TERRACE TALK: Liverpool - Don’t get carried away: It’s just Aston Villa

“Be careful what you wish for.” That’s what they told us.

If they meant we’d end up like Randy Lerner’s Aston Villa, charge us whatever you like. Anything but that… The FA Cup’s gone for another year. From the night Klopp picked the kids and nearly got sliced ‘n’ diced by Exeter, it’s been a question of when, not if.

They didn’t actually deserve to lose to West Ham. Some of the youngsters did well, not that you’ll be seeing much of them ever again. Suppose that depends on whether our Somme-style casualty rates continue.

The post-mortem was dominated by Benteke, mostly about his banjo-to-barn-door strike-rate being worse than Heskey’s Nadir (which is also the name of a Scouse cocktail that’ll knock you out for days).

I felt sorry for the lad. Strikers have to find their form gradually and they can’t do it playing a game here and a game there. Even Sturridge, good as he is, kept blasting over from good positions.

There’s been speculation on Klopp and his superman recovery from an appendix operation. There are those who claim he’d been cynically removed from the line of fire a mass walkout would inevitably trigger.

We needn’t concern ourselves with such human detritus here. Just let them mutter to themselves.

Other concerns about Klopp are getting louder. Started well of course, but it’s all gone a bit Brendan in 2016. For me, it’s just like Houllier’s first season; there was also a thrashing of Southampton back then which sparked talk of “genius” and how the squad didn’t need overhauling and wasn’t so bad after all.

It did, it was. It’s the same now. You understandably don’t want to sit through two years of rebuilding (a conservative estimate) but you’d be an idiot not to buckle up for the bumpy ride ahead.

That’s what aggravated the already-splenetic response to ticket price rises. Don’t rub our noses in it when you already need every loyal foot-soldier you can get your dollar-stuffed hands on.

The so-called climbdown got the theorists conspiring again. “It’s just a disguised rise,” went the lament. It does seem like removing categories for matches meant all tickets would be the same eye-watering price; the walkout, the owners hinted, was the only message they’d need. It wasn’t, not by a long way.

Wenger’s still an utter stooge, which is disappointing. For someone who’s always acted as if Arsenal’s money was his, I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised. You sense Klopp’s awkwardness on the issue, not having been at Anfield long enough to play Spartacus just yet.

The more pragmatic supporters are a craven bunch. “Everybody else does it, we can’t compete otherwise.”

Aside from the glaring fact Liverpool aren’t competing now, isn’t that why you can’t watch the Olympics or the Tour de France any more without asking: “Who are the ones NOT on drugs?”

Once you reach a stage where no low is too low, you’re done for anyway.

Speaking of new lows… I thought Sunderland were rubbish last week, making the draw even harder to stomach, but Villa were just godawful. We’re not complaining; after all, Newcastle are bad too but they still beat us.

Sturridge really makes a difference, so does Coutinho. Once Liverpool got goals, it was only their own special blend of complacency and cackhandedness that could do them down.

If Villa can’t even make Liverpool sweat a little, they really are in trouble.

There seemed any number of good performances (Clyne hasn’t had a bad game yet, in my opinion) but honestly; how could you tell?

This was the sort of day you’re happy to run up a big score, after weeks of making mountains from molehills, without getting especially carried away at the end of it all.

There’ll be plenty more to moan about soon enough.