So third then eh? It’s quite remarkable given where we were in March. The first third of the season was great, the final third was too, but that middle third almost killed us.
To be able to recover from that deserves a lot of credit. Jurgen and the players stuck together and turned it around.
I’m not sure how, but then I’m not sure how it got quite so bad in the first place. It was just a weird fucking season and not just for us either. Even the shit teams had a wild, unexplainable ride. Everton losing nine games at Goodison while looking a pretty good side on their travels (last day humiliation at City notwithstanding) is hard to explain.
Burnley not being able to buy a win at home but picking up enough points on the road to survive comfortably is equally weird. United being virtually invincible away from home. Just a fucked up season. 99% of the shit that happened has to be due to fans being absent so hopefully we’ll see things get back to something close to normality next season.
That third place finish will boil a lot of piss as we were the butt of a lot of jokes for a long time this season. Not so funny now though, eh? Chelsea and Leicester both went the full Jean Van Der Velde and our lads held their nerve to take advantage.
If there is any image to sum up this season it’s Phillips and Williams, both bloodied and battered, celebrating at full time in front of the Kop. I fucking love that photo and I love both of those lads. Regardless of what happens in the future, what those two did deserves the gratitude and admiration of every Red.
Imagine back in August if you’d been told that we’d play the last ten games of the season with those two and Ozan Kabak rotating at centre back and that we’d win eight and draw two (the two we drew were when Nat was injured). I think Fabinho played a couple of those games too, but you get the point.
This is the maddest season in history for so many reasons. We just kept getting punched in the fucking face. There was a period where the lads stopped fighting back and it looked like they were beaten (the meek as fuck derby loss at Anfield was the point when I really started to become pissed off with them), but they got off the canvas at the nine count and then came fucking roaring back.
Winning eight of the last ten despite the injury list we had (wasn’t just the centre backs) was commendable and, although I hesitate to say this, I think we have to say this season was a successful one in the end based on where we were a couple of months ago. Success is subjective and it doesn’t always require silverware. Context is king, and given everything we endured this year I think it’s fair to say that retaining the title was an impossible task. So finishing third, in this context, is a form of success.
Not making the Champions League would have been fairly catastrophic for us given the financial hit we’ve taken due to Covid. Missing out is bad news at the best of times but it was more important than ever to get in this year and for a long time it looked like we wouldn’t.
I’d written it off after the bottle job against Newcastle but we bounced back and others faltered. Thiago had it right when we said the door was closed but we’d try to sneak in through the window. We did, and all things considered third place was an achievement.
I’m not advocating Arsenal style celebrations as it’s more relief than joy, but there is also a sense of satisfaction that I hadn’t envisaged. Klopp sees it as one of his greatest achievements and given everything they needed to overcome it’s hard to argue. There’s probably a shitload of stuff we don’t even know about.
He hinted at that previously and then again after this game when he revealed that Rhys Williams had a hamstring and hadn’t trained since Burnley. That’s been the story of the season, just one problem after another. At least VAR finally decided to lay off during these last ten games.
It felt as though we were getting shafted every week at one stage this season, and it’s not a co-incidence that as soon as VAR stopped getting involved those defeats dried up.
This game was fairly comfortable in the end, which in hindsight is what was always most likely to happen. I’d worked myself up a bit about bad omens and the prospect of Palace being the ones to fuck our shit up again, but taking that somewhat irrational fear out of it there wasn’t really any reason to worry about this, especially when Palace were hit by untimely injuries to Eze and Benteke.
We played well and should have won by more than two, but the only real moment of concern we had was when Townsend went clean through and shot wide. That was the moment it could have all gone wrong, and three months ago it probably would have gone in. It didn’t though and the rest is history.
Alisson had earlier made a save to deny Zaha but there’s no way that would have stood as he was clearly offside.
It was weird watching a game with fans present. This shitty covid version of footy has become the norm now and any time I see highlights from previous years with a full crowd celebrating, my first reaction is to note how strange it looks. I hate that. It used to be that a behind closed doors game looked utterly fucking bizarre, now it’s the opposite.
There was only 10,000 inside Anfield although it sounded like more on the TV. I can’t wait to get back in there when it’s full again, but at least when we are all back in there the vibe is going to be positive now.
A few weeks ago there was a massive dark cloud hanging over everything but that’s gone now. The win at Old Trafford contributed to that (we never win there) but I think Alisson’s header is probably the main catalyst for our changing fortunes. It’s almost like after that nothing was going to stop us.
We were bright, energetic and confident against Palace. Even Sadio looked like himself again. Both he and Mo were brilliant in the first half and looked dangerous any time they had the ball. They were even passing to eachother.
It was still a little nervy when the chances weren’t being converted, especially as Leicester took an early lead over Spurs. We were briefly down to fifth at one stage.
Young Rhys had a chance to make himself a hero when he found himself all alone from a corner but he badly missed his header. What a story that would have been, following on from Nat at Turf Moor the other night.
Speaking of Nat, his urge to head everything in sight cost him as he headed Fabinho and ended up with a big gash over his eye. He’s one of those old school defenders who is never happier than when he’s got a bandage on his head. It didn’t faze him.
Not be outdone, Williams also ended up with his eye busted open but he didn’t go for the bandage. Probably didn’t want to mess up his hair, he’s definitely more looks conscious than Big Nat.
