Liverpool 1 Man United 0 - FA Cup (Feb 18 2006)

[TLW]

LIVERPOOL 1 Man United 0

Report by Dave Usher at Anfield

Scorer(s) - Peter Crouch Half Time - 1-0 Venue - Anfield Date - Sat 18 Feb 2006 Star Man - Didi Hamann

 

 

 

When Rio Ferdinand gave United an undeserved late winner at Old Trafford a few weeks ago, prompting a certain wispy moustached full back to perform his weird little sex dance in front of the travelling Kop, I had an inescapable feeling that it wouldn’t be long before we got our chance for revenge. That's just the way football is.

Last year Chelsea probably thought they’d seen the back of us after their spawny win in Cardiff, but fate had other ideas and the rest is history (or at least it would be if Shitcoat didn’t bring it up in every press conference.) It was the events of last season which made me feel that Ferdinand’s header wasn’t going to be the final chapter in Liverpool/United games for 2005/06.

If I could have hand picked any opponent for this round, it would have been United at Anfield, as we definitely had unfinished business with them. In recent encounters between the sides, Ferguson has adopted an ultra cautious approach and it’s paid off for him. He’s capitalised on sloppy marking by us on set pieces, and it seemed like an age since we actually beat them.

The rivalry had appeared to lose some of it's edge, however, events at Old Trafford the other week coupled with the opportunity for us to exact a swift revenge, had re-stoked the fire.

There was certainly a lot more edge to this game than we’ve had for a while. The Anfield fixture has definitely to lost a lot of it’s spice in the last few years, and the atmosphere at the meeting of the sides earlier this season was probably the most subdued I can remember. This one however, was fiery to say the least. The extra numbers in the away end, coupled with the bad feeling still left over from the game the other week ensured there was extra spice this time.

Neville was the centre of attention of course, which is understandable, but also frsutrating. This little scrote is simply not worthy of the attention heaped on him when we play the mancs. He’s a gobshite, he should be a figure of ridicule, not public enemy number one. He thrives on that, as without his scouse baiting he’d be anonymous as far as most United fans are concerned.

He’s a good full back, who isn’t ever going to get any headlines. It’s like Steve Finnan for us. We all know he’s a class player, but he doesn’t get any kind of hero worship from the stands, and never gets his name sung. Let’s face it, what full back does? Quiet, unassuming, steady full backs tend not to be singled out for any extra attention either by their own, or opposing supporters.

Neville is the exception. United fans made a hero out of him only after he’d spoken of his hatred for scousers (previously he’d been a nobody, living in the shadow of Giggs, Beckham, Cantona, Keane etc). Liverpool fans only started to pay any attention to him after he raced sixty yards to give them the v’s after two late goals had knocked us out of the cup at Old Trafford in 1999.

After that, United fans even came up with a song for him, and... well.... so did we. The Gary Neville ditty has regularly been heard on visits to Old Trafford, but it was never heard at Anfield. Not with any kind of volume anyway. I was glad about that, as it makes me a bit uncomfortable whenever I hear it. Not because I’m worried about his feelings or even his family's if I’m completely honest, as they raised a horrible little fucker like him so sympathy from me is short on the ground.

No, it makes me uncomfortable because I don’t like the way it makes us look. It gives people the opportunity to take pot shots at us. I also didn’t want to hear it Anfield simply because there will be a hell of a lot of children in the crowd who will hear it. Swearing is one thing, but this is a bit different isn’t it?

Thing is, the little dickhead’s antics the other week meant that is was a certainty that the song would be bellowing around Anfield. I’m not criticising anyone who sang it, I can fully understand them doing so, even if it made me squirm a bit when I heard it. I’m also not going to condemn those who changed the words to the Riise song following Smith’s injury (but more on that later).

Football used to be like this all the time, but it’s become watered down a hell of a lot in the last ten years or so. In many ways it has changed for the better, as things like racism in stadiums is far less frequent these days. There are more families and far less holligans. However, it has come at a price and these days every little thing is televised, analysed and often blown out of all proportion.

Players aren't allowed to do anything these days. Celebrate with your fans, it's a yellow card. Celebrate in front of the opposing fans, it's an FA charge. Rightly or wrongly, things have changed and a lot of the passion (and humour) has gone out of the game. That's why I've got mixed feelings about some of the things which went on against the mancs.

I wasn't especially happy about a couple of the songs, or the fact I heard people coming out of the ground referring to the 'munichs', but I can't deny that the place was buzzing and I had an absolute ball in the Paddock yelling at Neville and Rooney.

Anfield was far more hostile for this game than I have seen it a long, long time. It made for a cracking atmosphere, but you just knew that the press would have a field day with some of the things which went down.

As I say, I was in the Paddock for this one, meaning I was much closer to the pitch than usual. Maybe that’s influenced my perception of the atmosphere, and had I been in my usual Main Stand seat I may have seen things differently. Being right on top of the action though meant I was witness to - and part of - the stick that certain United players got.

