Liverpool 2-1 City: Coutinho Magic Seals Three Points

Although this fixture wasn’t the title clash that it was last season, it lived up to similar standards in terms of excitement. Both teams still had a lot to fight for – Liverpool needed a win to keep up their pursuit of a place in the top four, while City wanted three points in a bid to keep the pressure on Chelsea. The two sides are both renowned for their easy on the eye attacking football, and they certainly didn’t disappoint. They produced one of the games of the season, with Liverpool eventually coming out 2-1 winners courtesy of wonder-strikes from Jordan Henderson and Philippe Coutinho respectively.

It was evident from kick-off that this was going to be a hard fought affair. Immediately the game developed an end-to-end nature, with both sides looking very threatening. City perhaps looked a little more likely to score in the opening exchanges, perhaps due to their extra recovery day since the two teams’ European excursions. However, a moment of pure inspiration from Jordan Henderson after eleven minutes meant it was the hosts who struck first. Sterling passed the ball to the captain, who was in a fair amount of space outside of the box. After a touch to set himself, the ex-Sunderland man curled the ball powerfully into the top corner, leaving Joe Hart completely powerless to prevent it.

The game continued in much the same way after this, although City’s attacking play had a little more urgency about it. Aguero struck the post just two minutes after they fell behind, and then turned provider after 25 minutes to give City an equaliser. He slotted a perfect ball through to Dzeko, who made no mistake with his finish. Can could be criticised for not stepping forward and playing Dzeko offside, and Lovren was perhaps a little guilty of ball watching, but the goal largely came courtesy of Aguero’s excellent vision and technique.

From this moment on it was Liverpool who seized the initiative, playing the better football from then until the end of the game. Coutinho was instrumental in this, showcasing his amazing dribbling talents to embarrass City defenders on multiple occasions. Zabaletta had a particularly torrid time of things; Sterling and Coutinho both caused him multiple problems in the first half. To be fair to the Argentinean, he had an immense second half – he made multiple crucial tackles and drastically reduced Liverpool’s threat down the left. Allen should also be singled out for praise. Many have said that this match was his best in a Liverpool shirt: his close control and passing were both excellent, and he definitely brought a degree of composure into the Liverpool midfield. Lallana, too, was excellent. He was using his undoubted skill properly for once – rather than executing ten pointless Cruyff turns before giving the ball away, he was actually beating men and creating chances. His highlight was a beautiful piece of first time control in the second half; he took the ball down and beat his marker with a beautiful piece of trickery all in one movement.

Although Liverpool had really begun to dominate by the hour mark, their inability to pick out a final ball meant that it looked like the match could be heading for a draw. Coutinho had other ideas. If there was any doubt that he deserved man of the match, he ended it by scoring an absolute peach of a goal to win the match for the hosts and hugely bolster their chances of finishing fourth or higher. Henderson watched on as his goal went from goal of the season contender to not even goal of the game: Coutinho struck one from even further out, and it curled in a remarkably similar way straight into the top corner. The Brazilian is making a habit of scoring exceptional goals – everyone’s been saying for a while that he would be scarily good if he added goals to his game, and two in two matches speaks for itself. He is fast becoming the complete package, to the point where I’d now rather lose Sterling than Coutinho.

To sum up, both sides deserve credit for an all-round excellent game of football. Neither team was perfect defensively - Liverpool clearly missed Sakho – but that just added to the spectacle. In the end it took two moments of magic to see Liverpool take all three points, and continue on the right track for a top four finish. Their next game is against Burnley; we’ve beaten the big team, but getting the results against the minnows is just as important. Hopefully Liverpool can retain their unbeaten league record in 2015 and pile even more pressure on Arsenal and United.

 -James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013

Manchester United 0-3 Liverpool: United Pay the Penalty

Before the game even started, this was one of the best derbies for Liverpool in a very long time. Unlike so many Old Trafford clashes of old, Liverpool went into this game not only ahead of their rivals, but also as genuine title contenders. To add to the pre-game joy, Chelsea had lost their game the day before, meaning the title race had blown open even wider. The chance was there for Liverpool to close the gap down to just four points (with a game in hand over leaders Chelsea, and City and Chelsea still to come to Anfield), and they took it in style.

Right from the start, Liverpool looked by far the superior team. Rodgers had dropped Coutinho from the starting 11 in place of Sterling, who played alongside Henderson and, crucially, Allen. The effects were easy to see. We had a phenomenal level of midfield control, passing the ball around excellently. It wasn’t just in possession when we were excellent either- we pressed United into mistakes when they were on the ball, never letting them breathe. Suarez and Sturridge combined well (as usual), with Sturridge getting a few decent chances early on. He wasn’t able to take them though- it took a penalty to eventually get the goal we so clearly deserved. It was won by Suarez: he controlled the ball excellently, then took a great touch past Rafael, who’s wild, flailing arm clearly collided with the ball. Having been booked just minutes before he should clearly have been off for this, but in the grand scheme of things Liverpool didn’t have too much to complain about. Gerrard took the penalty excellently, putting it right into the corner.

United reacted very poorly to going behind, failing to muster any sort of threatening response. They lacked creativity going forward, and were generally just sloppy. This was a theme that continued throughout the game- to be frank, they looked very much worthy of the mid-table label that Liverpool fans are gleefully applying to them. They managed to get into the break with the lead still at just 1, but it didn’t last long into the second half. It was another penalty and, like the first one, United could have no argument. Phil Jones clumsily knocked Joe Allen to the ground, leaving referee Mark Clattenburg with an easy decision. Gerrard converted the subsequent penalty with typical coolness, going to the right again and slotting it into the very bottom corner.

