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  1. Watford’s revival has ground to a shuddering halt after successive stoppage time defeats. They lost the Z-Cars derby 3-2 despite leading 2-0 and despite Everton having to play a large part of the second half with only ten men. Watford’s opening goal was a work of art. Absolutely sensational football from front to back, it had back heels, glorious crossfield passes, stunning control and eventually a fine finish from Messina. It was a Liverpool goal, and I can pay them no higher compliment than that. Their second was decent too, capped by a lovely finish by Pereyra. The first half was all Watford and they were well in control. Then they gave up two goals to Yerry Mina in stoppage time and went in at 2-2. Crazy stuff. Delph then saw red after two quick bookings. The second one was fairly soft but when you’ve been booked already you just don’t dive in like that unless you’re a fucking moron, which of course he is. The problem with Delph is that everything about his entire demeanour screams out ‘book me, ref’. He’s permanently snarling and aggressive, he’s always fouling and he’s a mouthy prick. He’s just not getting the benefit of the doubt. I'd book him in the tunnel before the game just to save time. Watford couldn’t take advantage of the extra man and got caught in stoppage time when Richarlison got away down the left and picked out Moise Kean who as usual completely fluffed his lines. Unfortunately the ball rolled perfectly into the path of Walcott to present him with a chance that not even he could squander. Several Watford players have spoken recently about how Pearson’s disciplinarian approach was just what they needed. I don’t expect to hear any of them talking like that now though, as it’s hard to talk when you’re wearing your own tongue as a tie. Big Nige isn’t going to stand for that kind of ineptitude. Any more of that and I can see him marching into the dressing room dressed like Stallone in First Blood, complete with the big fuck off knife. Speaking of ineptitude though, the Moyes effect is in full swing now at West Ham, who are in deep shit after being held at home by Brighton despite twice holding a two goal advantage. Diop put them in front and my boy Snodgrass added a second with a deflected volley. Ogbonna’s unfortunate own goal (Fabianski punched it against him) allowed Brighton to pull one back before Snodgrass bagged another deflected goal to restore the Hammers’ two goal lead. Moyes then tried to shut up shop with a defensive substitution but it backfired spectacularly as Gross took advantage of hesitation between the centre backs to give Brighton hope, before Glenn Murray bagged the equaliser despite initially looking like he handled it. Michael Oliver wasn’t going to give the goal but after a lengthy VAR check it was (correctly) decided that he didn’t handle it, but the big screen showed the one angle that made it look like he defo handled it which made the crowd go mad. I’m not a fan of replays being shown in the stadium as no good is ever going to come of it, especially if they’re not going to show the right ones. This was a huge result for Brighton as although they might still get caught up in the relegation mire, this keeps them above water for the time being. West Ham on the other hand are sinking fast. They’re in the bottom three and they’ve got a brutal run of games coming up in which they are unlikely to even pick up a point. Their run in is quite soft but by then they might be dead and buried. Let’s hope so anyway. Them and Villa going down would do me nicely. Villa also had a massive setback this weekend as they were beaten by ten man Bournemouth. Billing (who I’m fairly sure that this time last year had ‘my boy’ status) fired Bournemouth into the lead and Ake’s close range effort made it 2-0 six minutes later. Then Jefferson Lerma got sent off for a second booking and it was all hands to the pump for the rest of the game. Lerma gets booked every time he plays but the second one he got here was a joke. Grealish popped the ball off for a one two and ran into Lerma, who couldn’t get out of the way. It’s a foul, but the booking was really harsh. When you watch it closely you can see Anthony Taylor give a free-kick but he only goes for his pocket after Grealish appeals to him that it should be a booking. Poor refereeing, but it’s Anthony Taylor so it’s par for the course. Lerma gets so many bookings though that, like Delph, he’s never going to get the benefit of the doubt. New signing Samatta headed Villa back into it with 20 minutes to go and Grealish went close to an equaliser, but Bournemouth just about held on for a massive three points. Villa look like they might go, and if that’s the case Grealish is definitely going to have a new club next season. He won’t be short of offers as he’s been fucking brilliant this season. He’s won me over. He looks like a twat and for that reason I really want to dislike him, and for years I have done. Now though? The more I watch him the more difficult I find it to hold the haircut and stupid rolled down socks against him. He’s quality and he works his balls off. He loves Villa and he’s giving everything he has for them because it’s his team. I respect him for that, and until he inevitably ends up signing for United or Spurs, I’m going to err on the side of “I don’t mind him, he’s a good player”. The Mancs drew 0-0 at home with Wolves. They’re just so utterly irrelevant these days that I can’t even be arsed saying any more about them. I’m not even going to take the piss out of them signing Ighalo, because they aren’t worth it, the irrelevant shit cunts. One thing I suppose I can’t let pass is the hilarious, Hodgson-esque type comments Solskjaer keeps churning out. The latest being “nobody breaks Wolves down” even though they hadn’t kept a clean sheet in fucking ages. The other one was when he responded to a question about Wolves being difficult