Peter Anderson ⚽ Thank god that's over. 94 minutes of torture. 

I must admit that I hate watching the big, big games. Especially when it's City v Liverpool, because no matter how well you are playing Klopp's men can hurt you in an instant. It was so much easier years ago. 

When I got my first Sky Box City were in the third division, so I could watch the EPL as a complete neutral. When City did get promoted, they swiftly got relegated again. Now, they are the best team in the world (probably) and I should be happy that they are playing title deciders and UCL semi-finals on a regular basis. But part of me still pines for the old days, when a big game was the third division play-off final against Gillingham. City quickly handed over the "Shitist Big Team in England" title to Leeds, who then passed it on to Sunderland, the current holders. After Sunday's game, we now face Atletico away in the UCL, and then Liverpool again at Wembley in the FA cup semi-final next weekend. The suffering continues!

Sunday's suffering started badly and got worse after 5 minutes. That's when City scored the opener. I just knew in the pit of my stomach that we had just poked a frightened bear. And we had. Eight minutes later and Jota equalised. That sparked City into a period of dominance which culminated in City's second from Gabi Jesus. But something I also know from experience is that when you dominate Liverpool you must score multiple times. And we only scored one. I knew that Liverpool would come quickly out of the blocks in the second half and they duly equalised again after 47 seconds of the restart. Jesus Christ! 

Once again City then started to dominate without scoring, I feared the worst. When Liverpool brought on their killer new winger, Diaz, I looked at the clock, "Oh fuck, 20 odd more minutes of this still to suffer!" City's chances came and went. Sterling had one ruled out by VAR for off-side and Mahrez chipped over with the goal beckoning. Would Liverpool sucker punch us again at the death? Thankfully not.

A draw was probably a fair result. But if City had a number 9 of the quality of Agüero in his prime or Harry Kane, last summer's failed transfer target, then we would have won the game reasonably easily. But we don't and we didn't. Now, a few days of respite before the suffering starts again.

It's only a bunch of men kicking a bit of leather around a park, why do we care?

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

Poking A Frightened Bear

Peter Anderson ⚽ Thank god that's over. 94 minutes of torture. 

I must admit that I hate watching the big, big games. Especially when it's City v Liverpool, because no matter how well you are playing Klopp's men can hurt you in an instant. It was so much easier years ago. 

When I got my first Sky Box City were in the third division, so I could watch the EPL as a complete neutral. When City did get promoted, they swiftly got relegated again. Now, they are the best team in the world (probably) and I should be happy that they are playing title deciders and UCL semi-finals on a regular basis. But part of me still pines for the old days, when a big game was the third division play-off final against Gillingham. City quickly handed over the "Shitist Big Team in England" title to Leeds, who then passed it on to Sunderland, the current holders. After Sunday's game, we now face Atletico away in the UCL, and then Liverpool again at Wembley in the FA cup semi-final next weekend. The suffering continues!

Sunday's suffering started badly and got worse after 5 minutes. That's when City scored the opener. I just knew in the pit of my stomach that we had just poked a frightened bear. And we had. Eight minutes later and Jota equalised. That sparked City into a period of dominance which culminated in City's second from Gabi Jesus. But something I also know from experience is that when you dominate Liverpool you must score multiple times. And we only scored one. I knew that Liverpool would come quickly out of the blocks in the second half and they duly equalised again after 47 seconds of the restart. Jesus Christ! 

Once again City then started to dominate without scoring, I feared the worst. When Liverpool brought on their killer new winger, Diaz, I looked at the clock, "Oh fuck, 20 odd more minutes of this still to suffer!" City's chances came and went. Sterling had one ruled out by VAR for off-side and Mahrez chipped over with the goal beckoning. Would Liverpool sucker punch us again at the death? Thankfully not.

A draw was probably a fair result. But if City had a number 9 of the quality of Agüero in his prime or Harry Kane, last summer's failed transfer target, then we would have won the game reasonably easily. But we don't and we didn't. Now, a few days of respite before the suffering starts again.

It's only a bunch of men kicking a bit of leather around a park, why do we care?

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

3 comments:

  1. Had similar tension Peter - how are we supposed to enjoy that? !!!

    Chelsea managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory last night. Tuchel will be one beneficiary of the war on Ukraine - he should avoid the sack. Benzema - he is something else. Remarkable.

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  2. Even with a 2-0 lead over Liverpool I would be fearing the worst!
    Tuchel defo deserves more time and Benzema is highly underrated.

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  3. Steve R has gone AWOL - and we can't hear his take on Chelsea!!

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