LIVERPOOL v Manchester City — the prevailing battle.
Liverpool v Leicester City — the evening’s affair.
Mathematics v Feelings — the inner struggle.
Had both Liverpool and Manchester City won you’d be bouncing, but we’d be as you were. As it is, we are a point better off in comparison to them and we leave Anfield frustrated.
What a daft game it is.
But what it feels like matters. What it feels like is the heart and purpose of the enterprise. If you didn’t feel it, you couldn’t love it. We aren’t meant to be rational. Let the managers be rational in their post-match press conferences if they can. Let Thursdays be about rationality if we must. But let the Wednesday feel.
I felt the hail. Good god did I feel the hail. The weather was vicious and treacherous. It was no barrel of laughs for 22 good players. Twenty-two. Our lads and theirs.
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For too long there has been the discussion prevailing around the league that there are six teams and then there are 14. Recently, a mid table has developed but it has suited to talk these sides down, so as to act like the very best are just putting fodder to the sword. This has been unfair and wrong.
Leicester City are full of good players, as are Wolves, as are West Ham. They can be inconsistent, they may not be the very best, but they get to be good. It masks Liverpool’s (and Manchester City’s and Tottenham’s) achievement to act as though they should always win. It cheapens the winning that has been happening.
Tonight’s game should put the previous 24 into perspective — that Liverpool have for the first time dropped points against a side outside of the top five only tonight should be marvelled out. How well we have done.
But there’s that rationality again. In all fairness, tonight they should have done better.
They gave themselves the start that matters, the early lead, and for 10 minutes they had Leicester all at sea, unable to settle, a side without an anchor for whom the worst had happened. And then Leicester realised the worst had happened. That it couldn’t get any worse than the one thing you don’t want to do away from home and they found their way.
I was so impressed with the Foxes. Their shape was ace, they flitted and found angles nicely, they played their way into the game when they could, showed pace and power throughout and frustrated Liverpool for long spells. They deserved their equaliser and then they arguably deserved to be ahead by the hour. Liverpool shaded the last phase of the game without particularly working Schmeichel in the Leicester goal.
For The Reds too many seemed just off it, unable to contribute meaningfully. Jordan Henderson did well as a makeshift right back but the key word there is the qualifier — “makeshift”. Liverpool missed both him and Fabinho in the centre of the park. Gini Wijnaldum played well. Xherdan Shaqiri couldn’t find a path into the game and nor could Mohamed Salah. Roberto Firmino looked on the verge but stayed there.
Sadio Mane was excellent, the best performer on the pitch for either side. He was constantly involved and alive and scored that lovely opener. He looked to be on when released first half, was unlucky in being fouled by Harry Maguire, for what we can possibly consider an orange card, and in general troubled Leicester City. Him swapping flanks lessened his contribution, but football managers get to try things.
Naby Keita nearly happened tonight. His performance felt like something better was just around the corner for the first time since Burnley and he was unlucky not to win a penalty. Had Keita had more on days then this was the sort of performance that would just look like a slight off day, if you see what I mean. It was a nearly showing and that is actually OK.
The referee was poor throughout. It looked an elbow in the face for Salah first half in the area but he was just in general inconsistent through the game, you name the decision and he was just off it. That said I wouldn’t have fancied his job this evening for the now legendary big clock tonight.
Liverpool can have few complaints about their own performance in the final reckoning, however frustrating that might be. They should all be feeling like they could have done with being a little better.
The feelings do for you, the carrot of seven clear dangled for Liverpool and they failed to nab it. The feelings of slight regret always carry that ache rather than sting.
Fourteen more threes, Reds. Fourteen more. In the end it will be mathematics that sees us home, mathematics that unleashes all the feelings one way or another. And this is a week which has just gone our way.
Let that fact be the hot water bottle in your bed. It’s not a night to be out forever, not a night to warm the cockles, but it is a night to look at the league table, think of our heroes and feel the spring open up before us.
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Fair assessment Neil and whilst Hendo did a decent job the balance elsewhere was affected by it, and it showed in the lack of “busyness” of the midfield, Gini aside. Leicester put up a more than decent showing so it’s not the time for heads falling off at all. Up the five points clear at the top reds!!
Nice one Neil. Beautiful writing. Beautifully said.
What Ben said. I felt a little disappointed afterwards but great perspective and well observed piece.
Neil it’s probably all that Dubai Duty Free Shopping practice that Jurgen and the team must have been working on.
This isn’t the first time they’ve looked off it after a “deserved” break. What they do in training at these exotic places continues to baffle me.
Good thing it snowed/hailed whatever, otherwise Leicester looked up for it tonight and might have sucker-punched the Reds.
In the end we came away from this game with a crucial point, though for whom remains to be seen.
I thought Robbo had his worse game for us tonight to be honest. Ir was disdapointing not to go 7 clear but it would have been even more dissapointing to have been beaten and on the ballance of chances snd play youd have to ssy Leucester were probably more dissapointed nit to win than us .
For me it was a case of 1 point gained rsther than 2 lost.
Have to agree. I came away from the game saying exactly the same about Robbo.
Can we stop pretending we’ve got a deep enough squad now? No striking back up. Studge can’t run. 4 great defenders. No full back back up. Off loading of clyne and Ings, not replacing Moreno, all about the bottom line. Jurgen has to cover for the owners who tell him sorry jurgen nothing doing.
