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Liverpool 3 Man City 1 (Jul 30 2022)


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Dave Usher

 

First let me say that this result means nothing when it comes to the season ahead. Not a thing. It’s completely irrelevant. The last two winners of the Community Shield were Leicester and Arsenal, who both went on to finish eighth. Leicester just weren’t very good and Arsenal spent six months smelling themselves after beating us on pens. The point is, winning this is not any kind of barometer for what lies ahead.

 

That said, it feels great doesn’t it? Beating them is always good, whether there’s points at stake or not. Maybe it laid down a marker but I don’t necessarily think so. City know how good we are and this won’t have told them anything new. Except maybe that the King is dead and long live the King. Sadio was great against City so they’ll have been glad to see the back of him. Nunez showed them that life isn’t going to get any easier.

 

Again though, this doesn’t mean that Nunez is going to be a roaring success or Haaland will be a flop. It’s just first blood to us, that’s all. It feels great though, and while the trophy itself isn’t particularly important, it’s something that Klopp and the lads hadn’t won so it kind of does feel important just for them to complete the set. 

 

More than anything though it’s just good seeing a performance like that. It wasn’t flawless and we had lulls during the game, but that happens every time we play them. You can’t boss City for 90 minutes as they’re too good. In total we probably bossed two thirds of this game and the other third was relatively even. It never felt like City were on top at any point.

 

We started the game brilliantly and ended it the same way. That bodes well for the start of the season as it shows we’re pretty sharp despite the shortened pre-season. The starting eleven looked really good and then the subs gave us that extra push in the closing stages. It couldn’t have gone any better could it?

 

The start of the game reminded me a little of the semi final a few months back. This wasn’t as spectacular but we’re still in pre-season so we’re never going to be at the intensity we were playing at in April. The way the game went though was similar. We started fast and were well on top. We dominated the ball and were moving it around well. 

 

In the first few minutes Mo hit one into the side netting after dancing his way into the box. I really thought that had gone in at first. Would have been a sensational goal.

 

Robbo missed a good chance too when he arrived at the back stick to meet a Trent cross but headed horribly wide. Bad decision, he should have headed back across goal, either to try and score himself or to square it to a team-mate. Robbo might be the worst finisher I’ve ever seen, which is mad because he’s such a great player. He does the difficult stuff really well but when it comes to goalscoring he couldn’t hit a cow’s arse with a banjo.

 

 

 

This is just a teaser, click here to view the full report

 

Please note that Match Reports are only available to website subscribers. Subscriptions cost just £3 a month (you need to register first) and can be purchased here. 

 

 

 

 

 

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I totally agree with you about the similarities between Núñez and Haaland, Dave. However, it’s weird that whenever I read something about the two of them from national journalists, they all seem to be of the view that Darwin is a natural fit for us whereas Haaland is radically different for them. I suppose it makes sense in terms of the fact that we are used to having actual forwards upfront rather than midfielders, but I feel Núñez is going to be quite different in a tactical sense for us just as Haaland will be for them.

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51 minutes ago, Paul said:

I totally agree with you about the similarities between Núñez and Haaland, Dave. However, it’s weird that whenever I read something about the two of them from national journalists, they all seem to be of the view that Darwin is a natural fit for us whereas Haaland is radically different for them. I suppose it makes sense in terms of the fact that we are used to having actual forwards upfront rather than midfielders, but I feel Núñez is going to be quite different in a tactical sense for us just as Haaland will be for them.

Agree with this. I do think there's probably more pressure on Haaland to be an instant fit - we can still put out a front three of Diaz, Jota/Bobby and Mo while we wait, whereas they seem a bit short without Haaland.

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To be honest I don't agree with a lot of folk saying it was a meaningless friendly. Both sides took it seriously and both managers did too. Guardiola is seriously fucked up in the head and this result will have been a kick in the bollocks. It also puts pressure on them from the out because Haaland had such a stinker, while the opposite is true for Nunez - and you could see his relief. We spat on their boots and looked them in the eye. They didn't look back. 

 

 

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3 hours ago, Section_31 said:

To be honest I don't agree with a lot of folk saying it was a meaningless friendly. Both sides took it seriously and both managers did too. Guardiola is seriously fucked up in the head and this result will have been a kick in the bollocks. It also puts pressure on them from the out because Haaland had such a stinker, while the opposite is true for Nunez - and you could see his relief. We spat on their boots and looked them in the eye. They didn't look back. 

 

 

I agree. I probably would have looked for positives had we got beat but winning it was great.

Their reaction at the end in not staying on the pitch to get their medals says how important it is and Pep will probably make some snidey comments in his press conference. 

Most importantly though in Darwin we may have a player that has the physicality, work rate and pace to not let their central defenders or holding midfielder rest.  Personally feel if City have one slight weakness it's tempo. While they can knock it around at their pace they look wonderful but - and it maybe an anomaly - all of their big defeats (and Guardiolas) in league and CL seem to have come in 5-15 min bursts where the tempo goes up and they get really really rattled and lose composure. 

If Darwin can give us that again through the middle, knock them out of their stride and really get them on the back foot we could be rocking.

 

Based on the way Ake tried to nobble him late in the game, I doubt their centre halfs are looking forward to playing him again anytime soon. 

 

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Said this a couple of years ago, this club hasn't been this together and well run for years and it's all down to Jurgen. Watch the boys training, it looks so enjoyable. The supporters singing "One Kiss" with the players, brilliant.

I thought I was blessed with what I've seen in all the years gone by but this is on another level.

Enjoy these moments. Life doesn't get much better as a Red.

 

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11 hours ago, Chocoholic said:

All this, after the first show of togetherness, after a draw v West Brom was mocked wildly, patronised and called smalltime and deluded. Every other club and their respective fans would kill for the unity we have at every level now.

Imagine being us.

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