Now and then there’s a fool such as I.
In many ways that game showed why the game doesn’t have to be Ajax or Brazilesque to be glorious. What can be better than a ‘backs to the wall, standing up to every challenge and nicking a heartbreaking goal in front of their visitors’ performance against those who have a perfect chance to snot you? With only ten men on the pitch what else can you do and hope for? Well, it becomes a problem when we have eleven on the pitch adopting the same tactics and play the most turgid, sterile and stagnant anti-football you can muster. It was important not to lose to City and they weren’t blameless in that sub zero suicide note of a match but the odd shot might have been nice. Again, you can point to the ref for the Yossi challenge and Barry’s play acting (although Masch should have gone too) but the facts are still there. This team likes to pass sideways and has no pace whatsoever.
Our confidence is at an all time low. Last season I would have laughed like a drain had you told me that Carragher has more attacking flair than Insua and I would have had you sectioned if you suggested that we couldn’t batter a weak UEFA Cup side at Anfield given that Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus have meekly climbed onto the bus with their arses handed to them in recent years. The players are tense and the mutterings from the terraces don’t help. Rafa can point to two clean sheets but this is bloody awful. Yesterday, there was a passage of play where we almost broke, passing the ball from right to left. Carragher to Masch to Lucas to…well, Yossi had ran ahead and was crying out for a ball between centre back and full back. Lucas’ initial reaction was to put his foot on the ball and wonder where Insua had gone. The Argentine was behind him. He spotted Yossi far too late and lost possession.
I’m not having a go at Lucas per se as he’s not an attacking player but the worrying aspect was the innate desire to go square and pass it around until we lose it. Contrast that with Torres and Gerrard’s goals against Newcastle in 2008. Break quickly; find your man, 1-0 (to quote David Coleman). Nowadays we need a chit from Matron to make a forward pass.
As usual we started well. Babel ran at them and we held the ball. Then, as usual again, our heads went down once we didn’t get ahead early and both teams held on ‘as two spent swimmers that do cling together and choke their art’. Say what you like about Shakespeare, he knew how to write a match report.
2003-4 was a terrible season while both 1993 and 1995 bore the hallmark of treading water until Fowler came along but this has to be one of the most depressing times (in a footballing sense) to be a Red. Even when we were poor in the past we could still pass the ball a bit. Nowadays we can only hope for a 1-0 and more clement weather. The only joy that visited us yesterday was the downright surreal City banners. What exactly does ‘We’re Not Really Here’ mean? I laughed at first and then became pensive. Jammy bastards.
Hang on, it’s not all bad. What happened to that You’ll Never Walk Alone/laughter in the face of adversity trait that all true Reds have. Villa battered Burnley through a mixture of pace and deflections. Some may say that their goals were lucky but at least they were having shots. Of course we battered Burnley too so that’s not such a big deal. Spurs took advantage of our earlier kick off and war of attrition and City lost the chance to bury us thanks to their draw at Stoke earlier in the week. The humiliating ‘race for fourth’ is still on, guys! Pull up your chairs to the edge of the pitch and watch us cling on some more.
Who’s next?
Allardyce.
Jesus.