Author Topic: Long: Season review 2013-2014, so near yet so far  (Read 7733 times)

Offline paulrazor

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Long: Season review 2013-2014, so near yet so far
« on: May 23, 2014, 03:47:42 pm »
i can appreciate that this is too long for some, maybe if you are about to have a long commute, print it down and read for the train or bus home. if you do manage to get through it i hope you enjoy it.

The season started amid speculation over the immediate future of Luis Suarez, Liverpool’s star striker and the bearer of the famous number 7 shirt. The end of the previous season saw the Uruguayan hitman mix the sublime and ridiculous. The sublime- 30 goals in a team that was under construction, the ridiculous was of course the biting episode where Suarez bit Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic. I won’t condone what Suarez did but the 10 game ban he received seemed excessive, it wasn’t the first time Suarez attracted controversy or a long ban and for all his talent it seemed the striker carried a little too much baggage.

There has never been any doubt Suarez is a brilliant footballer, but the negative coverage that comes part and parcel with the controversy was getting tiresome. Suarez was indeed sick of it himself and was soon looking to move away from it all, Suarez could walk into any team in the world, yet here he was in a team not even in Europe, which was in need of time to enable them to build a team that could be capable of getting into the Champions league under a young manager. That said Liverpool had more than been good for Suarez, they had still given him a platform to showcase how good he was and the loyalty and support he had received in his time at the club was second to none. Suarez had also received a healthy £100,000 pay packet to boot, but fed up of constant media criticism, he wanted out.

In an era where players seem to control what clubs want, Liverpool decided enough was enough, they had put a lot into Suarez and were not about to back away without fighting, the club having maintained its wish to keep Suarez came out all guns blazing, no way in hell was Suarez going to leave. Arsenal and Real Madrid lurked with Arsenal in particular showing their hand, but we wouldn’t back away, Arsenal would have to fight for Suarez and they did but it was a fight were they were royally spanked, the naughty school kid in Suarez was sent off to school where he was now left with no choice but to get his head down and work his socks off. Liverpool had played an absolute blinder, Suarez to his credit is not the type to sulk and stop trying, once on the pitch his natural enthusiasm meant he would never give less than his best, despite having 6 of the 10 games left to serve; the Uruguayan was ready once again to let his football do the talking.

Suarez didn’t leave the club but some did, most notably after 16 years in the first team the popular and legendary Jamie Carragher hung up his boots and retired, another legend in goalkeeper Pepe Reina was also on the move, joining former Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez at Napoli on loan but it looked like he had already played his last game for us, that was because we had splashed out 9m to sign the promising young Belgian keeper Simon Mignolet from Sunderland. Reina had been criticised for errors in recent seasons but he was still a fine keeper in my eyes, indeed the last few months of the previous season saw Liverpool rack up a good few clean sheets, it wouldn’t have been a problem in my view if Reina stayed but with Mignolet in there was no point in having both at the club. A £9m keeper on the bench or a legend and very good keeper there picking up £100,000 a week?

The club had spent many years lowering a big wage bill, so it made sense for Reina to leave; it was a bold decision by Brendan Rodgers but not a bad one. But with both Carragher and Reina leaving there was two leaders departing, there’s no doubt in my mind both players were leaders in the dressing room and whilst youth needs its chance it also needs guidance, Rodgers signing of Kolo Toure not only addressed leadership but also provided an extra body at the back with Carragher gone, Kolo had previously won leagues with both Arsenal and Manchester City.

There were other departures too; having never looked like living up to his ridiculous price tag Liverpool sold Andy Carroll to West Ham for £15m (further to the £2m loan fee received for the previous season).  Jonjo Shelvey joined Swansea for £5.5m and Stewart Downing joined Carroll and West Ham for £6m while Jay Spearing joined Bolton for £1.5m. There were also loan deals for Suso (Almeria), Oussama Assaidi (Stoke), Fabio Borini (Sunderland), and Jack Robinson (Wolves) among others.

The incoming deals saw Liverpool make early summer moves to sign Celta Vigo striker Iago Aspas for £7 and midfielder Luis Alberto for £6.8m from Sevilla. There would be more incomings soon as Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers continued to build his vision. Rodgers was just 39 when the season started but although Liverpool had only finished 7th the previous season, most supporters had bought into his ideas, a style of football which prided itself on possession and was pleasing on the eye, indeed the second half of the previous season was a good indicator as to where we were heading. With Suarez having been brilliant all season, we wondered who else could step up to the plate, the arrivals of the brilliant Phillippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge not only alleviated the pressure on Suarez but seemed to click the team into life and it boded well for the coming season.

The first game of the season was a home match with Stoke City and their new manager Mark Hughes. It was a symbol at times of our season, brilliant going forward but shaky at the back, both teams were denied by the crossbar while debutant Simon Mignolet seemed very shaky. Daniel Sturridge scored the game’s only goal after having one chalked off earlier, the England striker netted a first half winner with a beautiful left foot finish, but the games major talking point was still to come. Liverpool failed to kill off the game and when Daniel Agger needlessly punched away a cross Stoke were given a penalty but Jonathan Walters saw his spot kick saved superbly by Mignolet, the ground erupted and Liverpool were off to a flyer, the penalty save meant so much, you just knew looking at the players what it meant, it felt like the start of something, it’s hard to describe but it just did. We just didn’t know how good it would indeed be.

The following week Liverpool won at Aston Villa in the late kick off on Saturday evening with Sturridge once again scoring the game’s only goal, it was once again a first half goal which done it for us but again the side were showing resilience and it is just as important to win games in this manner as any other, most of the rest of the game seemed to be backs to the wall stuff.

The league run had started well with 2 wins and no goals conceded, Notts County were then to visit in a league cup tie and Rodgers rung the changes with loan signing Aly Cissokho given a run out following his debut at Villa, Cissokho could play defensive midfield but was primarily a left back and had joined on loan from Valencia. It appeared as if it would be a walk in the park when first half goals from Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge gave Liverpool a comfortable lead but in the second half, County fought back and goals from Yoann Arquin and Adam Phillip remarkably took the game into extra time.

Liverpool were actually reduced to 10 men as Kolo Toure picked up an injury with all subs used, Joe Allen and Aly Cissokho had already been injured and with Daniel Sturridge not looking fully fit, one had to wonder if the squad would be ready for Man United on Sunday. Although Liverpool had the numerical handicap they powered on in extra time and goals from Sturridge and Jordan Henderson gave the Reds a 4-2 win. At the back though it appeared as if we would struggle, forgotten man Martin Skrtel was seemingly set to join Napoli, Liverpool had not yet done deals for anyone at centre back other than Toure and Daniel Agger had just played 110 minutes.

As the weekend loomed it seemed we would struggle, however I had faith that if selected, big Martin Skrtel would do a job, the forgotten man of Liverpool’s backline had hardly started a game since Christmas following a renaissance from the soon to retire Jamie Carragher and an apparent fall out with Brendan Rodgers but Skrtel was back from the wilderness and with deadline day in the transfer window coming, Skrtel was back and boy did he time it well.

As United came to town on Sunday the score line was soon to have a familiar look as for the third league match running, Sturridge scored the only goal in the first half to down our bitter rivals. At the back Skrtel and Agger withheld the dangerous Robin Van Persie and although they struggled to get out of their own half at times, they never really looked in too much danger, the more the game went on the more it looked like United had run out of ideas and the final whistle gave us 3 wins from 3 with no goals conceded, indeed such was the delight, Rodgers brought his side out for a meal afterwards as a “treat” for winning 3 on the spin, the togetherness of the squad was there for all to see as they all fought for one another like one big family and it seemed like every squad member joined in for goal celebrations and it was wonderful to see. I can remember being in a pub watching but not drinking as I was driving, the Mrs rang after 80 minutes
“I’ll be there to pick you up in 5 minutes”
“I do have my own car you know!”
“I’ll pick you up in 5 minutes, we have to go to my sisters”
“She won’t care if I’m late, there’s about 10-15 minutes left”
“I’ll be there in 5 and you better be ready to go”
“Good luck with that! I’m not moving”

Wild horses wouldn’t have moved me, do people seriously expect a Liverpool fan to leave 5 minutes early when one up against United?

