« on: November 20, 2021, 04:38:12 pm »
Liverpool vs Arsenal
Saturday, November 20, 17:30
Anfield, Liverpool
In Sweden, as strange as it may sound, English football is a cultural heritage. On a Saturday afternoon in the 80's when I grew up, my dad would have the TV on and watch the game of that week. The 3 pm kick-off (4 pm for us). He travelled in business quite a lot and he had went to Japan around that time and bought a Nintendo. I was the first kid in the neighbourhood to have a video game and all the other boys would come over and we'd sit on the wall-to-wall carpet and watch in awe that you could move things on the screen. The first game was Soccer and we loved it.
My dad never played though. He would watch the telly and I would watch and the broadcast would have pop-ups when there was a goal scored in the other games. You bet on 13 games in total - Stryktipset - and if you'd get all 13 matches correct it'd be half a fortune. I don't remember much of it but I distinctively remember that he one time had to go away for a minute and he asked me to remember the score if something came up. I was so nervous that I would mess it up, unaware that it'd be in the paper the next day, or read by the host after the match. I did mess it up, there were too many numbers to keep track of, but my dad said it was all right. He didn't mind. We'd have beans on toast and watch the Saturday game. That was England. For me and many other Swedish lads it was an institution.
I don't remember Liverpool. I don't remember Arsenal. Maybe I do remember that the pitch was always half mud. However, I do remember many years later that magical 25 minutes at Anfield in 2014 when we were winning 4-0 going on 8. The absolutely exhilarating feeling that we were like a space rocket taking off and nothing could stop us. Or that win away, just at the start of the 16/17 season, when Mané appears to defy gravity and score a wonder-goal eventually leading to a narrow but emphatic win. We always seem to have exciting games against Arsenal. Always a thrill. Always drama.
Liverpool this season have been doing quite well overall.
Looking back, ever since Klopp came in - emphasized by Virgil and Alisson joining - we seem to have improved continuously. Apart from the middle of last season (when the weight of all the injuries eventually led to a depression which we came out of with renewed vigour and strength testament by an injury time goalkeeper header) we seem to have made one good decision after the other, not the least in the recruitment department. We don't sign a 100 million player to sit on the bench since a former superstar gets mopey if he doesn't start. We don't sign players that may have a bad attitude, or frankly, is not good people. We get team players with the revered ethos of professionalism, who could slot in and join a captain who visits NHS staff who wants to thank him but is direct in explaining that he is not there for them to thank him - he is there to thank them.
Of course, even in the Liverpool that Klopp has rebuilt, it's not always rosy. Last week our captain started it off in brilliant manner but we still ended up with our first loss of the season. The international break didn't help our eager determination to put things right. However, Saturday is getting closer and with it our chance to prove that the result against West Ham was just a blip, much like the other blips during this golden age of Liverpool under Klopp.
Arsenal on the other hand, started the league season with three straight losses. There were mumbles of Arteta not sitting comfortably in his manager chair. Since then they have racked up six wins, two draws, and not a single loss. They currently sit fifth in the table, only two points below us. Arsenal are definitely no mugs, but disregarding their recent form do they look a bit weak in depth? Smith Rowe has proved to be an excellent young player, and Auba (as Klopp refers to him) has finally scored a few goals, but other than those two, no other player has scored more than one goal. Their attacking department - Pépé who cost them 79 million, Martinelli, and Lacazette who they paid 47 million for - currently have one single goal between them. The results don't lie though, Arteta, by all accounts a very tactically sound manager, have them in fifth with a seemingly mediocre squad.
This game at Anfield last season Arsenal took the lead on 24 minutes by Lacazette after a misplaced pass by Robbo. Only two minutes later Liverpool were back on level terms when Mo's shot was parried by Bernd Leno into the path of Mane, who made no mistake from close range. Robbo then made up for his earlier mistake by putting the Reds ahead on 34 minutes, stealing in unmarked at the back post to fire home Trent's deep cross. The points were made safe two minutes from time when substitute Jota marked his Premier League debut with a driven finish from the edge of the area.
I don't remember Anfield in 89. Maybe I was playing a new video game at a mates house instead (incidentally I think I learned about it reading Fever Pitch). Evidently I don't remember many details of being a kid in Sweden in the 80's, but since I today work in game development, eagerly watch football from England, happily eat beans on toast, I surely cherish the memory of pappa today on Father's day in Sweden.
Liverpool in November 2021 is a Liverpool with Alisson, Trent, and Robbo. A Liverpool with a German from the Black Forest. A Liverpool with the Egyptian king, and with a captain eager with a chance to put things right after a far too long internation break (hopefully him travelling home only being precaution). Up the Reds!
« Last Edit: November 20, 2021, 07:04:30 pm by TepidT2O »
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