to play against by saying “they’ll say we’re difficult to play against. We’ve played them three times lately and they haven’t scored”. Great, when’s the “We didn’t let Wolves score against us” parade? Fucking losers. The only thing worth mentioning about this game is that my boy Traore dislocated his shoulder and just had the physio pop it back in so he could carry on. What a badass, like Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon. That game would surely have been last on MOTD if not for Newcastle and Norwich serving up an equally dire goalless draw at St James’. A frustrating afternoon for Newcastle as there was nothing to cheer or get your cock out to in this one (was that the most Newcastle fan thing ever by the way? I think it might just be). Moving swiftly on, third faced fourth as Leicester played host to Chelsea in the early game on Saturday. I watched the first fifteen minutes or so of this before I headed off to Anfield and it looked like Chelsea were going to run away with it. Every time I looked up they were running in behind only for Kevin Abraham to take a fresh air shot or fall over his own feet. I quite like him, he’s a good player, but he looked like he wearing someone else’s feet on Saturday. Rudiger headed Chelsea in front but Barnes equalised with the aid of a huge deflection. Chilwell put Leicester ahead but another Rudiger header tied things up. Wonderful header that one. Barnes should have won it late after being brilliantly found by Vardy, but his shot rolled agonisingly wide and it ended honours even. Interesting that Chelsea have dropped the world’s most expensive keeper. Understandable, because he’s fucking rubbish, but still interesting because usually when you pay that much for a player you have to stick by them. It won’t be long before he’s back in because Willy Caballero isn’t the answer. Not unless the question is “Name a shit, bald goalie who has been a back up for his whole career and is only actually any good in penalty shoot outs”. Yeah that’s right, I’m still bitter about the cunt denying us in the League Cup final in Klopp’s first season. Fuck WIlly Caballero. While we’re on Chelsea, I have to mention how surprised I was to see they sold Tariq Lamprey to Brighton. I’ve seen him a few times against our Academy sides and he looked absolutely fucking dynamite. Apparently he didn’t want to extend his contract and would have left in the summer so they sold him now. Brighton might have themselves an absolute steal there, and if not then they’ll be able to sell him to Bournemouth for £20m in a year. Selhurst Park now where Palace were beaten 1-0 at home by Sheffield United at the weekend in a game that could have gone either way. Baldock was lucky to stay on after flattening Zaha when already on a yellow. Terrible decision that really as it’s as obvious a yellow card as you’ll see. Joel Ward was then sent off only for the VAR to ask Andy Madley to take a look at it on the pitched monitor. He did, and he decided it was only a yellow. That’s how it should be done. It was a subjective call and he was within his right to give a red, but it would have been harsh. By telling him to look at it himself it removes the scenario where you have one referee over ruling another. Unless its a black and white issue just let the fellas on the pitch have a look at the replays and decide if they want to change their mind or not. The winning goal was something of a farce as the Palace keeper caught a corner and then came down behind his own line. I’ve been begging him up for weeks and he goes and does that to make me look stupid. Nice one, soft lad. This result made me happy because as well as having a soft spot for the Blades, all season I’ve been saying how bad Palace are and how annoying it is that somehow they were so high in the table despite seeming to be outplayed virtually every week. I’ve said they’re a definite bottom six team and now all of a sudden the natural order seems to be being restored. They’re currently seventh from bottom, and if and when Bournemouth or Brighton overtake them then that will be about right. Defo a bottom six calibre squad. Sheffield United are strange. They barely seem to score any goals and yet there they are in 6th place pushing for a top four spot. It feels like every week they either score one or none, but they’re such a well coached, hard working team they are able to overcome that. Ok so I’ve just checked and they’ve scored 26 goals in 25 games. It’s actually remarkable they are where they are when their forwards are Billy Sharp, Eddie McGoldrick and Ollie McBurnie. I think they have five goals between them. Then you look at the teams around them, such as Chelsea (Abraham) Wolves (Jimenez), United (Rashford), Spurs (Kane), Arsenal (Aubamayeng) and Everton (Calvert-Lewin). If the Blades had any striker scoring with the regularity of those mentioned they’d surely be fourth. Chris Wilder is a miracle worker. Palace don’t have a goalscorer either because Zaha has reverted back to the player he was a couple of years ago when he’d score four or five a season. Still, that’s three years work for Benteke. Onto Sunday now and Arsenal recorded yet another draw. Their game at Burnley was fucking dire. Burnley fans are used to dull as shit games but this was so bad it would put a glass eye to sleep. Arsenal started with Aubameyang, Lacazette, Martinelli and Ozil and they still didn’t look like scoring. It’s hard to actually process just how fucking shite the likes of Arsenal, United and Spurs are right now. We’re probably going to finish 50 points ahead of all of them. Imagine if a couple of years ago someone had told you that. Hell, imagine if six months ago someone told you we’d be 22 points ahead of City at the end of January. It’s fucking mental. It’s beyond anything I could have even dreamed of really. Being top? Yeah I could see that. Being top by a comfortable margin? Yeah, probably. Being so far ahead of