RIGHT now I am taking it badly.
All things pass. This will too. But Liverpool have managed to find a way to make this defeat hurt when it never should have. They found a way to be less than their full selves.
There is an argument that they managed this due to Mo Salah going off or due to Loris Karius being appalling in goal. But they also conspired to do this throughout the game. There wasn’t that Liverpudlian 10 minutes that you live for. They never made Madrid pay for not being all that good.
What a bastard of a sentence that is. Madrid deserve the win on the night — let’s be clear. They were the better side. But they don’t deserve it because they taught anyone a lesson, because they lit up the sky. They may deserve it because it was a Real Madrid player who produced the only true moment of quality in the game — Gareth Bale’s overhead kick.
Liverpool never made them need to deserve it. And that is what hurts and what makes this one of our poorest performances of the season, all told. Real Madrid never hit the deck in agony, never felt the sort of pain Liverpool inflicted on every other side they faced in this tournament.
Being fair to our opponents, their most impressive period of play was the 10 minutes after our equaliser. They snuffed out any threat of a Liverpudlian onslaught. They showed game intelligence. But that’s it — all brains, so little brilliance. That’s why it hurts. At no point was anyone played off the park but the steamroller never stopped rolling. The irresistible force never met the immovable object.
It doesn’t help that they won by two and our goalkeeper lashed two in. It really doesn’t help. The worry is how hard this is to come back from after making the errors on the biggest stage. The worry is what happens next.
The disappointing performances were across the park not just in goal. But there is something different between disappointing and costing two goals. To be quite honest, I’d be annoyed with him if I was Gareth Bale. His first deserves to be the sausage dinner. His second makes the story the Liverpool goalkeeper. He doesn’t just ruin Liverpool’s night but he ruins the occasion.
Roberto Firmino never got himself into the game. Mo Salah impacted very little before going off injured. Dejan Lovren and Gini Wijnaldum both played well but had few colleagues who can consider themselves to have played their strongest game. Liverpool should have had a penalty as well, a well-directed elbow in the penalty area ignored by the officials.
But again we come back to the errors, to our errors. Liverpool needed to come out at half time with their manager having tweaked it. But they gave the softest goal away. And so we die not knowing.
We die not knowing. That’s the worst. I told you I am taking it badly. Swallow it. Take it. Have it hurt. And then…
The point is this — these are our lads. They have been our lads. For better or worse our lads. Liverpool are the only thing in the room that matters.
Look at nothing else. Not at the opponents, not at our rivals. Look at us and look at a season where we have terrified Europe.
No backward steps. No apologies. Not now. Not tonight. Let no one apologise. Thank you, gorgeous. Thank you, handsome. We gather our forces; we start again.
It’s how it works. The river starts flowing again in early July. In no time at all. It gets about our feet. We start new journeys together.
Will you permit me? It’s my dad’s birthday. I bought him wine, wine to win with. Wine to drink with my brother in victory. I hope they drink it regardless. I love them and wish I was with them now. They should drink the wine. So should you.
Every time, every occasion I treat it like the last time. This season, every time we should give thanks. What a year. What a journey. Let it hurt. Apologise for nothing, enjoy everything.
Dust yourself down. Drink the wine. Treat it like the last time. Look forward to the next.
Let it hurt. Next season we are stronger and we are better, and next season they won’t know what’s hit them. They didn’t know at times this year for fuck’s sake.
Let it hurt. It starts again in July; it starts again tomorrow. These are our lads. The other thing in the room that matters.
Take it badly but apologise for nothing. Never was there a better time for a football club to allez, allez, allez.
Just never die not knowing again. To get beat is one thing. It happens. But to walk away unsure is something else entirely.
Make yourselves the only thing that matters, Liverpool. That’s the job between now and next May.
I wish this writing were cleaner. But that’s love for you. Sticky, mucky and occasionally defeated. But — for the last time this season — what’s a song without you? Every song I write is about you.
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We paid in a multitude of ways.
1. Faith in a keeper, two keepers infact who simply arnt good enough. We all knew it, we’ve always known it.
2. Lack of a squad. Yeah its great we got to a final but for goodness sakes buy some bloody players! Every year its the same. One or two injuries and we are on our knees. We need depth this summer, we need quality off the bench. Madrid had it and we didn’t. A guy whose played what, 16 minutes and someone whose getting off to Juventus where our fall back options. its simply not fucking good enough.
3. Will the owners take some responsibility this summer? They were crowing before the final about transfer budgets but now that reality has hit will they live up to their promises? Will they back the gaffer? Ive been openly critical of FSG and our seemingly one in one out policy, this has to change.
Make no mistake we got here with graft and from the genius of our manager but the same old problems still exist and haven’t really been rectified. It needs to be sorted this summer if we ever want to start winning silverware.
Spot on.
Thank you Neil x
I didn’t think we were that poor (although I accept, that is kind of the point Neil is making here). Whilst we never managed a breathtaking flurry, we competed and were in the game for a solid 60. Of course the keeper lashes two in, but for me the problem was the bench. We bring on Lallana for Salah, he does, broadly speaking, alright, but they bring Bale on on 60 and within 5 minutes he does that. And we have no one to respond with, only a semi fit Emre Can to eke out the final few minutes. While I don’t expect us to have a bench of their quality, it’s clear we need more quality. To even get this far is an achievement, but it can’t stop there.
I hate saying this as its very hind sightish and without knowledge of the behind closed door conversations, but we had a world class player who we couldn’t keep hold of for an extra 4 months of the season. We had a Sturridge but didn’t keep him to help rotate and maintain quality but opted for Solanke and a huge drop off in class.
As I say all in hindsight, but it’s the thought process that allows the squad to be down to its bare bones that’s worrying.
I admit that if we swapped Ox injury and it was instead Loveren who was injured we’d say what genius it was to buy VVD.
Depth and quality is what we need, make tonight’s starting 11 all have to sweat on their place.
Easier said than done though Hey!
TAW is always cathartic after a defeat, but the 1st half of this article came from a different cathartic direction I was attempting to seek solace in.
Being disappointed in the players after the season they have given us requires some acrobatic like emotions, but it’s true they didn’t do themselves justice, didn’t show the footballing world how menacing we have been when coming up that hill.
Roll on July. Fuck the World Cup.
Allez allez allez
Gutted, not much else to say! Worried how much of a physiological blow this may be to the squad.
Agree with this one. How does Klopp pick-up himself and the players after this one. We were all believing and dreaming.
Maybe some decent transfers over the summer, in and out, will help.
Over two months till we see these lads again – that is a tough one.
