The new home of Liverpool football club, the White heart
lane. Though the scoreline was not quite humiliating as 5-0 defeat last season
under Andre villas boas. You won’t have known spurs were the home side as both
the noise of the liverpudians was more reminiscent of an Anfield fixture and
the assured performance of the Reds. From the kick off to the end liverpool
were dominant and were rewarded with a comfortable win unlike last weekend on
which we lost to the hands of the mighty City due to our shaky defence.
Right from the off it was clear that Liverpool were in
the mood. They came out with much more positivity than they showed against
Southampton and City, closing Spurs down and limiting their time on the ball
from the very start. They capitalised on the bright opening after just 8
minutes; Sturridge showed some nice skill before passing it to Henderson, who
picked out Sterling with deadly accuracy. Sterling finished coolly, slotting it
in at the near post.
Daniel Sturridge, which I think if he can man up as he
tweeted after Suarez departure, I see him not only replacing Suarez but being a
World class striker. I don't think we can do without mentioning our negativity
which is one i have mentioned earlier- the defence. The shaky centre-back
pairing of Lovren and Sakho- was highlighted just moments later. Both went for
the same ball and Adebayor got clean through, but his lobbed effort looped over
the bar. But we can as well have confidence of the back four cause of the
exclusion of our clueless Glen johnson due to his injury.
From this point onwards, Tottenham never really got a
look in. Despite having large spells of possession they never looked like doing
much with it. In contrast, Liverpool looked dangerous whenever they got hold of
the ball, partly thanks to new signing Mario Balotelli, who just arrived for a
fee of £16m from his childhood club AC milan. His movement along the front
line, combined with that of Sturridge and Sterling, made for a fluid, lethal
attack that Spurs struggled to contain. Indeed, Balotelli could have scored two
or three in the first half- the Italian, undoubtedly due to over-eagerness to
get off the mark for his new club, was uncharacteristically wasteful. Overall
though, he definitely had a positive effect on the team. The tactical Bredan
Rodgers brings back the unique diamond formation which he used towards the end
of last season with young and energetic Sterling in the number 10 role behind
Balotelli and Sturridge. This is an amazing trio; although we sold one of the
best strikers in the world this summer, we still have the league’s best attack.
The sides went in at 1-0, but Liverpool were clearly the team on top.
This trend continued into the second half. Far from coming
out eager and determined, perhaps with plans to exploit the vulnerable heart of
our defence, Spurs looked as clueless as ever, unable to produce anything that
caused any bother to Liverpool. Predictably, it was the Reds who struck next,
just four minutes into the second half. Eric Dier put an arm across Allen in
the box, and though it was soft there’s no denying that it was a penalty. In
typically clinical fashion, Gerard stepped up and recorded his 29th penalty
goal, only frank lampard and Alan shearer has scored more than him in EPL
history. We didn’t have to wait too long for the third either- good as the
first goal was, this was probably the pick of the bunch. The new left full back
(Alberto Moreno) bought from Sevilla who is known for his incredible attacking
and defensive play and pace robbed Andy townsend off the ball before embarking
on a marauding run up the length of the pitch. His electric pace got him past
everyone, and he certainly didn’t panic when he got through on goal- he
positively rifled it into the far corner. Moreno was judged harshly by many
after his first game- it was, after all, his error that lead to the Jovetic
opener- but he more than made up for it in this match. He was one of our best
players, not only making excellent runs forward but also showing himself to be
excellent defensively. Not to forget, the new right full back from athletico
madrid, Manquilo who's on a 2years loan from the spanish laliga champions. He
replaced the most hated man(johnson) on red shirt by the fans and put in good
performance as he did in his debut game against southampton to prove Rodgers
wrong he can replace Johnson quite well.
Though they threatened to add a fourth, Liverpool
couldn’t find another goal. Sterling came closest- he danced exquisitely
through the entire Spurs defence, in which most fans says "he dribbled
like Lionel Messi, but completely scuffed his shot, rolling it tamely into the
hands of Lloris like Fernando torres"...lol. Even Rodgers quote “he was
exceptional today. He dribbled through spurs defence like Ricky villa but
finish was more like Ricky Gervais". Towards the end of the game Rodgers
made some changes in which it involve the cameo of two new signings, the big
Emre can and Markovic who made their debut in the 3-1 loss to city. A late
change also came on in which tired sterling was substituted for Jose Enrique
who makes his first EPL appearance since last year.
The performance and the strength in numbers both make me
look on the rest of the season with an extremely positive outlook. If we can
keep playing like we did in this match, another push for the title is not only
possible but probable and we can prove so many wrong that we can survive
without Suarez and we can't do a Spur. Last season was not a fluke. Exciting
times lies ahead. The rebirth of Liverpool is only just beginning. YNWA!!!
Article by Adeleye Adewale
Follow him on Twitter – @olobe009
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