the other members of the ‘big six’ that some of them need a NASA telescope to even see us? Nope, I’d never have dared to think that. Yet here we are, as Man City lost yet again. Some of the games they’ve lost have been well deserved. The four points they’ve dropped against Spurs though have been daylight robbery. The draw at the Etihad earlier in the season was one of the most one sided games you’ll ever see between two top teams. City fucking murdered Tottenham that day. Absolutely destroyed them, but somehow contrived to miss about a hundred chances and concede from the only effort on goal Spurs managed. This one wasn’t that different, only they actually managed to lose this. Spurs were shite but they rode their luck and then City imploded. That being said, it could have been a lot different if Sterling had been sent off when he caught Deli Alli’s ankle. He got the ball and caught him with the follow through. Personally I thought a yellow was just about the right decision but it could easily have been red as we’ve seen other players dismissed for similar. City were unfortunate in that they caught Lloris on one of his world class days. He made a brilliant save to deflect an Aguero shot onto the post and then he saved a penalty. What a farce that whole thing was though. Mike Dean initially didn’t give it, which was kind of fair enough because from where he was he couldn’t have had a clear view of it. So the game went on. And on. And on. And eventually VAR told him he’d made a mistake and it was a pen. The crowd went mad, Guardiola was annoyed at how long it had taken for them to give what was actually a pretty clear penalty, while Mourinho slouched back in his seat and was sarcastically laughing like a goon. So anyway, the spot kick was eventually awarded and Lloris saved from Gundogan. Then Sterling got to the rebound first and went down under the keeper’s challenge. Actually he went down BEFORE the keeper’s challenge and the keeper didn’t touch him. Dean this time pointed to the spot, and once again VAR over-ruled him. Hilarious scenes. A melee ensued in which Alderweireld and Zinchenko were booked, but it could have been any two of about a dozen players. Those two were no worse than anyone else really but Mike Dean is always going to make an example of someone in that situation. Mourinho was laughing again, until his assistant pointed out that if it was not a penalty then Sterling should have been given a second yellow. I’m sure you’ve all seen the clip, it’s an all timer. One of the funniest things I’ve seen all season. Mourinho is a showman. Most of what he does is an act and never was it more evident than with this. So funny. There’s no way he was as mad as he looked. It was pure WWE stuff and I loved it. I spent most of that evening watching it over and over, it’s just fucking hilarious. It’s amazing how little Mourinho bothers me now that he is barely even a spot of dirt in our wing mirror. He’s no threat to us so it’s easier to look at his various shenanigans and find them funny. There was a time when seeing him carry on like would have sent my blood pressure into orbit. It wasn’t healthy how much I hated him. Now I see him in the same way I see Pardew and Sherwood. He’s a clown. He amuses me. City continued to pile on the pressure and Aguero missed a sitter just before half time. Just after half time Alderweireld cleared off the line to deny Aguero and Gundogan ballooned the rebound over the empty net. Spurs were just not in the game at all and their goal was leading a charmed life until Zinchenko was sent off when he picked up a second yellow for a tactical foul and everything changed. He actually had the nerve to argue about it, the gormless looking shitbag. Fair to say I don’t care for him much. He’s got a hugely punchable face. Almost immediately Spurs took the lead with a terrific finish from new boy Steven Bergwijn. Son then made it 2-0 with a deflected finish from the edge of the box. Two attempts, two goals. Hilarious. Along with Wolves and Palace, Spurs are defo Man City’s bogey team. And us as well, obviously. Actually, if you have four bogey teams then you’re kind of in trouble, right? No wonder they’re so far behind us. This result got me thinking. Remember that famous interview in which a smuggest of smug Noel Gallagher was running his mouth about us? One of the things he said has actually proved to be spot on, but not in the way he meant it. He said that the Reds were “rivals” with City “for about five minutes”. You know who City’s main rivals are? Spurs, that’s who. They’ve failed to beat them twice this season and they were knocked out of the Champions League by them. My advice to City would be to stop obsessing about Liverpool and concentrate on trying to beat Tottenham. Once you’ve done that and actually look like worthy adversaries again, then we can talk. Until then, pipe down. Spurs followed up that win by accosting Southampton and stealing an FA Cup win from them in midweek. I watched most of it and the Saints fucking battered them only to be undone by two late goals, one of which came from the penalty spot after a blatant dive by everyone’s best mate, Son. It winds me right up how everyone seems to love that fucker. He’s top three in terms of biggest divers in the league, he’s a fucking cry baby and he’s a snide cunt. And what the fuck is all this “Sonny” shit from the TV interviewers lately? Geoff Shreeves was doing it on Sunday, and the bird on BT was at it after the cup replay as well. It’s ‘Son’, not ‘Sonny’. He’s not your mate, you absolute fucking cringey bastards. I’m sick of everyone tonguing his balls. He’s an absolute cunt but because he’s got a friendly, smiley face (when he’s not crying that is) no-one calls him on it. As I wrote earlier in the season, my mum was onto him before anyone else and she absolutely nailed it. He’s a sly, snidey, cheating little fucking shithouse. Fuck him, and fuck anyone who calls him “Sonny”.