What a journey this season was. Hope we do it again next season.
… and the season after that.
… and the next.
The team is young and won’t view that one game as the end point. We also have at least two young, wonderfully-gifted, and supremely confident players in Keita and Fekir coming in. They’ll be hungry for a bit of what they’ve been watching at Anfield from afar this season, too. I don’t doubt that Klopp will have no trouble getting the team past this.
If we learned one thing from this side, then that they always bounce back strong after hurtful defeats.
We will come back stronger next season. Will that lead to a trophy? Who knows?
But the footy will be wildly entertaining. That’s for sure.
After the video I’ve saw today of Klopp and his staff clearly bladdered and singing after the match, then I’d say he’s already over it.
salahs injury changed the game, that cheating **** clamped his arm and the put his body weight on it. it meant that meant our formation had to change from a 433 to a unfamiliar 442. playin a way were not used to. upto that point we were on top and salah had a good game . overall MOTM lovren Gini and sadio. Questions have to placed on klopp and the transfer team for spending 3 years without getting a top keeper. the poor subs bench will get upgraded so thats a plus
Liverpool much the better team until Salah went off. That took the wind out the sails unfortunately.
What a run they gave us. Always liked and respected that klopp gave karius his chance and in truth he did well. You don’t make the final and finish 4th in the league unless you deserve it. That being said Liverpool need better for sure. Great stuff from FSG, Klopp, the men in red and their fans across the world. Hold your heads up high, it was a great season and they will be back for more next season.
Neil, I get it. And it’s a huge credit to everything that the Anfield Wrap team have built that so many will seek solace in the content you guys put out over the next few days. But I think you’re wrong here. Simply put they had too much for us. Too much nous, too much ability, too many good players. I don’t think we were bad but we were only as good as we were allowed to be. We thought we could press Modric and Kroos but their composure in the face of our press was that of top class players. As much as Ramos is a horrible shithouse he’s played that game tens of times and Varane is a Rolls Royce. The boys were trying to be better but were ultimately dominated by a team of world class players. It’s no disgrace, they’ve won it three on the trot – sometimes brilliance doesn’t look like brilliance but it was there everytime they kept it in tight spaces, or there was a white shirt to cut off the incisive pass. We’re getting there under this manager, it hurts like fuck when you miss a chance like this but all we can do is keep building, keep getting better season after season and with a bit of luck we’ll win something big. It’s been a hell of a ride and you boys should be proud of everything you’ve done to support that. See you in July. Up the Reds.
Brilliance doesn’t always look like brilliance. You’re right. That’s a good call on the way Madrid played after Mo went off.
But cynical cheating always looks like cynical cheating (unless you’re the ref).
Bravo. That is exactly what I thought from the game. word for word. I just couldn’t write it down so succinctly. More analysis from you (Charlie) please in the future.
Charlie and his supporters, with the greatest of respect, I think you are wrong. Until Salah had to go off, we were on top and the team looking most likely. All season we have played high wire football and for that to work we need all three of that devastating front three. We could have lost any of them and it wouldn’t be the same. We were working them to the point of conceding, remember Roma kept us out for nearly half an hour. That is a different game if Salah stays on the pitch. Ramos is a horrible shit house, his nous came into play you’re right but Mane had him terrified. Add Salah into the equation for the 90 and I think it works out differently. They are good, better than I think Neil and others are giving them credit for but with our first 11 for the first 25, I don’t at all accept that we were ‘as good as we were allowed to be’ we had them rattled, the three in a row champions of Europe, were rattled. What matters next is how we react. A couple of clever signings, including cover for the front three and next year just might be our year.
Agree with PK.
Me too lad. We were on top until Salah went off. We are threadbare squad wise.
But we bopped our way to a European Cup final, and even though we looked second best for 60, we never looked like we didn’t belong. We haven’t gotten shite. We’ll beat city 3 or 4 times again next season.. we’ll struggle to score past the mourinho bus again. We’ll get rid of the chancers in goal and have a good keeper again.
This isn’t 2005 or 2007 lads, we’re here to stay.
Oh fuck off with your poems Neil and your likes and thumbs up from some try hards fom Suffolk. Keeper has been a problem since klopp came in. ‘Not now’ but since the beginning. You can’t say how great jurgen is without calling him on his failings. Since when has it been acceptable to go from shite to ok?? for Liverpool FootballClub?? Needed a keeped 3 years ago and still need one. Also hope klopp stays for 30 years!!
Jesus, I’d like to say I was extremely drunk at 3am and my head fell off. I meant ‘shite from ok’ regarding keeper for clarity. Also i love your writing Neil. Don’t change. Safe journey back boys.
Find it hard to agree that madrid deserved it, Bales goal was a worldy no doubt, bu for thirty minutes they had no pressure, no composure and no real hold on the match. when Salah got murdered it changed the whole game and ultimately exposed our lack of depth. We rely heavily on that triumvirate. Mane attacks the player, bobby is composed while drawing players to him and mo is a behind the defence attacker. All three work together. when Mo went off, a very professional Madrid side knew they had no threat behind them which opened up Marcello to no longer worry about Mo. This led to greater possession for Madrid and a bit more pressure. We went into statue mode, which means no natural out ball for keeper or defenders and led to the first fuck up. I guarantee Zidane was already plotting to bring Bale on before the the first half ended. If Mo is on the pitch Bale doesn’t come on til desperation times and would have a limited impact. The Ratos homicide changed the whole game like losing a queen in chess.
@Pablo8485
Instead of statue mode, we should have added Solanke, moved Firmino, Mane and Lallana behind him.
Yes, Ramos could’ve tried the same with Solanke, but I feel Solanke is bigger and stronger than Mo or Lallana, and would have created a distraction in the second half. Plus he was fitter than Lallana and Can.
So liverpools luck finally ran out
it should have been man city v real
Liverpool got the decisions against man city at anfield
Liverpool 1st goal offside
2nd and third goals no issues
man city scored ruled as offside when it clearly wasn’t
man city Raheem sterling stone cold penalty taken out by Liverpool defender who handled the ball as well,three match officials failed to see it.
should have been 2-2 advantage man city on away goals
2nd leg city 1-0 up approaching half time, and score again when milner plays everybody onside,again 3 match officials fail to make the right decision.
city would have taken real apart
not saying it was liverpools fault but just saying the right team wasn’t there.
You know how football works right?
Give it a rest already.
If the right team should have been City then you should have beaten Liverpool.
But you didn’t, did you?
all that oil money and you lot have never made it to a CL final. Bit pathetic that, lad.