Up in the stands meanwhile, there were more developments as Tiago Ilori, Mamadou Sakho and Victor Moses were all in attendance. Ilori had been chased all summer, although born in London, ilori had represented Portugal in youth set ups, the lightning quick centre back cost 7m from Sporting Lisbon and was earmarked for the future, Ilori has not yet played for the club but is highly thought of. Sakho was a beast of a centre back, squeezed out of his beloved Paris St Germain by sugar Daddy money, the French international had a good blend of youth and experience, he had played over 200 games for PSG and was in the French national set up but was still only 23, a player of huge build and strength, Sakho immediately became popular for his appearance alone in particular when a story broke of him breaking a weight machine in training, you can add the repair bill to the 18m splashed out to sign him.

Victor Moses did seem a shrewd one, signed on loan from Chelsea, Moses struggled for starts there but had still got into double figures the previous season, able to play out wide or up top it seemed a good fit for him to be at Liverpool although ultimately his time at the club was to be disappointing. The biggest two factors though was that Liverpool ended August top of the league with 3 wins from 3 and no goals conceded whilst Luis Suarez was also still around. With the window closed and all speculation now put to bed, Suarez would simply have to knuckle down and get on with it, and there were now just 2 games of his suspension left.

The first game was a trip to Rodger’s former club Swansea and a quick get together again with former Red Jonjo Shelvey, it was Shelvey who opened the scoring after just three minutes but in a mirror image of his time at the club, Shelvey combined the sublime and ridiculous as it was his awful back pass, just a minute later, that let Daniel Sturridge score yet again to make it 1-1, all this in the first four minutes. Shelvey was once again responsible for Liverpool’s second goal when his stray pass was picked up by Victor Moses who scored on his debut. In the second half Shelvey atoned somewhat when he finally remembered he was not on the red team, he set up Michu to make it 2-2 midway through the second half.

The reds lived nervously for pretty much the rest of the game, Sturridge looked unfit while Philippe Coutinho was withdrawn through injury and replaced by an unimpressive Iago Aspas. We pretty much had to hang on but a 2-2 draw kept us top of the table and unbeaten but there was little evidence we would be good enough to stay there. The evidence we wouldn’t then mounted up when Liverpool lost 1-0 at home to Southampton the following Saturday. Southampton had a good style of football, they passed well, worked hard and pressed high and in the early part of the season few teams breached the stern defence marshalled by new man Dejan Lovren, and it was Lovren who scored the game’s only goal to hand us our first defeat of the season.

Rodgers took a lot of flak in particular the decision to start 4 centre backs, upfront we looked toothless with a leggy looking Sturridge isolated minus of course the injured Coutinho and the suspended Suarez, the reds simply struggled to get a foothold in the game and rarely strung 5 passes together in a very sloppy display.

Suarez finally made his long awaited return in a league cup tie at old Trafford against Man united, in contrast to the display earlier in the week, Liverpool were much improved and should have advanced but were cruelly beaten 1-0 in a match they were largely the better team. In the second half United won the match thanks to a goal from Javier Hernandez, as Liverpool’s defence went walkies, in particular Jose Enrique who seemed to just blame everyone else even though it was his fault. Suarez struck the bar late on and the constant pressure from Liverpool and much improved performance gave hope to a team that was still looking for its first 2nd half league goal of the season.

Personally things were changing for me, (oh here we go I hate when he does this bit), myself and my Mrs had been living together at weekends for years, we had been going out years but with no prospect of a job in the Belfast area I decided the only thing to do was to transfer from Dublin to Dundalk and work and commute from there. It would be a lot of travel but then again Dublin traffic frequently make daily routine commutes very long anyway. I’d been paying a big mortgage and this seemed the only way to change, my current section in work was on the move anyway and where they were going didn’t interest me as much as I loved working there. Me and the Mrs had been together 9 years and had gotten engaged the previous Easter so there was no point getting married and living apart.

It would be hard to move away from a lot but it had to be done. The united game was a chance to get out for one last beer with the old Wednesday crew, it was tradition for many years although it was one I’d knocked on the head, we had all felt the pinch of the economic climate and unfortunately it was one thing that had died off in recent years. In work I got a great send off and then headed for a meal with the family before heading down Sunday to watch the Sunderland match at the Stadium of Light.

The Suarez/Sturridge tandem were ready to strike, some had seemingly forgotten how well they played together, they say rust never sleeps but there was no rust on Luis Suarez who struck twice in a 3-1 win with Sturridge bagging the other. Emanuele Giaccharini had briefly pulled the game back to 2-1 but the Reds (or purples or whatever the fuck that kit is) had too much in reserve and 3-1 was a fair score. I made the move to Dundalk the next day and things could have started better given I was in a car crash on the way in but it was something new albeit daunting. It did help I was quickly given a spot for their 5 a side on Wednesday plus luckily id worked with a couple of people there before, indeed with the way people moved and got work in the civil service it seemed most of the building worked in Dublin at some point.

The first Saturday in October arrived with Liverpool hosting Crystal Palace, it was the first time Luis Suarez had played at Anfield since his ban finished and despite requesting to leave the club in the summer, Suarez was given a warm welcome and all was forgotten when Suarez opened the scoring. Daniel Sturridge added a superb second and Steven Gerrard scored his first of the season to make it 3-0 and game over before half time. It was a poor first half of the season for Palace although they
did pull a goal back in the second half through substitute Dwight Gayle but a 3-1 defeat was all they could muster and it wasn’t too long after that, that they dispensed with manager Ian Holloway.

Liverpool did go top of the table but Arsenal would take that position back the next day after a draw at West Brom, ironically with the same goal difference and only more goals scored… now where have I heard that before?  Aside from this, off the field, Brendan Rodgers continued his way of keeping the Liverpool way by involving past legends as much as he could, Robbie Fowler, Rob Jones and Steve McManaman got involved with the academy while the man Rodgers replaced as manager (Kenny Dalglish) also returned to the club as a non-executive director.

After the international break we returned to action with an early Saturday kick off at Newcastle United, a fixture that always seemed to promise goals. Yohan Cabaye opened the scoring for the home side with a shot which swerved viciously leaving Simon Mignolet helpless. Just before half time, Liverpool got a get out of jail card when Newcastle defender, Mapou Yanga Mbiwa was dismissed for a foul on Luis Suarez and Steven Gerrard converted the penalty for his 100th league goal in his career. In the second half we couldn’t take advantage of having an extra man and it was the home side who took the lead as sub Paul Dummett (brought on to shore up the defence following the red card) knocked home at the back post following some poor marking. With just under 20 minutes remaining, Suarez set up Daniel Sturridge who netted from close range to give us a point in a 2-2 draw, though the result dropped Liverpool to third.

We would play just three times in October but it was a respectable 7 points hauled in, and although the team struggled at times, the form of Luis Suarez was simply ridiculous (as ridiculous as it sounds that’s a compliment, ridiculous I know,, ok ill stop), whilst Daniel Sturridge also couldn’t stop scoring, ridic,,,, brilliant isn’t it?

The 7 point mark for October in 3 games was finished off by a 4-1 win over West Brom, Suarez opened the scoring with a wonderful individual goal, if the first was brilliant, the second was just utterly beyond comprehension and the little Uruguayan headed home powerfully from the edge of the box with a crushing header to give us a 2-0 lead. 10 minutes into the second, another wonderfully guided header from Suarez completed his hat-trick although West Brom did get one back when Chris Brunt scored a penalty, it did seem a harsh decision to give it with Mamadou Sakho appearing to win the ball. It didn’t matter though as a superb chip from Sturridge rounded out the afternoon in fine style to move us back to second with Chelsea not playing until the next day although they retook second on goal difference with a late win at home to Manchester City on the Sunday.

November was to open with top playing second as we travelled to Arsenal, although our plans were hit slightly when Glen Johnson withdrew late on because of an infection and Jon Flanagan was thrown in the deep end, 18 months prior Flanagan had been earning rave reviews when he made his debut but after losing his place in the team the following season it appeared as if he had missed his chance, tonight was a big test for him. The same was also said of Aly Cissokho who deputised for the injured Jose Enrique at left back, although he was to have a dreadful evening. Arsenal were however in rampant form, their new 42m man Mesut Ozil was just firing the ball everywhere with assist after assist as they marched top of the table while Aaron Ramsey was also having a fine season.  It was another midfield starlet that opened the scoring however when Santi Cazorla struck after his initial effort hit the post.