Having missed that sitter Rhys made amends by getting a touch on a Robbo corner that diverted the ball to Bobby. His touch was a little heavy and he probably wasn’t reaching it, but Sadio was there to pounce on it and prod the ball home.
It felt inevitable after Townsend missed that chance. That was Trent’s fault as his sloppy pass forced Phillips to go for a bad he had no chance of reaching and Townsend ran clear towards the Kop. Alisson did all he could to make it difficult and the gap Townsend was going for wasn’t the biggest. You’d expect him to score there though and it was a huge let off that we took full advantage of.
Going ahead was big, especially as Spurs came back at Leicester and Villa went ahead against Chelsea. All of a sudden we were in third, and even if we’d given up an equaliser we’d still be fine as long as Leicester and Chelsea didn’t win.
The second goal was vital though just so we could relax. Palace were always going to fight for a result when there was only one goal in it, but a second would see them lose interest.
It took a while to come though and for much of the second half I thought we were playing it a little too cagey. We were happy with the 1-0 and weren’t pushing too hard for a second. The tempo of the game dropped, but with Spurs doing well at Leicester and Villa going 2-0 up there wasn’t really any cause for concern.
Eventually we got the second when Sadio’s deflected effort went in. Brilliant play by Mo to set it up but I thought Sadio had fucked that up. I didn’t like the way he controlled the ball and stood still to line up a shot. It just didn’t look right, usually he’d have taken it in stride and hit it on the run. He got a bit lucky with that one but given the shit luck he’s had all season (mainly with officials giving him fuck all whenever he’s fouled) no-one can begrudge him that.
That was that then. The only thing left to do was get Gini an ovation from the crowd and hopefully get Mo on the scoresheet. Gini got his ovation when he was replaced by Milner, but sadly Mo’s goal never came and he missed out on the Golden Boot.
That’s the only negative as it obviously meant a lot to him and it would have been nice if he could have snagged a share of it with old slobber chops.
We’re basically in the Champions League next season because of Mo and his unquenchable thirst for goals. That and the heroes who have filled in at the back. Nat, Rhys, Ozan, Hendo, Fab…. all of them, but especially the first three lads.
It feels like we’ve kept a shitload of clean sheets and when we haven’t we’ve usually only let in one. To do that without Van Dijk, Matip and Gomez is commendable. Not just to the fill in centre backs, but the team as a whole who have defended really well. It’s the attacking side of it that hasn’t been great, but the shoots of recovery have been there recently.
With Jota fully fit and one more addition to the front line, hopefully that problem is solved for next season. A fully fit midfield will help too. Hendo coming in with Fabinho and Thiago looks formidable, but I’ll be honest, losing Gini really hurts and put a big dampener on this for me.
Seeing him at the end just made me sad. And angry. He clearly doesn’t want to go but whatever contract they offered was not acceptable to him. I don’t get it. It makes no sense not to pay him. Was he asking for than Thiago or Hendo are getting? I highly doubt it.
But if they were willing to pay Thiago (and I have no problem with that) then why not reward a player who has been fucking immense for us? He never misses a game, he does whatever the manager asks him to do even if it means sacrificing his own attacking instincts, and he’s a proper leader who everyone loves.
If he was at Bayern Munich now and available on a free, we’d probably be leading the chase. So why are we letting him walk? We’ll have to pay £35m for a replacement and then give him a similar wage to what Gini is currently on, so why not pay him the extra? We’d still be well in profit.
I’d love to know the thought process behind all this because to me is seems fucking stupid and I’m pissed off about it. I’ll get over it, but I shouldn’t have to.
Anyway, I’ll miss him and his beautiful smile, and his supercharged performances in the biggest games when no-one can get the ball off him. They’re big shoes that need filling and hopefully Edwards and Klopp have a plan.
Tell you what Gini leaving does though. It makes me resent that fucking waster Keita even more than I do already. If he’s still here next year and Gini isn’t that’s going to be seriously fucking hard to stomach. If I have to see that fucking fanny jumping out of tackles and limping off with some minor injury while Gini is playing 60 games and winning titles at Bayern or somewhere, I'll go fucking mad. Let’s see how it all plays out though I suppose.
So that’s that then. Season over and it isn’t one that will remembered fondly as 90% of it was fucking miserable for one reason or another. The other 10% though at least gives us something to smile about. Mo’s goals, Big Nat and Alisson’s header. Thiago’s performances down the stretch were fun to watch too, and Jota’s impact pre-injury.
So it wasn’t all shit, just most of it. Still, how fucking bad are everyone else that we could have that relegation type run of form in the middle of the season and still finish in the top three, just five points off second? Oh and one more thing. That ‘incredible’ Man City team I keep hearing about, we finished closer to them than they did to us last season.
They were worthy Champions and they were comfortably the best team this year. They’re not all that though and it won’t take too much from us to be right back up there with them. Whether we do what is needed this summer remains to be seen.
Star man is tricky. Probably Sadio because he scored both goals, but the two lads at the back ran him close and Mo was a constant menace all day.
Team: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Phillips, R Williams, Robertson (Oxlade-Chamberlain); Fabinho, Thiago, Wijnaldum (Milner); Salah, Firmino (Jota), Mané:
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