@city blues what did you win liverpool?
Nah.
Ramos would have broken Sane’s leg and bitch-slapped Sterling to tears. The refs would’ve protected them and City would have lost 0-3.
Proof City is a fucking plastic shit club full of whores that you are whinging like a spoilt bitch on another teams site. What a fucking beaut.
If the right team had won, the Abu Dhabi cleptocracy would have been toppled by the migrant working class in the Arab spring.
Apart from the penalty shout agree with that review 100 per cent. Exactly my regrets and frustrations. If we were going to lose I wanted that to be after Madrid had a taste of the real Liverpool. The blistering period where we score 2-3 goals even if we end up conceding the same amount later. Last night I saw a team I didn’t recognise. Even apart from the goalkeeping error it was one of our worst performances and that is the sadness; we didnt grasp the nettle, take that one opportunity which I was sure we would. Maybe things are different if Salah stays on the pitch. Ramos is a thug and someone should have given him a leg breaker before the final whistle. But I wish we had turned up and played like the real Liverpool that I have watched all season. I guess experience counts for more than we had wanted to admit.
We did press them hard and had the game under control for half an hour until the major turning point- The Judo throw by Ramos on Salah.
Thought that it will be a fairly easy concept to grasp that when a team loses its best player and top scorer in such manner, it would be difficult to see the “real version” of that team. Take Messi out of Barca and see how they often struggle, for example.
Incredibly well balanced – we’ll done. Not taking the piss – I’m super fkd off and you managed to get the above out. I’d imagine Ramos will have the whole of Egypt on his case if our Egyptian King doesn’t make the World Cup. Hurts tonight – tomorrow we take the first step forward to making our team better. Trying hard not to slag a player off – but karius – wtf mate – interesting to see what klopp does – in my eyes he’s gone – the third goal was ridiculous. Neil, good effort – love this website.
I wonder if you lot appreciate what you bring to an international fans experience. I live literally on the closest continent to Kyiv’s antipodes, and the build up and excitement you guys have provided have been as much apart of this week as the game i stayed up until 4:45 this morning to watch. The amount of watered down generic commentary around this game was excruciating save TAW. Thank you.
The game is a killer. No nerves, just excitement going into it. We only needed one thing to go our way, it didn’t happen. It happened for Madrid four times.
I know you are hurting but that was harsh Neil. If Barcelona were to lose Messi 30 mins into a CL final you would understand if their performance dropped from then on. When your game is geared around your star player and they are cynically taken out, then that is just a bit fucked.
I was really impressed with our play up until then, how the boys stepped up the magnitude of the occasion played their game and had Madrid rattled (see some very poor misplaced passes). Given the setbacks of losing Salah and gifting them the first, the boys did amazingly well to bounce back and get level. But when Bale pulls out something like that, which let’s face it, was a fluke no matter how talented he is, it is going to take a lot to feel like it is still your night, and Karius’ throwing in the 3rd just confirmed it.
I agree with you and the feeling of being robbed though. We weren’t given the game we deserved, although John is probably right to say on the pink that finals rarely are.
I also think another great point brought up on The Pink is Liverpool spending two weeks creating a game plan involving or centering around Salah, and then he is off after 30 minutes. Where do you go from there…?
But my god I hope Mo comes back with a vengeance next season after being robbed of playing a part in the final, and potentially the World Cup.
@Sean E.
“Liverpool spending two weeks creating a game plan involving or centering around Salah, and then he is off after 30 minutes. Where do you go from there…?”
Lack of plan B, not thinking of a worse case scenario if it were to happen is Jurgen’s Achilles heel. If Jurgen were to just play a montage of Pepe, Ramos or any of those thugs highlight reel of Dark Arts, the team would’ve been on their guard from the go.
Even at 1-2 we were still in it. How about playing Solanke up front, and allowing Firmino Mane and Lallana to support for a plan B?? Fucking take the risks, instead of reverting to type as we seen Jurgen do when he himself has given up.
Bob Paisley on the Liverpool’s third European Cup victory:
“It was a very physical first half and some of the Real Madrid tackling was outrageous, to say the least. But at the same time they had players of real quality. We started quite well but we were upset, probably, by some of the tackles. It was a triumph for our character once again. We started with three players – Dalglish, Thompson and Alan Kennedy – short of match practice, and Souness was hurt shortly after the kick-off. I’m sure Real didn’t begrudge us our victory. I was so proud to be the manager of the first British club to win the European Cup three times.”
Paisley never gave up. Nor did the team. They just didn’t know how to.
Spot on comments by Charlie above. Madrid were never going to be out there throwing everything forward from the first minute with this amazing flamboyant football. They had big game experience, they had nous, they had class players. Neil is under rating all of that.
When we tried to up it after the equaliser they just kept the ball brilliantly, something we generally couldn’t do. We weren’t great because they didn’t let us.
Having said all that, we started well and were in the game but when Salah went off that was the night over with, replaced Bretby a half fit Lallana. Mane was the only vague threat in the game, we never really looked liked scoring from open play.
Amazing goal by Bale but Karius…. the one ray of sunshine is that might finally convince Klopp to buy a new GK.
Reading the above comments has been therapeutic for me. Here some of mine for your consideration.
My wife and I emerged from a packed pub in downtown Sacramento to the gunpowder smell of flares. The core supporters were outside having their photo taken. It was a bitter sweet portrait. We then walked from there through Capitol park, past a joyous Quincinera party oblivious to the drama that we’d witnessed. It was 2pm and sunny. Setting aside the possible conspiracy to (successfully) remove Salah from the pitch and the deep career hole young Karius had dug himself, we discussed the play of the field players. Other than Lallana’s errant passes in the first half and Can’s non-factor performance, our impression was that they could all hold their heads high. The defense hadn’t put a foot wrong – that was not a defendable bicycle kick (although it may have been save-able). The midfield had ably assisted on the defense, time and time again closing down the Real attack. The midfield had also provided plenty of support and opportunity to the front two (post Salah), Gini especially. Salah won a free kick in a good position and to us looked quite dangerous. Mane was excellent. Firmino may have been coached to conserve his energy, probably because the whole team in general didn’t press as high, refusing to be drawn into a counter attack vulnerability. This may have switched off Firmino’s special purpose somewhat, but he wasn’t poor otherwise.
