Southampton (A) - Tue 17th May 2022 (7:45pm)

[Trumo]

One week of the league season to go and we are STILL in with a shout of the quadruple! The Premier League title odds are very much against us as we need to win both our remaining league games and hope City slip up to Villa. The bookies will probably have lengthened our odds after the cup final where Mo had to be subbed early because of a twinge that has cast doubt on whether he will be fit and available before the Champions League final in a fortnight. Virg lasted 90 minutes and had to be subbed due to a twinge behind his knee, and Robbo cramped up and needed to be replaced by eventual match winner Kostas. Even Ali took a knock. Basically it is likely we will be without 3 or 4 for this one. Still, a win will bring us back to within 1 point of City before the final day, just as in 2019.

 

Tactical nous. Accuracy. Know-how. Intelligence. Nerve. Grit. Tenacity. Heart. Effervescence. Tricks. Impudence. Speed. Style.

 

I don’t ask for much.

 

Last season’s corresponding fixture was our first game of 2021, and began a period of desperate results amid an injury crisis in the centre of defence. It was a poor game where we did not play well at all, were scuppered by inexplicable refereeing leniency (is it really inexplicable when PGMOL’s finest routinely let teams get away with all sorts of shit against us?) on a few occasions leading to increasing frustration, and we dropped 3 points for the first time since the Villa debacle a few months earlier when Liverpool old boy Danny Ings ran through early on to lift the ball past the onrushing Ali from an angle. There was no lack of effort but our forwards all looked off key that evening.

 

The picture was better in September 1988 when the defending league champions travelled to The Dell. It was always a tight and compact ground even after some new stands were built in the 1990s to comply with the Taylor Report’s recommendation for all-seater facilities at top flight stadia, but prior to that it was extremely claustrophobic and a ground on which we had a very patchy record. In those days, I think that would have been due to how the team had to travel to away ground rather than the close proximity of the fans. The squad would have gone by coach on the day of the game whereas nowadays the lengthy journey between Merseyside and the south coast would be undertaken by flying and staying overnight in Hampshire, easing travel fatigue and aiding preparation and recuperation. The Dell was so hemmed in that the end stands following the angle of the roads immediately behind, and there were barely 2m between the touchlines and the perimeter fences.

 

Liverpool had started off in the league the way they’d left off the previous season. David Burrows had been signed from West Brom to fill the left back slot (allowing the versatile Nicol to move over to the other side where he was a more natural fit), but the big story was the return of club legend Rushie for a record £2.8m (£400,000 less than what Juventus had paid to bring him to Serie A a year earlier). We already had a fearsome attack, and adding him to it would have had the rest of English football shitting themselves. I imagine there were many conversations among fans back then thinking out loud about how good we would be if we still had Rushie in addition to the threat of Aldo, Beardo and Barnesy. Now it was a mouth-watering reality. At Southampton, it was Beardsley who had a standout game, running the Saints ragged. Incidentally, it was a Southampton team that contained former Red Jimmy Case in midfield, and had a young Alan Shearer amongst the subs.

 

It was Beardo who broke beyond the tackles of the Saints’ back line to square for Aldo to tap into the unguarded net from inside the six yard box. As much vaunted as that team was in an attacking sense, we also had a tendency towards defensive calamity. Just a couple of minutes after taking the lead, Gillespie bundled into Paul Rideout to leave Derek Statham with the task of beating stand-in Reds keeper Hooper from the spot. He did so with ease, sending the ginger net minder the wrong way. In the second half, Beardo killed a long high Ablett ball upfield stone dead in the centre circle before again dribbling past the flying challenges of the Southampton defence and placing the ball past John Burridge. A quality goal from a quality player. Liverpool began to turn the screw and the Southampton goal led a charmed life as chances went begging. Then Aldo was brought down by the keeper when clean through, and Big Jan tucked away the resulting penalty with his customary coolness. 3-1 and it looked like the rest would have a hard task of stopping us from running away with the league again.

