Whilst I was very pleased with the 6-1 FA Cup fifth round win over Brighton, I am concerned to read in a few places that this particular demolition leaves us well placed to do the same to Cardiff City in the Carling Cup final this Sunday at Wembley.
I’d love to agree, but this sort of attitude gives me the creeps, to be quite honest. Don’t get me wrong, I thought we were pretty good against Brighton for all bar about twenty minutes of the match. That spell came directly after their equaliser, which as good a goal it may have been, was against the run of play. We recovered well and finished the half well on top and were never to lose that momentum as we steamrolled our Championship opposition.
But whilst the Seagulls might have given us a boost with some comical goalkeeping and farcical defending, we shouldn’t expect the same from Cardiff. Ultimately there is little to choose between the two teams, a surprising statistic when you consider how close Cardiff have been to being promoted and where Brighton have come from over the last 12-18 months. I had written Cardiff off after Dave Jones was sacked last summer but Malky Mackay has done a stellar job in his first season in charge. The Bluebirds are 5th in the league.
Surprisingly though, they are just four points above our opponents from Sunday previous, Brighton.
Are Cardiff underperforming in the league? I would suggest not overall, the Welsh outfit have been playing some good football from what I’ve seen of them this season and are ensconced firmly in a playoff place. Their form since reaching the final has however been somewhat patchy, with only one league win in five outings since their epic penalty shootout victory over Crystal Palace. The Soccer Saturday summariser suggested that Cardiff had their eyes on Wembley in their 3-0 hammering at Ipswich this Saturday and the form book might well indicate this to be right.
The said book goes out of the window in a final however, and this is where we need to be careful. The Brighton game is a totally different proposition to what we will be facing the coming weekend. Brighton approached that game with a hint of fear and a lot of trepidation. I find that a strange one personally as they played so well in the Carling Cup game at the AMEX last year. Was it Anfield that caused it? Or the attacking combination of Suarez, Gerrard and Carroll? I don’t know, but the Reds were in total control almost all game. I know they scored three of our goals for us but we always looked like we were going to score, every time we went on the attack. I can’t put my finger on the exact reason.
Cardiff however have nothing to lose. They are playing in a massive domestic final, something which they have recent experience in having reached the FA Cup final in 2008, where they were eventually beaten 1-0 by Harry Redknapp’s Portsmouth. They aren’t expected to win by anybody probably other than the manager, who has the job of instilling belief into the players. The bookies won’t fancy them, the pundits won’t fancy them and the footballing world won’t fancy them.
This is exactly what Liverpool need to safeguard themselves against. Our attitude needs to be spot on. I don’t for one second think that we’ll treat Cardiff lightly or with any disrespect, that’s not our way and never has been. It is least of all the way of Kenny Dalglish, a man of class, dignity and respect. The players need to purge the Brighton result from their minds. It’s unusual you ask that of players, to forget a good result. Especially when it’s our biggest win in 3 and a half years. We need to focus on opposition that have nothing to lose and nothing to fear. Cardiff are not expected to win and as such, the pressure is totally off the underdogs. They will play without worrying about losing. Obviously they won’t want to lose and will only want to win, not turn up to be part of a Liverpool procession. But if they don’t win, very few people would expect anything different.
On the other hand, how will we cope with the pressure of being massive favourites? Can we? Will we? Winning or losing on Sunday could shape a massive part of our near future. Winning is a habit, winning trophies the same. If we win some silverware, it could push us on to an FA Cup final and a good tilt at 4th place.
If we don’t, we need only look at Arsenal’s fortunes since their loss to Birmingham City in the very same occasion last season. Their season fell apart after their loss. Who can say the same won’t happen to us? And if we take Cardiff lightly, there’s every chance it will. They are a very good team and they are probably a couple of places below where they should be but have been distracted by this massive game.
Forget the Brighton match. Four points may separate the two teams but there’s a whole world of difference to this match. And Cardiff haven’t got Brighton’s keeper…
In the unlikely event you want to hear more from Dan, you can follow him on twitter (@TLW1Dan) and you can also catch him as a regular writer in The Liverpool Way fanzine and on TLW forums. Please be aware that any content from Dan may contain sarcasm.
Live4Liverpool is recruiting columnists. For further info contact the site editor at live4liverpool@snack-media.com
Follow us on Twitter here: @live4Liverpool or ‘Like’ us on Facebook
We shouldn’t underestimate any opponent ever & I know that Kenny would never do this as his values are old fashioned, from the boot room. I just hope the players follow suit! YNWA!
I think most of what you are saying is correc if not all. You can’t undersetimate any team your playing as it is a final. Birmingham is an example used alot – we forget that they were a premiership team when they played Arsenal. It seems that your worried abt Liverpool being favourites whereas Cardiff fans are not worried – in fact they will be sitting back and relaxing as there is no pressure. As fans it is tipical to worried abt a much – but we should have every confidence in gaffer as I am sure he know what he doing. Am sure he will get the players rallied up – and with players like Gerrard, Carragher, Reina, Kuyt and Agger to name but a few who been in the club and know what to expect can help the other player like Carrol, Henderson and Adam to relax and just play football and win.
I totally agree with what you are saying as, I don’t think any opposition shouldn’t be taken lightly as Cardiff have worked their way to the final, we should not forget. As well as, it has proven that this attitude has caused many loses which in case for us it will determine the future for the rest of the season. 1 statement in particular that I agree with is that Cardiff and Brighton should not be compared that is because in my eyes Cardiff seem like a more determined and focused side. So, if they concede the goal they will fight off till they get a goal back and I think they will put up more a fight than Brighton. Overall, I am expected the match to be high tempo with a lot of shots and still expect a win for us but still it will prove to be a difficult match.
Just as I expected it was a brillant and really entertaining game. I was impressed by the football played and there were many footballers who played really well. For Cardiff I think Turner played really well with Gunnarsson at the back both defended against Liverpools crosses really well to prevent them from reaching Carroll as well as marking Suarez and on top of this Turner scored the equaliser for Cardiff when there was only 3 mins left to the end of extra time. F
For Liverpool, I think the best player was Downing,who also got man of the match which, I do think he truly desevred. As he played really well on the wings and doing many runs there to help out the attack as well as passing players there to get in many crosses during the game.Overall, I think it was out of Downing and Turner for man of match. Despite it being tight between them both, in my opinion I think Turner should have won it because he was brillant throughout the game saving Cardiff through many crucial attacks from Liverpool. But,Turner kept himself focused, determined and put much effort defensively to stop many good positions as well as scoring the equaliser.