Terrace Talk: Liverpool - Defensive solidity was nice while it lasted
When did he decide to bring circus football back? Did I miss a vote?
Yes, the opponents deserved credit but after conceding four equalisers in a week and collecting two points not six, some sort of plan might be considered worthy of formulation.
Moaners must’ve been delighted that both first-choice absences, Alexander-Arnold and Thiago, were those most clinically exploited by our main rivals.
Europe offered sweet release from the domestic rollercoaster. Now that we’ve thrashed Porto three times in recent years, do we get to keep them? There was pre-match talk about things being different this time, and what a good side they were, but with a goalkeeper that made Karius look like Yashin that seemed implausible.
Coincidentally, we had a run like this at Maine Road a while back, but City have moved on in more ways than one.
Curtis Jones was excellent. Again, we may be falling for the overestimation of youth post-transfer window, masking our fiscal indolence and complacency. The same was happening with Elliott, but it’s easy to be cynical sometimes. I’m sure the “wait and see” brigade (with me as honorary chairman of the bored) said that about Gerrard, too.
Quibbling with FSG gets tiresome, anyway. It’s worth recalling the days of Hicks and Gillett. While they spouted about spades in the ground, there was Klopp on Friday actually doing it — for a second new stand in five years.
We mourned the loss of Roger Hunt, while revelling in Salah’s incredible run. When childhood heroes pass away, you feel your own mortality breathing down your neck and whispering, “not long now, fucko”. Sadness and dread in equal measure.
He was a glorious man, too. Everyone who met him said so. I’m glad I was one of them.
As for Mo, he holds all the cards now regarding his contract. I see why the club doesn’t want to get stuck paying half a million weekly to someone who’ll be in his 30s for all of his new contract.
We should also remember it’s a team game, the loss of Sir Roger being a pertinent reminder. Then came Keegan, then Dalglish, then Rush. No point crying over any individual, the club always moves on.
Talking about goalscorers, it’s weird to hear Pep bemoaning what he lacks after spending a billion already. It certainly felt like the season would already have been over had he signed Kane, so I suppose we must be grateful for Daniel Levy’s intransigence.
Guardiola will just have to muddle along with his current ragbag of talentless reprobates.
Last season’s 1-4 was weird, in keeping with the season. It came in the middle of a dreadful run. I hope I’ll never see six straight home defeats again. That we weren’t present to witness it is only the merest consolation.
People are disparaging about the Anfield ‘effect’, but we do make a difference — or can, when we want to. On Sunday, we wanted to.
Maybe City thought their jinx was over, but they looked stupefied by the lack of a goal in the first half. Mane just made matters even more ridiculous.
Klopp must be mulling over Jota’s goals or Firmino’s teamwork. As much as I love the former, the latter may be starting matches soon.
It was sad to see Milner and Henderson struggle as they did and galling to anticipate the earache we were about to get from the LFC family.
It was fitting on a day we remembered a past hero that his modern counterpart produced a stunning finish. He scored it just after Milner could’ve walked for a second yellow. It seemed like Anfield’s voodoo grip on City would remain vice-like.
But sadly, not so. Even with Gomez on, we couldn’t hold out. We may even have lost. Or won. That’s Klopp’s Liverpool for you.
They were just fooling us with all that defensive solidity nonsense. Ah well, it was nice while it lasted.
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