In fairness to United, they rallied a little at this point. It was still far from inspiring, but they did at least attempt to launch a couple of attacks on the Liverpool goal. Van Persie had the biggest chance to reduce the deficit to one, but he headed tamely wide from six yards out. Things then went rapidly downhill for them- Sturridge outpaced Vidic, who then rashly lunged in, getting nowhere near the ball. There was little contact, but you simply can’t go in like that, especially not in the box when on a yellow card. He was sent off, and Gerrard had the chance to complete a hat-trick of penalties. He tried to go to his left this time- it sent De Gea the wrong way but it was also slightly inaccurate, and it struck the post.

 It was basically the only foot he put wrong all game; he was excellent. I was very much critical of him after his first couple of games in a deeper role and questioned whether he’d ever be able to adapt, but he has certainly proved me wrong over the second half of the season. He has been immense- his tackling and positioning have improved no end, and he doesn’t always resort to long passes. Though we still need to get a proper defensive midfielder in the summer, it has to be said that the need is a lot less urgent than it seemed to be before Gerrard adapted to the role.

Gerrard should have had the chance to redeem himself for his missed spot kick just minutes later. Apparently conceding three penalties isn’t enough to get United players to catch on to the idea of not fouling players in box; Sturridge had his legs blatantly taken out by Michael Carrick. Clattenburg strangely decided not to give it- maybe he just felt bad for United at this point! Liverpool, on the other hand, were showing no mercy. Suarez flicked the ball excellently over Phil Jones on 82 minutes and then volleyed the ball powerfully at goal, forcing an exquisite save from David De Gea. The respite was only very temporary though- Suarez got clean through on De Gea again after excellently controlling a mis-hit shot from Sturridge and this time managed to beat the Spanish keeper, curling it perfectly over his outstretched leg and into the corner.

Basically all of the team played well, but I think that the midfield three of Allen, Henderson and Sterling deserve special praise. They dominated United all day, passing it amongst themselves and then effortlessly speeding up the play by making incisive runs and passes. All three of them were very willing to press, leading to Liverpool winning the ball back high up the pitch on multiple occasions. The only player who was not quite at his best was Daniel Sturridge- he missed a few good chances, and seemed to have reverted to his old, more selfish style. Hopefully it’s just a blip, and he’s back to his supreme best for the Cardiff game.

To sum up, this victory over our huge rivals was very sweet, made all the more so by the respective positions of us and them. With Chelsea slipping up against Villa and with our form showing no sign of slipping, a real feeling of belief that we can do this is building. Now we just need to keep pumping out victories, and hope that City slip up somewhere along the line!

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013

FSG- The Actual Situation

Since Brendan Rodgers took over and announced that he had been provided with very limited funds, fans of LFC have started asking questions about club owners FSG (Fenway Sports Group). However, most fans were prepared to accept that FSG were putting all they could into the club, but the money simply wasn’t there. It seems this is not the case. One of the owners of FSG, who also own MLB team Boston Red Sox, recently boasted of how the Red Sox are one of the biggest spenders in baseball. This caused outrage to fans of LFC, and it does raise questions as to where FSG’s commitments lie.

On the face of it, it does seem like FSG are effectively giving up on Liverpool to focus all their efforts on the Red Sox. However, on closer inspection, Liverpool and Boston are pretty much in the same boat. Both clubs are getting rid of a lot of players in an attempt to lower wage costs (Red Sox star Adrian Gonzalez is just one of the big name departures), both are suffering dips in form, and both are trying to return to former glory. FSG are approaching both situations in pretty similar ways. Although Fenway Sports Group are indeed making more funds available to the Red Sox, they are not simply ‘doing a Man City’. The funds are being spent extremely shrewdly, with a large focus on free agents. Simply pumping a club with money and saying ‘buy who you like’ leads to a disjointed team and ultimately a waste of funds, and that is not the FSG way.

Also, due mainly to the rather large issue of Andy Carroll’s departure and distinct lack of replacement, it is easy to forget that Liverpool’s transfer window was not a complete failure. Everyone is focusing on the fact that Carroll shouldn’t have gone (which is absolutely true, see my views on the matter here: http://www.liverpoolfcfanscorner.com/1/post/2012/08/carroll-loaned-out-a-good-decision.html), but forgetting that we made some good signings. Joe Allen looks set to be a great purchase, Borini has already earned himself a place in the starting 11, and new signing Nuri Sahin from Real Madrid showed promising signs against Arsenal. FSG cannot be accused of providing no funds, seeing as Borini cost £11million and Allen cost £15million. Although it is nowhere near as much as teams such as Chelsea, Man United and Man City, Liverpool are still the 5^th biggest spenders in the summer transfer window. Personally I don’t think that gives us much to complain about.

Overall, I think people are being a little harsh on FSG. They may be providing the Red Sox with more funds, but they are handling the spending of both these prestigious sports clubs in very similar ways. Also, Liverpool fans should not lose perspective, as FSG provided enough money to make LFC the 5^th biggest Premier League spenders this transfer window. They may have made some mistakes, but Liverpool fans need to get behind them. With a bit of luck, FSG will be able to turn the fortunes of both the Red Sox and the reds.