Well, this one was always s going to be about which Sunderland and which Liverpool turned up. Would it be the Sunderland of late, or the Sunderland of the dismal winter months? Would it be the Liverpool of Anfield – eight wins off the belt – or the Liverpool of some of their away trips? This was discussed at length in the Globe beforehand – a pub full of folks straight from the set of one of Bleasdale’s gritty dramas and a ridiculously sloping floor, where we were offered fake Avia watches from a carrier bag, and mistaken for the four Irish lads one particular Scouser was supposed to meet. I suppose we should have been glad that we managed to get our clocks sorted out to arrive on time for the bus – apparently my Villa supporting mate was woken by their lass shouting “haway, Dave get up, it’s already eight” Bugger, he thought, they’ve scored again.

If that was the real Liverpool, but Anfield was Brand Liverpool, with the carefully placed flags (a la Chelsea) and the Fields of Athenry, and their shitty “food village” (aka collection of burger vans). As Mensah was injured (no surprise) and Hutton likewise (surprise), we lined up...

Gordon
Bardsley Turner Ferdy Richo
Henderson Cana Catts Steed
Campbell Bent

Hmm, why not Da Dilva carrying on where he left off on Wednesday, and leaving Ferdy at left back? By the time we’d mumbled on about that for a couple if minutes, Gordon had made a good save from a volley, then Torres had teased Turner as he cut in from the left, and unleashed a curling shot from wide that gave Gordon no chance. From there on, it became obvious which two teams had turned up. Liverpool passed the ball about with pace and precision, Kuyt was all over the right side, and Torres could have had another few before Johnson’s first touch took him clear of his marker and the left foot shot flew in off Turner’s knee with Gordon wrong-footed. 30 gone, 0-2, Arse with a capital A. If we’d been on the back foot before that one, we were positively falling over backwards after it. Gordon was in top form again to keep it to just the two at the break as we struggled to get hold of the ball, let alone construct anything meaningful. Bloody Stevie G decided that today was the day he’d play football again, and our midfield was just overrun.

The second half, unfortunately, was more of the same. Catts made way for Da Silva, with Richo moving forwards – I think. Campbell was forced to drop into midfield, much as he had in the first half, in an attempt to get us the ball, but nothing seemed to work. We had so little of the ball it was difficult to tell who was supposed to be where, but with Jones on for Steed, Campbell moved right and we had our first choice pairing up front. Not that they were given the chance to pester the Red defence that much. Henderson and Richo managed efforts on goal that weren’t much trouble to Reina, but Liverpool were all over us and could have had several more before Torres showed what a class act he is with a clever, patient finish for the third. We replaced Hendo with Zenden as Benitez took pity on us and Torres off, and Bolo had our best effort, with his low drive drawing a good save from Reina diving low to his right. Game over, well beaten, not much else to say. They were streets ahead of us in every department, although, to be fair, their defence wasn’t asked many questions. Maybe, in a season where we’ve had more cards, both yellow and red, than most people get at Christmas, it says something that there has been only one booking for either side in the last three games. Mid table obscurity? Reckoning we’re already safe? Who knows, we almost certainly are, but I’d like to see a bit more passion than we saw today. That’s taking nothing away from Liverpool, who were simply way to good for us and won easily. The other real Liverpool, if you like.

Man of the Match? Well, the defence let three in, so it isn’t one of them, the midfield created next to nowt, so it isn’t one of them, and the forwards, naturally, can’t do anything with no service, so it isn’t one of them. So that leaves only one man, and despite letting three goals in, it’ll have to be Craig Gordon, as he at least did what he was supposed to do and made some cracking saves.

Bad day at the office, I’m afraid.

Keep the Faith

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