    7 points
  2. Who’s disrespecting the cup now, eh? I really hope we win thing now, not just because it would be part of an historic double or hopefully even treble (or quadruple if we’re counting the World Club Cup), but because it will be a big ‘fuck you’ to all those who threw shade our way for fielding such a young side. Disrespecting the cup? No, you disrespected our kids, because they’re fucking boss. All this overly nostalgic bullshit we hear about the ‘magic of the cup’ does my head in. The FA Cup has changed. Football changes. Shit, everything changes. THIS is the new magic of the cup. Not Ronnie fucking Radford scoring a screamer on a ploughed field in the 70s, and not Shrewsbury fans invading the pitch after drawing with a Liverpool side minus all of its regular starters. What is more magical than a group of talented teenagers being given the chance to play for the biggest club in the country, in front of a sell out crowd, and playing like THAT??? Nothing, that’s what. This is the new magic of the cup, embrace it. I’m made up I went to this game. I wasn’t going to bother but a mate couldn’t make it and offered me his ticket so I thought why not. So glad I did, because it was so much fun. I walked out of Anfield with a massive grin on my face and it’s still there now as I write this. What a fun season this has been so far and it’s not just because of the senior lads running away with the league. Some of the most enjoyable moments of the season have been in the cups where the kids have just been sensational. I don’t think the club has every been in a healthier state than it is right now. Everything is running exactly how you’d want it to. It’s mad really when you think about what we’ve done in these cups. Up until now, the impressive cup wins were achieved with a sprinkling of experienced players mixed in with the most talented youngsters. The one time the kids had been left to fend for themselves they lost 5-0 at Villa, but even that game was enjoyable in a lot of ways. The boys were the better side that night but Villa just had more experience and physically at both ends of the pitch. Not to mention we were without some of our best youngsters that night, as Jones, Brewster, Williams, Lewis and Larouci were all unavailable. This was different. Larouci and Brewster weren’t there but it as an altogether stronger looking side than the one that lost at Villa. Besides, Shrewsbury didn’t have the quality that Villa had. Even so, they had given us all we could handle at their place so on paper it looked like a tough game. Not that anyone wanted to talk about football in the build up to this. It was all about Klopp staying away, disrespecting the cup, screwing Shrewsbury out of money and all sorts of other nonsense. Lost in all of it was that Neil Critchley genuinely thought his lads could win the game. You could see it in his press conference. The little glint in his eye when he was told that people had been writing his boys off. “Have they?” he said. He never said it but it was obvious he was thinking “ok well we’ll fucking show them”. I wasn’t bothered that Klopp left Critchley in charge. It made sense as these are his boys, not Klopp’s. He coaches them, he knows them and what makes them tick, so let him take charge. One of Klopp’s greatest strengths is he surrounds himself with the right people and he’s happy to delegate responsibility. I was on board with him leaving Critch to run the show, but I would have liked Klopp to be there even if it was just to offer a word of encouragement here and there and to give the boys a lift. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t feel strongly about it and I can’t say it bothered me that he didn’t show up, but personally I felt it would have been nice for the lads if he had been there supporting them. He wasn’t, but James Milner was. What a guy. If he’d had a few more days training under his belt I bet he’d have been begging to play. I love the togetherness of everyone at the club right now. Loads of the senior lads were watching the game on dodgy streams and posting their support for the kids on social media, but Milner wanting to be involved as much as he could, being in the dressing room giving pep talks like he does with the first team, I just fucking love that. “The message was simple. Just go out there and play like a Liverpool team”, said Critchley afterwards. Message received loud and clear. This was exactly like watching the first team. It was uncanny. Obviously the quality of the individuals isn’t the same, but in terms of the set up, patterns of play, movement with and without the ball, bravery in possession, work rate out of possession and everything else you want to mention, it was the same. I can’t get over it to be honest. A team full of teenagers just went out and played a League One side packed with seasoned pros off the park. The scoreline doesn’t tell the story of this game at all. It wasn’t a close game. It was complete domination. Our goalkeeper did not have to make a single save of any note. Think about that for a second. Not one save. The two things that I take from this game are that the kids were absolutely phenomenal, and that the performance in the first leg from the more experienced players was actually far worse than I originally thought. They let this team score two goals against them and but for Adrian it would have been double that. Matip, Lovren and Fabinho should be throughly embarrassed because they made Shrewsbury look good when in reality they’re actually pretty terrible. We saw that in this game as they were throughly outplayed by what was almost a youth team. I keep seeing references to the “under 23 team” which is technically correct, but it’s an u23 team in name only. Half of the side could still play in the u18s and most of the others are only a year too old for that. Pedro Chirivella was the only player over 20. I