Aaron Ramsey sealed the win for the home side with a wonderful second half goal, Liverpool just weren’t at the races and the midfield was completely overrun, despite the late return of Phillippe Coutinho from injury there were few positives to take. I hated losing and I always did, myself and the Mrs went for dinner and to be honest I just didn’t want to be there, my mood was not helped by having a bit of a cold which just ruined the meal for me. I couldn’t taste anything despite several hot whiskeys.

A week later it appeared things were going a bit better for me, I had shaken off the cold, we had a decent meal for her birthday, I had a day off work and managed to meet up with the lads in Dublin for the first time since moving job. On the Saturday, Liverpool made short work of Fulham at Anfield, an own goal from Fernando Amorebieta gave us the opener, Martin Skrtel added a second and Luis Suarez made it 3-0 all before half time. 10 minutes into the second half Suarez wrapped up the points to make it 4-0 and put us second in the table. I spent the night at a very good Depeche Mode concert and the weekend seemed to have gone well but regrettably took a turn for the worse, my sisters dog had passed away after 15 years, say what you want but for me a dog becomes part of the family, particularly when it’s around so long, within hours things got worse when word came through an Aunt of mine in America had passed away in her sleep overnight, the weekend simply just went from one extreme to the other.

After two weeks following the international break, play was to resume with an early kick off against Everton at Goodison Park. At home, with me back full time I had got my sky sports and broadband back. I was usually only around weekends and with funds tight a year prior to this we cut it, now we had it back (as I was in the house full time) although sky had a new competitor in BT sport who had taken over the early Saturday kick offs, a mate of mine had kindly lent me his password for his BT sport app and with that I settled to watch the game on my nexus. From the first minute to the last this was a pulsating derby.

Phillippe Coutinho opened the scoring after just 4 minutes but Kevin Mirallas equalized almost immediately, the first half was just one end to the other, although Mirallas should have been sent off for a disgraceful studs up challenge on Luis Suarez, it should have been a stonewall red card but the decision was largely bottled by referee Phil Dowd (my mood not helped by a bet I had for a first half red card which would have netted me €70). Suarez added Liverpool’s second with a majestic free kick and the reds lead 2-1 at half time, the game was however frenetic to say the least and I seriously got hooked on this, to say my language during the game was disgraceful was putting it mildly, if there was a swear box in my house I probably would have had to put a week’s wages in it.

In the second half Joe Allen somehow missed what was pretty much an open goal which surely would have sealed the points but Liverpool’s backline all day was ropey as hell, I was hoping we would convert to a 3 man centre back system Rodgers had used in recent weeks, having waxed lyrical about it, the Liverpool manager largely ditched it following the defeat at Arsenal. It may have worked here, despite going on to concede further goals; Liverpool owed a debt of gratitude to goalkeeper Simon Mignolet who denied Romelu Lukaku on more than one occasion.

Lukaku was signed on loan for Everton from Chelsea and is rightly considered an amazing prospect; he spent the whole afternoon being repelled by his fellow country man Mignolet but he finally got the better of him to make it 2-2. Lukaku’s free kick had initially been saved but given Liverpool’s defence followed that up by just standing with their finger up their arses, the goal was scored anyway, just to take the piss, Mirallas was involved with the goal, the Belgian should have been dismissed earlier and he was to have a hand in another goal as Lukaku headed home from a corner late on and it appeared as if Everton were to pull off a famous win.

Liverpool had one last trick up their sleeve and substitute Daniel Sturridge headed home a Steven Gerrard free kick to make it 3-3 in the dying seconds. There was still time to almost force a winner but Luis Suarez’s thunderous volley was somehow kept out by Tim Howard, the match ended honours even, probably a fair result and after I had calmed down from uttering “you useless fucking wankers” about 56 times I learned to appreciate what had probably been the best Merseyside derby of all time. I had saved money not having a swear box though I could have saved another €8, I had had my haircut the day before the game, if I hadn’t have bothered I would have pulled it all out watching this anyway.

Due to two international breaks there were only 3 games in both October and November, but there was to be double that and more for December alone and Liverpool opened it up with arguably their worst performance of the season at Hull City. After a clumsy piece of play from Victor Moses, Hull gained possession and earned a huge slice of luck when Mignolet was left helpless after Jake Livermore’s shot took a cruel deflection off Martin Skrtel. The reds, or whatever the fucking away kit is, levelled things up, perhaps undeservedly when Steven Gerrard scored a wonderful free kick but in the second half things took a turn for the worse. David Meyler scored Hull’s second leaving Kolo Toure beating the ground in frustration and it only got worse when Skrtel scored another own goal desperate to try and cover a shot. It was a 3-1 defeat and it was a fair result. We may have been 4th but in all honestly there hadn’t been too many performances thus far that had justified that. Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge had been brilliant but other than that the defence leaked goals and midfield was often bypassed. Victor Moses and Raheem Sterling were drafted in but neither did anything of note, but soon all that was to change and Liverpool were ready to turn up performance levels.

The following Wednesday, Liverpool kept faith with the youngster Sterling but the game was all about one man, Luis Suarez. The Uruguayan had already scored two hat-tricks in the past against Norwich but he just went absolutely nuts on this evening. An absolutely stupendous volley opened the scoring; a close range header made it two and before half time and a superb solo effort was finished off by another wonderful volley to make it 3-0. Half time did little to halt this as Suarez rattled in a 4th with a marvellous free kick, it was just crazy how one player could do all this in just one game, it was already his 13th of the season and he had missed 5 games!

Bradley Johnson did score a well-placed header for a consolation but late on Suarez turned provider and Raheem Sterling finished off superbly in the 88th minute to make it 5-1. On the Saturday I was left to use Jeff Stelling for updates while I put up the Christmas tree, Liverpool entertained West Ham at Anfield and cruised to a 4-1 win. An own goal from Guy Demel gave us the lead and two minutes into the second half Mamadou Sakho scored his first for the club to make it 2-0. West Ham did threaten to haul us in as a Martin Skrtel own goal brought it back to 2-1 but two late goals from Suarez crowned off another fine afternoon for him and gave us a 4-1 win, to compound West Ham’s misery Kevin Nolan was also sent off for a horrible tackle (which was about an hour late) on Jordan Henderson although Liverpool did have concerns themselves as Steven Gerrard was withdrawn through injury.

Our next game was a big test for us as Liverpool travelled to White Hart Lane to play Spurs on a Sunday afternoon. If we were to finish 4th then this was one team that could stop us and to make matters worse we had lost on our last 6 visits there. We went into the match with several injuries, Gerrard was out, and Sturridge hadn’t played since the Everton match, a game he played in despite picking up an injury on international duty, no doubt giving more ammunition to the legions of fans that hated Roy Hodgson following his time at the club. Injury wise too, what we didn’t know was Jose Enrique had already played his last game of the season following knee problems and Daniel Agger was also injured.

That said Liverpool simply stormed out of the blocks at the lane, from the first minute it was go for the jugular and the approach paid off in fine style. I had returned that day from a cold game of golf and was just out of the shower in time to watch the game, although the in laws were having a Christmas meal and I knew I was required but I tried to get in as much football as I could, with the Mrs soon on the phone I knew time was at a premium and 15 minutes in, I was on the road, nothing surer of course I knew about .01 seconds after leaving the driveway only one thing could happen. I’d miss something.

Sure enough me mate Kev would sometimes provide almost a running commentary described something as ridiculous, a goal had been scored but who, I could only ask “what’s happened?”
The reply “Suarez happened”. If that didn’t sum it up I don’t know what did.

The opening goal was scored by you know who, it was good work from the brilliant Jordan Henderson and Suarez did the rest, Henderson meanwhile needed to step up to the plate with Gerrard out and he grabbed this chance with both hands. It was Henderson who added a second as Spurs were torn apart again, Hendo’s first effort was saved by Hugo Lloris, the follow up saw Lloris deny Suarez brilliantly but Henderson made it third time lucky and Liverpool were 2-0 up. 20 minutes into the second half a disgraceful tackle from Paulinho on Luis Suarez saw Spurs reduced to 10 men and with all 3 subs used the game was up, Liverpool were going to go crazy.