Overall, if the Salah attack hadn’t occurred, we’d probably be quite complacent about the game. It was simply a matter of one player having the worst possible game at the worst possible time. Bayern’s keeper almost had just as bad a game with similar results. The Salah attack (or rugby tackle) did occur, however, followed within minutes by Carvajal apparently fake crying into the grass and later his hands as he walked off while Zidane is briefly shown grinning behind his hand as he talks to his assistant. This Carvajal episode effectively neutralized the furor over Ramos’s throwing Salah to the ground. If Real frequently play without Carvajal at the back this conspiracy theory is not too far-fetched, eh?
Not sure about the Carvajal conspiracy as I am not quite sure whether it makes any difference to the Salah story, but the guys I was watching the game with were wondering what he could have possibly done that was so bad for him to come off and then just walk down the stairs by himself.
The Ramos judo throw gets worse the more you see it. He deliberately pins Salah’s arm when he has already brought him down.
Also, just saw the footage of Ramos’ elbow on Karius. He is running at a reasonable pace and definitely knows what he is doing. It lays Karis out and literally the next time Karius touches the ball two minutes later he throws it into Benzema…
I know you guys are fans of Ramos’s dark arts, and on some level you have to appreciate the subtlety required to pull them them. But I really, really want to watch the game where Salah stays on the pitch and feel cheated.
Losing Salah isn’t just about losing his goal threat. It’s how the how the front 3 function at the tip of our team. Without Salah, Firmino looks slower and with less options to play clever passes to. Mane did well but had to change position. Lallana is slow and has no threat so Madrid could ignore him.
I’ve never seen a keeper make two such unbelievably bad mistakes in a Champions League final. Why we ever got rid of Reina is beyond me.
Reina couldn’t save anything for about 3 years. That’s probably why.
Spot on Neil it hurts more as bar spells in 1st 30 we didn’t play as we know they can.
Lose 2-1 to that Bale goal and you probably shrug your shoulders and go fair enough. The 3rd whilst it doesn’t change the game that much just brings into focus the mistakes for the 1st and 3rd and that become the narrative
Yes – this. We were sharp and incisive and the better side for 30, until Ramos slapped on the arm bar and forced Mo to tap out. After that it was bravery and fight but the game plan has gone. The chemistry and engineering of that front three cannot be covered for breakdowns- not yet anyway. A Lemar or a Fekir or a Pulisic must be brought in along with a new goalkeeper as a priority. We must evolve and we will evolve.
But Ramos. Man what a cynical, sly fucker.
@Alan
Yes Karius made two mistakes, but he saved four times to deny four clear goals.
Ramos elbowed Karius in the head in the 49th minute, with no one retaliating against him by any of our players and the fucking Ref not doing anything of course. Karius should’ve stayed down so that they would’ve replayed the incident, instead it was forgotten.
This is down to inexperience and lack of big game mentality due to it, especially against a team like Madrid. You cannot blame Karius solely. By this token, Bayern’s keeper also made a mistake that denied Bayern in the semi.
I don’t think we lost the game because of Salah, or Karius. We lost because Jurgen and the team were naive and too soft against Madrid. You cannot outplay a team like that.
Agree with the point that Karius should’ve stayed down to force a replay at least. Of course, if he was indeed concussed, he might literally might not have been in his right mind.
Positives:
– Karius made more saves that kept the score respectable than the two howlers
– the team not crumbling even after Salah was taken out of the game; we gave away goals remember?
– our team made it to the finals when nobody gave them a chance and made top 4
– Ronaldo not scoring; couldn’t bear to see that fuck take his shirt off again
– Defense playing really well, forcing Bale to score a spectacular goal
– Midfield playing their best despite what anyone says
– Liverpool Fans for showing their support despite the defeat and all that fiasco of flights being cancelled, etc; I’m sorry you went through that
Negatives (sorry if I piss off anyone, but this is how I see it):
– Salah being taken out
– no big game mentality
– nobody having the guts to take out a player like Ramos, like we used to see players like Souness etc, do when he would break a players’s jaw to prove a point that you don’t fuck with any of our players
– Jurgen for giving up even when we have minutes on the clock; don’t give up you’re the fucking gaffer who they look to
– substitutes made like we were playing a premier league game or a first leg match; We had two fucking weeks to think about scenarios if we lost a key player to injury or faitugue or red card.
– I would have risked Solanke who was fitter than Can or Lallana, and more physical; we may never again be in the final for a long time, so go all out if you are going to gamble
– Salah going out crying etc; yes potentially being out of the game and world cup and pain, but this game was all that mattered. I see a huge difference compared to Beckenbauer dislocating his shoulder, put in a sling and coming back to play against Italy in the World Cup Semi-final in Mexico City only to lose 3-4. He played against dirtier bastards than Ramos. Maybe those guys had more mental and physical prowess compared to the pussy-foot generation of today
– losing a game we could have won against a Madrid team that was there for the taking
– not sure about the team and Jurgen’s mentality after this game for next season
Fuck Madrid!
agree about replacing Mo with Solanke ~ if only to break the jaw, and leg, of Ramos
@Brighton red
I don’t like dirty play, even when Souness did it, because it feels cowardly, but I understand why, and what it means when you have to deal with bullies like Ramos.
Love the positives.
On the negatives…
– I don’t understand the “Jurgen for giving up” comment. I just missed it if he did. Because he had one more sub and didn’t use it?
– The two weeks to plan response to losing any specific player is valid: Maybe he did and it was Lallana as any attacking player’s replacement… Agreed, in hindsight, Solanke more dangerous. At the time, not knowing how the training sessions had gone the previous two weeks, I accepted Klopp’s decision. But, man, Solanke’s link up play with the front 3 against BHA was so fluid, and Lallana was guessing wrong 75% of the time he didn’t just pass to the feet of a teammate.
– Salah not manning up and playing through the pain is not completely fair. He didn’t know if he had a broken collar bone or not, and we can’t know how much pain he was in. Yes other personalities and physiques might be more stoic in that situation, but still not fair to judge in my opinion.
More tried to carry on. From what I have seen and read about him I don’t think he is a quitter and he would have stayed on if he thought it would have helped the team. I wish him well and hope he is able to fulfil his dream of helping his country and carrying on for us again next season.
I don’t think we need to look much further than the bare facts as far as the result is concerned, we conceded two soft goals and therefore deserved to lose, end of.
An assault straight out of WWE took Mo Salah’s arm out of his socket and changed the game. Up to that point we more than matched the mighty Real Madrid and we can be proud of our boys. What an amazing season.
I said to my boy before the game that this current LFC team was shaping up very nicely apart from the keeper who was the only weakness. Karius did not play well at all in the game after Klopp declared him starter. Hopefully the boss has seen enough.
Heart broken for Mo. The disgraceful Rio Ferdinand stated that Mo could recover and make the next World Cup as if it was a regular option for Egypt.
