suppress my cheers so as not to wake the missus. Lots of pumping, lots of pumping. Lots of laughing too. Incredulous laughter, joyous laughter, quiet laughter. The poor dogs didn’t know what to make of it, I didn’t know what to make of it. It’s 08.28 here in Finland now and my joy remains unbridled though my head is a little sore.
What a night. And well done for getting stuff out. No-one could have blamed you had you gone straight out on the piss. I would have.
Great way to start my Stag weekend in Liverpool!……….
Nice!
Just watched the highlights again.
Oh.My. Days.
So very happy for Lovren, Sakho and Joe Allen. What a moment for big Dejan! Hats off.
Sign up Joe!
Fuck me we will have some fun in the next few years
Didn’t cry till read this. Unbelievable. Wow.
Yes, this sums the game and the emotions up perfectly…
Belief that everything is possible is what Liverpool need to keep on with. What a Fantastic, soul enhancing game…
We will win Europa and in the UCL next season, the belief is there for us all!!
♡☆♡☆♡
It’s been nearly 12 hours and I’m still buzzing. Just re watched the last 35 mins and I could swear the dog just muttered “for fucks sake not again” under her breath and headed out the door anticipating another round of my yelling and jumping out of my chair. Not this time. Just a mad wide grin. And a couple of fist pumps.
Made up for Lovren. Seems a genuine character. Had to put up with a battering he has, but he put a damn good shift in today and rewarded us all.
No, it’s not logical Herr Tuchel, but magic doesn’t answer to logic.
Lovely summary of all that madness, Neil. Origi’s goal happened so fast that I still don’t know who did what. I’ve seen Cheers in Sydney be more packed with people before, but never heard it as loud as it was this morning. Didn’t cry, though hugged and cuddled more strangers than I ever have in a five-minute stretch of time. Let’s do that again soon.
City half empty, Utd told to sit down, Chelsea and their plastic flags, Arsenal middle class, library, bore fest……..
NO ONE does Europe like we do.
What’s this ‘stitch this’ stuff that’s going on.
Do we do threats of physical violence now?
As in “stitch that wound”…oh dear some ppl jump on anything these days.
I know. You can’t even make an implied threat of violence these days. It’s political correctness gone mad.
Seriously I love these articles, but ‘stitch that’ doesn’t belong on the lips of a Liverpool fan.
Agreed. Why take the shine off a great night by using this kind of garbage vocabulary. There are so many words in the English language that could have been used, why embarrass yourself by trying to come across like some sort of “Green Street” hard case. I want to be celebrating, not cringing.
What a shame, as the rest of the article is pretty good.
I know it’s a bit childish esp when numerous articles wax lyrical about the Dortmund / Liverpool pre-match kinship
But I think , to be fair, it’s more a case of mad post-match head gone jubilation and over-excitement, which is forgivable. If it were written pre-match I would question it more
Easy to spot the trolls on here today. Honestly, arguing over Neil’s grammar usage after THAT game. You’ve got to be kidding me. You guys are so unbelievably boring, piss off.
It’s quite a common expression, usually said by someone who’s just won something and isn’t meant with any malice. Kind of like “have that” rather than a literal threat to butt someone.
Anyone getting uneasy over Neil’s vocabulary needs to go and assess their lives.
Fucking sad act’s.
Nice apostrophe
Liverpool FC spoiling bitters half time celebration parties since 1892. If you didn’t weep you’re made of stone
That first Liverpool goal though,
Emre Can hinting at a level I didn’t see from him early doors in his Liverpool career,
He tends to take time to find the pace of a game and his mobility may hold him back from becoming a true great but I’ll be gutted if he’s out for long,
That first goal,
Jesus wept.
Fantastic take on the game as always Neil, what strikes me most is how the players must have felt arriving at the ground, every player videoing it, that’s weird, that’s something we do to players, film them as them for pictures yet they are filiming us, that’s scene for them must have been awesome, the bad red bastards with their red flares n smoke bombs, how can you not put a shift in after seeing that?
