Neil Atkinson hosts an Anfield Wrap in transit across Germany as TAW return from the Ukrainian adventure.
Gareth Roberts, Josh Sexton, Ian Ryan and Jon Jones join Neil to talk about the final, the fury and the trip across Europe before focus turns to the summer and what’s next for Liverpool under Jürgen Klopp.
Direct – The Anfield Wrap: The Anfield Wrap: Real Madrid, Ramos Fury And The Future For Liverpool
For more reaction to the Champions League final, The Anfield Wrap’s trip to Kiev, regular transfer specials throughout the summer, and interviews with special guests, SUBSCRIBE to TAW Player…
I’m not on twitter so I’d just like to say here: Loris Karius, hold your head up mate. You did your best and everyone makes mistakes. No need for apologies. Best wishes lad. (I know he probably doesn’t read the Wrap comments but..)
Lads, have to disagree about your interpretation of the Ramos atttack on Salah. Have you truly watched it back? He’s not just trying to stop him running through, as you say… he won the ball already. But he deliberately keeps his arm locked in, then proceeds to fall on it with his full force. It’s filthy, and you’re being too accepting of it.
When talking about Karius, mentioning VVD is very relevant and worth thinking about …
We signed VVD because after YEARS of messing about at the back the penny FINALLY dropped … We NEEDED a world class defender … not a prospect, not a youthful talent, but one of the worlds best NOW!
In goal we are now at that bend in the road once again … Klopp is RUINING so much good work by persisting with substandard keepers … we MUST get a competent and world class keeper NOW.
mate – i’ll mention it again…if our recruitment team are seen as doing a brilliant job in getting lads in, with data and information and nous that we simply don’t have, then we have to trust them with the lads we already have. Karius was a Michael Edwards player. If the team decide to keep Karius then we accept it just like any new lad we sign. We all know the reason we get excited about new lads is simply none of us really know fuck all about them, but it still stands that if Klopp and co decide Karius is fine then we need to get behind that.
All very well Gareth unpacking the phrase “cry-arsing” AGAIN … but he’s in the minority, and to be honest you all sound like the Ramos fan club in this.
What he did was intentional and it DID probably cost us a great chance to win the CL …
I don’t agree with petitions … but just dismissing the incident because you don’t want to seem like you are moaning … is poor form.
An interesting (for me!) by-blow of the Ramos tackle is that some rabidly anti-Lovren pals of mine are raving about 1. His display in the final and 2. His apparent nutting of Ramos in the melee when Mane scored…
I didn’t cancel my subscription after hearing you all defend Sergio Ramos, but I came close. Shameful of you to make excuses for such a player.
On Ramos – he smacks Karius on the head a few seconds before gaff no.1 – which might even suggest he succeeded in totally shaking the lad up. I love our history of hard players like Tommy Smith – but Tommy was just hard – he wasn’t a cheat. Ramos is a thug and a cheat. There’s so much footage to back up a call for a ban. But I also agree with Robbo
– no point in whinging after the event but calling for better reffing when Ramos is on the pitch.
Ramos carries out a so called Chicken wing tackle which is an automatic red card in Rugby and is banned in Judo yet is not even a foul with this ref, then after getting a nudge from VVD instead of putting his hands out (like most people would) he manages to get his elbow into Karius’s head, surprisingly not one of the three officials spotted this yet when Mane flicked Ramos’s ear causing him to go down holding his face the ref had his card out almost before the linesman flagged. Not saying the ref was biased but he certainly looked like it from where I was (and I’d heard on press box that he was good), I thought he was poor, haven’t listened to the podcast yet but if you’re saying Ramos was anything but a thug and a cheat you are wrong ~ players being hard and fair is part of the game but elbowing and deliberately hurting opponents while not playing the ball is not.
It’s always funny to me how simulation and play-acting are so unpalatable but thuggery is something to aspire to when both are 100% the same level of cheating. And they both come as a package it seems: every El Clasico I’ve watched was a spectacular borefest of very talented well-paid professional grown up men rolling around on the floor like 5-year olds, or trying to break each other’s legs. No thank you. I don’t know why there is so much resistance to calling a cheating thug a cheating thug. Like others have said, his record speaks for itself, and I’d rather referees did a better job at following the laws of the game than promoting more of this. The “cryarsing” is no worse than the manly-man macho chest-beating for me.
I understand the embarrassment of the petition, but from what I could tell it was started by Egyptians, and I don’t think we can begin to understand Mo’s importance to them. If that’s how they want to express their emotions then it’s their business.
(I did enjoy this podcast otherwise though).
I mostly agree with your views but Ramos absolutely tried to break Salah’s arm AND elbow Karius AND fall down from an ear flick holding his face, carding Mane, no argument dirty bastard yet how this wasn’t picked up by the officials is also a very big question. I know they are being filmed because I actually watched it on TV via TV cameras. Karma will come and get you in the end.
For Ramos obviously, totally enjoyed this season’s journey with the wrap, excellent work lads, thanks, we go again, up the wildly positive Reds!!
Really enjoyed all the contents on your mad dash to Kiev, you should put out as much footage as you dare so that the rest of the world can see how boss it is to follow the reds
I think it’s ironic and a slight on European refs that Ramos has only seen red 3 times in Euro competitions despite being the most carded and sent off player in all the top leagues! That’s what your up against when playing UEFA Madrid! But take away the play acting and histrionics I’d have him in a heartbeat
I’m sitting in borispor airport waiting for my flight back to Oz. Was my first proper reds game, 2 friendlies in Australia don’t count so I was feeling it. The Jameson’s are flowing. I started following Liverpool in the early 80’s cause Craig Johnson from my hometown played for the reds. Legend. My missus said he was on the Australian coverage, giving the boys everything. The atmosphere at that fan park was farking amazing and we met boys from Liverpool that treated us like their own. You boys have got a lot to be proud of end of story. Great stuff boys…onwards and upwards. It’s on now
Gareth,
Interesting podcast. Great Talking Reds show, by the way.