The team has shown real progress and gutted we lost but somehow more gutted for Mo. The Egyptian King delivered me screams of joy over the season and will be rooting for Egypt in the finals. Mo? Take my thanks and hopes for a speedy recovery.
Next season will be better as we never walk alone.
Most hurting day. No, second to the Gerrard slip day. Injury to Salah was intentional and mellacious, Karius did very well in making three saves but made two costly blunders. We need depth in squad starting with a world class goalkeeper.
If we’d seen a prediction, in August, that we’d make the final and lose 3- 1 to RM we’d have taken it.
The third goal was caused by the first, and Bale’s goal could have gone anywhere. It was a great goal because it was spectacular.
Karius, poor bugger. His mind wouid have been shot by the stupidity of the first goal. He’d made a fine save earlier on.
Ramos is a very clever fouler: his elbowing Karius in the head was brilliantly done. He tried to get Mane sent off by pretending he’d hit him in the face, and his getting Mane carded was risible. He is a very cunning player in that he blindsided the referee when he fouls
Karius HAS been good this season. His career, though, will now be defined by this game and he probably needs urgent counselling. If he’d been playing for a South American team he’d probably get topped.
There were lots of pluses; TAA and Robertson , and Lovren playing his best ever game; Coutino and Can not getting a winners medal: and the hope that Mourino can persuade Man U to fork out 100 mill to bring the Ronaldo plonker ‘home’ to OT.
@Kevin Barry
“Ramos is a very clever fouler: his elbowing Karius in the head was brilliantly done.”
Like in the bygone era (Jimmy Case, Emelyn Hughes, Souness) Mane should’ve ended Ramos’s career when he baited him.
Instead poor Salah was at the hospital getting X-rays while Ramos was lifting Big Ears.
The team is built in Jurgen’s image, too soft when it really matters. Until Klopp understands this there’s always going to be another Ramos who will take out a Liverpool player because it is easy to do a dirty job against any player when they are least prepared or expecting it.
Nice guys don’t finish first in this PC world.
Yeah, don’t usually think it is worth it, but would have loved Mane to fly in with both feet in the dying minutes and given Ramos a taste of his own medicine
Think its easy to say one of our players should have used violent means to retaliate on Ramos.
In all likelihood, that’ll have led to a red card. Then you same fans will be the ones scapegoating the Liverpool player for leaving his team a man short.
@Sharpman maybe you’re missing/missed the point.
Ramos is serial enforcer of the baddest order. You can classify him with the likes of some of the worse (great) offenders who have ended player’s seasons/careers at one point or another with the way they go into tackles.
Ramos has a history. He doesn’t give a fuck about the opposition’s player’s future in the way he has shown on numerous occasions. Red cards don’t phase him.
At some point players like Souness and equally tough/tougher players would have said “Enough pal, now I’m going to give you a dose of your own medicine!”
By the time Mane was on to Ramos, Jurgen, the players and most of the supporters had already given up on the match. Throwing an ineffective Can on was enough for me to know the game was over.
However Ramos had not given up, as he was baiting Mane to try and get him sent off. That and the fact he tried to elbow Karius earlier was when I was like this guy is not going to be punished by anyone, including fucking UEFA.
To you, maybe it would seem like Mane’s red card would have been a waste, but to me and many supporters, seeing Ramos stretchered off and his career ended is something I would not fucking bat an eyelid about.
People like Ramos have no fucking remorse or guilt – he maybe a sociopath. That is why he lifts fucking CL trophies for the past 4 seasons, while our guys go in for x-rays and cry tears.
In any case I am not having a go at you, but I am not over what happened, especially with the way Ramos was let off by the our team, the officials and UEFA.
I hope we meet Madrid again in the CL, at whatever stage, and by then Jurgen has the type of firepower and players who have the mentality that players like Ramos will be put in their place.
Have a great summer Sharpman. We’re still on the same team, and we have loads to look forward to and argue/banter about next season. Look forward to it.
Cheers!
Ey we’ll be Allright you know. The futures bright and all that. Gutted for the lads over there like yaselves. Thanks for the coverage tgere will be more days like this than not coming up x
Yes and no, Neil. We were demonstrably the better team before Mo went off. And it’s easy for people to assume that the team just resets and goes harder but if you have the bond and team spirit we do, then it must jolt you, even for a bit, to see that – your talisman, your mate, leaving in tears after being the victim of gross skullduggery. The bench was simply not up to it, and poor Karius had the type of personal implosion where he will be traumatised. We’re all furious but we don’t want the lad crumpled in a psych ward either. We are all human here. Klopp will own it, as he tends to do, and if there is a criticism here it’s also a human one – maybe he has too much faith, or extends it for too long. But then other managers might have binned TAA during the season, or Lovren or Milner and they blossomed under him, because of that faith. GK position is so pivotal and so specialist, maybe you just need to spend £60m and have done with it, it seems inevitable now, but Klopp’s method is to believe in people. Most of the time it works.
I agree with Kevin Barry’s points really. Some good and a lot that went bad, but let’s harness this hurt, improve the team and squad and go again. Pretty much every team bar City would still have swapped seasons with us. Let this not be the pinnacle, but the start.
Fuck sergio ramos.. hes my scapegoat anyway. Karius errors were huge but somehow i dont think it matters. We didnt look like scoring until they did and then after Bales spectacular goal we didnt look like equalising, which was gutting to watch. Up the brave reds. Those lads gave it all but just came up short. Opportunity missed, these lads need to win a final, any final, next year.
What a huge effort also by the fans that travelled there..
On the Mo hit the only positive I can see is that it will put paid to any transfer rumours of Madrid being in for him….
Was thinking the same. Did you see the way Ronaldo was looking at him pre match, very creepy. Wouldn’t be surprised if he put Ramos up to it. God he was shit yesterday. Lovren has him on toast
I’m pissed off as I spent the hour after the game retaliating to bitter bluenoses and mancs on social media!! What a moronic bunch of fucktards they are!!
It was a strange night. I expected to be absolutely raging when Ramos crocked Salah but when it happened my fume was neutralised by the clarity of my realisation that this is how it goes. This is what you get when you go in against Europe’s biggest team. They didn’t get where they are by being better than everybody else. You can’t do it like that, not always. You are struck by the realisation that the worst possible thing has happened and nothing will be done about it. The ref looked flaky from the start and I knew he wouldn’t punish Ramos for what he did to Mo. You’ve then got Ramos laughing with the linesman as Mo goes off in tears. He works his whole life for this moment and it’s gone like that in such gut-wrenching circumstances. We were all Mo in that moment.