The extra room on the pitch played to our advantage and some brilliant football was exhibited with a scintillating move topped by Jordan Henderson making  a monkey out of the Spurs defence and his cross was finished off by a crushing volley from Jon Flanagan. Flanno was revelling in the team having shown he could play right or left back and the youngster was cementing his place in the side with others injured and his goal was celebrated wildly, Flanagan indeed was so excited by his goal he was pictured with a rather awkward looking erection as all Liverpool players practically dived on him.

To be fair Liverpool’s day was nothing short of sexual, Suarez added another with a fine lob and another youngster continued his excellent progress as Raheem Sterling finished off the fifth. Spurs had been humbled, although that season they lost Gareth Bale to Real Madrid the Londoner’s had reinvested the money by signing several notable players like Roberto Soldado and Christian Eriksen although they mysteriously spunked £30m on Erik Lamela who just never played, their style of play was poor and not long after a 6-0 drubbing at Manchester City, Liverpool inflicted this heavy defeat, and that meant the end of the road for Andre Villas Boas in the Spurs hot seat. The improvement in results saw Liverpool climb to second and just two points behind Arsenal.

Another club in turmoil was newly promoted Cardiff city, with an owner probably as crazy as Tom Hicks and George Gillett, their manager Malky McKay was seemingly on the brink of losing his job and we were not going to let up, the side had just clicked and when news emerged that Luis Suarez had signed a massive new contract it meant only one thing, WIN. Two wonderful first goals from Suarez sandwiched another effort from Sterling and it was game over at half time although in the second half the visitors didn’t disgrace themselves and Jordan Mutch did pull a goal back, although it finished 3-1 to put us top of the table. When Arsenal and Chelsea played out a scoreless draw on the Monday, it meant Liverpool were top of the table on Christmas day, this had an omen to it, each of the last 4 teams to top the table at Christmas had gone on to win the league although crucially we were in fact the last team to fail to win it from that position.
yer ma should have called you Paolo Zico Gerry Socrates HELLRAZOR

Offline paulrazor

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Re: Long: Season review 2013-2014, so near yet so far
« Reply #1 on: May 23, 2014, 03:48:14 pm »
Christmas went very well, met everyone I wanted to meet and had several brilliant nights out, football wise things could have been better. Liverpool went into crunch games top of the league but faced two daunting trips to Man city and Chelsea in the space of three days.  The first game was at City with Liverpool having to make do without Lucas, Enrique, Gerrard, Sturridge and Flanagan. The game began well with Philippe Coutinho scoring a well worked goal but by half time City were in front thanks to goals from Vincent Kompany and Alvaro Negredo (the second of which was very avoidable certainly from the viewpoint of Simon Mignolet). The reds were further disappointed when Raheem Sterling had a goal chalked off incorrectly as he was deemed offside even though he was at least 5 yards on. In the second half Liverpool pushed hard and created chances but just couldn’t force an equalizer and were also robbed of at least one penalty and we lost 2-1.

3 days later it was more of the same as we went to Chelsea. Poor refereeing again cost us as we again lost having lead, Martin Skrtel scored the opener but Eden Hazard drew Chelsea level not long after with a wonderful strike. Just before half time Samuel E’too scored the winner as Simon Mignolet narrowly failed to keep the ball out although he really should have saved it, Martin Skrtel’s poor marking didn’t help.  In the second half Liverpool tried their damndest but couldn’t force an equalizer with the soon to be injured Mamadou Sakho heading against the bar and Suarez was again robbed of at least one penalty following a bizarre foul by E’too that went unpunished. E’too could easily have been sent off in the first minute but then again it was Howard cheating c*nt Webb refereeing, the same cheating c*nt that always seemed to screw us over, how the cheating c*nt is let referee is us beyond me, his bias was so blatantly obvious it just took the absolute piss. Oh, did I mention he’s a cheating c*nt? Well he is.

We lost 2-1 again, then again there was only so much a threadbare squad could do given youngsters like Brad Smith and Jordan Rossiter were on the bench, Smith was deployed late on out of position and looked lost, why Luis Alberto was ignored here I don’t know, a 7m signing dumped in favour of a reserve left back playing left wing, then again Alberto was largely ignored most of the season.

The two defeats dropped us to 5th and 6 points off top but we would go unbeaten for a very long time and gradually clawed our way back, the long road started with a new year’s day win over Hull City, Daniel Agger headed home the first and Luis Suarez made it 2-0 just after half time, and that took us back into the top 4. The FA cup then took over as for the third year in a row Liverpool played Oldham, goals from Iago Aspas and an own goal from James Tarkowski put us into round 4, I had spent most of the day in Donegal, it was about 2 hours from the house. As I was in work the next day the last thing I needed was a late night, and when the call came to go home early I wasn’t too disappointed but that soon evaporated when some genius decided to call into an Aunt (that they had only seen the day before I might add) for 5 minutes. 5 minutes my fucking hole, we arrived at 5.30 and didn’t leave until 8, just what you want when you have to drive 65 miles to work the next morning.

A week later we had a tricky match at Stoke, it was a fixture we always seemed to struggle in although nerves were calmed when Aly Cissokho scored the opener via a massive deflection off Ryan Shawcross and soon after Luis Suarez made it two taking advantage of some terrible defending. But by half time time our 2-0 lead evaporated with old boys Peter Crouch and Charlie Adam equalizing. This was a game in recent years that Liverpool would normally have crumbled but this was a different Liverpool, perhaps not just because of Brendan Rodgers but maybe sports psychologist Steve Peters.

The reds didn’t fold their tent and came back to lead again when Raheem Sterling was brought down in the penalty area and Steven Gerrard converted the resulting spot kick, Luis Suarez made it 4-2 and restored the two goal lead following good work from returning sub Daniel Sturridge, it seemed game over again but when Jon Walters shot squirmed under Mignolet to make it 4-3 it was game on again. Liverpool continued to fight fire with fire and attacked relentlessly whatever the opposition and this was rewarded when Sturridge coolly kept his head to make it 5-3 near the death. It may have had negatives but Liverpool’s desire and will to win and the fact they did under difficult circumstances shouldn’t have been underestimated.

There were many calls for Liverpool to strengthen in January particularly in defensive midfield, Steven Gerrard filled in there for now but at times looked ill at ease and when Liverpool hosted Aston Villa the cries and demands only got more intense. Rodgers tried to include Coutinho, Gerrard, Sterling, Henderson, Suarez and Sturridge all at once and it just seemed to completely unbalance the team. It was a match you would expect us to win easily but Liverpool suddenly found themselves two goals down with Andreas Weimann and Christian Benteke giving the visitors a huge lead, it could have been even bigger as Ciaran Clark struck a post for them.

Just before half time we finally woke up as Daniel Sturridge blasted home and all of a sudden things didn’t look so bad, Lucas displaced Coutinho at half time to balance the team better and in truth Coutinho’s performance had been poor, Gerrard was now able to get forward more and equalized from the spot after a foul on Luis Suarez but Liverpool failed to force a winner. It seemed fitting they would given it was my birthday and I had friends up from Dublin for a great night but such is life, it ended 2-2 and to be honest given the god awful first half it was perhaps a fair result.

The FA Cup took centre stage the following Saturday and Liverpool overcame Bournemouth 2-0 with goals in either half from the largely forgotten Victor Moses and the brilliant Daniel Sturridge. Moses had literally done nothing up to this point since his debut goal and would pretty much do nothing again for the rest of the season, had Liverpool had the required depth then surely Moses would have been sent packing in January back to Chelsea.

As we prepared for the Mersey derby we continued to wonder if we were going to go into the transfer market, Lucas had been injured shortly into his return against Villa, Joe Allen had niggles and Steven Gerrard wasn’t fancied in this role, it seemed like we needed to beef up the area with names such as Yann M’Vila mentioned. The players we were linked with seemed to lean more towards attacking options with Basle’s Mohamed Salah and Dnipro’s (Ukraine) Yevhen Konoplyanka both linked heavily.