 

 

September 1988 saw the latest slice of weird from David Cronenberg top the box office. Jeremy Irons starred as twin Jekyll and Hyde-esque gynaecologists Beverly and Elliot Mantle in Dead Ringers. Beverly the shy retiring, nervy type with Elliot the lecherous cad who thinks nothing of getting his end away with his patients while they are anaesthetised, and also while they’re not. Ultimately, one twin cannot do without the other. I know I’ve seen this film before but I don’t remember too much about it. It’s not a Cronenberg film without some fucked-up goriness and sure enough, Dead Ringers has its typically Cronenberg moments. This is a guy who brought us films like Scanners, The Fly and Crash (the 1990s film not the 2005 Oscar winner) after all. At the time, Irons was best known for Brideshead Revisited but had begun to carve out a successful film career in films that were well written but less hyped than the mainstream.

 

 

It’s highly likely that Klopp will ring the changes for the game at St Mary’s. We’ve a few who need a rest after their weekend exertions plus a handful who need a bit of time to get back to full fitness. We have options that can slot into any of the other positions on the pitch. That means two things. Some of the guys who exerted themselves to the end on Saturday may be required to be subs on Tuesday, and it’s less certain that we will look like a cohesive unit. That’s a lot of pressure when there is still so much riding on the game for us, but fortunately Klopp has built a squad and backroom staff that thrive on pressure and do not consider the remotest of possibilities a lost cause. He will demand focus, motivation and application from whoever is selected, and they are capable of delivering. With Southampton it’s hard to know what you’re going to get as they have their own Jekyll and Hyde tendencies during the season. Then can go on a 10-game unbeaten spell where they look useful for a European place, but then they’ll have a spell where they take some absolute hidings. It might be their last home game of the season but I’m hoping that we see the latter from them. Play it right and do the right things and we will win. With a fair wind we can even boost our goal difference ready for the final day. Just go out there and get the job done.

[an tha]

Alisson

 

Gomez

Konate

Matip

Tsimikas

 

Keita

Milner

Jones

 

Firmino

Origi

Jota

 

Honestly can't see much other options but that 11 given the 120 mins and injuries yesterday.

 

Hopefully we can just get a win - any win and take it to last day.

[Mark M]

Send the U18’s

[an tha]

1 minute ago, Mark M said:

Send the U18’s

No way.....

 

For me us winning our last 2 however narrowly now and them dropping pts v villa is maybe not as far fetched as us somehow pulling back half a dozen goal diff over the last 2 games with us both winning last game. Which is where we would have been had they lost today.

 

So yeah it is a long, long shot - but not totally dead yet.....win Tues and let's at least make them think about it Sun....

 

[Mark M]

15 minutes ago, an tha said:

No way.....

 

For me us winning our last 2 however narrowly now and them dropping pts v villa is maybe not as far fetched as us somehow pulling back half a dozen goal diff over the last 2 games with us both winning last game. Which is where we would have been had they lost today.

 

So yeah it is a long, long shot - but not totally dead yet.....win Tues and let's at least make them think about it Sun....

 

Villa are playing on Thursday against Burnley & then City on Sunday fuck all time to prepare / rest. 

City have the whole week to prepare for Villa at home. City will put 4/5 past them as villa are shite.

 

[ZonkoVille77]

We're fuckin shite. 

[TheDrowningMan]

The main thing is ensuring we don’t take any unnecessary risks ahead of the CL final. Pick a team based on who is least knackered and see what happens. At least Southampton are safe after Leeds’ failure to win today.

[an tha]

41 minutes ago, Mark M said:

Villa are playing on Thursday against Burnley & then City on Sunday fuck all time to prepare / rest. 

City have the whole week to prepare for Villa at home. City will put 4/5 past them as villa are shite.

 

They may well do.

 

But all we can control is what we do.

 

And what we can do is get to 92 pts and force them to win that last game.

 

To do that we can't send out a totally scratch team v southampton...it will have to be a rotated/heavily changed team, absolutely - after 120 mins yesterday and with injuries....but best we can put out like this IMHO.

 

Alisson

 

Gomez

Matip

Konate

Tsimikas

 

Keita

Milner

Jones

 

Firmino

Origi

Jota

 

Get a win and then best team Sunday......we have a full week nearly after that and frankly don't want too many not playing for 2 weeks - it hurts our rhythm and we always struggle if we don't have rhythm.

 

It is a longshot us winning league, but we should not give up on it yet...no way!

[an tha]

And plus when was the last time the final day saw real drama and a proper twist around the title....feels like a long, long time.....

