I normally do blogs about a variety of subjects, and will continue to do so, but I am also starting a series of blogs wherein I provide a report of Liverpool ’s most recent match.
A few things to begin with: firstly, I am a Liverpool FC fan, and live in Liverpool, which explains why I am doing this (just in case you think I’m from Newcastle
Think John Aldridge’s column in the Echo – except I never played for the Reds. Or managed Tranmere Rovers. Or played in the World Cup. (Fun fact: the stadium where Aldo had a bit of a tiff in 1994, the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, is the same venue where I attended WrestleMania XXIV in 2008.) Or had any type of a professional football career. Or . . . oh, never mind.
Anyway, on to the first game of Liverpool’s season, against Sunderland .
I attended the match, and hope to be at all of Liverpool ’s home games this season (I am a Member, not a Season Ticket holder, so it’s down to availability for me). Sitting in the Kop, you could feel the energy and excitement of the supporters as kick-off drew near. We had waited months for this day, this match, this moment – and considering the changes made to the squad, there were plenty of reasons for optimism.
The two sides came out to an almighty roar. Within a few minutes of the match starting, Luis Suarez earned a penalty. From where I sat (seat 191 on row 15 of the Kop, to be exact), it looked a clear penalty. Very few disagreed, but referee Phil Dowd disagreed that the foul, by Kieran Richardson, was worthy of a sending off. He was the last man, after all, and as for the claim that Suarez wasn’t preparing to shoot – what else was he going to do, take the ball to the corner flag and burst it with the pole?
Anyway, Richardson got away with a booking, and Sunderland got away with it too as Suarez ballooned it over the crossbar. Despite the disappointment amongst the fans, though, things looked promising, and I said to myself, we’ve still got loads of time to get a goal.
That came on 12 minutes; a header from Suarez from a Charlie Adam free kick. Anfield roared, and Suarez had redeemed himself in the best way possible. It takes some players weeks to recover from a glaring error; the Uruguayan had taken just a matter of moments.
Oh, I forgot to mention: having previously noticed this, I decided to time exactly how long it would take before it inevitably happened here. When it occurred, I glanced at the scoreboard, which read 2:12. Two minutes, twelve seconds, for . . .
“Steve Bruce, he’s got a big fat head. Steve Bruce, he’s got a big fat head. Steve Bruce . . .”
You have to laugh at a chant like this. Last season, I noticed that even Sunderland players warming up on the touchline were chuckling at this one. It didn’t beat the record set at the Stadium Of Light (where the travelling Liverpool fans took just 12 seconds to unleash the chant), but it was still fairly quick, and was repeated a few times as the game went on.
The rest of the first half, to me, was memorable for two moments: a disallowed goal for Andy Carroll, and a brilliant run by Stewart Downing that would have earned him Goal Of The Season (well, so far). Carroll’s strike was disappointing because, as replays showed, the decision to disallow it for a slight nudge on Anton Ferdinand was up for debate. New faces may be seen on the pitch, new stadiums may be built and new ways may be available to criticise a team’s strategies (hello, Twitter), but in terms of the refereeing decisions, and whether or not they are correct, some things never change.
Mind you, at half time, the fans weren’t too bothered. LFC were 1-0 up, and the team generally looked sharp, and miles ahead of Sunderland . If the Reds got another goal early in the second half, I doubt Liverpool wouldn’t have ended up with three points.
But in the second half, things changed. I feel that some players may have assumed they had the victory secured, and sat back. Or maybe Steve Bruce gave him a bit of a roasting at half time. Whatever the case, Sunderland looked a lot more threatening in the opening stages of the second half, and the Black Cats equalised through a stunning strike by Sebastian Larsson.
From there, the game kind of fizzled out, at least from the perspective of a Liverpool fan in the stands. As I said in a previous blog, I wasn’t getting my hopes up that we were going to challenge for the title this season – but the first half display was good enough that anything besides a win would be a disappointment on the day.
A few chances for Carroll were squandered, and I feel it wouldn’t have been the case had his earlier goal counted. A player’s confidence has a major impact, in my opinion, on their performance; that goal could have made him more daring, more willing to give it a go. Instead, the chances created barely came close. Once Suarez went off, I felt Liverpool ’s chances of getting the win had evaporated.
In fairness, it wasn’t just Carroll; a few players looked a bit exhausted towards the end. Even those who came on, like Dirk Kuyt, didn’t make much of a difference. In the end, a game of two halves described the day’s events, as a sure-fire defeat for Sunderland ended up being a well-deserved draw.
It would be unfair to say that Liverpool threw it away; Larsson’s goal was very good, which few goalies would have kept out. Some criticised John Flanagan for not marking him, but sometimes these things happen and, due to his frequent inclusions in the squad, it’s easy to forget that Flanagan is young and fairly inexperienced. Besides, every defender makes a mistake at some point, as does every player, for that matter.
It’s also worth remembering that the two key decisions had an influence. A ten-man Sunderland losing 2-0 after half an hour would have had a far smaller chance of nabbing a point than the 11 men who benefitted from Phil Dowd.
That said, it was still a bit of a let-down leaving Anfield after the final whistle. I’ve always thought with games like this that you’d rather be losing 1-0 and equalise, or to just play out a goalless draw. You may have a less comfortable viewing experience, but you’d feel a little better when it’s all over.
But overall, I felt pretty positive about the game. The new signings played well, on the whole; Suarez showed character by quickly making up for his penalty miss with a goal; and even though the second half was subpar, it’s still only the first game of the season. Not everyone is fully fit, and there are others waiting to return to the squad.
The season isn’t always decided in May, but it definitely isn’t decided in August. A showdown at the Emirates with Arsenal is up next, who are just starting life after Fabregas, and I feel it’s a good time to play them. By the time I next visit Anfield for a League game, against Bolton Wanderers, hopefully there will be more smiles on people’s faces, and more reasons to believe that, in regards to this past Saturday, it will be the first half, not the second, that is a sign of things to come.
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