I was seriously dreading the Mersey derby, Everton were hard to beat all season and arguably in better form than us. Liverpool however have never needed any motivation to up their game for the Blues and deservedly took the lead thanks to a crushing header from the captain Steven Gerrard, it was a double whammy for Everton as their main striker Romelu Lukaku was injured in the build-up. Liverpool were simply relentless and although Everton attacked they left themselves prone to a ruthless counter attack, and on 33 minutes Daniel Sturridge raced clear to make it 2-0. 2 minutes later Sturridge sent the crowd wild again with a brilliant lob over Tim Howard and it was 3-0 and game over, Liverpool just couldn’t be stopped. 5 minutes into the second half it was 4 when Luis Suarez beat the offside trap and counter attacked himself and ran half the pitch to make it 4-0. I was simply euphoric and it seemed a case of how many but 4 was all it was and Daniel Sturridge should have had more, Sturridge was withdrawn having shown selfishness in some build ups and also missed a penalty but his goals helped us back to third as January ended although some teams around us had games in hand.

Having failed to add to the squad in the January transfer window (most notably the failure to sign Yevhen Konoplyanka) the knives were out when we limped to a 1-1 draw at West Brom, it was not a good game but it appeared to be one of them heading for a boring 1-0 win when Daniel Sturridge scored from a Luis Suarez assist but a horrendous error from Kolo Toure allowed the former Everton man Victor Anichebe to score and the game ended 1-1, it was just one of them games you could have seen out but as unexpected as the mistake was, nothing could prepare us for the following Saturday.

Liverpool were to host Arsenal who were top of the table, and I just had a god awful feeling about it as I hadn’t forgotten the victory they had over us earlier in the season and it was a fixture Liverpool hadn’t won in 7 years. Within 10 minutes the fears were turned into utter disbelief and for all the right reasons. Martin Skrtel prodded home a Steven Gerrard free kick after just 33 seconds and less than 10 minutes later it was two when Skrtel’s flying header doubled the lead.

Arsenal were simply like rabbits in headlights, Sturridge missed a great chance to make it three while Suarez nearly smashed the Anny Road end goal to pieces with a thunderous volley off the inside of the post, Kolo Toure couldn’t react in time to turn it home. The third goal was surely only a matter of time away and it arrived when Jordan Henderson mugged Mesut Ozil, and in the ensuing break Raheem Sterling arrived to make it 3-0 and this all after just 16 minutes. Daniel Sturridge remarkably added a 4th after just 19 minutes. It was the most brutal first round assault anyone had seen Apollo Creed got his ass handed to him by Ivan Drago. I was leaping all over the house like an absolute mad man, at this rate it could be any score. Half time came and went, 8-0 would have been a fair reflection but when Sterling added a 5th in the second half it was to be the last of the day for us, Mikel Arteta did score a penalty for them but the 5-1 win gave everyone notice, Liverpool were a force and the force had blown the league wide open. It was probably the finest performance I’d ever seen from a Liverpool side.

4 days later was to be another win but against a relegation candidate in Fulham, we struggled to get going and fell behind early thanks to a calamitous own goal from Kolo Toure. Liverpool levelled on half time thanks to a wonderful assist from Steven Gerrard and a fine finish by Daniel Sturridge. Kieran Richardson restored Fulham’s lead somewhat undeservedly but now Liverpool were beginning to motor as Philippe Coutinho’s fine finish made it 2-2. Our chances to win came, although a rather sickening collision with Martin Stekelenburg and Luis Suarez meant Fulham relied on reserve keeper David Stockdale to mind nets for the final 11 minutes. In injury time a penalty from Steven Gerrard saw us scoop a massive 3 points and a 3-2 win, with most of the big teams around us slipping up; the result put us 4th but just three points off the top spot. Chelsea and City did have games in hand in third and second but still had to visit Anfield.

Next up though was the FA cup as Arsenal hosted us, I was not in a good mood as we arranged to see our wedding band, It mightn’t sound like much but they were a very good band If I may so, having arranged this all week we ended up being so late we didn’t get to see them play, this was because my Mrs decided to start hoovering and ironing instead of getting out the fucking door (yet of course she somehow figured out it was my fault).

The match itself wasn’t great either, shambolic defending allowed Alex Oxlade Chamberlain in to score the opener and early in the second half Lukas Podolski added a second. Liverpool fought back thanks to a penalty from Steven Gerrard but couldn’t force an equalizer, thanks once again to Howard wanker Webb not giving us another blatant penalty. We lost 2-1 and I was not in a good mood, particularly when my Mrs just moaned at me all day despite her being in the wrong, more fool me for marrying her I guess.

The following Sunday was a home match with Swansea and it was to be goals galore, Daniel Sturridge got things off to a flyer with a goal inside two minutes and Jordan Henderson added a second after 19 minutes with a superbly taken goal. Swansea did pull it back through Jonjo Shelvey and a Martin Skrtel own goal but Sturridge scored another to make it 3-2, although things were still on a knife-edge and just after half time a Wilifred Bony penalty made it 3-3. The match could have gone either way but another from Henderson gave us a 4-3 win against Rodgers former club, I had unfortunately missed the game due to the funeral of my dad’s friend Joe, lord rest his soul.

In a late Saturday evening kick off our next game was against Southampton, the only team to have beaten us at Anfield all season, nerves were settled when Luis Suarez scored the opener although Southampton should have levelled when Adam Lallana hit the post from close range. In the second half Raheem Sterling scored within seconds of coming on as sub for Phil Coutinho and with just seconds left on the clock, a foul on Luis Suarez allowed Steven Gerrard to convert a spot kick and make it 3-0. The result put us second and ahead of Arsenal who not so long ago had been 8 points clear of us, Chelsea were a point ahead but with a game in hand while Man City in 4th were 2 behind us with 2 games in hand, that said something made me send this to my brother that night,
“You don’t actually think we could win the league do you?,,,,”

We were like a formula 1 driver, we would have taken a podium at the start, we were running in the top 3 but there was the leader just ahead, lets fucking have them!

The next game was against Manchester united at Old Trafford but this was not the daunting match it once was, United were struggling for Europe never mind the league, the appointment of David Moyes had been pretty much ridiculed and for once Liverpool were favourites, we did start much the better team but a penalty was all that separated us at half time as a handball by Rafael was punished with a Steven Gerrard penalty conversion. Just after half time United’s day got worse when Joe Allen was bundled over and Gerrard converted again, it was rare a team got one penalty at Old Trafford let alone two but one more was en route although replays indicated Daniel Sturridge appeared to dive when challenged by Nemanja Vidic who was furious with the decision, remarkably for the 4th time Vidic was sent off against us. Gerrard had a glorious chance from the spot to make it 3 but he hit the post and the united fans lapped it up, SIT THE FUCK DOWN YOU’RE SHITE, yeah there’s more coming you shitehawks, Luis Suarez added a third and Liverpool recorded a handsome 3-0 win at Old Trafford, we meant business. We were just one point behind Chelsea in second after they had lost at Aston Villa the previous day.

The following week I hauled myself out of bed for Liverpool’s trip to Cardiff, I wasn’t hung-over, as a matter of fact I had decided to go off the drink for lent and that included Patrick’s week, I found it hard to cover my mortgage, I had a car falling apart and I was trying to save for a wedding so a few bob needed to be saved plus I just needed a break from it, I wasn’t really overdoing it but I just was fed up of hangovers and given I was doing a fair bit of training I didn’t see the harm.

The reason for my lateness getting out of bed was I was dying with a cold but given I didn’t have setanta at home I hauled myself to a bar, I didn’t drink of course but I just wanted to see the game which had the potential to be a banana skin, it looked that way when Jordan Mutch put Cardiff ahead after 8 minutes. It took Liverpool a while to get going but they responded just 7 minutes later thanks to a well taken goal from Luis Suarez. Cardiff did take the lead again and certainly gave as good as they got in the first half, Frazier Campbell put them back in front. Their second lead didn’t last much longer than the first and that was thanks to a header from Martin Skrtel which gave a half time score of 2-2.

The big Slovak added another early in the second half, although Cardiff felt aggrieved given they had 2 players off the field injured by referee’s orders as Skrtel got his second headed goal of the game to give us a 3-2 lead. You got the feeling it could end up any score, Suarez added his second just before the hour mark and Daniel Sturridge added a brilliant 5th, it was game over although Cardiff still pushed on and three minutes from time Jordan Mutch made it 5-3, you just didn’t know if this was going to be one of them days with us but in added time Suarez rounded off his hat-trick to give us a 6-3 win. It was all well and good scoring more than the opposition although you did wonder if the defence would ultimately cost us.

