Liverpool have had a few decent results at the Emirates since it opened back in 2006, mostly draws. And aside from the club’s first visit there, a 3-0 beating in November 2006, most of the games have been close, at least on the scoreboard. With that said, games there have typically been fraught affairs from our point of view, with the home side generally dominating and Liverpool attempting to absorb prolonged periods of pressure and maybe nick a goal. It was exactly the same at the start of November this year, where Arsenal gave the away side a footballing lesson, going in 2-0 up at half-time before taking their foot off their opponents’ throats for long enough for Sturridge and Suárez to create one or two chances that might possibly have given Liverpool an undeserved share of the points. Even then, you felt that the Gunners would have merely shifted up through the gears again had the worst happened. Liverpool were second-best that night, by a long way. It was kind of depressing, really, and one of the primary reasons why so many were so nervous before their visit to Anfield just over a week ago, a venue where they hadn’t lost in the League since 2007.
The progress this team has made since that 2-0 defeat in November, however, is staggering. In a little over three months, they’ve reached a point where they can trash Arsenal 5-1 at home and then go to the Emirates and control the game for the most part, two huge matches against a fellow title-contender in eight days and they can consider themselves unlucky not to have won them both. Arsenal, lest we forget, are a quality team and one which has been in a kind of constant gestation for a long time. Undefeated at Anfield since 2007 and with only the one loss against us at home since the opening of their new stadium, just 4 League losses out of 25 going back 12 years before last Saturday week, and now, twice in the space of a week, Brendan Rodgers’ young team has made them look very average indeed. That’s progress, and that’s exciting.
First and foremost, whatever plaudits come Raheem Sterling’s way this week are richly deserved. He was absolutely superb yesterday and looked perfectly at home in the right-back slot, a sign not only of how physically and technically gifted the lad is but just how much footballing intelligence he has too. There was a moment towards the end where Arsenal were looking to hit us on the break, and they played a one-two on the edge of their box that resulted in (I think) Gibbs breaking towards goal. He was flagged for offside, but Sterling didn’t know that and stopped him with a perfect sliding tackle, winning the ball, controlling it and getting to his feet in one fluid movement. It was majestic. His move to right-back also showed just how much we’ve been missing Glen Johnson, not perhaps the version of him that we saw for the few months prior to his recent absence but the fully-fit Glen Johnson and what a player of that calibre and ability brings to the team. Arsenal were happy to let Flanagan and Cissokho have the ball yesterday, and it was only when Sterling switched to right-back that they had something consistently meaningful to worry about from wide. Flanagan and Cissokho have done really well for us in recent weeks, particularly the former. They’ve been solid, hard-working and haven’t let anybody down, but we’re missing Johnson and Enrique and the game yesterday was the best example of that. Johnson was bang out of form for a couple of months and Enrique is hardly flawless, but if we can get them back soon, healthy and playing at something approaching full-throttle, then the team will be even better equipped to dismantle opponents.
It’s a real shame that Sturridge didn’t have his shooting boots on yesterday. It’s funny, during the interview he did with the Anfield Wrap last week, he mentioned that he felt like he was overthinking things when deployed wide at Chelsea because the position wasn’t natural to him, and that everything was coming to him instinctively now and the goals with it. In fact, the second and third of his chances yesterday smacked to me of overthinking things. Trying to round Fabianski was a little too cute, the first taking him too wide and the second resulting in the ‘keeper clawing the ball away from him (even if he hadn’t, the angle would have been similarly difficult). This lad is phenomenal, a natural, instinctive goalscorer, he doesn’t need to be overthinking anything and, as he touched upon himself, it can even be a bad thing. Hey, what do I know, I know fuck all, but I really hope that the next time he’s faced with a ‘keeper in a one-on-one situation, he’ll just shoot, like he did for goals at Fulham and at home to Arsenal and Everton in recent weeks. Put the ball in the back of the net and we’ll discuss your options later, as a wise man once said. As for Suárez, even in the midst of a mini-drought, the man’s influence is all-pervasive. His trickery and tireless running got us back into it and should have provided us with an equaliser too. One of these weeks, someone is going to get absolutely annihilated by him. Here’s hoping it’s Swansea at the weekend.
Unfortunately you can’t really have a proper discussion about this game without referencing Howard Webb, which is a shame because the game itself was so good. They say the best referees are virtually anonymous; that’s a damning indictment of Webb in and of itself. To say that his reaction to Raheem Sterling placing a hand on his chest just before half-time was theatrical would be the kindest interpretation. Another would be that it smacked of a level of arrogance unbecoming of an official whose role requires that he merely interpret and enforce rules while remaining emotionally unattached at all times (by the way, I can’t have been the only one who wondered whether he would have done similar had the incident involved John Terry, Wayne Rooney or indeed Steven Gerrard). I have never, and probably never will again, see a referee react quite like that, and I found it kind of bizarre to be honest. Then you had the penalty decisions. The one he gave for Podolski’s kick on the back of Suárez’s leg was a stonewaller; so was the one he didn’t give for Oxlade-Chamberlain’s barge into the Uruguayan’s back. Those are facts, regardless of any of the theatricality on the part of Suárez that players increasingly need to throw in these days for referees like Webb to give them anything.
And that’s the thing that really gets me about him more than anything else - he’s a referee that seems to allow pre-determined ideas to interfere with how he officiates games. I really don't want to give any penalties today. I'll keep my cards in my pocket. I'm taking no nonsense today. What’s that on your boot, Nigel, a piece of Xabi Alonso’s torso? Well I couldn’t possibly send you off, this is the first-half of a World Cup final! Who’s that you’re taking out in the box, Samuel, Luis Suárez? Isn’t he a cheat? And what’s that dripping off your studs, Jordan Henderson’s kneecap? Well I couldn’t possibly send you off in the first minute! And you’ve already had a penalty today, Liverpool, I couldn’t possibly give you another. Besides, isn’t that Luis Suárez, the cheat? Some will engage in condescension and claim that what really cost Liverpool on the day was Sturridge not taking the aforementioned chances, but I’m sorry, giving Steven Gerrard a free shot from 12 yards out is as good as a goal, so effectively Webb’s baffling decision denied the away side an equaliser. And at 2-2, there would have been only one team winning that game…
None of that, however, outweighs the positives to be taken away from that performance.
