Another big performance from the boys. They know they have to win every game and that’s what they’re doing. Each week it’s a different kind of test, but so far they have had all the answers.
Klopp mentioned afterwards that in preparation for this game they had been training on a dry pitch at Melwood. They didn’t let the groundsman cut the grass or water it for a couple of days. I love that. It’s the kind of thing that helped to set us apart from the rest back when Shanks and Bob were in charge. You’d always hear tales about this sort of thing. Take care of the little things and the big things take care of themselves etc.
The performance wasn’t always free flowing but we created plenty of chances and eventually Cardiff wilted in the heat. That was the key; be patient, keep playing football and wear them down. Cardiff battled and they defended valiantly but they were just massively outgunned and in the end it showed.
These games are usually straightforward when they’re played in the first three quarters of the season. When you get to this stage, when the shite teams are desperate for every point and you are also playing under pressure, they can be a lot more difficult.
The scorching heat made the unwatered pitch tricky to play slick football on but that was counteracted by the draining effect the heat had on Cardiff, who spent most of the game chasing the ball or trying to plug gaps. Eventually that usually takes a toll and it’s hard for a team to be as under the cosh as Cardiff were to not get leggy after an hour or so.
We’ve seen games like this countless times. As long as the underdog has something to hold onto that gives them added motivation to keep working, but as soon as they fall behind the tired legs become all the more weary.
We should have scored more really as they’d completely gone in those closing 15-20 minutes and there were gaps everywhere.
Prior to that it was tough, but we played pretty well and it was only slack finishing that kept the game level. We didn’t have too much trouble getting through them but Firmino and Salah both missed easy one v ones with the keeper and Mané couldn’t quite keep a shot down after doing well to get in front of his marker.
We had a couple of trademark counter attacks from Cardiff set-plays too, but Mo failed to make the most of either of them. The first one he just needed to check back and play Mané in, but he didn’t see him and lost the ball.
The second one was a lot like the goal he scored at Southampton the other week, only this time he couldn’t beat the last defender. The slow pitch might have contributed to that, as dribbling is probably the thing most impacted by a dry surface.
Cardiff barely saw the ball but they still managed to look mildly threatening, especially with Mendez-Laing just running past Trent at will. Trent is quick but Mendez-Laing looked like an Olympic sprinter.
The first time he went past Trent he crossed to the back post where it needed a good block from Robbo to prevent a goal. The warning wasn’t heeded and Mendez-Laing went roaring away again soon after.
Nothing came of it but things like that lift the crowd and also the players. Cardiff were feeling pretty good about themselves at this point and because they knew they had that potential threat, it makes it less demoralising when the other team is dominating the ball, and it also makes defending that much easier.
Of course if we’d have taken one or two of our first half chances then the game would have been as good as over, but we didn’t. We rarely do these days, every game is competitive and in the balance. That’s what makes what these lads are doing even more impressive really. As Jurgen said; “Fucking mentality monsters”.
It would have been nice to put five past Cardiff like most of the other top sides have but that isn’t always possible, especially in April/May. This was a really good, solid, professional display though.
It’s easy for me to say now, but looking back on it we were always going to break them down eventually because it’s virtually impossible for a team to hold out for 90 minutes playing the way Cardiff did, against a team playing the way we did.
Of course at half time I wasn’t thinking that way. I had a really bad feeling about what was about to happen, especially because Niasse had wasted a great chance just before half time. I kept thinking of Hull away a few years ago when we lost 2-0.
I don’t know why that game was in my head, probably just because of the Niasse ‘Nam style flashbacks that still occasionally haunt me even now, but I had visions of us continuing to dominate the ball only to get done on a set-piece out of nothing.
Is there where it all ends? To Neil Warnock and Oumar Niasse? This title race is just doing sick things to mind, it's killing me.
The great thing about these lads though is they aren’t massive shithouses like me. In fairness, there’s an excuse for me being a massive shithouse because I don’t have any control over what’s happening.
It’s different for players because they can actually influence the game. Case in point; Mané said recently he’s far more nervous watching Man City than he is about playing games himself.
It’s like how watching games in the stadium isn’t anything like as nerve wracking as watching on TV. Yeah, it was pretty stressful at Anfield against the likes of Spurs and the Bliueshite, when the result was in the balance until the very end, but if I’d been watching on telly it would have been so much worse.
It’s daft, but at least being inside the stadium you feel like you can have even the tiniest bit of influence. Even if it’s just the comforting fact that when I yell “yer cheating baldy bastard linesman” I know that he can hear me.
So anyway, while I was running all sorts of doomsday scenarios through my head and going all Han Solo and telling the group chat that “I have a bad feeling about this”, the lads were in the dressing room, cool as fuck, coming up with ways to make the breakthrough.
