Peter Anderson ⚽ The best thing about a freezing, blustery, rainy weekend in winter is that I don't go out, and stay by the fire watching sport all weekend. 

And what a weekend of sport it was! Ulster thumped Connaught on Friday night and our sensational young full back Michael Lowry was, well, sensational. On Saturday Ireland thumped Wales in one of the best rugby performances I've seen from Ireland in many a long year, then Scotland beat the Auld Enemy to lift the Calcutta Cup.

And then there was the FA Cup. On Friday night Middlesboro dumped Man U out in the 4th round on penalties to add to the Old Trafford woes, in a shocking week for the club following Greenwood's arrest for sexual assault. Then on Saturday I watched a superb game as Kidderminster came within a whisker of knocking out West Ham. The Hammers were shit the whole game until Deccy Rice came on, turned the game around and scored the equaliser in the final minute. Bowen got the winner in the last minute of extra time to break the hearts of the 6th tier team in the cruellest of ways. Young Rice is going to be talked about the way we talk about Roy Keane and Pat Viera. What a player!

But the game I was most looking forward to was Sunday's Liverpool v Cardiff game for several reasons. As I have said several times on this blog, the problem Liverpool face historically is a weak bench. That Klopp has got close to 100 points on 2 occasions and won one EPL title is no small feat. This season they have fallen away, so as a City man and with an eye to next season, I was interested to see how they would do without Salah and Mané against a determined opposition in the FA cup. And more particularly, how Dias and Elliot would play.

Several squad players started the game. Kelleher looks like a safe pair of hands and an ideal deputy to the great Alisson Becker. Tsimikas, too, played a solid game deputising for the 'assist machine' that is Robertson. Keita started beside Curtis Jones in midfield and, as per usual, didn't rip up any trees. I would expect to see him being offloaded in the summer if they can find someone to take him. Curtis Jones seems to be struggling of late and maybe needs a spell on the bench. Minamino, whilst getting on the score sheet, doesn't look up to the required standard for Liverpool, but he may get more time.

The second half saw the introduction of Dias and Elliot. Luis Dias is the South American wonderkid that Liverpool have been tailing for some time now. He impressed during the recent UCL games against Porto and a deal was done in January to bring him to Merseyside. He looks like the real deal and Klopp will be hoping that he will provide competition for Mané, who seems to be dropping his level of late. Elliot came on for his first game since he wrecked his ankle at the start of the season against Leeds.

It is said that Liverpool made no offensive signings last summer because the staff had such faith in Elliot. His injury last September was horrific and I didn't expect to see him back until next season, but his recovery was very fast and successful. He looked great when he came on and indeed scored an excellent goal to put the game beyond Cardiff. It is fantastic to see these young stars getting playing time under Klopp and this bodes well for next season. Mané and Salah will be back from Afcon this week. Senegal beat Egypt in a final that I did not watch. Klopp will be glad to get them back as he hopes to get some momentum for the end of the season, to push City all the way and progress in the UCL and FA cup.

So, I learned that in attack and defence Liverpool are strong but midfield remains a problem. Milner is too old, Henderson will be 32 next season as well, Tiago is too injury prone, Keita is not at the required level and the jury is still out on Jones. Wijnaldum was not replaced and it shows, so I would expect that will be the focus for Liverpool this summer. The perfect man would be Declan Rice. They should break the bank to get him!


Peter Anderson is a Unionist with a keen interest in sports.

What A Weekend Of Sport It Was

Peter Anderson ⚽ The best thing about a freezing, blustery, rainy weekend in winter is that I don't go out, and stay by the fire watching sport all weekend. 

And what a weekend of sport it was! Ulster thumped Connaught on Friday night and our sensational young full back Michael Lowry was, well, sensational. On Saturday Ireland thumped Wales in one of the best rugby performances I've seen from Ireland in many a long year, then Scotland beat the Auld Enemy to lift the Calcutta Cup.