As for Ramos, I’ve seen plenty call him a ‘winner’ and show grudging admiration for what he did, but honestly if that’s the price of success then you can keep it. I do not ever want to see a person like that in our squad. He’s not someone deserving of respect or admiration, whereas many of the Madrid players are. Gareth Bale as an example. He shows that you can achieve greatness by virtue of your raw talent and nothing else. Ramos is little more than human garbage.
I was heart-broken for Karius in truth. No matter the circumstances, I never want to see a player reduced to his state after the game. I’m not arsed with throwing him under the bus. He knows. He’ll be inconsolable this morning and does not need telling. He’d actually made some excellent but now sadly irrelevant saves. This is what football can bring you to.
It’s worth noting that we weren’t outclassed last night. That doesn’t win us anything but it’s preferable to any other losing scenario. The back four were excellent and marshalled Ronaldo so effectively. No back-line in history stops Bale’s first. Hands just have to be held up. They were able to bring on Gareth Bale in a Champions League final. Worth thinking about that for a moment.
I’m excited about this summer. We’ve put ourselves back where we belong. No team spread fear throughout Europe like ours this season.
What a ride it was.
Good call Dan. I told my partner that we would probably lose because RM are cynical and always resort to foul means to deny their opponents, which is a shame when you consider their ability and depth. And then it was proven. If that’s the price of success, I agree, you can keep it.
Precisely. When you consider the resources at their disposal, players like Bale & Asensio on the bench, it says so much about their character that their success is as much down to nefarious practices as anything else.
‘ As for Ramos, I’ve seen plenty call him a ‘winner’ and show grudging admiration for what he did, but honestly if that’s the price of success then you can keep it. ‘
couldn’t agree more mate, not only does he deliberately put Salah out of the game he also manages to elbow Karius in the head off the ball a minute or so before the first goal ~ not a winner just a thug.
I only saw the Karius elbow this morning. It gets to a point with Ramos where it’s so despicable it’s almost comical.
Plenty admire him so they can have him. Real fans can continue to fawn over him and fans of other clubs can live vicariously through him.
@Dan I think you will see that there will be more players like Ramos at the top level. When winning is everything to them.
They will repeat similar stuff against teams like Liverpool unfortunately. That’s the real world.
I am not an admirer of Ramos, but I know what players like Souness, Carra, etc were about in a game. They would let players like Ramos know there would be equal retaliation. To be able to come into our area and hit our goalkeeper, shows that not one of our players can stand up to this guy.
Gareth Bale is excellent, but he is not a defensive player, and is not expected to go out and hurt people; he had a different point to prove. However defensive players are often called on to employ the dark arts.
Ramos’s task was to take out one or all of the front three. As I said before, Mane should’ve ended Ramos’s career when he baited him.
Maybe there are Sash and maybe there always will be, but I don’t admire or want them anywhere near the team I support. I think there’s a conflation here between being physical and competitive and behaving like Ramos. We are physical, aggressive and committed, but none of ours would purposely set out to hurt an opponent. If some of our fans want players who would then I can’t help that. It’s not ‘dark arts’ as there’s no artistry to it. It’s brazen cheating from a person more than aware that the referee hasn’t the courage to call him up on it.
I don’t agree that our players couldn’t stand up to him. You saw that ref, can you really imagine him permitting one of ours to do to Ramos what he did to Salah?
Of course a Souness, Carragher or Gerrard would have given Ramos some back, but I expect they’d also have been sent off for it. Lovren smashed Ramos in the air for our goal. That is the kind of retribution I really want to see. I’m not saying I wouldn’t have been cheering if Sadio really put one on Ramos. Of course I would. No player in the history of the sport would deserve it more.
I’m not going to concede anything here. Ramos belongs to Real Madrid. He fits their culture to perfection. He’s a vain, spiteful, cowardly narcissist who perfectly encapsulates the culture of the club. He can stick his apology to Mo up his arse. I’d have spat in his face walking through that guard of honour.
@Dan you know how I feel then about Ramos.
I am with you, that I don’t like this stuff, because I find it to be cowardly, even when Souness or other players in Red did it, but I understand why and what it meant to stand up to a bully who is blatant and obvious for one reason.
That elbow to Karius was what decided for me that Ramos needed to be taken out at some point. He knew exactly what he was doing, and would have done terrible damage had Karius moved a couple of inches forward.
Sometimes people like Ramos don’t change and never will. He’s a true mercenary who does not value or respect other players and their careers. Looking the other way only fuels his perverse mind. It’s when you go all out and pull the plug on these types.
To me, if I was Mane, I would’ve taken the red card and ended Ramos’s career.
Honestly Sash, I’d be a liar if I said I didn’t want to see Mane or someone else stud Ramos in the face, chest or shin. I don’t feel good saying it but Ramos is on another level of cowardice to any player I’ve seen.
If Souness had of been on the pitch last night the Real fans would have been holding a candle-light vigil outside Ramos’ hospital instead of celebrating another Champions league win. We are too soft as a team and lack an on the pitch leader. Henderson may be great in the ambassadorial captains roll but he is just another name on the long list of piss poor leaders we have had over the last 20 years.
@Jon Agree with you. I think you know what some of us meant.
I was the same after Ramos ended Salah’s night – but not that this is how it goes, rather that this is how they were going to win. I never got the feeling that Madrid were going to accept defeat, and after the first half hour it was clear they weren’t going to win with our front three on the pitch (at least that’s what it looked like to me), so then there was only one way for them to do it. I think losing Mo was when we lost the match. Ramos then put a lot of effort into trying to get Sadio sent off. Even if it was 1-1 without our goalkeeping errors the feeling for me was that they’d have engineered a penalty in the 90th minute to win the match. Like you said, it was a strange night, and I agree with all your points about Ramos. It feels awful and the instinct for a lot of fans is to find fault in our approach and players, but we lost a champions league final to Real Madrid; when I look at the list of teams who have lost a CL final it doesn’t feel quite so bad. We should be stronger next season.
Reading it back I should probably have expressed more clearly that this what Madrid do, rather than “this is how it goes.” That kind of gives a sense of inevitability to our loss, which I don’t think is accurate. We could have won that game. They found a way to illegally neutralise our best player in a way that we’d have never been permitted to do to theirs. Ramos wasn’t going to be able to stop him, just like he’s never been able to stop Messi, so he resorted to cowardly thuggery like he always does. He later tried to get Mane sent off when he realised we still carried a threat through him. There are a few reasons why we lost last night, but the Ramos attack on Salah is the biggest.
