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The anagrams have outstayed their welcome, so off they pop. We've managed to go all Spursy over the past month or so, and welcome the real deal to Anfield at the weekend for Jurgen's penultimate home game. We fucking owe this lot a drubbing after what happened at their place back in September. None of that was actually Spurs' fault to be fair, though they benefitted to a ridiculous extent. That was a VAR shitshow and then some, which did little to aid a spineless referee. Tottenham won the league off the back of that result (so the media overdrive would have had you believe), but have gone back to being Spurs. Decent if you allow them to be, but always capable of dropping a bollock. Last season's fixture was a needlessly dramatic affair. We came flying out of the traps, going 2-0 up inside the first 5 minutes. Curtis found himself unmarked at the far post to cushion a volley past Forster for the opener, and it got better when Cody was played in down the inside right channel, and his cut-back found Lucho who guided an acrobatic finish beyond a helpless Forster. It was going exceedingly well, and we were all over Spurs like a rash. Romero came steaming in to wipe out Cody inside the area, and Mo made no mistake from the spot. 3-0 after a quarter of an hour, and if we'd kept up any sort of intensity, there were more goals in it for us. Only we didn't. We dropped right off, stopped pressing from the front, stopped being precise with our passing in midfield, and completely ignored the Spurs forward line at the back. There was too much space for them. Perisic was played in down the left. Virg had to come across to cover as Ibou and Trent ambled back. The Dutchman slipped at the opportune moment, which allowed Perisic to cut in and pick out the unmarked Kane in the middle. He took care of the rest, and even if the ball hadn't reached him, Spurs still had Kulusevski unmarked behind him. Bad defending, duly punished. Spurs proceeded to hit the woodwork 3 times between that goal and their eventual second. Son hit a brilliant curling effort off the far post just before half time. In the second half, he hit a low shot from 20 yards that had Ali beaten but not the post. No-one was on hand to tuck in the rebound. We didn't heed the warning, and not long afterwards, Romero found himself on the end of a Kane cross, with his acrobatic effort again rebounding off the post to safety. From dominating the first 15 minutes, we were now on the ropes. Son escaped his marker to get onto Romero's through-ball and finished with composure. It was checked by VAR but he was just being played onside. We were still doing stupid things defensively, and got punished in stoppage time when a free kick evaded everyone bar Richarlison, who got the faintest of touches with his beak. The bounce of the ball meant Ali couldn't re-adjust. It was 3-3 incredibly, and we'd allowed an ex-Blooshite to score his first Premier League goal of the season. He celebrated like he'd just scored the winner in a World Cup final, giving it the beans and goading the home fans. Whatever chances we had of clawing our way into the top 4 had just diminished thanks to our own lack of application and concentration. However, Spurs being Spurs meant that there was still time for a sting in the tail. A long kick upfield fell to Moura, who had time to control the ball and pick a pass as we conceded possession. For whatever reason, he tried to volley his pass to the centre back who hadn't read it, and that allowed Diogo to steal in and fire a winner past Forster with only seconds remaining. Pigeon's face like a slapped arse was a sight to behold after his goal celebration moments earlier. A bit like Adebayor shaking his head after we'd converted a penalty to lead the tie, moments after his silly goal celebration in front of the Arsenal travelling support when he scored what he'd thought was the crucial away goal in the Champions League tie back in 2008 (that was the goal following Walcott's blistering run from the edge of his own box). We'd won the game, just, but with more effort and game intelligence, we could have demolished Spurs when we had them on the ropes. Oh for a return to the days when were we defensively solid, incredibly hard-working in midfield and ruthless in attack. The hard work in midfield has still been there for the most part, but it's at either end of the pitch where we've been letting ourselves down. The title chase is over for us, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't at least try to rouse ourselves from our slump and start to look like a team that was a title challenger. It's good for morale now, and good for morale in the upcoming season when it's all-change in the dugout. It needs everyone to be on the same page. No more bullshit squabbles in public, and none of the stupidity that resembles what we've seen in other Amazon fly-on-the-wall docs. Treat this game as though it means something important. Go out there and display maximum motivation, concentration, attitude and application from first minute to last. 3 points please. A performance worthy of a title challenger would be most welcome too. Get it done!