don’t think enough is being made of what an achievement this actually was, because they went up against a team of grown men who play a more physical style than most of these kids are used to facing, and they played them off the park. It was 36 minutes before Shrewsbury even managed any kind of spell of possession. I know because when it happened I actually checked the time and made a note of it. It was staggering. Up until then I don’t think they were able to put more than three or four passes together before we took the ball off them. I don’t know if they were overawed by the occasion or what, but Shrewsbury’s performance baffled me. They parked the bus. They had five strung across the width of their box and everyone else behind the ball. Did they think they were facing our first team? It was weird. And they were just fouling constantly too. Foul after foul after foul. As great as our kids were, I thought Shrewsbury were embarrassingly bad and their manager is clearly a massive shithouse if he sent them out to be that defensive. What was he thinking? They had a great chance to go through and instead they looked like they were playing for penalties right from the start. Beforehand I thought we’d win the game but I definitely didn’t think it would go the way it did. I thought it would maybe end up 3-2 with us riding our luck and the crowd giving the kids that little push they needed to get over the line. It was nothing like that though. It should have been 3-0 on the balance of play. Right from the first whistle the boys took charge. They passed it around comfortably, the full backs were flying forward, the midfielders kept things moving and picked up all the second balls. As I say, just like the first team. It was perfect right up until we reached the box and then it stuttered. The lack of a recognised centre forward didn’t help. Liam Miller is a decent player but when I’ve watched him most of his best work has been coming from the left. He isn’t the most natural centre forward but in his defence he was up against three centre halves so there was no space to play in. He ran himself ragged all night but offered no goal threat. Not that too many others did either. As well as the lads played, they found it tough to create clear chances. The biggest goal threat by far was Neco Williams. What a fucking player he is. He had four or five attempts at goal and had a similar impact on the game that Trent has so often had. “Running the game from right back” is something we’ve heard said about Trent, and it more or less applied to Neco in this game I thought. He went close to a goal a couple of times in the first half and again after the break. Jones looked a threat too and at times Shrewsbury couldn’t get near him. He played the game at his pace and made the Shrewsbury defenders follow. They couldn’t get the ball off him and often resorted to just crude fouls to stop him. He’s going to be a great player and probably very soon. The first half couldn’t have gone much better other than if we’d scored. It was complete dominance of the ball so I was staggered when I saw that the possession was only something like 65% in our favour. It felt like it should have been nearer to 90%. Shrewsbury were a little more positive after the break and I can only assume that they felt embarrassed by their pitiful first half display. At least now they looked like they might venture out of their own half a bit. They definitely wanted to be more attacking but they weren’t really allowed to. The organisation and pressing, the fighting for second balls, it was just top drawer all night and Critchley must have been the proudest man inside Anfield seeing all the hard work he’s done on the coaching field pay off so spectacularly. The most surprising aspect for me was how well the defence played. Other than the disallowed goal (which I’ll get to shortly) they didn’t allow Shrewsbury anything and the two Dutch kids in the middle were Van Dijk and Gomez like. Sepp Van den Berg hasn’t really convinced in his previous appearances and hasn’t even really looked that good for the u23s. That didn’t concern me in terms of his overall prospects because this is his first season here, he’s still very young and playing centre back is probably the toughest position on the pitch for a youngster. That said, I did wonder how he’d be able to cope against League One strikers that would be looking to bully him. He couldn’t have looked more assured though. I honestly don’t think he put a foot wrong all night. I couldn’t have been more impressed with him. Obviously Hoever was top class too but I expect that as he’s a special talent and he has much more experience. Van den Berg deserves massive credit for how he played. Both full backs were brilliant too. I really like Adam Lewis, always have. He’s had to wait a long time for this but he took his chance with both hands. He’s competitive, energetic and he’s got a magic wand of a left foot. I’d love to see him develop into Robbo’s understudy in the same way Neco has with Trent. Even the disallowed Shrewsbury goal reflects well on the back four because look at how disciplined they were pushing out and holding the line to catch the lad offside. And he was offside. I could see it at the time as I was sat in line with it, but I wasn’t sure VAR would save us because of how far back it was in the build up. You know what the problem was with that whole situation? The linesman didn’t want to make any decisions all night. He gave an offside just after that, but then he went back to doing nothing and relying on VAR to sort it if needed. That’s all well and good when it leads directly to a goal, but what about when it ends up being a corner, or it’s the third passage of play and the defence has reset. VAR can’t do anything about that, so just do your fucking job and put the flag up. In these situations the longer the delay the better the