That was hard work. Not what I was expecting and certainly not what I hoped for. In an ideal world we’d have been able to play the second string in this game, get the job done with no drama and have everyone fresh for the final on Saturday. Good job we didn't rest everyone.
Klopp clearly didn’t see it the way some of us did and he picked a strong team. Not his strongest, but some changes were enforced (no Virg or Gini) and some were just prudent due to the number of games we’ve had and are due to have (Sadio, Bobby and Trent). The selection of Alisson in goal shows you how seriously Jurgen took this game. It would have been easy to just give Adrian a run out, but thankfully he didn’t because Alisson was the main reason we didn’t suffer an embarrassing loss.
Defeat in this game would have been virtually unthinkable considering what we’ve given up to be out there. Sending the kids to play Villa was the right decision (the only decision really), but if we’d fallen at the first hurdle in Qatar that would have rendered the whole trip meaningless. It’s not even like we’d have been able to come home and have some time off either; there’s a third / fourth place playoff game that would need to be played.
This game was in the balance right up until the end and Monterrey carried a goal threat all night. I was surprised at how dangerous they were, especially as they’re 8th in their domestic league and have lost seven out of 18 games this season. By rights they shouldn’t have even been on the same pitch as us, yet they gave us all sorts of problems.
We didn’t play well but we weren’t awful either. There were several moves of genuine quality and the two goals we scored were brilliant. They defended really well though, while their shoot on sight policy at the other end meant we could never relax. They raised their game massively due to the opposition and the prestige this competition has outside of Europe.
We went ahead with a delightfully worked goal. Milner did well to feed Salah and his pass in behind to Keita was world class. Naby finished well for his third goal in three starts. He could easily have doubled that tally and his breaking into the box has given us a nice little extra that we haven’t had in a while. He’s in great nick now and he's a joy to watch, very easy on the eye the way he glides into the box.
The lead didn’t last long though, as we failed to clear a free-kick and the twin brother of that dirty ex Everton twat Funes Mori was able to equalise.
Few thoughts on him. Firstly, he’s much better than his twin. Secondly, isn’t it weird how they’re identical twins, but one is a striker and the other is a centre back? It’s kind of like how the De Boers were like a mirror image of each other, with one being right footed and the other left.
The whole twin thing fascinates me, I can’t get my head around it all. It's just weird to me. Like, if you have an identical twin, why would you choose to go and get the same fucking haircut? This Funes Mori has the exact same stupid 1930s haircut as his cunt brother. I don’t get why you’d do that. Do they WANT to look the same, or is it a case of not wanting to back down? Any twins out there who can shed some light on this, I'm all ears.
Anyway, that made it 1-1 and the rest of the half was a struggle. We looked threatening whenever the ball was anywhere near Salah but we also looked vulnerable at the other end and Alisson needed to get a fingertip on a brilliant low cross from their lively right winger to prevent a tap in at the back post. He made some other saves of note too, usually from that right winger who packs a hell of a punch.
Milner brought a save from their keeper after more glorious set up play from Mo, while Keita went close to a second just before the break but he too was foiled by the keeper.
At half time I felt as though we’d be ok as long as we got more from Origi and Shaq, neither of whom had done anything in the first half. Ox had been quiet too, while Monterrey had done a brilliant job restricting Robbo’s raids down the left.
The second half was better in terms of us dominating the ball but otherwise it was just more of the same really. The odd chance here and there for us, the odd dangerous break from them. Naby burst through into the box again and was denied by the keeper, Ox shot wide from 20 yards and Origi had a goal rightly ruled out for offside.
At the other end Alisson made a few more sharp saves and they seemed to force a lot of corners and free-kicks. It was just really uncomfortable and their antics off the ball were only adding to the tension. Any time one of them was touched he’d be on the floor pretending to be hurt. It was a fucking joke. They were dirty bastards too, always leaving their foot in late.
Gomez was deceived by a high ball and inadvertently brought down Funes Mori. Their coach (more on him in a sec) wanted a red card, but that was never happening as it was a long way from goal and Henderson was right there covering.
It put Joe on a knife edge though and they seemed to be targeting him all night. When he miscontrolled the ball and it bounced up and hit his hand, their coach went apeshit and was waving an imaginary card wanting Joe sent off. That’s never a yellow card in a million years and Jurgen saw his arse, mimicking the guy and then looking like he wanted to fight him.