The big teams all went goal crazy, Chelsea had earlier smashed 6 past Arsenal, whilst Man City put 5 past Fulham, we were just one point off Chelsea in second but City in third was just three points behind us and had two games in hand. As for finishing in the top 4? Well we were now 11 points clear of 5th placed Everton, so the targets were revised, Liverpool were going for glory.

The following Wednesday we had a chance to go top as we hosted Sunderland at Anfield, they did their best to stifle us but just before half time a wonderful free kick from Steven Gerrard gave us the lead and two minutes into the second half Daniel Sturridge added a second via a small deflection. It appeared as if we may go crazy but the introduction of Sunderland subs Adam Johnson and Ki Sung Yeung changed their approach and both subs combined for Ki to score with 14 minutes left. It was a very nervous 14 minutes, particularly when an Adam Johnson free kick flashed across Simon Mignolet’s goal in the 88th minute but we managed to hold on, it was encouraging, not every game can be a 3-0 or a 5-1, sometimes you just have to dig deep and hold on for your life, champions do need to win ugly too and this was the 7th win in a row. I didn’t celebrate, it was just relief and I honestly can’t recall too many games where I was that relieved to hear a final whistle.

Our next game on Sunday, we had suddenly got it all in our own hands, the previous day Chelsea lost at Crystal Palace whilst City drew 1-1 at Arsenal, there was still a long way to go but crucially it meant that with 7 games left of the league season we would be champions if we could win every game, you take one game at a time but to have the destiny in your own hands is a bonus, this does add pressure but Liverpool exploded out of the blocks against Spurs and rose to the pressure magnificently.

Younes Kaboul turned the ball into his own net to give us the lead inside two minutes and a mistake by Michael Dawson was punished to the full by Luis Suarez who gave us a 2-0 half time lead, Spurs rarely threatened, one chance really for Christian Eriksen but that was about it, Suarez had also seen a header pushed against the bar by the brilliant yet overworked Hugo Lloris in the Spurs goal. It was one of them you swear is in, you jump up and shout yes, and then sit back down scratching your head hoping no one noticed.

But if anyone did laugh at me (and no one did) then it was me who had the last laugh, Liverpool are always encouraged to play out of defence and when the excellent Jon Flanagan sold his opponent a dummy we had successfully began a move starting at the back which ended with a superb finish from Phillippe Coutinho who drilled home Liverpool’s third goal, and we did add a 4th when Jordan Henderson’s free kick evaded everyone and nestled into the Kop end goal for a fine 4-0 win, we were now 4 clear of City who had two games in hand, 5 ahead of Chelsea who had one game in hand and had played the same amount of games as Arsenal but were now 7 clear of them. April’s 5 wins meant Brendan Rodgers was deservedly manager of the month with West Ham up next.

The Hammers were never going to be easy and it was again a case of digging deep, in truth our performance was nothing spectacular and both sides cancelled each other out until a handball by James Tomkins allowed Steven Gerrard to score from the spot. The home side were level in controversial circumstances as Guy Demel prodded home from close range when Simon Mignolet failed to deal with a corner although he was clearly impeded by former Liverpool man, Andy Carroll. The Liverpool players protested big time and even though it’s not allowed a replay was screened in the stadium but the referee chose not only to ignore that, but also the decision of his linesman (who wanted the goal disallowed). The goal stood with it being clear that Carroll had practically shoved his hands in the face of Mignolet.

There was to be more controversy when with 20 minutes left, Hammers keeper Adrian was adjudged to have fouled Jon Flanagan, West Ham weren’t happy although it looked to me as if there was contact and Gerrard again stepped up to score his second penalty of the game, it would finish 2-1 to us and it as was as you were at the top of the table.

A lot was going to hinge on the next game, it was Man City at home, a win would really drive home just how serious our challenge was, it would be our 10th win running if we could do it, or it could be all over, with the 25th anniversary of Hillsborough that week we knew only a win would really do.

That weekend I had invited my folks up to my house so they could spend some time with us and see the wedding venue, unfortunately I had arranged this weeks in advance (it was the hotel’s wedding open day) and completely forgot it clashed with the game. I had to sneak out, the wedding was over a year away, that could wait for now, Liverpool winning the league was something that did happen in my lifetime, but it wasn’t something I’d ever seen as a fan, I’d just missed the boat but this felt like my time, in previous failed challenges I felt there would be always next year. I didn’t think so this time, next year with the champion’s league we would have our hands full, this year it was just a case of concentrating on the league, and this was an opportunity we couldn’t let pass, was this finally our time?

Here we go, we decided to miss the first half and watch the second, the phone reception was utter shite but what reception I did get saw scores filter through, the excellent form of Raheem Sterling continued with the young man scoring a well taken opener where he practically took the piss out of City inside 5 minutes. It was going our way big time and after 25 mins a flying header from Martin Skrtel made it 2-0, City were falling apart and we were like rabid animals, Yaya Toure was also gone off injured and surely we were on our way.

Just 5 minutes into the second half City withdrew the hopeless Jesus Navas and replaced him with the hardworking James Milner, this galvanised city who looked a different team. David Silva pulled one back and it was game on again, just after the hour mark a Glen Johnson own goal levelled the scores. I really felt sick, I was bursting for a shite as nerves had got to me and I just couldn’t see us getting back in front, it wasn’t going to end 2-2 and they were in the ascendency, Silva narrowly missed a chance to put them in front and I just had that horrible sinking feeling that this was the day it would all slip away, we had been 2-0 up but that fucking defence was fucking killing us again.

Liverpool’s attacks became rarer and rarer, but right out of nothing Vincent Kompany wildly swung at the ball to try clear a throw, he made a complete hash of the clearance and it was seized upon by Phillippe Coutinho who rifled a shot low and hard into the Anfield Road end net. The roof threatened to blow off Anfield, was this the goal the title race would depend on? There was    still 13 minutes to go, 13 hours as Dad put it. Jesus would the match ever end?

In the several minutes added on we sat back, Martin Skrtel somehow got away with a blatant handball, we fought time and again to repel every attack that bypassed midfield and prodded away at a leaky defence. We tried for the counter attack, substitute Victor Moses had a chance for this with his pace but a mis-controlled ball saw us lose possession, Liverpool won it back through Jordan Henderson who also failed to control it and lunged wildly at Samir Nasri resulting in a straight red card, Henderson would be banned for three games and we were going to miss him.

An eternity later the final whistle blew and finally I could now believe we were going to win the league, it felt like Chelsea in the semi-final of 2005 all again, this surely had to be it? The nerves were gone, I was shaking and yes the toilet couldn’t come quick enough as I’m sure you wanted to know. Steven Gerrard seemed to be crying, he immediately rallied his team roaring
“This doesn’t fucking slip, it’s gone, we go to Norwich, exactly the same, we go again!” 

The captain’s war cry, was this to be finally his crowning glory?

We were now 7 points ahead of city in third who had two games in hand, Chelsea’s 1-0 win at Swansea meant they were second having played one game less but they were 5 adrift, 4 more wins and Liverpool were champions.

The following Wednesday City could only draw at home to Sunderland whilst Sunderland again did us a massive favour on the Saturday with a surprise 2-1 win at Chelsea, the beauty of this was the winner was scored by Fabio Borini who was on loan from us, that was the Saturday and I felt like it was a moment, that moment that you know the title is going your way! A win over Norwich would put us 8 clear of Chelsea who would have one game in hand and 9 clear of City who would have two. It would also mean that we could draw a remaining game.

Norwich away was the Easter Sunday and a rocket from Raheem Sterling opened the scoring inside just three minutes, and a further 7 minutes later Luis Suarez made it two, remarkably it was his 12th goal against Norwich in just 5 games. Norwich did fight back to their credit and one wonders would they have found themselves in a relegation dog fight if they showed that commitment all season? Gary Hooper brought Norwich back into it following a defensive shambles but Sterling restored our two goal lead with a fine run and a shot which took a wicked deflection. There was still time for Norwich to fight back and a header from Robert Snodgrass brought it back to 3-2 and gave us a nervy last 13 minutes, Norwich did come close to levelling when a header from Ricky Van Wolfswinkel was stopped on the line by Simon Mignolet. Liverpool just about held on although it would have been easier if Lucas hadn’t have missed a simple chance in injury time, that said the win was Liverpool’s 11th in a row. We were 8 points clear of Chelsea with just three games left although they had a game in hand; city would defeat West Brom the next day and were 6 behind us with a game in hand.