chances of the goal being ruled out, especially with offside. If it’s onside then they can spot that quickly. When they have to start getting the lines out then there’s a decent chance it’s not going to count, and so it proved. A massive kick in the balls for the Shrewsbury fans, especially the one who threw the yellow flare onto the pitch! We were maybe a little lucky with that as the lad who was offside didn’t out the final cross in. I get why some feel that it was harsh, but if we’d had VAR in the first game they’d never have been given a penalty so it’s swings and roundabouts. It was no more than we deserved for the way we played anyway. That was the first meaningful attack they’d had and if they’d scored from it then it would have been one of the biggest smash and grab acts of all time. Some of the football our kids played in the second half was sensational. The little give and goes with Elliott and Jones were a particular highlight, while Chirivella was just a joy to watch all night. Such a lovely footballer him, and he was ably assisted by Clarkson and Cain, two kids I’ve loved watching in the 18s as they dovetail so well together in midfield. We must have forced a dozen corners in that second half. The problem was other than Van den Berg we didn’t have any height to threaten from them. That was the one real disadvantage we had and it was the only thing I was worried about. If Shrewsbury had been able to force a few set plays it might have cost us, but they had so little of the ball they were rarely able to put us under any pressure The weird thing is that from the first corner they got they took it short and ended up going backwards. What the fuck is that all about? I couldn’t believe they did that. It defied all common sense as they should have been putting it right on top of Kelleher and attacking it at every opportunity. Staggeringly inept and you’d have to point the finger at Sam Ricketts again for that. Despite all the nice approach play the ball just wouldn’t go in for us. Jones went close and Williams was denied by he keeper after a spectacular move that the first team would have been proud of. Then we finally broke the deadlock in the most comical of circumstances. Williams did brilliantly in defence and then fired a diagonal ball looking for the run of Elliott. The defender covered the run but at full stretch could only head the ball past his own keeper into the net. We benefitted from an own goal in the first game too, and once again it was a former Man United player. Might be a lesson there. Stop signing shite mancs. We should have wrapped it up late on when they had thrown everyone forward for a set-piece and we broke on them. It looked all set up for a ‘red arrows’ goal as we charged out, but Elliott badly overhit his pass when all he needed to do was just knock it into the ptah of two unmarked players. It may have hit his hand when he won the initial challenge though so I don’t know if it would have counted anyway. The way the boys saw the game out was hugely impressive. It felt like they kept the ball in the right hand corner for about five minutes. Such maturity and composure. They never really looked in any danger and Shrewsbury didn’t seem like a side who had any belief that they could force an equaliser. I’ve got nothing against Shrewsbury at all and hopefully the money they earned from this helps them. It was becoming irritating though hearing about how they lost out on half a million because of Klopp fielding the kids (it should be pointed out though that Shrewsbury did not blame him for that) and because the club lowered the admission price accordingly. I understand why that’s a big deal and why lower league clubs wouldn’t be happy about the situation, but this isn’t a black and white issue. Firstly, it was the FA who scheduled the replay in the middle of a winter break, so any grievance should be taken up with them, not us. Secondly, the club’s sensible ticket pricing ensured a full house and allowed loads of parents to take kids to a game, in many cases for the first time. Had we fielded a stronger side and increased the ticket prices, it might not have been a sell out. It may, however, have persuaded one of the TV companies to pick up the game, which would have meant more revenue for both clubs I expect. The TV companies missed a trick not picking the game up, because this was the most intriguing game of the night. A side packed with promising teenagers taking on a team of hardened, hairy arsed League One cloggers in front of 50odd thousand fans? Why the fuck wouldn’t you want to televise that, especially considering that the viewing figures would have been massive due to the number of fans we have. The FA and the TV companies cost Shrewsbury money. Not us. And without being too insensitive, I’d also have to say if you wanted that money so badly then show some fucking ambition in your performance and tactics. There was a huge money spinning tie at Chelsea on the line and all they had to do was beat a team full of kids. Yet they came here and parked the bus. So no, under the circumstances I don’t really have any sympathy for their ‘lost revenue’, especially as they brought 8,500 to Anfield when usually they get a couple of thousand less for their home games. I have to say though that in general I’d like something to be done to help ensure the lower league clubs get more cash as football is definitely weighted too heavily in favour of the top flight. It’s basically a reflection of modern society. The rich get richer and fuck everyone else. It is not the responsibility of Liverpool FANS to be financing it though, which would have been the case if ticket prices had been higher. It’s like how fans are helping to feed the hungry by donating to food banks, when really this situation should not be happening if the fat cats in power were looking after those less fortunate. But anyway, enough