That coach looked like a right bellend. I’d heard Tim Vickery on the radio earlier in the day talking about how he is known for his quirky fashion sense, and as soon as the camera went on him at the start I instantly knew he was a twat. I keep telling you that I’ve got a rare skill for this. I can spot them a mile off. To be fair this wasn’t difficult. All you need was a working pair of eyes to know he was a massive helmet. Just look at the fucking state of him.
I admit I’m throwing bricks from the world’s biggest greenhouse here as I buy most of my clobber from Matalan, Primark or George at Asda. If I’m going to push the boat out then occasionally it’ll be Next. So yeah, I’m not in much of a position to be criticising when it comes to fashion, but I’m sorry, that fellas outfit, beard and haircut just screamed “mid-life crisis” to me. The skinny jean wearing dope. Jurgen should have stuck one on him and his defence only needed to be “just fucking look at him!”.
Anyway, it was really becoming edgy and eventually Klopp sent on Mané. Then it was Trent, and finally Bobby. In the closing stages we looked the more likely winner but it felt to me like we’d have to go through extra time to eventually wear them down.
Thankfully it never came to that, as two of the subs combined for an absolutely delightful goal in stoppage time. Mo did well in the build as well, but the weighted ball in by Trent was just…. I dunno, I don’t think it’s being talked about anywhere near as much as it should be because that was something special.
Virtually anyone else in that situation would just try to whip the ball in hard or just drill it into the box. Trent just eased it into an area that he knew would cause problems, but he did it at just the right pace to allow our lads to get in there and attack it. If he blasts that ball in then Bobby wouldn’t get there in time. You can’t teach that, it’s just natural world class talent.
Even after that goal they came right back at us and had chances in the 90 seconds or so that remained. They looked a really good side, but the truth is they’re not. They’re shite. But this competition is huge to the non-European clubs. They want it so badly, and the chance to knock off the Champions of Europe is such a big thing for these other teams that it’s never going to be easy.
There are some Reds (including some of my mates) who see this competition as a major inconvenience and would rather we weren’t out there. Personally I don’t see it that way at all. The timing of it isn’t ideal, but I’ve always liked the option of the European Champions playing the South American Champions.
I don’t particularly like the format, and these other sides have no real business being it (even though both ourselves and Flamengo were really tested by these ‘lesser’ teams). I’d love to see it as a two legged tie where the European Champs take on the Copa Libertadores winners home and away. Imagine going to play Boca Juniors or River Plate away. Imagine their fans at Anfield. Spine chilling.
But that’s not how it is. FIFA want to make as much money as possible and don’t really care about how inconvenient it is for the teams involved. That isn’t enough reason for me to shun the competition though. I badly want to win this. Not as much as I want to win the league obviously. And if we do win it, it’s not going to feel anything like it feels to win a European Cup. There'll be no open top bus parade.
So I’m not putting it in that bracket, but I don’t think it’s like the Charity Shield or Super Cup either. Put it this way. Every other team in this competition sees it as the absolute pinnacle, which means when we play them we’ll get their best effort and then some.
By rights Monterrey shouldn’t be able to even give us a game. It should be easy for us, yet it was anything but. They went toe to toe with us and Alisson probably made more saves then their keeper. Don’t expect Flamengo to be any less motivated, or to shithouse any less than the Mexicans did either.
Saturday is going to be a war because it’s all they’ve been thinking about for weeks. Shit, they beat us nearly 40 years ago and have been singing about it ever since. That’s right, they’ve got a song about beating us back in 1981 and they still sing about it now. They didn’t want the easier game against Monterrey, they wanted us.
This game means everything to them and if we don’t treat it seriously then we’ll lose. I don’t want them singing about beating us twice. Fuck that. Let’s take care of business and win this trophy, and if we do then let’s not be embarrassed about revelling in it because it’s a bigger deal than anyone in this country seems to realise.
Let people up and down the country dismiss the importance of it. They’ll never see their team play in it so of course they don’t care. The Mancs enjoyed winning it back in the day, and so they should. We’ve lost three times to South American times and it’s about fucking time we set that record straight and added the title of 'World Champions' to the roll of honours.
Roll on Saturday, I can't fucking wait.
Team: Alisson; Milner (Alexander-Arnold), Gomez, Henderson, Robertson; Lallana, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Keita; Shaqiri (Mané), Salah, Origi (Firmino):
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