I am proud of each and everyone in the team even Karius. I know we will be back again next time and the next time.
In the cold light of day waking up in Kiev feeling numb, we have only been in the CL once in last 7 or 8 seasons and were abysmal on that one occasion we qualified.
Winning last night would have been beyond heaven for so many reasons but it wasn’t to be in a game where started well against a team that will go down as one of the all time greats; and then just about everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong; and even then we are almost back in at 2-2 with Mane’s shot.
But after so many recent pre Klopp seasons where we have been 6th or worse, this is a club that has found its mojo again and going places. We needed to badly rekindle what Liverpool are about and Klopps first 3 seasons have done that in spades. The quest for a trophy is painfully hard but Klopp has got us back to being respected as a force again. With our backing he can take us to that final elusive step of winning again. The support in the ground at the end of the match was immense as it has been all season. Gutted for everyone but we can be proud of our team and our unique support, in a world of ‘fans’ with plastic flags, through a season that has shown LFC is a contender for major trophies again and a force to be reckoned with.
Good shout on the Mane shot. I’d forgotten about that amongst everything that went on. It just shows the margins we’re dealing with here.
Eloquent and excellent as always Neil.
Thanks to you and all the crew for everything you’ve given us this season and every season.
Wouldn’t be the same without the Wrap.
Thanks Neil for pouring yourself into this and all the content this year. The reason I subscribe is it makes it easier to deal with the defeats knowing we’re all feeling the same thing regardless of where we are in the world. And, you know, defeats like these just make you love the club more.
It ended badly, but….There are lots of buts, Madrid and Ramos know what it takes to win, there are many ways to tackle Salah but he chose the one that wrestled him to the ground, he makes little attempt for the ball, it’s about ruffing him up. Souness did those types of tackles, it’s what this Liverpool need to do more. Ramos also head butted Karius from a corner, nobody knew what happened, (I saw it afterwards on Twitter) he should of stayed down for 5 mins until the ref came over. Game intelligence, the dark arts, being Mourinhoed. Winning but not being great, and Madrid are not great. Even with Salah off and a worldie against us, it took our goalie to give them 2 goals to beat us. It’s frustrating, but there is no gulf in class or ability, we were not battered, we were not overwhelmed. If you believe this is the start of the journey, then you should ask which team has the brightest future, which team will go on. Madrid have dominated the Cl over 5 years by being average, there is no love for them outside of their own fan base. They are not like Ajax, Bayern and Liverpool of the 70s. Liverpool, AC Milan of the 80s Barca under Pep. Madrid between 98-02 were a joy. Winning at all costs gets a bit boring, Bales goal will get lost in history, because Madrid score lots of boss individual goals. Liverpool lost, but what a season, what a team, what a joy, what style, what panache, what a set of lads, what a future.
@Troutbeck_Red
Agree with you especially on Ramos and Souness points.
For me the manner of our defeat hurts. Teams in the past fought until the last minute. These days it ends when the pundits or commentators announce it 15 minutes from the whistle.
There will be dirty players, Klopp needs to realize this and get his own Souness now. Maybe Keita would’ve been a match for Ramos last night. A hot-head vs a hot-head. It’s why both get Red carded so often. They don’t care about the rest of the team if they go off.
Madrid will not dominate, unless other teams and Liverpool allow them to.
Let’s not forget it’s been a great season and hopefully next season will be even better but we need to strengthen the squad as our alternative options have been poor.
Greater consistency in the league as well – we shouldn’t been dropping points to relegation fodder like West Brom and Swansea for example.
We’re heading in the right direction and we haven’t been doing that for a long time and long may it continue…
Time on her side… Love the reference.
Safe journey home boys.
Still think Real’s pre-match team talk was “injure Salah as early as possible”. It might/might not have made a difference if he’d stayed on. But who’d want to support a club that behaves like that? Success at any price?? No thanks.
Madrid feared us which is a massive compliment, first 25 we were bright and dangerous until Ramos does what Ramos does and snuffed out the danger man they feared most , we were in a state of shock until HTand the whistle is music to my ears,keepers monumental error costs us dearly and is a mistake he and us will carry with us for as long as we live , the equaliser came at a great time but RM have seen this all before and take the sting out good and proper and is a valuable lesson we need to learn , Bale was always going to hurt us from the off or from the bench we just knew it and why I’ve got bags under my eyes like fkn hammocks from endless sleepless nights , lack of options costs us dearly and why I feel for Klopp so much, he turns round when Mo is in tears and thinks erm erm erm , when ZZ turns to his bench he is spoiled for fkn choice isn’t he , apart from soft lad in goal this is what made all the difference when it really mattered.
@John colfar
Jurgen also knew this like you and everyone one of us two weeks before.
What I fear is that Jurgen has no plan B, and folds like the rest of the team when we need him the most. I mean we still had a game at 1-1, even at 1-2. Jurgen is too slow to react when his only plan doesn’t work which was equally disheartening. Instead it’s Zidane taking the risk with Bale and making the first move.
Playing Solanke, and moving Firmino, Mane and Lallana behind him would have been a gamble, but this is once in a lifetime shot, and I would have gone with it. Salah or one of the three was always going to be a target against a thug like Ramos.
Even if we had options like Real Madrid did, to replace Salah, Ramos would’ve repeated his effort on the next player – he nearly did that with Karius and Mane.
I’m really not making a point of disagreeing with you here Sash as I genuinely think you’re sound, but I don’t think Zidane “took a risk” bringing Bale on. An £85m superstar coming into a deadlocked final seems pretty straight forward to me and if Klopp had an asset like that in reserve he’d have used it too.
@Dan
ok not a risk, but certainly Zidane saw the chance. I’ve seen it with that bastard Mourinho too, when he was at Real Madrid, against United in the CL some years back.
It’s worrisome for me when Jurgen is mulling things over, it’s like he can’t decide or risk it in that moment.
What that Can sub was for I will never know.
I just hate going out like this Dan. Without a fight. This team didn’t deserve this after all what they put in to get here and in the season overall.
Jurgen needs to grow a pair, improve as well and come back next season prepared for more of the same if we meet Madrid in the CL.
I’m not sure what the Can one was either. Our lack of squad depth was certainly laid bare.
I’d say we did fight. Trent, Henderson and Robertson all shrugged Ronaldo aside on separate occasions, whilst Lovren and Van Dijk weren’t even slightly ruffled by him.
What hurts more than anything is the fact that I know we could have won it. They were shaken up in that first half an hour. We had them worried. Our heads fell off thanks to the nature of Mo’s departure and then you really saw how thinly stretched we were.
