Good morning
The mid 90s yeah? Remember them, yeah? Oasis or Blur? (Or Cast? Or Shed Seven? Or Jamiroquai? Nobody ever choses Shed Seven.) Football’s coming home. “Do you know what they call a quarter pounder with cheese in Paris?” Dolly the sheep. Take That doing one. Wannabe. The launch of the second generation Nissan Primera. Trevor Jordache’s body under the patio. Cynical realism. Milly, Egg, Warren, Anna and that ending. Half 6 on a Thursday watching the GamesMaster with Graeme Le Saux and Phil Babb. Half 6 on a Thursday watching the GamesMaster with Dean Holdsworth and Phil Babb. Phil Babb and that post. Liverpool beating Newcastle 4-3 on a Wednesday night. Liverpool beating Newcastle 4-3 on a Monday night. Sigh. Those were the days. But maybe today will be throw-back and Newcastle and Liverpool will serve up a tasty dish and we can all toddle off and feed the pigeons, and maybe the sparrows too, and have a sense of enormous well being for the rest of the day.
Ever since Brendan Rodgers took over, the post-match enormous sense of well being has generally been with the Liverpool players and their manager. Four games Rodgers has had and not one he has lost. Two draws and two wins, one of which, the 6-0 shellacking at St James’ Park, was his biggest victory in charge of the Merseysiders. So he’ll be heading into this encounter with those white-washed teeth cocked and ready for some hard smiling, even if he has chewed threw a couple of pencils over the last few weeks fretting over his side. And fret he should. The problems he is having up front have, of late, been poured over more times than Seattle in winter, so let’s leave that aside for now and instead have a quick chat about some back problems and Simon Mignolet.
There are probably more than a few Liverpool fans out there who for a number of weeks now have been going to their respective mass/mosque/church/temple/synagogue/meeting house, have been getting down on their knees, have been uttering the usual platitudes and then adding in at the end: ‘... I know I shouldn’t ask for this, but is there any chance you could fix so that Víctor Valdés joins us?’. They’d have a point. Mignolet is not to blame for all of Liverpool’s defensive woes last season and this one – Rodgers could certainly do more work on the training ground with the likes of Martin Skrtel on defending set pieces – but he is to blame for a few. Rule No1 for keepers is put on gloves. Rule No2 is command your area. And that is something that Mignolet consistently fails to do. He is also too often indecisive. Watch how often he hesitates when coming off his line for crosses, leaving his defenders in a state of limbo. Defenders are like kids, they crave regularity and eschew disorder; limbo is not where they want to be. (Even his own captain has stuck the boot in saying he is not aggressive enough in his keeping.) He also looks sluggish on his toes, which is part of the reason that those long-range goals keep going in. A keeper of Valdés’ quality and sweeper-keeper characteristics would fit Liverpool’s style of play like a finger in a nose and it will be surprising if those aforementioned utterances are not heeded, if not by a deity, then certainly by Rodgers.
Mignolet’s poor form should go down well in Newcastle, where, these days, the nasty banners have been replaced by unicorn babies, Jolly Ranchers and smiles the length of Railway street. Ever since that cracking comeback against Swansea, Newcastle are a side reborn. They have won three on the trot in a 12-day run that includes another cracking comeback (this time at Spurs) and a fairly comprehensive defeat of Manchester City in the Capital One Cup, despite Alan Pardew fielding a side featuring six serious changes from the win at White Hart Lane. Tis a shame that the aftermath of a very decent, very intelligent, very organised performance by Newcastle and the cracking Ryan Taylor comeback (he cried coming off the pitch and was greeted with a standing ovation by his team-mates) was clouded over by concerns for City’s downfall.
Anyhoo. Those wins have taken the pressure of Pardew and put a temporary halt to the abuse from the fans but it’s not like Newcastle can kick back and be cool since they still stand a mere two points above the dreaded drop zone. A win today would take them above the likes of Tottenham and Everton and sit them in 9th spot. Can they do it? Of course they can. Will they do it? Well you’ll have to stayed tuned to find out. Team news and 90 minutes of red-hot footballling action – and maybe some chat about Ghostbusters – are on their way.
Kick-off: 12.45pm