Just reading through the comments here, most people are in disagreement with you and I’m one of those.
The biggest crime surrounding the foul was the deliberate removal of a world class talent from the highest stage. Forget which team you support, the game was ended as a contest when Mo was slammed. The world missed out on his contribution to what could have been a showcase final.
So what does it showcase to the world, instead?
Well, that if you cheat, you can get away with it. Well, if that’s OK by you, fine, but I watch footy for the skill, not the deceit. I’ve never been impressed by it. Yes, you’re essentially right; many of the great teams have possessed a bruiser, but I can’t remember ever wanting to be Tommy Smith – I wanted to be Stevie Highway. I never wanted to be Steve McMahon, I wanted to be John Barnes.
Football can be played in a multitude of different ways, and cheating is definitely one of those ways – that’s why I was never a fan of Suarez, even though I’d rate him as one of the best players to wear a red shirt – he was a cheat, and I couldn’t bring myself to respect him.
Kroos and Modric’ domination of the ball during the final, 97% pass rate and all that. When does that make the least bit of difference to a counter attacking team like Liverpool under Klopp? You can have the ball all you want and get sucker-punched by Mane-Firmino-Salah, except Mo Sarah had been removed by a cheat, committing a foul that was hidden from everyone but the camera.
And your problem is this Liverpool side doesn’t cheat, that they should learn the dark arts? Why, so we can be cheating bastards just like everyone else we despise, rolling around, waving arms, clutching faces? Not for me, mate. Sport is too full of cheats already; always has been and always will be but I do not love it for that – I love it when a team triumphs over adversity – like Istanbul – and you can’t do that if Paolo Maldini headbutts Stevie G and gets him carried off in the second half.
So, Real Madrid are winners. Sergio Ramos is a winner. That’s all the history books will say – but if you win like that, then you’re a loser in my eyes.
And your summation of Gareth Bale – walk into any PL team could he? Who’s going to pay the fee? Or his. wages? City won’t. The Mancs won’t sanction that lunacy. They did that with Sanchez. Arsenal? Chelsea? SPURS?! We’re talking 200 mil + £400,000+ a week wages for a 29 year old. Gareth Bale is that good, but also that expensive he’s eaten himself into his own evolutionary cut-de-sac, where he can only stay at Real, or be sold to PSG – no one else can afford him and Real won’t sell him for less – cos they want Neymar.
And why would you buy him, when you can try to pick up a Mo Salah for £40 mil? It no longer makes financial sense for any top club in the PL.
The Zidane World Cup Final in Germany. A classic encounter. Then Zidane reacts to foul-mouthed Matarazzi and gets sent off. Killed that final when it should have been a classic. That’s what happens in sport when cheats prosper, and we should in no way be pragmatic and accepting about that.
“That’s what happens in sport when cheats prosper, and we should in no way be pragmatic and accepting about that.”
I could not agree any more vehemently with this statement.
The prevailing narrative of ‘that’s just what he does’ around Ramos has really got to me. There’s not enough anger about what the guy did. He took away the biggest night of Mo Salah’s career. The player who has given us so much this season had his night ended after 30 minutes and had it ended deliberately. I am staggered that there is any question over whether Ramos meant to do it. I have watched Ramos’ career since he joined Real from Sevilla and this is the character of the man. It’s not ‘clever’ or ‘dark arts’ or ‘bending the rules’, it’s just thuggery from a snide, nasty character.
He’s not even good at it, as demonstrated by the avalanche of red cards he has received in his dirty career. The only reason he gets away with the amount he does is refereeing cowardice due to the side he plays for.
I really resent this admiration he’s been receiving from some sections of the fan-base. He is not someone to be admired in my view and this standard riposte of ‘you’d love him in your team’ just doesn’t fly, because I absolutely wouldn’t.
I noticed Tony Evans’ tweet about how fans moaning about it need to ‘get over themselves’. Can’t say I was surprised to read that from him but I was in no way surprised. In my opinion some people seem to feel that they don’t possess a ‘winning mentality’ as a fan if they condemn Ramos, something which I entirely disagree with.
That coward wrecked the biggest occasion of our best footballer and put his World Cup participation in doubt. I think I’ll hold off with the admiration for now.
‘ So, Real Madrid are winners. Sergio Ramos is a winner. That’s all the history books will say – but if you win like that, then you’re a loser in my eyes. ‘
say it all, and judging by the more than half a million who have signed the petition, there are plenty of others who feel the same, fans worldwide now know, if they didn’t already, about the low standards maintained by Madrid and their players.
They are on the review show singing his praises again. Football is all about opinions, I get it… but my word.
Last 2 podcasts are probably the mist annoying and frustrating I’ve ever heard. As if we need that? Pathetic. Hopefully they will read all the comments above as I can’t imagine they can argue with any of them. Poor show.
How can I download an offline copy?
I don’t have an issue with disagreeing with my views but a show isn’t ‘poor’ just because you don’t hear your own opinions back on it! I’m not looking for people to agree with me – I’m saying what I think, like I’ve always done. Robbo.