[Pete]

3 points, clean sheet & a few goals please lads.  

[Bruce Spanner]

Twat 'em.

[Grinch]

Got to get the way points and force it down to the last day.  Gerard, Coutinho…there’s stories there.

[El Rojo]

2 hours ago, an tha said:

Alisson

 

Gomez

Konate

Matip

Tsimikas

 

Keita

Milner

Jones

 

Firmino

Origi

Jota

 

Honestly can't see much other options but that 11 given the 120 mins and injuries yesterday.

 

Hopefully we can just get a win - any win and take it to last day.

Pretty much what I had in mind, with the bench to be run in the second half. I’d maybe start Sadio though. That we aren’t going out to try and win 7-0 for goal difference reasons is no harm given the fatigue factor. 

[Babb'sBurstNad]

I'd go with Kelleher too. Alisson took a hefty knock to his leg, and he could do with resting up.

[DalyanPete]

2 hours ago, an tha said:

No way.....

 

For me us winning our last 2 however narrowly now and them dropping pts v villa is maybe not as far fetched as us somehow pulling back half a dozen goal diff over the last 2 games with us both winning last game. Which is where we would have been had they lost today.

 

So yeah it is a long, long shot - but not totally dead yet.....win Tues and let's at least make them think about it Sun....

 

I'm with you fella

[DalyanPete]

I want Sky's main story on Monday to be.....

Liverpool sensationally snatched the title from city's hands, meanwhile, in other news everton have been relegated and the board have said, "for once, we just don't know what we will do"

[Section_31]

Gutted city got level today, I would have genuinely fancied our chances of overcoming goal difference. 

[Freddo]

Personally don’t see Keita starting this. Will Ibou be good for this, he’s played quite a bit lately.

Maybe Joe and Joel at centre half.

Tsimi, jones, Bobby, jota all to start I’d imagine. Elliott, ox in the squad.

[Mark M]

1 hour ago, an tha said:

And plus when was the last time the final day saw real drama and a proper twist around the title....feels like a long, long time.....

Probably before you had a sportswashed team like City who can afford not to play the likes of Sterling / Foden / Maherz and still win most weeks. The jerpody has been taken away by the cheating fuckers.

 

I just can’t get behind a Villa side led by Tyrone Mings at the back to keep City out. 

[Mark M]

1 hour ago, an tha said:

And plus when was the last time the final day saw real drama and a proper twist around the title....feels like a long, long time.....

Probably before you had a sportswashed team like City who can afford not to play the likes of Sterling / Foden / Maherz and still win most weeks. The jerpody has been taken away by the cheating fuckers.

 

I just can’t get behind a Villa side led by Tyrone Mings at the back to keep City out. 

[House of Dirk]

Unleash Big Div

[Reckoner]

3 hours ago, Mark M said:

Villa are playing on Thursday against Burnley & then City on Sunday fuck all time to prepare / rest. 

City have the whole week to prepare for Villa at home. City will put 4/5 past them as villa are shite.

 

 

[m0e]

1 hour ago, Section_31 said:

Gutted city got level today, I would have genuinely fancied our chances of overcoming goal difference. 

How?

 

Any win will do against the Saints, and we'll struggle with that as it is.

 

And even if we do batter South, we then have to beat Wolves by more than City beat Villa. That scenario is never happening, is it?

 

I think this works better, as we don't have to kill ourselves trying to score 6 or 7 goals, and we can manage the games better to avoid injuries or fatigue before the big one in Paris.

 

The chances of us turning the GD around is about the same as City dropping points against Villa.

 

This way, at least we are in better shape for #7.

[an tha]

1 hour ago, Mark M said:

Probably before you had a sportswashed team like City who can afford not to play the likes of Sterling / Foden / Maherz and still win most weeks. The jerpody has been taken away by the cheating fuckers.

 

I just can’t get behind a Villa side led by Tyrone Mings at the back to keep City out. 

I agree Villa are shite, and they are highly likely to get bummed dead hard... .but you just never know in footy and us winning on Tues is all we can do for now.

[aRdja]

Alisson; Gomez, Matip, Konate, Tsimikas; Henderson, Keita, Milner; Jota, Diaz, Firmino