Actually, it was only Neville and Rooney that got any real flack, although at one point I did yell ‘yer fuckin ugly horse’ at Ruud when I saw him trying to talk the ref into booking one of our players. It’s not like me to shout anything out, but then I’m not usually close enough to be within earshot of players I despise.

Mostly though, it was Rooney and Neville that got the grief from the crowd, and both deserved all they got. Neville knew what to expect, and to be fair to him I thought he conducted himself pretty well. He refused to make eye contact with anyone in the crowd (at least he didn’t look at any of us in the Paddock, I don’t know what he did 2nd half when he was on the Centenary side), and when he was fouled (like when Sami caught him in the chest in the 2nd half) he got up and carried on when many players would have stayed down and milked it. He also said afterwards that there was nothing wrong with what went on, when no doubt the press would have been hoping to get him to have a bit of a go.

Rooney handled things a bit differently. I hear he gave the Kop a v sign, which to be honest doesn’t bother me at all. We give him stick, he’s entitled to have a go back. What I saw him do to the Paddock though was actually very funny. He was getting all kinds of flak, so he just kissed the United badge on his shirt and gave a defiant look. It was funny because it made him look a tit. Wasn’t that long ago he was kissing the Everton badge was it? Won’t be long before he’s kissing someone else’s badge either if United carry on the way they are.

He plays for a team whose fans constantly sing about hating scousers. A team who’s captain says he hates scousers. A team whose fans refer to scousers as ‘Bin Dippers’ and ‘Granny Stabbers’. Still, I guess Rooney is a ‘Granny Stabber’ depending on how you look at it. So Wayne, you just keep kising that badge, because it just demonstrates your complete lack of intelligence and class.

But I’ve gone on long enough about all that crap. I’ve barely even mentioned the game at all yet.

Beforehand I wasn’t especially confident, as we’ve not had much luck against United recently. Ferguson seemed to have figured out that he can beat us just by defending well and waiting for a mistake of some sort. We’ve gifted them virtually every goal they’ve scored against us in the last three years, so I was a bit concerned we’d do it again. On the other hand we were due a win.

Fate suggested we’d win this game, to right the injustice of the defeat at their place a few weeks back. But fate alone wasn’t enough to make me feel confident before the game. My only prediction before hand was that it would be tight, and a single goal would probably win it. I wasn’t at all convinced that it would be us who got that single goal though.

We’re struggling up front, and in recent weeks have looked a bit leggy all over the park, but especially in midfield.

Predictably, it was a tight game, but we created the better opportunities and once we got in front we were never going to allow them to score. There was just no way Sami, Carra & co were going to let anything through them. It was a lot like that Chelsea game last season, especially when the board went up at the end to reveal seven minutes stoppage time!

It wasn’t as nerve wracking as that night though, partly because there wasn’t as much at stake, and partly because they never really looked like scoring.

It was a tight game, but we definitely deserved to win it. We started well, and any time we got crosses into the box they looked surprisingly vulnerable. Kewell was desperately unlucky not to score with a flicked header from a Gerrard free kick, but you have to say the save from Van Der Saar was amazing.

Harry enjoyed a good opening 45 minutes, the highlight coming when he chopped down Neville in the opening minute. Harry knew what he was doing, and as he walked past the Paddock he just had this satisfied look on his face as if to say to us ‘did you guys like that?’

United were worried about Kewell, and Rooney spent as much time tracking back to help Neville as he did going forward to support the horse. Kewell should have been awarded a penalty when Giggs ludicrously chopped him down as he collected Gerrard’s short corner. It was a stupid tackle, a clear foul, and it happened inside the box. Giggs was booked, but the ref gave a free kick on the egde of the box. It wasn’t the first, nor last time the official infurtiated me that afternoon.

From the free kick, Finnan should have scored, but he volleyed Gerrard’s perfect cross into the side netting. I can’t remember if we were already one up by then, or if the goal came after that. Not that it matters.

Crouch’s goal was well taken, but took an age to go in. He directed his header very well, but Van Der Saar was a whisker away from keeping it out. He tipped the ball onto the post, and it bounced across the line before dropping into the other corner. From where I was sat, it seemed to take an eternity to go in and for a second I thought it had bounced out. It was only when I saw Sami running away with his arms up I knew it was a goal.

Crouchamania hasn’t even been jogging lately, let alone runnin wild, but it is back on track now after this. That’s goals against the mancs and blues now. Knows how to endear himself to a crowd does our Peter!

United offered very little in return surprisingly. The horse went through but was definitely offside, and I think they may have had a header wide or over from a set piece (could be wrong about that, I don’t remember it too clearly and haven’t watched any highlights since).

Our back four were magnificent throughout, and United just couldn’t find a way to trouble them. Every cross into the box was met by Carragher, every long ball snuffed out by Hyypia. Finnan and Riise were solid against Ronaldo and Rooney, and Reina had very little to do in truth.

Ronaldo is one cheating, horrible little shit. Dive after dive was rewarded with free kicks, as the referee failed to see what was so blatantly obvious. Ronaldo would fit in at Chelsea, that’s how low he is.