And then there was the FA Cup. On Friday night Middlesboro dumped Man U out in the 4th round on penalties to add to the Old Trafford woes, in a shocking week for the club following Greenwood's arrest for sexual assault. Then on Saturday I watched a superb game as Kidderminster came within a whisker of knocking out West Ham. The Hammers were shit the whole game until Deccy Rice came on, turned the game around and scored the equaliser in the final minute. Bowen got the winner in the last minute of extra time to break the hearts of the 6th tier team in the cruellest of ways. Young Rice is going to be talked about the way we talk about Roy Keane and Pat Viera. What a player!

But the game I was most looking forward to was Sunday's Liverpool v Cardiff game for several reasons. As I have said several times on this blog, the problem Liverpool face historically is a weak bench. That Klopp has got close to 100 points on 2 occasions and won one EPL title is no small feat. This season they have fallen away, so as a City man and with an eye to next season, I was interested to see how they would do without Salah and Mané against a determined opposition in the FA cup. And more particularly, how Dias and Elliot would play.

Several squad players started the game. Kelleher looks like a safe pair of hands and an ideal deputy to the great Alisson Becker. Tsimikas, too, played a solid game deputising for the 'assist machine' that is Robertson. Keita started beside Curtis Jones in midfield and, as per usual, didn't rip up any trees. I would expect to see him being offloaded in the summer if they can find someone to take him. Curtis Jones seems to be struggling of late and maybe needs a spell on the bench. Minamino, whilst getting on the score sheet, doesn't look up to the required standard for Liverpool, but he may get more time.

The second half saw the introduction of Dias and Elliot. Luis Dias is the South American wonderkid that Liverpool have been tailing for some time now. He impressed during the recent UCL games against Porto and a deal was done in January to bring him to Merseyside. He looks like the real deal and Klopp will be hoping that he will provide competition for Mané, who seems to be dropping his level of late. Elliot came on for his first game since he wrecked his ankle at the start of the season against Leeds.

It is said that Liverpool made no offensive signings last summer because the staff had such faith in Elliot. His injury last September was horrific and I didn't expect to see him back until next season, but his recovery was very fast and successful. He looked great when he came on and indeed scored an excellent goal to put the game beyond Cardiff. It is fantastic to see these young stars getting playing time under Klopp and this bodes well for next season. Mané and Salah will be back from Afcon this week. Senegal beat Egypt in a final that I did not watch. Klopp will be glad to get them back as he hopes to get some momentum for the end of the season, to push City all the way and progress in the UCL and FA cup.

So, I learned that in attack and defence Liverpool are strong but midfield remains a problem. Milner is too old, Henderson will be 32 next season as well, Tiago is too injury prone, Keita is not at the required level and the jury is still out on Jones. Wijnaldum was not replaced and it shows, so I would expect that will be the focus for Liverpool this summer. The perfect man would be Declan Rice. They should break the bank to get him!


Peter Anderson is a Unionist with a keen interest in sports.

5 comments:

  1. The Reds are good enough to win a treble ( domestic cups & CL ) . Need three midfield signings during the summer # Agreed

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  2. Nah, Rice is Chelsea through and through. Started off playing at our Academy too. Needs to come home!

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  3. Steve R
    The boy is going to be a superstar

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  4. Haven't seen enough of Rice to know but that is an interesting take. They are seriously lacking in midfield creativity.

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  5. This epitomises the modern fan, watching it on television. Each to their own I supposse, but it would never have done back in the day. Who is this team "Man U"? There is Manchester United, Man Utd, MUFC or plain United, mainly used in Greater Manchester. Evidence of a new culture, or sub culture, of philistines. As for Mason Greenwood, he is innocent! He has been found guilty of nothing, once this fundamental rule of law, innocence till proved guilty, is let go, as many appear to wish, we are on a very dangerous slope indeed!!

    Caoimhin O'Muraile

    ReplyDelete