Anthony McIntyre ⚽ For the second time in the space of four days Liverpool were knocked out of a cup competition.
In Wednesday evening's Anfield clash with PSG, they at least showed up, even if their lack of quality up front led to them exiting the Champions League three rounds earlier than their fans would have liked. The same can't be said about yesterday's Carabao Cup clash where they simply did not turn up, leading me to think that Bus Eireann must be sponsoring them this season.
The Thatch was our pub of choice to watch the game. Just as it was for the final of the same competition last year. Myself and Ronan dandered up in the March sunshine to work up a thirst. On arrival we met Paddy and Jay who made up the 2024 foursome when Liverpool pipped Chelsea with a fine dying minutes Van Dijk header. Andrew joined us from Dublin. The bus both drops and picks him up right outside the Thatch. A taxi could have got him no closer to his destination.
Jay thought Liverpool would do it and I agreed, feeling that having opted midweek for the soccer equivalent of Brexit, the team would be smarting and eager to put things right. Paddy felt they would lack the zest and was ultimately proved right. Just a matter of weeks ago some pundits were foolishly suggesting they could take four trophies this season. Then the mighty Plymouth upended that. Yesterday, Liverpool were having none of the trophy talk. They came determined to do nothing, for most of the match doing just that while Newcastle, a trophy free zone for seven decades, were fired up. They might not have wanted the silverware any more than Liverpool but crucially they were prepared to fight a helluva lot harder than the Reds to claim it.
At the start of the game we all raised a glass to my friend Alfie Gallagher who we had laid to rest in Ballymote, Sligo on Thursday. Alfie enjoyed soccer and on occasion he and I would attend a Sligo-Drogheda game in his homestead. Once Alfie had been hailed, we settled down to watch the game. It was clear from the get go that the influence of Bus Eireann was gonna be strong on this one. Midway through the first half Andrew said that if someone was to wake up from a coma and be told that the team in front of them in red would soon be EPL champions, they would think a scam was being pulled. Newcastle always looked the more threatening.
On the cusp of half time I commented that it was a great time to score but a bad one to concede. The words had hardly left my mouth when Liverpool fell behind. For some reason, one of Liverpool's smallest players was assigned the task of marking Newcastle's tallest. Dan Byrne later said that Alexis McAllister was not looking at the ball when it came in. Obviously, he was staring straight ahead at Dan's navel such was the difference in size.
Liverpool started the second half pretty much as they ended the first, and there wasn't long to wait before Izak clinically slotted home. Eventually Slot moved to reorganise his flailing side. It took that change to see the first shot on target, Curtis Jones with a great effort, adroitly flipped over the bar by Nick Pope in goal. The introduction of Darwin Doolittle changed absolutely nothing. Him on for Jota was a case of replacing useless with useless. I did feel with Chiesa thrown into the fray, that the Italian would make a serious assault on the opposition goal. So it proved to be. He pulled one back but too little too late.
Liverpool came away with nothing but I was much more fortunate. Andrew had won a Liverpool top in a raffle at a recent Liverpool Legends event in Dublin. So he asked John Barnes to sign it for me, which he duly did.
Nothing should detract from the Newcastle victory. On the final whistle, we applauded the Geordies. The team deserved their trophy, the fans their much coveted silverware. My nephew is a Newcastle fan and my sister, his mother, despite being steeped in the red of Liverpool was willing to settle for a Newcastle victory. She had experienced the joy of many trophies whereas her son had yet to open his account. It was a sentiment I shared.
Exchanging text messages with a former republican prisoner during the game, we both agreed that even in the H Blocks the Geordie screws were never bad eggs.
Final over, the only silverware now available is the league title. That is the big one, the trophy Liverpool fans wish to secure more than any other. Losing in the FA Cup, the Champions League and the Carabao Cup can all be swallowed if the league title is won. Twelve points clear it is unimaginable that even this uninspiring lot can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. But if they do emerge as champions, it seems certain that their margin of victory will not be as large as twelve points. This side has run out of gas and must now hope that fumes alone will carry them across the line. If they fail they will be awarded gold in the five knuckle shuffle division.
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Think Newcastle is everyone's "second" team!
ReplyDeleteThat would not surprise me
DeleteSame as recent previous seasons ; try to win 3 or more competitions , risk ending up with small trophies or nothing .
ReplyDeleteLearn from ' 03 - Reds beat M U # 2 - 0 in the Lge cup final , still finished fifth , 19 points behind champs M U .
Mo always has a dip in form @ Ramadan , along with Afcon next Spring , maybe that 's why he isn't getting the big contract he desires
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Thankfully , no F A cup game @ the end of March , the Everton & Fulham games on the second & away on the fifth look tricky . Arsenal have R M as a distraction .
Players look well gassed , travelling halfway round the globe to play internationals , means the likes of no goals Diaz & Nunez will hopefully be departing this summer . Fergie conveniently retired his charges from the international scene .
Not winning the title would be the beginning of the end for Arne , just as it was with Brendan R . Failing to buy a BADLY NEEDED midfielder in Jan was more predictable tight fistedness from F S G .
If he does not win the title it would very much be the end of the ride for him.
ReplyDeleteDiaz is not shining like he did when he arrived.
Nunez is simply not up to the task of playing for Liverpool.
Interesting point about Mo and Ramadan.
They were able to up their game against City and controlled the match from start to finish despite showing signs of being stamina deficient.
They should do it because as Andrew and Paddy often point out Arsenal will drop points in the run in.
They should throw everything they have at taking nine points from the next three games. That will leave them with a substantial cushion
Very fair assessment Mackers. I reckon Liverpool underestimated Newcastle and big time. One would be forgiven for thinking it was Newcastle that were the premier league champions elect.
ReplyDeleteThink the talk of potentially 4 trophies was much too premature from Liverpool and really got to their heads
On an almost carbon copy, (slightly digressing here) myself being a Celtic fan had to endure a bruising defeat from Rangers, and in many ways the same as Liverpool I think we underestimated them, for a second time this season we have lost 3 goals to them and back to back defeats, even with Rodgers almost perfect record that is very alarming.. much work to be done at both our clubs if you ask me. Celtic along with Liverpool have become too easy to play against and a lot of teams have us sussed
Danny,
DeleteI admired the Celtic fightback but they could not sustain it. Think they missed McGregor.
Old firm matches should never be taken for granted. I don't think form is a reliable indicator of the way one of those clashes is likely to go.
A Brendan team will always concede goals V decent sides ; his L F C team that got within 2 points of the title had ( 52 A ) in the P L that season .
DeleteA final word on football for the month - if last season's final P L 10 games are a reliable indicator , just a point or two will separate the Reds from Arsenal in 8 weeks time . Hopefully , Forest will get distracted in the Cup .
ReplyDeleteNunez , Diaz & Jota have scored a woeful 3 goals in the Reds last 41 games .
that makes for bleak reading. And it could come that close
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