CALM MOMENTS AT THE ARENA: STABILITY RETURNS
This is one of those rare, fleeting moments in a Liverpool supporter’s life when everything seems too quiet. The team appears to be headed in the right direction, everything is rather stable, and the roller coaster has reached a level section of the track.
The judgements made by the referees since the international break have favoured us. It’s quiet even among the FSGOut loons. It cannot go on.
However, even the frenzied expectation feels manageable for the time being. There’s a feeling that the team is just missing a few members to complete the picture. Some of those players may even already be at Anfield. It’s feasible to have a legitimate championship challenge, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
The run of games leading up to the upcoming international break is as winnable as it gets. The other teams thought to be in the top four—Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham, Aston Villa, and Newcastle—all have difficult games coming up where they could make mistakes. If Liverpool fails to secure a complete load of points by mid-November, it would be quite disheartening.
BRAVE CLAIM MADE BY SZOBOSZLAI FOR LIVERPOOL
The team has a great sense of morale. When he told the BBC that he thought he had a good chance of winning everything this year, Dominik Szoboszlai repeated that.
Why not, he enquired. “What does second place matter?”
You want to hear exactly that kind of bullishness. With that kind of mentality, the Hungarian not only fits in brilliantly on the pitch, but he also sounds like a return to the era of Bob Paisley and Ronnie Moran.
There are further encouraging indicators. This season, Virgil van Dijk has had his moments, but against Everton, he was nearly at his most commanding. Although the opponent was reduced to 10 men for a significant portion of the match and wasn’t particularly strong, there was something about the Dutchman’s play and leadership that gave rise to the suspicion that the rumours of his decline were way too soon.
After Jordan Henderson and James Milner left the team in the summer, there was a good deal of worry regarding the lack of leadership in the locker room. Both Van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold have shown leadership. This was demonstrated brilliantly against Toulouse following a goal by Ryan Gravenberch.
THE ENDEARING IMPACT OF NUNEZ AT LIVERPOOL
With an open goal in front of him, Darwin Nunez struck the post, causing him to fall to his knees and appear extremely distressed. The Uruguayan was quickly comforted by Trent Alexander-Arnold, who also reminded him that his efforts had resulted in a goal. New leaders are emerging right before our very eyes.
There’s a major development at Anfield. Before the City match the following month, there is an opportunity to get a real head of steam.
Nunez was a complete moron. He’s amazing, isn’t he? It’s true that everyone is thrilled with Jurgen Klopp, but he also stated that “the time for adapting is long gone.”
Although that may be the case, the 24-year-old still has a lot of room to improve. Although he’s good, it’s evident that he can do better. However, let’s hope that he never loses his charming foolishness. It’s enjoyable to see him do it.
SALAH’S CUNNING ATTACK ON EVERTON
In contrast to Nunez, Mo Salah is a serious operator who is well aware of his own status. He is all business. And that standing is among the highest.
Despite playing a terrible game against Everton, he still managed to secure a brace. My ideal striker performance is when they win the game while stinking up the place.
I had learnt that lesson a long time ago. When we beat Leicester City 2-0 in 1972, I was twelve years old and I walked out of Anfield, complaining about John Toshack’s contribution. With utter disdain, my father regarded me and remarked, “He scored two.” Though he didn’t use the term “dickhead,” it was obvious what he meant to express.
You know you’re winning in life when your best goal scorer scores two on one of his poorest days. It’s even better when it’s against Everton.
REMEMBERING THE LEGACY OF BILL KENRIGHT
The late Bill Kenwright was very blue. He passed away last week. He was not fond of us. To be honest, Liverpool made his life as a footballer and his position as chairman of Everton miserable.
However, none of us will ever forget his 2013 Hillsborough service attendance when he said those chilling words: “I saw your banner on Saturday at Reading saying, ‘You have taken on the wrong city.’ Well, you have taken on the wrong mums too, because we all know about Liverpool mums.”
Kenwright was old school for all the needle between the clubs. He was aware of the true adversary. There are some things that transcend the game. He was aware of that.
There will never be an occasion for those of us of a certain age—alright, let’s be honest: arl arses—when we don’t want to spank Nottingham Forest. The matches against Forest from 1977 to 1980 were always more competitive than the contests with Chelsea in the 2000s and City more subsequently.
The teams met 13 times in three different seasons. Forest sprang out of nowhere. After placing third in the second division, they were elevated to the first flight and went on to win the championship and two European Cups, unseating us as the continental champions.
They gave us a couple of bloody noses and were just like City, except without the money and the sportswashing. The most agonising occurred when they eliminated us from the European Cup later in 1978 and when they defeated us 1-0 in the replay of the League Cup final at Old Trafford.
Afterwards, Hillsborough and Brian Clough’s repugnant actions in the wake of his endorsement of the 1989 lies strained our connection with Forest. However, setting everything aside (if you can), some of us remember the late 1970s titanic fights with great nostalgia.
We sang, “At Anfield the Forest will fall.” That feeling still hasn’t gone away.
Get into them, Reds.