of that, back to the celebrations at the end. Critchley was loving it and rightly so. What a night for him. He was asked if it was the highlight of his coaching career and he paused before the realisation of what he’d done hit him. “Yeah I suppose it is”. Made up for him as he comes across as a really nice fella. The lads were loving it too, doing a lap of honour and milking every second of it. So they should. Some of these boys may never play for the first team again, but then again they might. So many of them look like they might actually. They’ve renewed my enthusiasm for the cups this year because frankly I haven’t been arsed about them for years. Picking a star man wasn’t easy as so many of them stood out. Pedro was class, as usual, while Jones was a class above once again. I could easily have given it to Van den Berg and part of me wants to because he was so much improved on previous outings, but the best player on the pitch was my boy Neco and I can’t overlook him. I’d have no hesitation in starting him any time Trent needs a rest because he’s already good enough to start for half the teams in the Premier League. The only negative I can see in all of this is that we got Chelsea away in the next round. They will make changes but not too many, meaning that Klopp will have to go ‘relatively’ strong too. The perfect scenario would have been to draw someone shit so we could give a lot of these kids another run out, but I expect Williams and Jones to probably start regardless of who we were playing as they’ve been that good. One final point. I was thinking afterwards that the first team lads have an awful lot to be grateful to these kids for. They’re off sunning themselves on beaches while the kids are holding down the fort and ensuring there’s still an FA Cup to be won when they get back. They should all throw in a week’s wages and split it between the kids. In fact, Matip, Lovren, Fabinho and Origi should throw in two weeks, as a thank you for tidying up the mess they made. Up the mini mentality monster Reds! Team: Kelleher; Williams, Hoever, Van den Berg, Lewis; Chirivella, Cain, Clarkson (Boyes); Elliott (Dixon-Bonner), Miller (Hardy), Jones:
    7 points
  3. My initial thought upon reading that was that it was no more than sour grapes, but then I remembered he very clearly stated at the start that it wasn't sour grapes, so now I don't know what to think.
    6 points
  4. Munich air disaster 62 years ago today. RIP. All those years ago there wasnt the same animosity between fans of the clubs.
    5 points
  5. 5 points
  6. I can't remember the last time I heard so many people discussing the FA Cup. They should get Jurgen to do the next round draw off his tits in Ayia Napa.
    5 points
  7. Safe to say that I wouldn't take Code's view on Solbakken (or Sarr) as gospel. Solbakken is pretty universally known as a crook in Norway, agenda from Josimar or not. He's well protected though, as Solskjaer's shit doesn't stink over here, and a lot of powerful people in and around Norwegian football has made a lot of money from his deals. Allegedly...
    5 points
  8. Apparently she’s incredibly welcoming to uninvited fans, and won’t call the police if you turn up at her house on a nightly basis windmilling like that Newcastle fan and asking if you can come in to sniff her hair. Worth remembering if you’re a massive incel nonce. Fan. Worth remembering if you’re a massive fan.
    4 points
  9. He'll be especially handy for games where it rains.
    4 points
  10. I disagreed with what his "kids" stance, but he was right again. For his part in reinvigorating a tired and wishy-washy but once-famous knock-out competition, perhaps it should be re-named: "The FA Klopp"
    4 points
  11. "Cumdog" as he likes to be known. Fucking yard dog more like, Jones's shadow had more presence than that pathetic cunt. I've wanted to win the FA Cup from the off, always have and always will. It would be a massive nod to the youngsters who got us through (and shamed the Blooshite into the bargain) if we won it this season. And have every one of them there for the final, give them a day to remember. They've fucking earned it, the hard way too.
    4 points
  12. There are only 10 types of people in the world. Those that understand binary and those that don’t.
    3 points
  13. So, they've financially doped with the tainted money of a human rights abusing oil state for a decade, got a free stadium, have been able to sponsor themselves via third parties, had barely a slap on the wrist for cooking the books, bought dozens of top players and won trophies hand over fist. And they still think they're the plucky hard-done-by underdogs in all this? I'm not sure I've ever seen delusion on this scale.
    3 points
  14. 3 points
  15. “He (Klopp) didn't have success immediately, but you're seeing it bears fruit four or five years on now from the beginnings of that.“ This is the key part, and I hope the Glazers & Woodward are on the same page, because their manager needs time.
    3 points
  16. See that, that’s your new ground that is....
    3 points
  17. Fascinating to see the work of an artist taking shape.
    2 points
  18. Shine on you crazy diamond. Keep biting those tiles Comrade.
    2 points
  19. Wouldn't mind leaving my kids in her car for 10 minutes. Or something.
    2 points
  20. What is more magical than a group of talented teenagers being given the chance to play for the biggest club in the country, in front of a sell out crowd, and playing like THAT??? Nothing, that’s what. This is the new magic of the cup, embrace it. "Playing like THAT" should be the worrying thing for the rest of league. Yes the 22 points is a BIG worry for this season & next - but this game and the other cup games shows that the template is now ingrained in the club and that there is (potentially) another generation to carry it forward. Isn't life grand!
