13 days. 13 days we had to wait. 13 days after swatting
aside a decent Spurs side at White Hart Lane, the Reds were finally back in
action.
I actually wasn’t that bothered about this international
break, heading into it. Which is rare. I could see some benefits for us. It
would give our injured players a chance to step up their recovery, while not
missing any games. Stevie, now retired from England duty, could kick back
somewhere sunny too, topping up his tan and (perhaps more significantly) his
energy. Heading into a break on the back of a win always helps as well.
It actually seemed quite necessary.
But no, it was as soul-crushing as usual. Probably even
more so. Our chief tormentor, Roy Hodgson, did what he does best – ruins our
lives. He decided to test Daniel Sturridge’s resolve again, playing the Reds’
number 15 for the entirety of a friendly against Norway. A vital friendly. Dan
came through it, but Roy wasn’t done yet. A hamstring injury in training. Up to
three weeks out. Then Hodgson came worryingly close to achieving the
impossible: injuring Jordan Henderson. Audacious. Luckily Hendo was having none
of it and he recovered in time for England’s game in Switzerland.
Then there was big Emre Can, who rolled his ankle playing
for Germany Under-21s, and could now face six weeks out according to Brendan.
Just as he was finding his feet.
Joe Allen also picked up a knock, after playing 90 minutes
in Andorra on a pitch that resembled an allotment – a vacant, sad allotment.
Oh, and mad Mario murdered a Wolves player during a
practice match at Melwood. Or something like that.
The international break – as deplorable as ever.
Anyway, the Reds were back playing football on Saturday,
and everything was going to be great. Just as Hodgson was departing our minds
though, Paul Lambert arrived at Anfield with his Aston Villa side. Like
Hodgson, Lambert seems to have decided his mission in football is to depress
Liverpool fans. I’m sick of him prancing up and down the Anfield touchline
after a goal for his team, saluting the traveling supporters. Piss off Paul.
Brendan should be prancing.
From the moment Gabby Agbonlahor put Villa ahead early on
in this one, it seemed obvious nothing was going to change. There was an
inevitability about it. They get their noses in front and build a metaphorical
brick wall. A brick wall that we run into time and time again.
I take the blame for the goal, by the way. We’ve actually
defended set-pieces reasonably well in recent times, contrary to popular
narrative. And I attribute this to the fact I shout ‘Out!’ as the ball is
flying into our box. It’s worked remarkably well. I didn’t do it this time; I
wasn’t on my game. That’s why we conceded, and ultimately lost the game. That,
and the fact Dejan Lovren has clearly spent far too much time hanging around
(playing wrestling) with Martin Skrtel.
Our shambolic set-piece defending wasn’t the only thing
that contributed to us coming out of this one empty handed though. In attack,
we looked disjointed. This was perhaps no surprise, as of our offensive
quadrant, only Philippe Coutinho had more than a single start for us. Raheem
Sterling got a rest, which I could see a smidgen of logic in given that we had
a Champions League game a few days later. But, to take another angle, is he
really needed against Ludogorets? Would it not have been better to play him
against Villa and rest him on Tuesday?
This is all hindsight though, I know. I certainly wasn’t
moaning about our side when I saw it. Besides, we’re not privy to the
information Brendan and the rest of the coaching staff have. Perhaps Raheem
wasn’t 100% after returning from England duty (likely) and thus leaving him on
the bench here seemed the rational thing to do.
Of the new boys that started, I thought they each did
quite well. Both full-backs were impressive again, tirelessly offering a wide
attacking outlet and tracking back briskly when we lost possession.
Further forward, Lallana, Markovic and Balotelli all
showed glimpses of quality, but none of the three are fully up to match
sharpness. To be fair to them, I think our inability to break Villa down
stemmed from our lack of cohesion as a team, and not the individuals themselves.
There will of course be those ‘supporters’ who wearily
harp on about Luis Suarez, and how much we miss him. They were out in full
force on Saturday evening, I’m sure, groaning with unnecessary scorn and vigour
into their beverages. If you are one of those people, I implore you to wait and
see. You may not have picked up on the positives from Saturday, but they were
there I assure you. Anyway, Luis Suarez wouldn’t have improved us at all
yesterday. I guarantee you. I can guarantee you because he’d have been watching
from the stands, suspended.
The Champions League is back at Anfield on Tuesday. Stop
drowning in self-pity and take that in. The Champions League. Back at Anfield.
On Tuesday.
No comments:
Post a Comment