I was now 100% convinced we had it, I was looking forward to a good end of season party, I wondered would it be the Palace or Newcastle game we would do it, I wanted it to be the last day of the season, I had already a day off booked after it, I had the same for the day after the palace game though that was more by coincidence. A cruel twist of fate was just waiting around the corner.

That Sunday we were to play a Chelsea side missing several regulars through injury, they were there for the taking it seemed and I didn’t for one second envisage anything other than a win, I never for a split second thought we would lose, as the team bus arrived at Anfield, crowds lined the streets, songs were sung, flares went off, it was like a cauldron, there was no way we wouldn’t win it.

Chelsea began and set their stall out early, this was a game sandwiched between their two legged European cup semi-final with Atletico Madrid so their focus was elsewhere too, but from the first minute it was clear their tactic was to just sit back and they pretty much had 8 defenders from the get go. We for once couldn’t break them down but with the way the season went you just felt it was only a matter of time, I even text my brother closing in on half time
“Well score any second now I can feel it”

I knew I was tempting fate but I hit send, my belief was somewhere around 99%, I kind of got that feeling but what the hell, we were going to win the league cos were the best team in the fucking land, then it happened.

I think you all know, deep into first half injury time Liverpool continued to push for a goal that they didn’t really need, in a defensive midfield role that he had settled into after a nervy beginning in January, Steven Gerrard received the ball inside his own half, Liverpool’s attacking instinct saw full backs push up and centre backs spread out wide and this would allow us space to find passes with Gerrard dropping deep almost as third centre back. Mamadou Sakho passed the ball to him at which point the skipper infamously lost his footing and allowed Demba Ba to run in and give Chelsea a 1-0 lead.

Wrestling commentator Jim Ross would have said “this match can’t end this way, no no no”

No way, we had come this far, surely this wasn’t how it would end?, that would be just too cruel, Chelsea’s defence stood like a wall, chances were few and far between, a Joe Allen volley went close but it seemed like maybe a draw would be the best we could hope for, the belief and faith was still there for me, I fully believed going into the 91st minute we would at least equalize, Gary Neville even predicted a United- Sheffield Wednesday type match that morning from 1993 (you should know what that is). A Luis Suarez volley was tipped over in the 91st minute and I just knew that was the last chance, and to make matters worse Chelsea would score again when Fernando Torres set up Willian to make it 2-0, this game was up.

The destiny of the title race was no longer in our hands, later on that day Man City won 2-0 at Crystal Palace, and the following Saturday they took the lead on goal difference with a 3-2 win at Everton. Their goal difference was a good deal better than ours so with two games to go both teams were level, Chelsea were soon out of it (in theory anyway) after a 0-0 draw at home to Norwich so it was us vs. City, though City’s last two games were at home to Aston Villa and West Ham, easily winnable whilst we had Palace away and Newcastle at home. We would need a massive goal haul realistically, the only positive I could take was if we beat palace then we would go into the final day, worst case scenario, level with city and anything could happen but in truth after the Chelsea game I was physically sick, from feeling we had it won I could only feel it slipping away.

Palace away was the bank holiday Monday and we lead at half time through Joe Allen, the avalanche of goals wasn’t materialising it seemed (in the first half) though it did appear Glen Johnson had been fouled for a penalty whilst he also missed another chance and we did have chances prior to Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez scoring two in two minutes, it was 3-0 and palace looked dead and buried while we finally threatened to run riot. There was just over 10 minutes left on the clock when Palace defender Damien Delaney picked the ball up some 30 yards from goal and his shot took a wicked deflection of Glen Johnson to make it 3-1. The goal difference wasn’t going to get much better but suddenly just 60 seconds later as we pushed forward, Palace burst down the left, I think it was Bolasie who made the run, I’m not arsed looking this up on YouTube for obvious reasons but he took off like a fucking bullet. Philippe Coutinho thought about bringing him down but either thought better of it or just couldn’t catch him and sub Dwight Gayle made it 2-3. Jesus Christ, from running the show to a shambles, we had simply just caved in.

I was starting to spew like a volcano, I was waiting to erupt, I was like a fucking demon, I knew now that there was no way this was ending 3-2, we were going to blow it, our defence had simply crumbled and when Gayle made it 3-3 I was seriously so fucking pissed off I probably could have taken on both Klitschko brothers and won inside one round. I just wanted to smash up something, I was fuming, we had just thrown this away. We did have a chance in injury time but Victor Moses missed the ball completely and the game ended 3-3, we had wasted many chances, before 79 minutes no one could have argued if Liverpool had scored 6 or 7 but in going for the big win they had forgotten the basic principle of getting three points, it was like taking on a huge gamble in a casino, you have won £100,000 but you decide to keep going until you get a million only to lose it all.

I just went to bed at 1030, I had the next day off but what was the point in getting hung-over now, I just wanted the night over, how had it come to this? We were top with one game to go yet I felt like my world caved in. A few nights later City trounced Villa 4-0 and they were now two points clear of us with a much better goal difference so they just needed a draw on the final day.

When Sunday came I prayed like mad to God, one last divine miracle please, I woke up thinking that we had done so well to take it to the final day and I was going into a day we could win the league, a new experience if nothing else but it was unrealistic. The game started with a great atmosphere against Newcastle but within 10 minutes the crowd seemed dead and the players nervous, it was as if they knew their chance was gone and it was. 20 minutes in and Martin Skrtel turned the ball into his own net for Newcastle to take the lead (just after a disallowed goal from Luis Suarez). Liverpool looked shaky and in truth it was probably their worst 45 minutes of the season, meanwhile at City a goal from Samir Nasri had given them the lead against West Ham and it seemed game over.

In the second half we did manage a comeback as Daniel Agger scored from a Steven Gerrard free kick after 63 minutes and just two minutes later Daniel Sturridge did the exact same, Newcastle were immediately reduced to ten men as Shola Ameobi was sent off for dissent and two minutes from time a foul by Paul Dummett on Luis Suarez saw him go for an early bath too (later rescinded on appeal) but regrettably by this stage City were 2-0 up (Kompany) and that was the end of our challenge, full time at the City of Manchester stadium meant we had to settle for second best even if we did win 2-1.

There is no doubt we had a fine season, we played some outstanding football that was probably the best ever seen from a Liverpool side, to score over 100 league goals was phenomenal and in truth I would have taken 4th even when we were top at Christmas, never mind in August. It was an outstanding achievement to blow United into the weeds, overhaul Arsenal and finish ahead of Chelsea but the way the season ended just left a bad taste in the mouth. I really just felt this was our time, it was everything I ever wanted, I stopped worrying about weddings and money cos I was just so psyched, I really felt it was meant to be, that slip will haunt more than a few fans all summer.

For me next season the club is in good shape, between TV deals and lucrative sponsors the clubs finances are in excellent shape, there is money there and it’s a long way away from the days of Hicks and Gillett. I just feel that with the champions league thrown in we may struggle slightly with the extra demands on the squad, we do need to add some excellent quality to give the side options and cover inevitable injuries, the first 11 can match any but when you need a game changer you look on the bench and see Iago Aspas and Victor Moses and that just doesn’t do at all.

If Liverpool can add 4 quality signings then we can do it, there will be extra demands on the squad but it’s not like we didn’t have players injured this season, I don’t know who we will buy, we could end up with a dream team or utter shite, for various reasons the last three times we finished 2nd we followed it up with no better than 5th.

Brendan Rodgers may well win the title one day, he proved this season he is capable of it, his style of play is sensational but he needs to see where to make the tweaks, it’s often the case that the final step from 2nd to 1st is the hardest but for now there is no doubt he is the right man for the job. It is easy to say the defence that conceded 50 league goals cost us and it did, but a lot of that is tactics, we could easily just concede 30 next year but its finding the right balance. When Liverpool attack the way they do they will concede goals by over committing themselves, we could just sit back and concede less but that could stifle the attack to score maybe 65-70, it’s all about finding the right balance.

