This report might have been the first instalment of a season review / post mortem reflecting the hopelessness of our current plight. Well hold your horses you doom mongers, naysayers and worry warts. While you might discern an element of feeble-minded wishful thinking, I give you the case for the defence:
BRIGHTON 0 v 2 CARDIFF. To quote the Guardian report ‘This was the kind of result to stoke Cardiff’s bid for survival with conviction rather than wildly optimistic hope. The gap to safety and Brighton has been whittled to two tantalising points. Given everything the Welsh club have endured this term, on and off the pitch, to be in such close contention with four games to play would already have seemed miraculous. Now, remarkably, the momentum may actually be with them.’ A Brighton fan responded by rating his team’s chances of escaping relegation as ‘thinner than a steam-rollered After Eight’.
So against all expectations we approach this match in good heart. Back last summer when the fixtures came out I did a rough mental calculation that a realistic return for the season would be 28 points, and yet, here we are with 4 games remaining, the 30 point barrier broken and still battling away. We will of course get completely turned over by them there Scousers, but calm down, calm down soft lad we got two belters coming up against Fulham and Palace so nice one, well in.
I wouldn’t normally resort to lazy cliches. I’ve been to Liverpool many times over the last 30 years. It’s a proud city with an industrial and cultural heritage similar to our own and its renaissance since the 1980’s has been remarkable. And yet. I’m not convinced Liverpudlians are much bothered about casting off stereotypes and trite perceptions. My research led me to the Liverpool Echo which on the day in question included the following headlines:
‘Dogging at beauty spot is putting people off their fish and chips’
‘Dad knifed in testicles after confronting scallies outside his home’
‘Brawl at wedding sparks dramatic police response’ See video.
Today’s game is a bit of a sideshow. It’s fanciful to think that we might have a meaningful impact on the destiny of this year’s title. Liverpool may have shown signs during recent games that the battle with Man City for the 2019 Chuckle Brothers Premier League title - ‘To me, to you, to me, to you’ - is taxing them, but they’ve proved more than capable of to rising to the challenge and are currently in frightening form. We may escape a rout (officially 5 goals or more) or a drubbing (up to 5 goals) and I’ll settle for a dusting (2 goals or less). There’s surely no debate about who will take the honours.
I’d like to see Liverpool win the title. How could any neutral live with Man City winning it again? We know that money buys success, and it would be hypocritical not to acknowledge that our relative ascendancy in recent times has been predicated on a massive ego-massaging punt by a foreign investor with no previous connections to the city, prepared to appropriate its history, culture and sense of itself to bolster his business empire and more importantly his self-esteem.
Money talks but ambiguity thrives on a wink, a nod and selective hearing. That Vincent Tan is deemed a ‘fit and proper person’ by the Premier League might raise a few eyebrows, but the threshold is so low that Lucifer himself would be given the nod if he could prove that his fall from grace was not the result of false accounting. Common decency, generally accepted morality and an acknowledgement of basic human rights are not under scrutiny and this lack of due diligence is hugely to Man City’s advantage. The club is 86% owned by a United Arab Emirates private equity company owned by Sheik Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and half brother to the President.
Flogging and stoning are legal punishments in Sheik Mansour’s Emirates. Kidnappings, torture, forced disappearances, slave labour, denial of freedom of association, censorship all effectively condoned by the Premier League.
Scousers would be wise to steer clear of the UAE. I’m not sure if dogging is a thing in downtown Abu Dhabi, but putting others off their fish and chips is a capital offence. Fair do’s عادل بما يكفي
Man City will be rattled, suffering the Sheiks after their VAR capitulation to Tottenham in the Champions League quarters, an injury-time reversal that gave rise to howls of chirpy derision across the land, dreams of an intolerable quadruple gratifyingly dashed. Oh, كيف ضحكنا!! On balance, the momentum is now with The Reds after their imperious league form and impressive run to the Champions League semis where Barcelona await them.
In the corresponding fixture five years ago we led twice before succumbing 3-6, Liverpool ultimately taking full advantage of Solskjaer’s naive adventurism in a crazy, hugely entertaining game. Warnock’s default tactic of containment will surely be tested today by an opposition overseen by a master tactician with the nous and the resources to adapt to any challenge.
Brighton’s point at Wolves and our inferior goal difference means that we need to pick up a minimum of 4 points from our remaining fixtures. A point today, however unlikely, would be very welcome.
The CCS today was a cauldron, a pot boiling over with anticipation and anxiety on a steaming hot Easter Sunday afternoon. While those of us in the Ninian Stand were sweltering, the grandstand opposite was in shade but for the occasional blinding flash of Jurgen Klopp’s snap-on gnashers.
His charges eased into a controlled, confident, if pedestrian start, showing none of the urgency and intent of the other Top 6 teams we’ve had the dubious pleasure of welcoming to our stadium, the authoritative van Dijk in particular strolling around like he owned the place.
When Liverpool did decide to up the pace, our back-peddling wing-backs contributed to an effective back six. But in addition to containing the opposition Warnock had clearly decided that full back Alexander-Arnold was susceptible to the pace and strength of Mendez-Laing who had swapped wings to take advantage. Unfortunately the weakness in the final third that has dogged us all season was apparent again today and when we did get round the back we were typically short of options in and around the box.
Liverpool carved out the best chance of the first half after a smart 1-2 between the generally underwhelming Salah and Mane, Firmino running from deep only to hook over from the penalty spot.
The contrast between the teams on the break was clear - when Liverpool broke out, they did so with pace and purpose, whereas we tended to move out with muddled ambition, handing back the initiative with misplaced passes and hopeful punts.
As we passed all our first half Top 6 capitulation landmarks - the fluky early goal, the suspect penalty decision, the time-added-on submission - confidence grew and when the half time whistle blew the team was cheered to the rafters and beyond for a job well (half) done.
Reality soon dawned in the second half as an optimistic ‘can we hang on?’ evolved into the limited aspiration of embracing the inevitable defeat with our heads held high. Liverpool’s opener came from a well worked corner as decoys ran off to allow Wijnaldum space on the edge of the box to plant a thunderous half-volley past Etheridge.
There were pockets of disturbance around the ground as the occasional stealthy Soft Lad Scouser revealed themselves amongst the home fans with rash celebrations and had to be removed for their own protection. An incident near us revealed a hate-filled herd mentality as the local tribe turned on an away fan. I’m no anthropologist so l’ll leave it to others to explain why.
We continued to compete well and might have equalised, the opportunities to level scores inevitably coming from dead ball situations with Morrison again the main threat in the opposition box; how he missed when inexplicably mis-timing his header from one yard out only he will know.
But it was our captain’s intervention in his own box that finally closed the game down in Liverpool’s favour when his challenge on Salah - recently named as one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people and an annoying little cheat to boot - allowed the Egyptian to hoodwink the biddable Atkinson who feebly pointed to the spot. James Milner does not miss penalties.
2-0 was a fair reflection of Liverpool’s clear but understated superiority. Their performance was solid, workmanlike and efficient without ever reaching the level of the masterclass provided by Man City. The much-anticipated defeat changes little for us but at least the performance holds out some hope that in our quest for survival we can fulfil our side of the bargain. We just need the free-falling Seagulls to keep to theirs.
‘Good things are associated with blue, like clear days, more than singing the blues. The word ‘blue’ is full of optimism’ - David Carson, Designer
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