Liverpool 4 Newcastle Utd 0 (Dec 26 2018)

[tlw content]

 

 

 

Report by

Dave Usher

 

Is this actually happening? Everything is coming up Millhouse. I'm not used to this and I'm waiting for the inevitable kick in the bollocks. So far it hasn't come. Maybe this time it won't? 

 

A few weeks ago we were having to win just to cling onto the coat tails of the runaway train that was City. They were doing exactly what they did last year when they left everyone eating dust after a record breaking start. This time though they hadn't shaken everyone off. We were right there with them, somehow.

 

Yet we were on the brink of dropping two points at home in the Derby that would have left us four adrift and in trouble. It would have been tough to recover from that because City are relentless front runners, but then Jordan Pickford came to the rescue and we haven’t looked back.

 

Moments like that can often be the catalyst for something big, and maybe in May we’ll look at that as a key turning point. Since then City have fallen apart and we’ve been unstoppable. We’re seven clear of them now and, incredibly, the goal difference advantage they had has now been wiped out too. Weren’t we 16 behind them not so long ago? I clearly remember saying that I’d written that off completely and it no longer mattered if we won 5-0 or 1-0, we just had to keep winning.

 

Well it matters again, but more to City than us. Unless they can restore their advantage in goal difference that seven point deficit is effectively an eight point one. It’s unbelievable how quickly things have changed, and that should serve as a warning to any of us who might be getting carried away. Not that I see much of that. We've been burned too many times to take anything for granted. 

 

I think most of us are now confident and have belief, but we all know how quickly things can go wrong as we've experienced it. It does feel different, but then it felt different in 2014 too. It felt different going into the final in Kiev last May. You just never know what's around the corner, but this team has gone through some heartbreak and it didn't break them. They've kept coming back stronger..

 

There’s no sign of complacency from them either, which is great because it might be the biggest danger to us right now. They’re just going out and taking care of business. Newcastle came to defend and make it difficult but they were swept aside with the minimum of fuss. It was a third gear performance and there should therefore be plenty left in the tank for the next game.

 

The way we started the game I thought we might score seven or eight. The front lads were on fire and some of the one touch interplay between them was as good as anything we’ve seen all season. It just wouldn’t fall right for them to get their shots away, but the build up was sublime and the movement was dragging Newcastle all over the place.

 

It was impossible to tell what the formation was or who was playing where when we had the ball because the front four were interchanging and moving all over the place. It was only when they were stationary for things like goal kicks that you could see the 4-2-3-1 with Shaq on the right and Mo up front.

 

When we had the ball Mo kept pulling out to the right, Shaq and Bobby were floating around all over the place and there were spells where Mané looked like he was playing through the middle. How do you defend that?

 

With eight players and unsuccessfully in Newcastle’s case. They’re shite, yet they can probably consider themselves unfortunate to have gone home without scoring. They were no worse than the Mancs, despite the scoreline.

 

They actually had a great chance to go in front early on when Ritchie’s superb cross dropped just over Van Dijk and onto the head of Joselu. Thankfully he’s shite and made a mess of it. Had Rondon been on the end of that it might have been a different story. Joselu is stealing a living and aside from Depoitre at Huddersfield might be the worst player in the league.

 

They also had a great chance to score right at the end too when Alisson was stranded out of his goal and a big scramble ensued. The defenders did just enough to delay Newcastle getting the shot away until Alisson was back in position and he made a save. It was celebrated like a goal, both by players and the crowd. We’re all becoming a little obsessed with clean sheets and this defensive record, and it’s fucking boss, I love it.

 

 

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[Paul]

Great report. 

[SasaS]

 

52 minutes ago, tlw content said:

 

 

Is this actually happening? Everything is coming up Millhouse. I'm not used to this and I'm waiting for the inevitable kick in the bollocks. So far it hasn't come. Maybe this time it won't?

 

 

Everything comes to him who waits.

[Tj hooker]

Think we need a new thread Dave's dad match score predictions , great read as always 

[Arnaud]

Dave, why did you say not so long ago in a report that Madison will end up at Anfield within 2 years ?

[deiseach]

Am I the only one still 'looking back' at the derby then? If it were a VHS tape I'd have worn it out by now.

 

Speaking of VHS tapes, I still have the recording of the last time Liverpool won the title lying around. The match was live on RTÉ. While leading 2-1 against QPR, news came through that Norwich had come from 3-1 down to draw level with Villa. The way it swept around Anfield was electrifying. Plus ça change...

[Section_31]

If we're four points up going into the final game I'll still be shitting myself.

[Spy Bee]

Having finally got around to watching Make Us Dream, the Steven Gerrard film, I am now officially shitting myself until the end of the season. 

 

I suppose a League and Champions League double would be too much to ask for, right?

[dave u]

4 hours ago, Arnaud said:

Dave, why did you say not so long ago in a report that Madison will end up at Anfield within 2 years ?

Gut feeling. We've tried to sign him at least once but he's (rightly) chosen to move to clubs where he'd be playing every week so he can develop his game. We tend to sign players when they hit 23/24 so if he has a couple of good years at Leicester I could see us going for him.

[an tha]

4 hours ago, deiseach said:

Am I the only one still 'looking back' at the derby then? If it were a VHS tape I'd have worn it out by now.

 

Speaking of VHS tapes, I still have the recording of the last time Liverpool won the title lying around. The match was live on RTÉ. While leading 2-1 against QPR, news came through that Norwich had come from 3-1 down to draw level with Villa. The way it swept around Anfield was electrifying. Plus ça change...

Radios pressed to ears!!

[deiseach]

6 minutes ago, an tha said:

Radios pressed to ears!!

There was a close-up of a lad in the Kop with a radio held up against one ear and a fag against the other. 

[Arnaud]

1 hour ago, dave u said:

Gut feeling. We've tried to sign him at least once but he's (rightly) chosen to move to clubs where he'd be playing every week so he can develop his game. We tend to sign players when they hit 23/24 so if he has a couple of good years at Leicester I could see us going for him.

Thanks for the explanation, Dave

[rhylerpudlian]

i guess i'll never read the comment " my boy joselu " anytime soon then dave

[m0e]

If City claw back the 7 points, they'll end up with a better goal difference than us, with a minimum swing of 5.

 

Agree with all the rest :)

[Spy Bee]

4 hours ago, m0e said:

If City claw back the 7 points, they'll end up with a better goal difference than us, with a minimum swing of 5.

 

Agree with all the rest :)

Not if we win games by more goals, and lose games by less goals than them, but yes, on the law of probabilities, it will swing back in their favour.

[TheBitch]

12 hours ago, rhylerpudlian said:

i guess i'll never read the comment " my boy joselu " anytime soon then dave

I wouldn't rule it out. Dave is pretty lax with his boys. 

[Remmie]

I think we need, no demand, a comprehensive list of all Dave's boys. 

[SasaS]

16 hours ago, rhylerpudlian said:

i guess i'll never read the comment " my boy joselu " anytime soon then dave

 

Is the end of January round-up soon enough?

[Paul]

7 hours ago, Remmie said:

I think we need, no demand, a comprehensive list of all Dave's boys. 

No way does such a list exist. Even Dave can’t rememer all his boys. 

 

 

*Sets Roger up with an open goal*