@Dan
I know man it hurts knowing that.
Yeah, they and all of us felt it after Mo’s departure, which is why I think all of us were hoping to go into half time without further incident and 0-0 scoreline, which we did. But credit to the team for not wilting then.
I imagined a relief and then everyone rallying to Salah’s cry for a winner’s medal. “Do it for Salah, for all the supporters who were devastated, and yourselves!”
I think the gk errors was a sucker punch that deflated the come back. Klopp has so much faith in the players at times, that it feels like when he is rewarded with these mistakes in return at inopportune times, he forgets what to do.
I don’t wish Karius any ill feelings or anything like. That’s just mental. I do think we need experienced upgrades to specific positions, if anything to inject freshness and more options for tactical switches mid game without fear of collapse.
We had them last night, I hope we will get another chance next season.
There’s no doubt the Karius error came at the worst time. It seemed like every incident was timed to have the maximum amount of impact on us.
We were on top first half and Salah got injured.
We manage to ride it to half-time at 0-0 and we gift them the most ridiculous of goals.
We force ourselves back into it and Bale scores one of the best Champions League final goals of all time.
We almost strike back again but hit the post.
We then give them the comical third.
I don’t know what you wanted him to do. They had a full squad. Most of ours was on the table.
@Jake One thought was to throw on Solanke instead of an ineffective Can. Move Firmino, Lallana and Mane behind him, like Jurgen did against Brighton. Yeah you can say Solanke’s inexperienced, etc, but when the fuck is this kid ever going to learn??
Throw him in, he has the physicality, and speed to do some damage, at the very least, provide a distraction for Firmino, Mane and Lallana to come into the game. Maybe we would have paid for it, but WTF did Can really do?
Alternative was to move Mane and Solanke up, with Firmino, Lallana and Gini and Heno behind.
To me this is what I would have gambled on and tried something instead of Can or moaning about a poor bench.
My biggest fear before the game was that we wouldn’t play like we had done in the tournament so far. I think it’s hard to play your best free flowing football in a final, nobody really does apart from peak Barca.
Finals are about not making mistakes and taking your chances whenever and however they arrive.
This might be one of those games, Neil, where if you force yourself to watch it back in a few days or weeks’ time, you might feel a bit better about it. Like a few others who’ve commented here, I thought we were more than decent until Sergio Ramos decided to show off his judo skills. Even in El País, the match report talks about us not only dominating Madrid for the first 30, but doing so with a collective level on the ball that they hadn’t realised we possessed.
I know we were all desperately hoping to at least see one of those 15-minute bursts when we steamroller the opponent, but the truth is we have always had Mo, Bobby and Sadio on the pitch when we’ve done that, and it’s not always been in the first 30 either. I also think it’s easy to assume that because Madrid didn’t tear us to pieces, they were there for the taking. Personally, I think that they genuinely respected us too much to have thrown caution to the wind and try to put on a show. They were never going to facilitate our game-plan that way because they aren’t as idealistic as Barcelona.
To anyone who thinks they are simply nothing special, then I’d argue that this is what years of hoovering up the best players in the world can result in – a team that doesn’t need to be.
Thanks Neil, to yourself and all the TAW contributors, for all the fantastic content in the build-up to the final.
No getting away from it, Salah’s injury changed the dynamic of the game. On top for thirty minutes, no doubt, we were working up a head of steam. Dodgy looking challenge by Ramos. Football is cruel at times, their first goal was a fluke and their third doesn’t happen if their first doesn’t happen. These Redmen have been magnificent all season and deserved so much more than what the football gods dished up last night. Onwards and upwards next season.
Most of what needs to be said has been said except …….
Where are the Player Ratings ?!? :)
I can imagine writing the Match Review and doing The Pink was hard enough …… can I suggest just go straight to Robertson and carry on from there. No one wants the season’s first zero to be issued in the CL Final :)
Thank you Neil and all the team for the fabulous content all season. Safe journey home.
We were much the better side until Mo went off and our heads inexplicably fell off……and Marcello started going forward which allowed them to find their passing game.Hopefully Klopp and FSG improve us with 3/4 top drawer players next season otherwise the well will be run dry towards the end of next season yet again.Maybe FSG wont allow for a better wage budget and thats why we fall short every year? Defining summer for manager and owners awaits……unlucky redmen!
Salah’s MMA’d and off. Karius takes an elbow to the head and a possible concussion and continues to play. Why wasn’t Hendo going ape shit over these assaults to the ref? Can retroactive action be taken against Ramos? He’s a fucking danger! A serious lack of depth to the squad has plagued the Redmen the better part of the season too, making our substitutions ineffectual against a team that has pedigree in these top level situations. It was a perfect storm that our boys just couldn’t weather. The caveat is they are a young team with a galactic fuckton of promise and with our new signings and hopefully a few more on the horizon, we could very well turn the tide next season and then raise the big-lugged trophy ourselves to take home to Anfield. Dream big Redmen. YNWA
Hurts like a bastard, but if you told me how I would feel today in exchange for the ride we’ve had this season, I’d still take it in a heartbeat. I’m walking around murmuring “f*ck” under my breath about every four seconds, then forgetting just long enough to have the pain of remembering, but my only real regret is that I spent so much time this season feeling anxious and not full-on enjoying the thrill ride.
If this isn’t the moment when FSG move ambitiously and decisively in the market, well then all the moaning whingers and whinging moaners have been right all along. Keita is on the way. Hopefully, Fekir will soon join him. But there is still work to be done when our own stock is the highest it’s been in a decade or more – *that’s* when you make your big moves.
I am so grateful to Klopp and his lads for all of the memories, and I can’t wait for next season to arrive! This feels nothing like the end, and everything like the beginning. Thanks, too, to the Anfield Wrap for sharing and amplifying the ride. You gents and ladies are a treasure. Now let’s win the lot!
Final insult is that Bale had never scored a bicycle kick before in his entire football career…
Wonderful writing. FFS I’m not a Liverpool supporter (but I was last night!), but anyone one with a football heart has to respect the roller coaster season LFC and the fans have had. Enjoy the madness, it was worth it even in defeat.
Karius goes. Not negotiable.
Since the game finished, I have become really saddened by what happened – and continues to happen – to Karius. Certainly two of the worst errors imaginable but for God’s sake!
Re: the Salah incident. The armlock that was used to drag him down wouid result in a dismissal in rugby, and in Aussie Rules football – organised mayhem though it is – it would have warranted a three- or four-week suspension. Ramos is a blot on the game.