Liverpool were definitely the better side in the first half, but the second half was more even. That’s no doubt in no small part due to us being in front and anxious not to lose what we had. Gerrard in particular seemed to be playing well within himself and wasn’t charging forward as much as you’d normally expect. Maybe he was playing to orders, maybe he was tired or maybe it was both? I'm sure he'd have been more adventurous had we not been in front.

As a result our attacking threat was reduced considerably, although it made us more compact and difficult to break down. United had a lot of possession after the break, but there were only two anxious moments for us. The first was when Finnan controlled a right wing cross and looked to be in danger of scoring an own goal. In reality he was well in control of the situation and he and Reina cleared the danger.

The second was a rasping shot from Giggs which went a yard or so over the bar. And that was that, Reina had little to do otherwise. Liverpool defended superbly, and Hamann was simply majestic in the middle alongside the tireless Sissoko.

The mancs got no joy in midfield, where Sissoko never gave them a second to settle and Didi used all his experience and know how to win the battle. The German is a Liverpool legend, one of the greats, and has played a massive part in the success we’ve had in his time here. He’s still as good as ever, and he’s the ultimate big game player.

One occasion late on summed him up in a nutshell. He broke up an attack on the edge of his own box, looked up as he contemplated hitting one for Cisse to chase, only to change his mind and draw a foul. When we need to waste time, Didi is always there to win a free kick and slow things down. Nobody does it better.

United sent on Smith to try and give them some more attcking threat, but his afternoon ended in agony when he blocked a Riise free-kick and fell awkwardly on his standing leg. It was fairly obvious that he’d broken his leg, simply by the way his team-mates were reacting.

The Kop spontaneously began chanting “John Arne Riise - ooh aah - I wanna know how you broke his leg” I can see both sides of this argument. It was witty, spontaneous, and reminiscent of the kind of thing we always hear about how things used to be. I thought it was funny, but wrong. My gut feeling was that it just wasn’t right, as it was obvious Smith had broken his leg and taunting him was just not right. We didn’t like it when Blackburn fans taunted Cisse last year, and this is no different really (even if it was done with more wit than Rovers managed).

I knew when I heard it that it would be the main talking point in the Sunday papers. Any excuse to have a pop at us is gleefully taken, but we gave them that excuse. It doesn’t matter to the hacks that Smith was applauded warmly by all corners of the ground as he was stretchered off, as they don’t care about that.

Van Der Saar got a great reception when he took his place in the Kop goal for the 2nd half, but that won’t be mentioned either. All the majority of the press will be interested in is the chanting towards Neville and Smith, and the overall hostility of the atmosphere.

I don’t especially like Smith, but I wouldn’t wish that kind of injury on anyone (not true actually, there are a few I would wish it on, but Smith definitely isn’t one of them) and I hope he recovers ok. I was glad he got a lot of applause from our fans as he left the field, and it’s nice to know he has acknowledged that via his agent today. I hope he makes a full and speedy recovery.

That injury meant extra stoppage time, but it seemed to go pretty quickly and without any real incident. We defended so well overall that when you look back at the game now, it was pretty easy. It didn’t feel like that at the time, as you can never relax with just a one goal advantage, especially when the opponents get a few set pieces towards the end. We’re let in so many from corners of late that you can sense the anxiety in the crowd whenever a corner or free kick is awarded to the oppostiion.

On the day though, we defended everything comfortably. Hyppia was once again absolutely awesome, Carra was Carra and Finnan was Finnan. Our back four is as good as anything in Europe when they’re fresh, and Riise’s form at left back has been very good. The back four and keeper pick themselves at the moment, and on current form Hamann should be in too.

Didi is playing great, so maybe we can give Xabi a bit of a rest for a couple of weeks? It’s nice to have options, and if we had someone of Hamann’s quality as cover in every position we’d be winning everything in sight, regardless of whatever Chelsea spend.

Special mention to Morientes as well, who’s all round display was good and was matched by his impressive work rate once more.

The referee infuriated me from start to finish. It’s not often I make a point of slagging off refs, but this fella really pissed me off. He constantly fell for Ronaldo’s cheating, and it seemed that defenders were allowed to nudge, pull, drag and shove Crouch as much as they liked. The second Crouch tried to give some back, he was penalised. Just because he’s big doesn’t mean he should be treated differently. Crouch did well not to run wild on him, as the bastard gave him nothing all game.

The FA Cup remains our best chance of lifting silverware this season, but you get the feeling we’ll have to beat Chelsea somewhere along the line if we’re going to win it. I’d prefer to get them in the next round, providing it’s at Anfield of course. Someone has to beat them, and I’d rather it was us.

We may have played them a hell of a lot in the last 18 months, but there is still unfinished business and I'm sure we'll meet again. Maybe it will be the final, but I'd prefer it to be at Anfield for obvious reasons. I guess that will be up to fate again though.

Team: Reina; Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Riise; Gerrard, Sissoko (Kromkamp), Hamann, Kewell; Crouch (Cisse), Morientes (Garcia):