Before the game I’d have been made up with a point. After the game, I am made up with the point, especially as we had to come from behind to get it. That doesn’t mean I thought we played well though. We were ok, there were plenty of things to like about this, but we were nowhere near our best. Neither were City, despite Guardiola’s protestations to the contrary.
The early kick off after an international break just doesn’t do this game justice. The Premier League are a fucking joke, letting the Manchester bizzies dictate to them like that. This is their showpiece game and it’s been watered down in quality by that kick off time. This isn’t sour grapes as I don’t think it hampered us any more than them. I’m just saying that neither team were near their best level and the spectacle suffered because of it.
We got a point though and that’s all that matters. It’s a better result for us than them, especially given they had the lead and were at home. They’d have expected to win from there, I mean, they literally do win all of their home games. Every single one in 2023, in all competitions. Until now. That’s why we should be happy. I wouldn’t be happy to settle for a draw at any other venue (maybe Arsenal currently) but City are better than us and our record there is shit. So this is a really nice result.
As for the performance, it’s a weird one because we deserved a draw and did not get outplayed, so we must have played pretty well. If we hadn’t then they’d have taken us to the cleaners like they do everybody else at the Etihad. Yet I couldn’t help but feeling a bit frustrated by our play, particularly going forward where we did not make the most of countless decent situations that should have been converted into decent chances.
That has to be a good thing though big picture wise. Going to City and getting a deserved draw without playing anywhere near as well as we can does make you wonder what might have happened if we had played somewhere near our best. Equally though, we didn’t get City on their best day and they were without De Bruyne and Grealish, who along with Son have probably been the biggest thorns in our side in recent seasons.
I didn’t think there was anything surprising in Klopp’s team selection. Maybe Konate over Matip, but he’s not played much of late and Joel is in a better rhythm so I’d have leaned that way too. Curtis coming back in made sense because he keeps the ball and he’s our best presser. It didn’t work out like that in hindsight, but the selection made sense. Jota for Diaz was a coin flip really, but I’d have gone for Jota too. He was crap, but there was no way of knowing he would be as he’s been doing well lately.
City were able to welcome back all of the players who missed the international games through injury. How about that eh? They all played the full ninety too. No matter how much he wins, Liverpool will always be front and centre in Guardiola’s mind. Sneaky cheating bald fuck.
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