The champions league will cause extra demand but it also has its plusses, not just playing in it but we can now have a greater chance of finding us players that will not only keep us there but help us to take that final step, all we can do in the summer is wait and see. There are many positives this season, and I never expected to be in the top 2 in August, the fact we took it to the final day speaks volumes and it was just a pity how it all ended but like Manchester united in 1992 this is an experience we must now draw on and not make the same mistakes, if we don’t make the mistakes again then we head to a bright new dawn but if we do then number 19 will be just as far away as ever.

So near yet so far.

« Last Edit: May 23, 2014, 07:46:51 pm by Hellrazor »
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Offline Stevo79

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Re: Long: Season review 2013-2014, so near yet so far
« Reply #2 on: May 23, 2014, 06:14:51 pm »
That was a cracking read mate, although it brought back the awful memories of the Chelsea and Palace games which I just want to forget. What a season though.

Offline planet-terror

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Re: Long: Season review 2013-2014, so near yet so far
« Reply #3 on: May 23, 2014, 07:27:44 pm »
must read
bollocks

Offline The 5th Benitle

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Re: Long: Season review 2013-2014, so near yet so far
« Reply #4 on: May 23, 2014, 07:49:18 pm »
Bravo  :wellin

Offline jimbo196843

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Re: Long: Season review 2013-2014, so near yet so far
« Reply #5 on: May 23, 2014, 09:49:47 pm »
Brilliant mate :)

Offline Aaron Rattray1

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Re: Long: Season review 2013-2014, so near yet so far
« Reply #6 on: May 23, 2014, 09:50:06 pm »
I shall read it tomorrow when i have more time

Offline paulrazor

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Re: Long: Season review 2013-2014, so near yet so far
« Reply #7 on: May 24, 2014, 07:23:00 pm »
That was a cracking read mate, although it brought back the awful memories of the Chelsea and Palace games which I just want to forget. What a season though.
pain in the arse them two.

I shall read it tomorrow when i have more time
Brilliant mate :)
Bravo  :wellin
must read
  :wave :thumbup
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Offline Greebo62

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Re: Long: Season review 2013-2014, so near yet so far
« Reply #8 on: May 25, 2014, 11:12:18 am »
What a fantastically comprehensive and wonderfully written read.  Just had a lovely half hour with this and I'll probably re-read it abain.  This post should be made a sticky!

 :wave
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Offline cowtownred

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Re: Long: Season review 2013-2014, so near yet so far
« Reply #9 on: May 25, 2014, 02:07:31 pm »
Hellrazor that was fantastic mate!  Thanks so much for taking so much time and effort into producing a thoroughly enjoyable read, and summary of the season.

Gosh, so many memories there!  What a season.

Its easy now to forget that it was really only around Spurs away, Everton home etc..  that occasional flashes apart, this Liverpool team began to show the brilliance that made us memorable. First part of the season was about getting results, staying in touch with top 4 etc.

Wonder what the spark was that lit the blue touchpaper?

Anyhow, thanks again, a lovely way to spend a dull Sunday reading quality posts like this.

Offline paulrazor

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Re: Long: Season review 2013-2014, so near yet so far
« Reply #10 on: May 26, 2014, 09:20:52 am »
What a fantastically comprehensive and wonderfully written read.  Just had a lovely half hour with this and I'll probably re-read it abain.  This post should be made a sticky!

 :wave
Hellrazor that was fantastic mate!  Thanks so much for taking so much time and effort into producing a thoroughly enjoyable read, and summary of the season.

Gosh, so many memories there!  What a season.

Its easy now to forget that it was really only around Spurs away, Everton home etc..  that occasional flashes apart, this Liverpool team began to show the brilliance that made us memorable. First part of the season was about getting results, staying in touch with top 4 etc.

Wonder what the spark was that lit the blue touchpaper?

Anyhow, thanks again, a lovely way to spend a dull Sunday reading quality posts like this.
thanks, replies like these make it a worthwhile effort

difficult alright to pinpoint how it all just clicked but it did so brilliantly
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Offline billy_goat

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Re: Long: Season review 2013-2014, so near yet so far
« Reply #11 on: May 26, 2014, 02:50:32 pm »
That was a cracking read mate, although it brought back the awful memories of the Chelsea and Palace games which I just want to forget. What a season though.

Had we just drawn with Chelsea and beat Palace,... The "what is" and "if onlys" that ran through my mind after the Newcastle game. Well, it was a memorable season. We go again in August.

YNWA
WE GO AGAIN!!

Offline loon the red

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Re: Long: Season review 2013-2014, so near yet so far
« Reply #12 on: May 26, 2014, 03:03:14 pm »
Thanks..... really excellent and appreciate it

Offline redlight

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Re: Long: Season review 2013-2014, so near yet so far
« Reply #13 on: May 26, 2014, 07:15:17 pm »
Great read! Reading it brought back the feeling of nervous excitement that was  the title race back leading up to the Chelsea game and then the disappointment of falling short...What an amazing season it was! Couldn't be prouder of the lads!

Offline paulrazor

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Re: Long: Season review 2013-2014, so near yet so far
« Reply #14 on: May 27, 2014, 11:32:56 am »
Had we just drawn with Chelsea and beat Palace,... The "what is" and "if onlys" that ran through my mind after the Newcastle game. Well, it was a memorable season. We go again in August.

YNWA
annoying alright.

Thanks..... really excellent and appreciate it
Great read! Reading it brought back the feeling of nervous excitement that was  the title race back leading up to the Chelsea game and then the disappointment of falling short...What an amazing season it was! Couldn't be prouder of the lads!
:wave
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Offline David Struhme

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Re: Long: Season review 2013-2014, so near yet so far
« Reply #15 on: May 28, 2014, 12:06:27 am »
Fantastic read mate

Offline thew

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Re: Long: Season review 2013-2014, so near yet so far
« Reply #16 on: May 28, 2014, 12:32:09 pm »
Printing off - and will post when I have had a chance to read properly - looks great!

Offline Shady Craig

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Re: Long: Season review 2013-2014, so near yet so far
« Reply #17 on: May 28, 2014, 04:31:55 pm »
Long but worth bloody worth it Hellrazor, thanks for posting.

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Re: Long: Season review 2013-2014, so near yet so far
« Reply #18 on: May 28, 2014, 04:38:29 pm »
Fantastic read mate

Bump for an excellent read.

Don't be put off by the length people. Drink it all in and remember the good times.
Printing off - and will post when I have had a chance to read properly - looks great!
Long but worth bloody worth it Hellrazor, thanks for posting.
cheers folks  :thumbup
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Re: Long: Season review 2013-2014, so near yet so far
« Reply #19 on: May 28, 2014, 05:14:22 pm »
Brilliant as always Hellrazor, cheers!

Offline paulrazor

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Re: Long: Season review 2013-2014, so near yet so far
« Reply #20 on: May 29, 2014, 11:44:11 pm »
Brilliant as always Hellrazor, cheers!
thanks roy
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Offline the 92A

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Re: Long: Season review 2013-2014, so near yet so far
« Reply #21 on: May 31, 2014, 07:11:36 pm »
How did I miss this?  We're getting spoilt at the moment, some good work on the site, great read Hellrazor.
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Offline paulrazor

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Re: Long: Season review 2013-2014, so near yet so far
« Reply #22 on: May 31, 2014, 11:12:00 pm »
Thanks

I'd also recommend the review the echo did. It's quality
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Offline ABJ

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Re: Long: Season review 2013-2014, so near yet so far
« Reply #23 on: July 17, 2014, 06:58:48 am »
Bump...a must read.

Brilliant mate.
Quote from: Harvest Fields
i watched the chelsea game at my sisters. her 12 year old son is severly autistic and i forgot myself and jumped up screaming at the goal and he went nuts. screaming and shouting. scared the fuck out of me. apologised to my sister as i thought id upset him, turns out he was joining in.

Offline Wayne05

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Re: Long: Season review 2013-2014, so near yet so far
« Reply #24 on: July 17, 2014, 10:38:34 am »
 Suarez had also seen a header pushed against the bar by the brilliant yet overworked Hugo Lloris in the Spurs goal. It was one of them you swear is in, you jump up and shout yes, and then sit back down scratching your head hoping no one noticed.

Fantastic read .... I remember this well cos the same thing happened to me ... except I ran round a pool table shouting and waving my arms in the air ( as a 50 year old would ) only to stop when I noticed everyone looking at me like I had completely lost the plot !!

[/quote]