    2 points
  21. See, people are happy to just laugh it away because there’s loads of pictures of her flashing a bit of tit. Meanwhile that young girl had her life ruined. Disgusting.
    2 points
  22. As long as his physical side doesn't drop off Klopp will want him to stay. He does the dirty work on the pitch a lot of which isn't noticed - except by Klopp. How the fuck he can have 2 or 3 opposition players hanging onto him and still turn them and keep the ball amazes me every time I see it. Such an intelligent player, he grasps Klopp's philosophy fully. I hope the club double his wages to stave off any competitors waving big bucks at him.
    2 points
  23. 2 points
  24. I wouldn’t, as Alisson clearly takes his religion seriously and I think he’d see that as an affront to it.
    2 points
  25. I think you meant imperious however have a smile here cause impervious works also !!!!
    2 points
  26. Das Is Numbervang
    2 points
  27. You don't have to have deranged, entitled nouveau riche fuckwits for rivals to enjoy a romp to the title after a 30 year wait. But it helps.
    2 points
  28. That piece of fruit was so low-hanging it was in a cowpat.
    2 points
  29. Love Island is the worst TV show in History, it will never be matched or beaten, I would rather watch an hour of children being led into the gas chambers, 'I'VE GOT A TEXT'..... 'Batya please gather the other housemates in the shower'.
    2 points
  30. All these fucking loons complaining that VAR was brought in to help Liverpool win the league are missing one very important fact. VAR is used by the same refs who are in charge of games, and if the fix is in it's a hell of a lot easier for refs to help teams out without having to use a fucking video replay to justify their decisions.
    2 points
  31. Deadwater Fell, another in a long line of rubbish dramas that the housewives lap up because they don't have a brain complex enough to understand they're seeing something they've seen a thousand times before (this may also apply to house husbands). The lazy writers follow the same tired formula, suspicious crime in small village, implicate three locals including the mad one, keep the suspense building to the last episode where it really is inconsequential what happens or how good it is, SHITE, sick of them.
    2 points
  32. Jesus what a bunch of incels they are on that site.
    2 points
  33. First time I've seen a team whose average height was less than that of their mascots.
    2 points
  34. My wife went to the game which is unremarkable as she loves the Cup without any sense of irony or condescension. She went with a friend who loves the Reds but thinks going to the game is too expensive and too much faff. Her getting to go to Anfield - it's a good thing, right?
    2 points
  35. I went to the game also and it was a real joy. A lot of the regulars near me (on the Kop) weren't there and it was noticeable how many kids were in the crowd, the atmosphere was excellent with none of the usual moaning about a misplaced pass or someone taking the wrong option. Instead, there was nothing but unqualified support for the young uns and a universal recognition of their skills, courage and determination. Adam Lewis in particular was throwing his arms up urging the crowd and we all responded loudly, it was great. He's tiny, as were some of the others - Clarkson & Cain were dwarfed in midfield by their opposing Neanderthals yet they kept being brave in possession and taking the knocks. Brilliant night, loved it
    2 points
  36. Is that on your Tinder profile , CD ?
    2 points
  37. My bird sometimes watches Love Island upstairs but she’s been going round her mates to watch it most nights. She could well be having an affair but even if she is it’s better than having that shite on the living room telly.
    2 points
  38. Well life's complete
    2 points
  39. *makes notes for things we have in common should I ever get a date with her
    1 point
  40. Rio Ferdinand says that Liverpool’s body of work over the past two seasons is worthy of the highest level of respect.The Reds currently stand head and shoulders above the pack in the title race, a season after pushing Man City all the way to the finish line and claiming their sixth Champions League trophy.The former Leeds, Man United and England central defender knows a thing or two about winning trophies, and says this Liverpool team deserves all the praise it is getting.The Mirror reported Ferdinand as saying:“You have to respect it, I think Liverpool have done a tremendous job.“In the last two years the amount of points they have accumulated has been phenomenal.“You're not lucky to win the league, I know that from experience. "You haven't got to be lucky you've got to be good enough to win a league and Liverpool are more than good enough." While Liverpool have added the UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup to their growing tally this season, Ferdinand senses the Reds are far from satisfied and are men on a mission.“I think that is the scary part for everyone else is that Liverpool, this isn't about today, they're going to be in this for the long haul.“They look like a team that is being built for the long-term."Ferdinand was not finished in his wholesome praise, saying that the running of the club has been first class where everyone has been on the same page.“I think others team, other owners, can take a lead off of what Liverpool have done. "They've invested in their manager, they've invested in his ideas. He's been allowed to implement them over time.“He (Klopp) didn't have success immediately, but you're seeing it bears fruit four or five years on now from the beginnings of that.“He was given time and the resources and now the trophies are coming."
    1 point



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