The opening goal looked like a training ground set-piece, but we found out afterwards that it wasn’t. It wasn’t even anything the coaching staff had suggested. Gini himself had seen something in the way Cardiff were defending a specific type of corner and he knew that a low ball was on.
He told Hendo to let Trent know, and the rest is history. Good ball in from Trent and a thumping strike from Gini. The technique on that strike was glorious.
He was back in the number six role for this one, with Hendo now seemingly seen as a box to box man. It made sense. I don’t think Gini has ever been less than an 8 out of 10 in that role, and he’s usually higher. It’s probably his best position and he was outstanding there once again. He covers the spaces well, he’s intelligent, and he’s almost impossible to dispossess in tight spaces.
Playing him there and keeping Hendo in the role he’s been excelling in of late was an obvious call, but so often we see manager’s not go with the obvious call and over-think things. Klopp rarely does that. Hendo was boss too, apart from blazing a sitter over the bar.
Klopp was buzzing about that first goal and it’s easy to see why. It must be a proud moment for a manager when his players reach a level when they have this kind of maturity. He’s like a proud parent these days, and so he should be because he made all this happen.
He assembled this squad, he’s inspired them, mentored them, supported them (even when the fans doubted several of them) and now they’re showing the resilience and mental strength many of us thought was beyond them.
When we have the lead now it’s very rare we relinquish it. That said, Cardiff had a glorious chance to equalise when Alisson flapped at a corner and Morrison somehow failed to get his head on it. It actually hit him on the back. It was a huge let off but Wijnaldum revealed afterwards that the ref would have given a foul for the challenge on Alisson.
Having watched it a couple of times I don’t think it was a foul, but Alisson might have gotten the tiniest touch on the cross which is why Morrison missed it. After surviving that scare I felt as though we’d be fine. That was their one moment and they didn’t grasp it.
You could see that Cardiff knew how big that moment was too. They were knackered, they were struggling to get out of their own half and we were now even beginning to win the ball off them high up the pitch.
The second goal came at the end of a spell when we kept winning the ball and putting them under pressure. Morrison was almost caught once but just about got away with it, and then he took too long to clear it and Bobby was on him in a flash.
The ball looped up and Salah was away. The spin on the ball was mad though, and you have to give credit to Mo for anticipating that and not being fooled. It did slow down his run though and allowed Morrison to get back.
What followed was an open and shut case. Blatant foul, clear pen. So how come there’s been so much ‘debate’ about it? I can answer that in three words. Fucking Gary Neville.
That’s all it takes. One respected commentator doing the live game can often set the narrative. Had Neville just called it like it was, most of these other halfwits wouldn’t have felt empowered enough to spout the shite they have.
Neville’s reaction to other penalty decisions when a defender has his hands on the striker (Lovren on Calvert-Lewin for example) is completely different to his reaction to this. Can’t think why.
There are some arguing it’s not a penalty. Neville initially tried that too. When the replays exposed that for the horse shit that it is, it then became “ok it’s a soft one, but look how easily he went down”.
I don’t think he went down easily at all. He has done on several occasions previously, I’m not blinkered enough to deny that. I would argue that if he’s kicked/held/pushed then staying up is pretty stupid when refs will never give anything unless a player hits the deck. He’s been punished several times in the past for trying to stay on his feet, so fuck all that.
When he’s gone down easily I’ll say so, but this wasn’t that. He was being held and he made three, four, maybe even five moves this way and that. Morrison never let go of him at any point.
One the final move, Mo tries to go around him towards the line. His legs are moving but Morrison’s arm is across his chest, preventing his top half from following his bottom half. When that happens, you fall exactly the way Mo did.
So no, I don’t think he’s dived or gone down too easily. I think he was clever and knew that he was being held, and that by turning quickly in the opposite direction he knew he’d be brought down.
All the blame here is on the defender who thought that he could hold a striker with both arms for four or five seconds. I don’t expect Warnock to be happy about it, especially as he’s legitimately been screwed by refs so many times this season that even the most obvious call against him is going to leave a bad taste.
I do take issue with all these talking heads waffling on about Salah going down too easily while at the same time saying ‘it’s a clear penalty’. If it’s a clear penalty, just say it’s a clear penalty. There’s no need for a caveat. *glares at Martin Keown*
Warnock was also unhappy with Robertson tugging Morrison’s shirt as he went for a header. Sorry, but there’s no way you get a pen for that unless VAR is in play, and even then it’s a coin toss.
