ban it.
Brendan Rodgers can go on about how his side got the deserved 3 points
and the media can talk up their favourite team but for two stupid moments it would never have happened.
Hell Brendan Rodgers has to ask himself it it really happened at all. After all Liverpool didn’t win either the passing or the possession, as well as not winning shots, shots on target or corners. So I don’t know how he can claim the win at all.
As well as those two moments of madness half decent officials would have been a help. Yes this is going to be a full on whinge, because I don’t know how Spurs lost this one. Just have to hope they follow it up the way they did after their last loss in Scouseland.
Things didn’t start off well what with Aaron Lennon being out injured, missing his first league game of the season. This led to something bizarre from AVB. Something Redknapp-esk. Shifting players out of position to make up. Dembele shunted out to the right, with Livermore brought into the middle. Now I wasn’t as displeased about Livermore’s presence as many others who forget his good job last time against this lost and his destruction of Everton the last time they cried about his inclusion.
But shifting Dembele out of the middle, where he can have the most influence, was akin to the way ‘Arry used to bugger up Modric putting him wide when he had to make up for a missing winger. It doesn’t work, it was only Dembele’s class that made it not completely suck. You feel Holtby wide, or Naughton at fullback and Walker as winger, or back three and wingbacks would have been the better option.
The back passes started early and no surprise started from Parker. When not creating trouble for Spurs with his inept ponderous pirouettes he was needlessly passing it back and doing that other usual routine of passing it straight back from the player who just passed it to him. So much so that very early on Vertonghen made a very visible decision to stop passing to Parker. You knew he just didn’t want it straight back.
Then after some great play by Dembele, riding numerous dodgy challenges, Spurs had a free-kick in Bale range. Initially curling as you would expect the ‘keeper going to his left, he had to change direction and just managed to clear the ball. More luck than judgement.
Getting into the game. Then letting them into it. Some nice interplay by them on their left, after yet another long ball, but runners were left free, notably Suarez to score at Lloris’ near post. Collective should have done better.
Spurs came back into it and again were dominating but couldn’t make it pay. Sigurdsson should have done better when clean through, again after some nice build up play. You’d think after his recent success Gylfi would have scored. Could do better.
Shortly after Gerrard who had sat on Bale most of the game so far decided to go through him. Wild elbow to the back of Bale’s head, while the Liverpool captain made no attempt to play the ball he was never going to get. While the scouse scum, fans and players, berated Bale for being hit the ref decided it was a foul but that was all. Anyone else and it’s a card, yellow or straight red. Either way if the ref had a good game it would have been red as Gerrard should have been booked for a cynical stop on Gylfi some minutes earlier. Both incidents were blatant and as he gave fouls seen by the ref.
While around the same time Suarez was up to his us tricks. A late snide challenge on Dembele should have been a booking. Then various sniping, stampings, kickings etc, which should have seen him dismissed. Typically laughed off by the BBC, who when not goon are scouse.
Anyway Bale picked himself up and a few seconds after the free-kick was taken, while being jeered as a cheat
lofted in a cross for Vertonghen, still up after the set piece, to equalise.
Second half started as the first ended. Bale being fouled, followed by chants of cheat
, followed by him lifting a ball into Vertonghen, who scored. This time not with the head but a nice guided shot.
Could have made things safer with a two goal advantage about on the hour. Great charge by Bale leaving Gerrard in his wake the cross found Gylfi whose attempt was saved onto the post. Maybe he should have passed to the open Defoe but the cheek of the striker having a go at someone for being greedy is too much.
In control and then the madness starts. Walker about five yards from the halfway line under no pressure with a couple of outs, humps the ball towards Spurs’ box. It wasn’t even close enough to that. Lloris rushes out and mistimes hitting the ball as it bounced a bit higher than he thought. Amazingly Downing doesn’t miss an almost open goal.
It just gave them the lift they needed. That 3rd goes in and their dead and buried. Keep it as it was and Spurs were in control, they start getting panicky. It’s all good. Gifting them the equaliser changed everything. And led to an equally stupid winner.
Suarez up to his usual scummy antics and they have a free-kick. It’s cleared to Defoe who decides for some unfathomable reason to bang it back into Spurs’ box, where it falls nicely for Suarez for him to fall nicely from a stupid challenge from BAE. Penalty? Yes.
Gerrard scores, doing his usual celebration like he’d actually contributed something to the game. Penalty won and scored by players who shouldn’t have been on the park. Completely glossed over as was the pathetic dive by Sturridge to try and win a penalty that somehow didn’t make it onto the BBC highlights on MotD2. What are the chances of that happening?
They’re going to win the league and AVB is useless again. Spurs, the only decent team they’ve beaten – so much for that great run, all relegation fodder, bar one team who had more than an eye on the cup final – and Spurs gifted them it along with the ref. But I suppose when you’re that poor and David Brent is your manager you’ll cling to anything. Even when you didn’t win the passing.
Last loss in the league, Everton away on December 9th, twelve unbeaten later a loss away in scouseland, a repeat would be nice.
Just cut out the back passes.