MAN alive.
It meant nothing, then it meant everything, then it was roaringly special.
The game crazy. The competition crazy. The extra time crazy.
Quick things…
The line. You may not like it but the line is an issue. Sometimes your greatest strength is your greatest weakness. Analysts have had 50 games of data around the line to analyse. And you know what? They have a plan of sorts.
It’s fine to be vulnerable, alright to be targeted but you have to know what to do next.
Oxlade-Chamberlain is a midfielder. Again, this is OK. But he is more a midfielder than James Milner. Than Emmanuel Petit or Graeme Souness in their pomp. He is a lad who explodes from the middle third. This is fine as well. But let’s clock it.
I adore these lads. I adore, adore, adore the captain. To love is just the sweetest thing and they gave us the opportunity again. Had they been better they would have demanded more adulation but less adoration.
I want them to pop round to ours for a barbeque. I want them to sit in our office. I want them to beat Southampton and then tell me how fucked they are. They are the very best, they are the most mortal.
The goalkeeper suddenly has a mad life. Which is sound because the sub goalie’s life is madder. We are one of the best two teams in Europe. We are a business worth billions. We are a gang of ragtag loons who barely know their own squad numbers.
What a sweetheart gig. What a Frank Capra tale. We’re a Pulp song without the fingering. On the Adrian save for victory we’re the Beverly Hillbillies with the fingering. Liverpool FC – would snog.
Would be ace if Fabinho and Matip could pass to theirs a little bit less.
Chelsea could eventually prove alright. I love Mount, you know. He’s a ride. He is tidy as. But they were in far better nick than against United. They may prove rambunctious. This would be off brand but remember when that fella sang that mad song on Sky? They may need him back every Friday.
The manager ran at the keeper. Made a joke about Adrian in the context of Rocky. He is your da not mine. Mine is far cooler and has a better dog. Admittedly he’s not a football genius but nor is he is a gawky lad from the foothills of Germany.
My favourite thing about the manager, who is marvellous and clever and brilliant at his job, is that every day he becomes publicly less cool. No BOOM here. He’s the best, he’s a pint, he’s a ride. But he’s also more and more his age as the days pass. This is mostly adorable. Mostly.
How fit are you? If I assembled you and 10 mates how fit would you be? The game became odd because no one knew how fit anyone truly was from 55. There was a spate of lads just kicking it into touch which reminded me of playing seven-a-side at 9.43pm. Legs crumbling as a game contined around them.
Where do you pass the ball when you have no idea if anyone has a 10-yard run in them?
The conditions and the pitch didn’t help. Every player dripped with sweat. Perhaps this is what Madrid would have looked like had Liverpool not scored early. Liverpool were second best in the game and simultaneously most likely. The game belonged to Chelsea, the match to Liverpool.
At no point did I ever truly believe Liverpool would lose the game because that isn’t what Liverpool do. And it isn’t what they did. These lads need to improve and do so quickly but they are also utterly tremendous at managing football matches.
The keeper is a cat. The cat is a keeper. Him and Henderson in the interview. Him leaping off his line. He shouldn’t commit for the penalty, he should commit all the other times. Sometimes your greatest strength your greatest weakness; sometimes we should just pack the hypocrisy in and let a football match be what it is. I like him. He makes me feel alive. He’s a ride.
These are the days and these are the lads. No more on transfers or what ifs. No more on the whys and wherefores. We got to see our boys tonight and we got to see them lift something shiny, got to see Henderson give it little legs, got to see one more podium.
They’ll do for me. This piece has taken some writing. In and out of serious analysis in the drafts but ultimately right now I want to do karaoke with Liverpool. Want to go to mass with Liverpool.
Mirror, mirror on the wall don’t say it because I know they’re cute. Liverpool have the juice. Liverpool are a ride.
See you Saturday. Saturday will be graft. Saturday will be ours.
Man alive. It has started.
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Thank you for a great match review. It captures the madness of the early season roller coaster that no one wants to be on, but is the best feeling ever.
So this is a case of keeping the arm and legs in the ride at all times, but scream if you want to go faster.
“We’re a Pulp song without the fingering”.
Pure, unadulterated genius. Thank you for that, Neil!
Maybe showing our age mind, like our Norbert.
Last night just reminded me of all our away games in the Group stages of the CL where we gave the impression of being utter dog poo at this whole footy lark. Maybe Jurgen is using some new training techniques we don’t know about, such as making our lads do some extreme Special Forces training stuff on the back of 120hrs of sleep deprivation while running in a sweat box for the entire time, because we even looked shattered before the game started… It has to be a plan to lure all the oppo in across the globe to thinking that we are actually there for the taking. That’s all I can think of at present. Or it actually could be that we are actually knackered and need a season off.
Anyways we got a nice shiny vase last night. It will look good on Jurgen’s dinning room table with some flowers in it.
BTW, I heard some mad stat last night that Liverpool and Chelsea have already met 60 time this Century, so there’s real potential that we can end up playing them 7 more times this season then.
Am I the only one who is slightly worried about our defensive performances?
We dont look like stable and rock solid as last season, more like the Liverpool of 17/18. Opponents seem to get behind us at ease, either with long balls, on the wing or even with passing thorugh the midfield. It looks worrying.
What has changed from last season. Is our line too high? Are we doing this on purpose? And why if it doesn’t hinder teams from creating chances against us. Norwich created 12 chances, the highest number at Anfield from an opponent.
People diverted that to Norwich being good, but hinestly this should not happen. Soton away, we have to find a way to win since I dont see this fragility going away anytime soon.
No time to train.
I agree, we is just being cack at present and it needs to stop.
Agree! And have to say that I don’t particularly dig the article to much at all La!
A manager who doesn’t give a fuck about being cool. How cool is that?
NICE ONE REDS! Was always sure we’d do it, until the pens that is!!
Front three were sublime first half of second half!
Why are we selling Degsy? We have 2 full backs (I’m not having joe at full back) and 3 centre backs without him.
All the ‘having ox back is like a new signing’ talk is spin, covering for the owners. He’ll take months to get fully back. Heard the same thing about Lallana last season and how much did he play? Ox up front speaks volumes about squad depth. So frustrating coz feel certain we’d top citeh with more depth. Still might though!
Great piece Neil. Especially Klopp’s corny side (Adrian and be coupled with let’s talk about six). I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Annoying that winning on penalties is always reported in mainstream media like it was a 1/2 win or a draw with an asterisk, in this case like it was a loss. Chelsea aren’t exactly Fulham (yet), they got there with good reason. The game was weirdly awful but they won – they took home stuff, it doesn’t count less!! I could only notice that they had Mo’s number all night long.
Maybe The plan was for Keita to play and the injury throws things off?
Up the leaky defense and old man Milner Reds. Adrian for Mayor. Tonight I pray for more embarrassing Klopp comments after we win the league.
I have visions of Stallone as klopp shouting Adrian, running across the turf if some kind of strange rocky tinged film for America, the fall and rise of Liverpool (c) under US ownership.
What a strange game. Either team could plave won it. My god did we let chelsea in so much. Adrian is the hero and that defence needs a fucking roasting off him next game.