Yes, Robbo had a little grab and then he let go immediately. Morrison won the header and it’s debatable whether the pull of the shirt put him off or not. There’s just no way a ref or linesman give a pen for that, as although technically it’s a foul it just wasn’t a serious enough offence to be punished by a penalty. Maybe with VAR, but no chance without it.
Mo wanted to take the penalty but thankfully Big Games James stood firm and didn’t let him. If Milner isn’t on the field or if we’re a few goals up, let Mo have it. Otherwise, stay the fuck away and let Milner do what he does.
Great penalty, great celebration. He was only on the field because Fabinho got concussed within a minute of replacing Naby. Smart move not taking any chances with concussions. Maybe if we'd taken Karius off in Kiev....
The most impressive thing about this whole season so far is how the players haven’t shown any nerves no matter what situation they’ve been faced with. The 2014 team were winning games like this 5-2 and 6-3 and it was just wild and ultimately unsustainable. These lads grind out the clean sheets and rarely give the opposition any kind of hope.
Warnock said afterwards that it’s a team with no weaknesses anywhere on the pitch. The Porto coach last week said the same thing and claimed we’re the best team in the world. It’s hard to come up with a plan to play against this team because you’re basically just hoping that a few of them have an off day and you get a bit of luck.
And now they’re sorting out their own problems on the pitch and don’t need to wait for the manager to fix things for them. The speed that this team has developed is incredible really.
The opening goal did make me think though. All these corners that hit the first man and cause us all to go mad at the corner taker. How many of those are actually the fault of the corner taker, and how many are just a routine not working as planned?
We’ve seen the likes of Trent and Milner failing to beat the first man from corners so many times and it can be really frustrating, but it must be even more frustrating for them hearing the fans groaning about it when they’ve actually put the ball exactly where it was supposed to go.
I’m not saying none of those bad corners are down to poor delivery, but it’s probably nowhere near as many as we often think. We’ve scored 20 goals from set-pieces this season, which is miles more than anybody else. I think Brighton are next on 12 or 13.
Much was made of the pitch before, during and after the game. You could see the ball sticking when players were dribbling and there was no zip off the turf. Warnock lied through his false teeth about it afterwards, which I actually thought was pretty funny.
He said “It were nothin’ to do wi’ me. Maybe the groundsman thought there were a hosepipe ban like in the old days. I thought it slowed us down if I’m honest”. Kept his face straight too. Fair play.
Here’s the thing though, why the hell should Cardiff make their pitch more suitable for how we play? It’s their pitch, they can do what they like as long as it’s within the laws of the game. They are at a massive financial disadvantage to us so they need any little edge they can get.
I have no problem whatsoever with them doing this. There were some suggestions that City did similar when we went to the Etihad. I doubt that’s true, but if it were then that’s embarrassing for them. Cardiff on the other hand have nothing to be embarrassed about or to apologise for. Well, not when it comes to the pitch anyway.
The Emiliano Sala thing is a different story. The Cardiff fans were singing “there’s only one Sala” in response to our chants about Mo. It smacks a little of using a dead man to point score, but that might be me being overly cynical. Besides, that’s not my main gripe with it anyway.
All the fuss they’ve made over the poor lad, the tributes, the t-shirts, the chants, retiring his shirt number, yet they won’t pay the transfer fee and are trying to suggest the deal wasn’t completed. If it wasn’t completed then he wasn’t your player, so all of this stuff is a bit fucking hollow isn’t it?
It’s not the fans’ fault, they aren’t the ones trying to get out of paying what they owe, but it still sticks in the throat a bit hearing them lauding a player who their owners are trying to claim was never actually theirs.
Some attention seeking knob on Twitter invented a story about our fans singing sick songs about Sala. It was just one prick, probably tweeting from his bedroom while cracking off to the Paul Pogba posters on his wall, but that one tweet was used as a source for a news story by one of the big footy sites out there, and before you knew it we were being hammered for it.
When they were pulled up on it and realised it never happened, they issued an apology of sorts but the damage is done then. There’ll be people out there who saw their tweet and read the story and will still be thinking now that we were taunting Cardiff over the death of Sala. All because in the race for clicks anything goes these days. Twats.
Anyway, in summation this was another hugely professional, ballsy display from the lads and we continue to live in hope that eventually City have to come unstuck somewhere. Surely they can’t continue to play the way they have been without eventually being punished? Time is running out though.
Star man is Gini, just ahead of Matip. Both of them were terrific but it was Gini who scored the crucial opener so he gets the nod. Sadio and Bobby were excellent too, especially considering the difficult playing surface.
Team: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold (Gomez), Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson; Wijnaldum, Henderson, Keita (Fabinho, Milner); Salah, Firmino, Mané:
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