A NEW one, this, taking 10 talking point from yesterday’s game. We asked TAW contributors to message us on the final whistle as Liverpool battered Premier League champions Leicester City 4-1 at Anfield. This is what we got back.
1: Main Stand Musings
Three Norwegian fellas making absolute sex noises in the L postcode section. Had to put my ear defenders in. @chrismaguire73
Main Stand on its feet in a league game. Who thought we would live in such times. @IanRSalmon
Fellas dancing in the aisles in the Main Stand. These really are crazy times we’re living in. @stuwright78
Upper Main full of so many people who have waited so long for their seats they sing more readily than the Spion Kop where I have sat for every home game in the last six seasons. Sat in 208 and 305 and that period. No-one up here is trying to be ‘too cool for school’ they latch on to every song and burst their lungs! @JohnnyMilburn
Upper Main was bouncing. Cracking view and proper leg room. Had visions of it being the equivalent of watching from the moon. Shame about the bar running out of San Miguel and Carlsberg by quarter to 5 and the lack of running water in the bogs, mind. And I could have done without the lad near me shouting “Magic, Bobby” every time Firmino touched it. That grows old quicker than you might think. @66zimbo
2. Magnificent Matip
Matip looked good. Finally got a big lad who likes heading. Loved the bit where Vardy took him on and he just shepherded the ball for about three mins before getting the free kick. @whichdave
Massively in favour of rangey, assured, ball-playing centre halves. Takes me back to Hansen and Lawrenson and Gillespie and Tommo. Matip was ace. Always wanting to be first to the ball, calm as you like, an eye for a pass and stronger than I’d expected.
Also, love that when he carries the ball forward he keeps going after he’s released it. Gives more options in attack and could be vital when looking to break down stacked defences. Already looks a nailed-on starter. @66zimbo
3. Big Fuss And The Henderson
Some great performances but Henderson edges it for me. Unbelievable today, total captain’s display and in a position that’s still pretty alien to him. Doesn’t shut up all game casing the ref as well, which I’m bang into. @dpvdecorators
I thought Henderson was fucking magnificent. Always running, always showing; bollocked team-mates a few times. If Emre Can puts in that performance people are going mental over it. If he scores the goal it caps a brilliant match perfectly. Superb. @Adam_Smith_82
4. Fantastic Firmino
Firmino’s best display in a Liverpool shirt. Two well taken goals and his general work rate and movement was outstanding. Looks to have an extra yard of pace this season. Thought Sturridge looked much more willing to sprint and push himself than he has done recently. Lallana is playing the best footie of his Liverpool career at the moment and looks a real goal threat now. Best team performance of the season by a mile and 4-1 didn’t flatter us. @_lfcjoel
Mane’s pace has given us a new dimension but the most impressive thing about our forward line now is its collective intelligence, typified by nobody more than Firmino. He’s an SAS operative calmly causing havoc deep behind enemy lines. Pace, skill, movement and brains — we might be on to something here you know. @stuwright78
5. Dutch Of Class
Thought Wijnaldum showed why he’s here yesterday. A player more suited to the team than Allen, maybe not technically as good but just fits better. His mobility and ability to run beyond the lads playing further forward could be very useful over the course of the season. @PhilBlundell
Wijnaldum gets a 10/10 for being well better this week and wearing black boots. @Danny_Austin14
6. Men Of The Match
Think the most encouraging thing about the game yesterday was that afterwards when we were chatting about who was man of the match, or who played well, there were different answers. It wasn’t just one outperforming, it was the performance as a collective. Firmino and Lallana were the stand outs for me, but then Mane gets a goal and assist, Matip eases through his first game at Anfield and looks a nailed-on first choice and lads like Sturridge and Henderson contribute in a big way without standing out. Even someone like Lucas looked comfortable — I thought he was great despite the mistake and would have no qualms with him and Matip together at Chelsea. @C_Hannan7
7. Still Mad At Mignolet?
He didn’t do loads wrong but the extent to which I’m completely and utterly done with Mignolet can’t be understated. Under hits the pass to Lucas, pisses about with it at the back so much the defence don’t know what the fuck he’s doing. Opinions, hey?! Not getting caught up in the negatives, though, because we were fucking magnificent. A Leicester team that was stingy as fuck last season couldn’t come close to coping. @Adam_Smith_82
I’m with Adam on Mignolet. He could save me from a burning building and It would be flawed. For every Vardy save there’s a pass that he gives Kev Stewart after being on for three seconds. @dpvdecorators
8. The Mystery Of The Disappearing Red Nets
Curious to see the white nets back. Wonder if that was at Klopp’s request and why. @whichdave
@LFC For the love of all things holy, please put the red nets back on the goals at Anfield. It's tradition! #GetRedNetsBack
— Lee O'Connor (@LeeOhSee) September 11, 2016
9. Three Is The Magic Number
The movement between the front three was terrific, Huth and Morgan got ragged everywhere. If they keep buzzing off each other like that we’ll be grand. @Danny_Austin14
Some of the attacking was as sexy as anything City had managed earlier in the day. The front 3 worked sumptuously as a triumverate. The interplay was as if they’d been playing together for years. Had it not been for wrong offsides and iffy finishing we could have had eight. @whichdave
10. Milburn’s Mad Pre-Match Scran Selection
I’ve never seen a pizza with ring worm before.
Side order of cactus had me in stitches. Played, LLCH.
Looks like maggots on Milburn’s pizza
Would like to see the Anfield goal posts and supports from the 1980’s with the red nets. Beautiful how the ball used to nestle into the net. Nowadays it just seems to ping out when a goal is scored.
Here’s one from the armchair:
What a view! As a TV viewer in Japan, I was shocked at first by the new camera position but after about 5 minutes I realised that a) it’s showing us what Klopp has actually got this team doing as a complete unit, with all the off-ball positioning and runs, and b) it’s almost exactly the same angle they use at Camp Nou to show the world how Barca play.
This is a televisual revolution!
This is very true. It was weird first 15 minutes, couldn’t get my head around the new angle.
but once you do you can see so much more of the overall team movement and how it fits.
About the nets: I’m guessing that it’s actually easier to “see where the goal is” when the nets are white (given that the backdrop in the stands is mostly red), and that this might make it 0.05% easier to find the target, which will work in our attackers’ favour since the other team ain’t going to have many goal-scoring opportunities anyway.
I watched the grand opening on LFCTV, filmed the day before the match. The nets were red! What happened in the 24 hours between?
I demand answers! m The people have a right to know!
Will the escalators ever stop ? You almost grow a beard on the way to the top tear. Row 92 to be precise (of 93). U8, looking down on the Kop, which looks really small and a difficult one to get the head around.
But it’s great. The view is amazing. Brought a pair of bins just in case but you don’t need them. You see everything and how the game is taking shape. The seats are comfy and there’s room. Goodbye to the arse and back ache from the old wooden ones.
And the whole section was bouncing for parts of the game, even the wider MS. it even seemed to be outdoing the Kop. The novelty, 4 lovely goals and lots of great attacking play helped I guess.
Was thinking before the game about daydreaming looking over the city (like the top tier at Goodison) but you don’t see it, just a bit of Stanley park. The pitch is framed by the roof so fully focussed on the game.
Oh and the view over the docks and the Irish sea from the back windows was spectacular.
And the reds won 4-1 . What a day!