Look back 18 months or so and it’s suddenly becoming easier to see the return of the red nets and the old ‘This Is Anfield’ sign as less about mere symbolism on the part of a new manager trying to connect with greatness and more about Brendan Rodgers simply starting as he meant to go on. Remember what Bob Paisley said about that sign? It was something to the effect of: “Playing here lifts good pros, puts the bad’uns under pressure. We counted…there were more bad pros than good ‘uns. So the sign went up”. That’s not meant as a slight on the professionalism of Cardiff City’s players, it’s more about what I said when Liverpool beat them 3-1 at Anfield in December to go top of the table for Christmas:
One of the things that I’m increasingly loving about Rodgers’ team is that they give the likes of Cardiff very little, they make them play at their level (what is it that Bob Paisley once said about the ‘This Is Anfield, sign, there are more bad teams than good?)
It’s also, as previously explored by Royhendo and PhaseOfPlay in
this superb thread, what led to plenty of Manchester United’s success over the years. Today’s game wasn’t at Anfield, but the premise is the same. The goal is to make the likes of Cardiff, mired in the relegation zone after 30 games entirely on merit, play at
your level, because they can’t. They’re not good enough. And the truth is that, for the first half-hour or so today, Liverpool didn’t do that. The passing was inexplicably sloppy, Cardiff were given too much space in midfield and around our box, and we were made to pay for it. For me, today was less about individual errors than the Fulham or Swansea games and more about poor team organisation at times, and that’s probably more of a worry in some respects. And yet for roughly the last hour, and in particular the second-half, Liverpool were imperious. Cardiff barely got a sniff, of the ball or our goal, and I can only imagine what it must feel like to play above yourselves, go ahead twice against one of the best teams in the League and still ship 6 goals. It must be utterly devastating and demoralising, like managing to headbutt a hole in a brick wall only to wind up in the emergency room with concussion (it might even prompt a grown man to answer a standard post-match question by acting like a spoiled little bitch, yes,
bitch - for shame if a Liverpool manager ever did that).
Cause and effect. Once, not too long ago, Liverpool struggled to score
once in games. That was the effect; the cause was, among other things, £54m tied up in West Ham’s finest, Andy Carroll and Stewart Downing. Those players were jettisoned by Rodgers and in their place came the likes of Coutinho and Sturridge, came an opportunity for Raheem Sterling, came ability and balls and sheer talent - cause. 82 goals - effect. I’m not going to go too much into individual performances right now, all I’ll say is that we scored 6 goals and it isn’t even the best we’ve played this
month. Fuck it, kick back and, like me, grab a beer (Sol is my tipple of choice tonight), flick on the telly (it’s a long time since I’ve watched Match of the Day as much as I have this season) and feast your eyes. The red nets and the sign, it’s getting easier to see their return as something shot through with meaning and purpose. It may be even easier 8 matches and 2 months from now.