Up the Reds…
Damn right I had a little cry. Got a little tear reading this now. No shame in that. If that game doesn’t get you then nothing will. Up the crazy reds.
This:
Munich-based paper Süddeutsche Zeitung found satisfaction in seeing the German coach Jürgen Klopp exporting his magic touch across the Channel. “In Liverpool Klopp has managed to make his special energy rub off on his team, this absolute conviction that willpower can move mountains as long as it is strong enough. ”
“He managed to create such special moments in Dortmund too, for example with the unforgettable 3-2 against Malaga. Klopp knows exactly when movements and tactics don’t matter anymore because other things have become more important.”
Excellent mate. One of my first thoughts was what did the German media make of it all.
Would still like to hear what they said about Liverpool the club rather than just Klopp and what the Dortmund fans made of their day at Anfield but this is most interesting to me. Thanks
Why care what the German media said about LFC the organisation? Rather than about the match. Serious point – I’m not looking for an argument.
Do you want them to be in awe, is it praise etc for LFC that you want to hear from them?
I think so mate. You’ve probably hit the nail on the head. I want to hear them say it was a brilliant occasion to be part of, great city and great fans. I’ve always been a bit like that.
Did they not watch Istanbul 2005? Pretty sure the magic has always been here and is the reason why Klopp chose to come to us. He is doing a great job of rekindling the fire to be fair, but that game was a lot bigger than one man.
Istanbul was against Milan. Not sure the Germans gave a shit.
Istanbul is not in L4 last time I looked either. Nor is Anfield on the banks of the Bosphorous.
Anyway, fuck it…
4-3
Good post la
I’m all for reminiscing about May 2005 but we’ve over a hundred years of history, focusing on Istanbul soley belies a lack of understanding of our greatness. We’ve plenty of magical comebacks. The 2001 FA Cup win was a pretty awesome moment IMHO
Piss off Chris
Thanks for snide lessons in history and geography.
WHAT AN AMAZING AFTERNOON TO WATCH A COMEBACK OF EPIC PROPORTIONS!! GREAT WRITE UP SIR!!! COULDN’T HAVE BEEN SAID ANY BETTER!!!
Was in the Irish American Bar in NYC to watch this classic and there were Dortumund fans with us as well. Atmosphere was amazing and it was like being at home in a Liverpool pub. Perhaps even better because the singing never stopped once we got our first.
Klopp has instilled belief and these lads just never stopped running and believing. The best bit though was that amazing mass of people known as our supporters..before the game those scenes were awesome, for YNWA I had tears in my eyes and the sheer delirium at the end. We take a lot of angst watchin these lads but my God for nights like that it is all worth it.
No one does it like us..Neil your articles are boss mate…up the mighty Reds.
Unbelievable game, made up for the team, we never gave up and battled all the way through, Klopp managed to get everything out of the players last night. Villareal now, very tough game but we are in the mix and do you think they are relishing a trip to Anfield! no chance! Spare a thought for Tuch, after the game during his post match interview he must have been absolutely shell shocked and gutted but he spoke with dignity ..didn’t make excuses and gave us a lot of credit for the win….class act!!
Because when quality isn’t quite the gulf you hope it is then football can happen.
What a line! Writing worthy of the game.
Side bar…. I love those beautiful red smoke bombs!
Some things in football can be undone. For instance, you can beat a team 2-0 at home and they’ll beat you 2-0 at theirs, therefore taking the gloss of your earlier win.
Nothing is undoing last night. That will live forever.
Its been 24hrs and Im still buzzing.
I feel like Chris Tucker in Rush Hour when he needs to go back to the Casino because “he’s still hot”.
Im still hot.
Up the reds.
Again with the “In excelsis deo” Bollocks?
Seriously la, nobody writes like that, speaks like that, thinks like that.
I like your writing, but cut that shit out. It’s cringeworthing. You’re not some spotty lad in school trying to impress the english teacherb
Maybe you need to stop being a miserable bastard, mate. It’s how he writes. If you don’t like it, don’t fucking read it!