I agree, the squad depth is not there. We need to offload Lallana, Sturridge and a few others in the summer.
Patience padowan.
This summer will see departures and the squad will be changing for the better.
You can’t build a squad without first building a top team, otherwise you just end up with a mediocre squad.
Nice one Neil.
I have to disagree about Keita though.
I suppose it’s still too early to write him off but he does not look like he knows what it’s all about.
In a mad way us being in a title race is the worst setting to come into a new team as a new signing which doesn’t help him.
But we are where we are, I hope something can still ‘click’ with him eventually. Hope Ox can hit the ground running when he returns as we need that one more man who can make things happen and Keita/Lallana just ain’t it.
Please can we stop the nonsense. We are trying to hard to find positives for Keita. He was again not at the races and Leicester’s own little fella in the middle of the park showed him how it’s done.
Also, Martin Atkinson as a ref. He never ever Awards us anything, ever. The first half should have seen a yellow awarded for a forearm smash into Salah’s face by Mcguire when Salah had put the ball past him in the box. It’s a pen every day of the week (notice that BBC’s MOTD decided not to show this). So Atkinson plays on. Then McGuire stays on when taking out Mane who would have had only their keeper to beat. So the irony of the fella who should have been off the pitch then grabbing an equaliser.
The equaliser was our fault. Keita has the ball. Clock ticking down and he plays it to Robertson who is marked and Robbo loses it. If Keita had held it and ran out the clock, then we go in 1 nil up.
Anyways stupid foul by Robbo to give away the free kick. Then we make a complete mess of clearing it and VvD is at fault for not marking up. That said that free kick should have been awarded for the foul on Gini moments before as there fella is about a metre away from the ball and just shoved Gini as he goes for it.
The Lino who failed to spot this push on Gini was shocking. He gave us nothing all game, yet managed to flag Mane offside when he was 2 yards on. This was with about 5mins normal time to go and he was in on their keeper.
Finally, we need to stop fielding Lallana and Sturridge. They are finished.
*Their fella not there
J..Keita was better tonight, and if there’s progress, then surely he is going in the right direction? You can’t blame him for Robertson cutting the player down, leading to the free kick, then ultimately the equaliser. If you don’t rate him, then fine, but the equaliser was far from his fault in any sense.
In a general sense, I am a bit gutted we didn’t go to 7 points clear, but I was pleased we moved further away than 4 points. My rationale brain, says, in an irrational way that City will win every game. If we stayed 4 ahead we could draw 2 and lose on goal difference. Ouch.
But, now we are 5 ahead, we would have to lose one and draw one, and still be binned on goal difference for them to take the tittle. So, if we draw 2, we up by 1 point, so even though it feels a bit crap at the moment, that 1 point could ultimately win us the league!
J…Ignore y comment about blaming Keitta, I didn’t read your post correctly. My apologies.
Lee, thanks for the maths. That’s what I was thinking was the case, but it seems more solid after you wrote it down.
Even if Keita had played well, which he didn’t, I would still single him out for that ball. Nothing was on. He was under no pressure. He just needed to hold the ball up and see out the clock.
As for rating Keita, what has he done to date to be rated?
You are correct though, Keita didn’t give the fk away, but if he had held the ball then everything else is mute. After that moment we have a Lino who misses the shove on Gini. Robbo giving the fk away. Us then making a mess of clearing our lines and VvD being asleep and a guy who should have seen red and also should have given a pen away then snatching the equaliser.
Back to Keita though. He did nothing in this game to influence anything in midfield either in going forward or defending. He did though keep giving the ball away
Goal was not about vvd, look at Robertson and Gini playing slab head onside.
I felt hard done by at half time. Thought we should have gone in 1-0 up. Thought we should capitalise on Manes start and join him in his effort. Thought Maguire should see red for his tackle on Mane and naby should have a pen.
After an hour I was relieved it was still 1-1. At the end, after no meaningful impact from the subs, I was deflated.
Still though, 5 points and time to move on. We can’t win them all.
Fabinho was good when he came on.
Atkinson got 3 key decisions wrong and all in Leicester and ultimately Man City’s favour
I was watching the game on TV and my blood was boiling at the nerves inside the stadium. Lads anyone that is going to these games has a responsibility to leave the nerves aside and put everything in to it for those 90 minutes just like the players do. And get everyone around you to do the same. Get drunk if you have to, just do something to make a difference this is our chance, what we’ve been waiting for all our lives and the people inside the stadium are gonna have a massive influence. I know it’s possible. Half time in Istanbul i felt sorry for myself for a minute then got up and shouted at everyone to get up and sing as I’m sure many others did.
I know it’s nerve wracking at times but you can’t show it if you’re inside the stadium. Be strong for the players. Show no weakness. Don’t be a bystander, if you’re there create the atmosphere that we need because no one else is gonna do it for us. Take f**king responsibility
Every point matters and I’m grateful for this point. Leicester could’ve won that. Brilliant defending from Bobby and Ali to stop a certain goal. Mane was very good, hope he can keep that form going. Naby improving all the time, more minutes which is good. It just didn’t go for us Wednesday. Let’s just refocus and prepare to go again.