I was gutted for Ajax last night, especially the manner in which they got beat with the last kick of the game but in truth it could have been over for them much earlier than that, Spurs hit the post early on and there were a couple of goal mouth scrambles. Ajax also had their own chances to seal it but were sloppy with their finishing and never really looked convincing to me after an initial whirlwind start. I’m disappointed because I think it would have been a fantastic final both from a fans point of view and a footballing point of view, now I fear it will be more like the final of ’81, a tactical chess match inhibited by the fear of losing (hope I’m wrong). Also as others have said in the run up the final, the media will be unbearable with a London team taking part. We’ve already seen that the media have placed the Spurs result as equal if not higher that our own result on Wednesday, not that I’m questioning what a fantastic result it was for them, but strangely for me it slightly took the gloss away from own triumph. Perhaps I’m just being selfish and just expect our team to have a monopoly on freak, unexpected and miracle results. Spurs have been a surprise package in the Champions League with some very impressive and sometimes comprehensive wins, very much like Liverpool last season. When you beat the best team in Europe, in Man City, there does become a point where you believe that perhaps your name is on the trophy, well we all know how that worked out for us.
I’ve no real axe to grind with Spurs as a club, their manager and most of the players, their propensity to dive is a little irritating. In terms of an opponent in the final it could have been far far worse, it could have been Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Man City or heaven forbid Juventus. It could have very easily been us out of the competition and a Barca V Spurs final? Who would we support then, a Barca team containing the likes of Suarez and Couthino or another English team containing Kane and Alli? Thankfully that didn’t come to pass and unlike the annoying situation in the premier league, the destiny of this one is in our own hands, which is vitally important. Strange isn’t it how we go from rooting for Spurs a couple of weeks ago V Man City to rooting against them V Ajax, hoping Barca, Real Madrid etc. get dumped out whilst we avoid them all. The group phases were a real struggle for us this year and it really didn’t look like we were going to progress. After that we haven’t had a bad run to the final this year, but has it really been any easier given that we’ve played Bayern and Barca? Is it just that we are a better, more accomplished team, perhaps not quite as eye catching but much more in control and more efficient. I certainly think there has been a mind-set change among the players, in that they feel that they belong at this level rather than the feeling that these are just one off cup runs like the one in 2005. Now in order to win the European cup you also have to accept that you need to beat at least one, perhaps more of those famous teams listed above and possibly Man City as well. You need to face that head on and confront it, not shy away from it and worry about the endless possibilities. Klopp is instilling this attitude into his players, in one of his early fixtures at Man City, the team was 4-1 up and he had to tell his players not to worry or fear such a scoreline – Its OK to be winning like this!
Along with Man City, Spurs have probably given us one of our toughest fixtures this season at Anfield. It was a strange one as we started really well, scored early and could have had a lot more, they started with three at the back and really struggled but when they changed tactics they took control of the game. Fair play to Pochettino, he spotted it wasn’t working and changed it, however I noticed he also went three at the back in the first leg against Ajax and the pattern repeated until the change. One wonders why he adopts the tactic as it clearly doesn’t seem to work for them? I think the game will be won and lost in midfield and who can take control there, in the games I’ve watched Sissoko has really impressed me especially at Anfield. He’s strong, powerful and direct, and with his defensive capabilities, he compliments the attacking midfielders really well. However one glaring omission from the Liverpool team at Anfield that day was Fabinho , when he came on we gained more control, he’s become a massive player for us and I would suggest first on the team sheet. They are a strong powerful fit team, good defensively and effective in attack, especially on the break. Not dissimilar to Liverpool in a lot of ways, we need to be on our game, another similar performance to the Barca game would be great, let’s start in the same manner from the first whistle.