Thoughts From The Weekend

Hello one and all, after a week away from writing due to the nuisance of actual work I’m happy to be writing again, especially after a weekend like we have had.  Without doubt it has been an emotional roller-coaster couple of weeks and no matter what happens on the pitch the Truth is out there now which we hope and pray will be swiftly followed by justice.  Once more I want to take the opportunity to express heartfelt gratitude and respect for those involved with the pursuit of the truth these last 23 years – your heart and desire in such difficult circumstances are an inspiration to us all.

There are a number of points that have arisen for me over the weekend that I wanted to put forward and discuss, both on and off the pitch.

Youth

Undoubtedly we have had a tough start to the season with the league fixtures, the transfer window fiasco and the blooding of a new manager and yes the table doesn’t look pretty (to be fair it only looks good when we are top!), but we need to look at the situation and form a rational opinion as well as strapping down our leg to prevent the knee from jerking. 

It is crucial, especially now, to find the positives and get behind them.  We all know the transfer window ended up a joke yet there is nothing that we or the club can do about that at present so we need to put that behind us.  What are the positives you ask?  There are opportunities for the young lads to come in and impress; Sterling, Shelvey and now Suso are the prime examples in the league who may have seen their route to the first team blocked had other players been brought in.  These opportunities bode well for the future of Liverpool as the squad will be strengthened by experienced players brought through the ranks allowing transfer money to be spent on 1 or 2 players rather than 3 or 4. 

Refereeing

Like most Liverpool fans yesterday I was left astounded and angry (I got told off by the wife for my colourful language) by some of the decisions made by Mr Halsey.  From the phantom contact made by Johnson (imagine that had been Suarez and not Valencia!) to the ignored Greco-Roman wrestling by Evans, these are just run of the mill for any game. 

There are 2 incidents however that trouble me: the Shelvey sending off and the Suarez penalty incident.  As for Shelvey, personally I didn’t see a great deal wrong with his tackle but can understand why he was sent off in today’s environment and that is exactly why an appeal won’t work.  The troubling aspect is the lack of any action with Evans.  This perfectly mirrors the incident from a couple of seasons ago with Kyrgiakos and Fellani at Anfield if anyone remembers?  Both of the Greek’s feet left the floor but he tackled with one foot compared to the Belgian who jumped in with two feet and had both sets of studs showing. 

Both incidents should have seen equal punishments made and yet the red card went to the one not rolling about on the floor in ‘agony’ despite their tackle being more dangerous.  This is worrying for me as the honesty our players have shown has cost the team.  I’m not sure whether my thinking is right here but surely based on the evidence shown retrospective action can be taken on Evans as none was taken at the time? 

The second incident concerns Suarez and the penalty that never was.  I think it is fairly clear that it was a foul as Evans took Suarez and not the ball, but the theatrics as Suarez went down didn’t help, but this should not matter.  The concern that I have accompanies the common phrase ‘his reputation preceded him’.  Match officials are required to be impartial throughout the game, yet how can they claim to be if they are bringing in pre-conceived ideas of individuals? As I alluded to before, had it been Suarez and not Valencia that went down would we have been granted a pen? 

Do I think Halsey was biased? Of course not, as that is a ludicrous conclusion, but I do believe he was inconsistent and that his decisions cost us, and overall put in a poor showing.  Does this justify the disgusting abuse he and his family received on twitter and the like?  No it does not, and those who perpetrated these acts are quite frankly an embarrassment to the club, and this leads on to my next point.

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‘Fans’

This point will only apply to the small minority that follow teams (I am hesitant to use the terms fans) that embarrass their clubs with their actions.  After such an emotionally charged day we were left with the sour taste of a number of people who follow Manchester United singing their songs about Hillsborough, and cowardly doing so after they thought the cameras had stopped rolling.  Manchester United it is over to you to take action, these people are an embarrassment to your club. 

Likewise to Liverpool, anybody who references Munich in their songs you are an embarrassment to our great club.  The kind of hatred shown between Manchester United and Liverpool and then what we saw towards the Halsey family still amazes me at its level and intensity.  These people need to be rounded up and placed in a big room and let their hate just consume them as not only are they giving their club a bad name but they are giving football a bad name too.  That’s all I want to say on that front and its probably more than I should have said about them.

Performance

I don’t want to end on such a negative note though.  On Sunday I thought we played extremely well.  We absolutely bossed it with 11 men on the pitch and still remained in it and dangerous with only 10.  Likewise with the City game, we were able to control it and dominate possession and the way Rodgers wants to play is clearly taking form on the pitch.  We need to add goals to these performances but the season has to start now.  The team needs to take the intensity, passion and desire they showed in abundance against United in to every game, they can not afford to let these levels drop.  We need to press and harry when not in possession and pass and move when we are in it, it is the Liverpool groove after all.    

I apologise if this was a little scatter-gunned but there is so much to talk about, I feel I would be doing my mind an injustice if I didn’t get at least some of it down in writing.  Sometimes it can be difficult  to get things down when you feel very passionately about it.  I feel at this time our club needs us and we need to stand up and be counted.  I am a positive person by nature, but please don’t let this be confused with being an ‘FSG sympathiser’ as has happened in the past.  I firmly believe that FSG have a number of questions to answer and that this is a big year them for now, but it’s our team that needs us.  Things are looking promising despite everything and we mustn’t let them walk alone.

Come find me on twitter @timdibs

YNWA

JFT96