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Anthony McIntyre ☠ I rarely get to enjoy Liverpool matches.

Newcastle 1 - Liverpool 2

Often chasing a game, after a stupid mistake, that they should be winning comfortably, it is a foray into frustration. Wataru Endo must be wondering when he will play a match in which eleven Liverpool players stay on the field of play. Last week Alexis MacAllister was wrongly sent off in the Japanese captain’s debut. Today, Virgil Van Dijk was rightly shown red, leaving his fellow Reds to slog it out with only ten men. A victory with a man overboard against Bournemouth might not be considered extravagant but against a side as aggressive as Newcastle it is the most unexpected of outcomes.

When very young I attended a Glentoran V Linfield match at the Oval in East Belfast. The Glens were at home, the Blues were down to ten men. I was at the Linfield end of the ground in the front line right behind the goal. Behind me was a sea of blue. Glentoran were awarded a penalty. I turned and danced, exercising bragging rights at the Linfield crowd. The Glens missed the spot kick and I felt humiliated. The stares of contempt from the visiting support, which seconds earlier I had flipped the bird towards, made me feel as if I was standing naked in front of them. Towards the end of the game with the Blues 2-1 in front their supporters were shouting c’mon the ten men. Linfield won and the experience of being defeated by a ten-man side seared itself into my memory.

Newcastle United supporters might have felt something similar today. It was theirs to win but they defied the odds and lost. A friend texted me during the game saying:

Shocking display Mackers . . .  their passing is atrocious . . . Klopp doesn't seem to know who to substitute . . . I have watched the Scousers play with ten men and dominate and win but so far in this game there is something amiss with the team . . . it isn't syncing.

Couldn't have put it any better. Things didn't look good until Darwin's evolution from fumbling to finesse changed our view of the world 

I have a certain sympathy for Newcastle fans. A nephew has been a lifelong supporter and I have zero interest in rubbing it into him. His mum, a Liverpool fan, might do that. I have always liked the Geordies. Any screws I met in the jail from Newcastle were invariably friendly. When Alan Price released his Jarrow Song in 1974 containing the lyrics My name is Geordie McIntyre, I took quite a ribbing from my fellow prisoners who would sing it to me as part of the jail banter. That was the same year when Liverpool beat Newcastle 3-0 in the FA Cup final. 

When Liverpool went 1-0 behind this afternoon courtesy of a Trent Alexander Arnold faux pas I felt any chance of retrieving the game was a forlorn hope.

 
When Van Dijk was sent off, the best I could hope for was a respectable result, hopefully nothing worse than 2-0. Yet this side showed depth of character and resolve. Courtesy of the much maligned Darwin Nunez with two brilliantly taken opportunities, it came away with all three points.

The course of the game had changed as much as my match tipple: brandy, then whiskey before finally settling on rum. Had there been champagne in the house I would gladly have finished off imbibing the bubbly.  

Win or lose that is they type of Liverpool side I love. When they play like they did today I am taken back to the era of the best Liverpool side ever – the 1976-77 crew which brought the European Cup to Merseyside for the first time in its history. A battle ship worthy to ferry across the Mersey on.

⏩Follow on Twitter @AnthonyMcIntyre.

Battleship

Anthony McIntyre ☠ I rarely get to enjoy Liverpool matches.

Newcastle 1 - Liverpool 2

Often chasing a game, after a stupid mistake, that they should be winning comfortably, it is a foray into frustration. Wataru Endo must be wondering when he will play a match in which eleven Liverpool players stay on the field of play. Last week Alexis MacAllister was wrongly sent off in the Japanese captain’s debut. Today, Virgil Van Dijk was rightly shown red, leaving his fellow Reds to slog it out with only ten men. A victory with a man overboard against Bournemouth might not be considered extravagant but against a side as aggressive as Newcastle it is the most unexpected of outcomes.

When very young I attended a Glentoran V Linfield match at the Oval in East Belfast. The Glens were at home, the Blues were down to ten men. I was at the Linfield end of the ground in the front line right behind the goal. Behind me was a sea of blue. Glentoran were awarded a penalty. I turned and danced, exercising bragging rights at the Linfield crowd. The Glens missed the spot kick and I felt humiliated. The stares of contempt from the visiting support, which seconds earlier I had flipped the bird towards, made me feel as if I was standing naked in front of them. Towards the end of the game with the Blues 2-1 in front their supporters were shouting c’mon the ten men. Linfield won and the experience of being defeated by a ten-man side seared itself into my memory.

Newcastle United supporters might have felt something similar today. It was theirs to win but they defied the odds and lost. A friend texted me during the game saying:

Shocking display Mackers . . .  their passing is atrocious . . . Klopp doesn't seem to know who to substitute . . . I have watched the Scousers play with ten men and dominate and win but so far in this game there is something amiss with the team . . . it isn't syncing.

Couldn't have put it any better. Things didn't look good until Darwin's evolution from fumbling to finesse changed our view of the world 

I have a certain sympathy for Newcastle fans. A nephew has been a lifelong supporter and I have zero interest in rubbing it into him. His mum, a Liverpool fan, might do that. I have always liked the Geordies. Any screws I met in the jail from Newcastle were invariably friendly. When Alan Price released his Jarrow Song in 1974 containing the lyrics My name is Geordie McIntyre, I took quite a ribbing from my fellow prisoners who would sing it to me as part of the jail banter. That was the same year when Liverpool beat Newcastle 3-0 in the FA Cup final. 

When Liverpool went 1-0 behind this afternoon courtesy of a Trent Alexander Arnold faux pas I felt any chance of retrieving the game was a forlorn hope.

 
When Van Dijk was sent off, the best I could hope for was a respectable result, hopefully nothing worse than 2-0. Yet this side showed depth of character and resolve. Courtesy of the much maligned Darwin Nunez with two brilliantly taken opportunities, it came away with all three points.

The course of the game had changed as much as my match tipple: brandy, then whiskey before finally settling on rum. Had there been champagne in the house I would gladly have finished off imbibing the bubbly.  

Win or lose that is they type of Liverpool side I love. When they play like they did today I am taken back to the era of the best Liverpool side ever – the 1976-77 crew which brought the European Cup to Merseyside for the first time in its history. A battle ship worthy to ferry across the Mersey on.

⏩Follow on Twitter @AnthonyMcIntyre.
Anthony McIntyre Liverpool FC Soccer

1 comment:

  1. Red Ron1:43 PM, August 28, 2023

    At 80 ' odds on a Reds win were 200 / 1 ! Two more quality additions this week will be the difference between a top 4 finish & winning a trophy or being empty handed in June . Where's the Caicedo money ?

    ReplyDelete

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