Harum-Scarum for 10 Man Reds at the Coliseum
Liverpool 2 Fulham 2, 14th December 2024
LIVERPOOL 2 (Gakpo 47, Jota 86)
FULHAM 2 (Pereira 11, Muniz 76)
According to the good people at Cambridge Dictionary, “Harum-Scarum” is defined as “behaving in an uncontrolled way” and whilst not exactly fitting yesterday’s magnificent game of football and perhaps in our upside down world a phrase now considered politically incorrect, I couldn’t help but note it down for immediate use here as well as for the memories such a term evokes from my long ago youth. Playground football. 100 miles per hour intensity of a game never stopping, even when the dinner bell rang. Players running everywhere, out of position, several positions, sending's off, chaos reigning. The playground champion on the ropes, bested by a determined opponent grabbing their time in the schoolyard spotlight. Still no form or shape to the game. Players out of form, out of position and even out of time in the view of the children of The Matrix quick to dispense with heroes of the very recent past. The champion retaliates, levels an un-even game only to fall behind again in a game of end-to-end chaos before levelling matters once more and had the team in the all red of Liverpool, a team down to 10 men for over 80 minutes of a near 100 minute contest of sporting chaos, gone on to win the game and claim all 3 Premier League points, it would have been seen universally as the right and just result.
Alas, a harum-scarum game of truly magnificent proportions ended 2–2, the Reds have now dropped 4 points from 2 consecutive drawn games and those children of The Matrix, so keen to present their Liverpool team with the Premier League trophy two weeks ago, are beginning to lose their 21st Century faith, as well as their nerve.
It’s difficult to sum up yesterday’s game with any kind of rational sense so maybe a few scattered sentences and the reading between the footballing lines that follow will suffice. The visiting “Cottagers” from Fulham were well worthy of their early first half lead (as they were exactly one year and eleven days ago in last season’s corresponding fixture) and it was no surprise when they regained their lead late in the game as they also did in this very same fixture in December 2023. Yesterday’s game had an eerie feeling and callback to last season’s fixture from the very outset and whilst I hoped for the fairytale equaliser once more from the holder of my Red heart Wataru Endō and a screaming winning goal from Trent Alexander-Arnold, it was left to Diogo Jota to return from the injury sidelines with a late leveller and deserved drawn point for the Premier League leaders. Remember them Liverpool fans, and wailing banshees and children of a pampered Matrix? The team all in Mighty Red who have lost just one game all season? Remember them? Or are you too busy throwing Andy Robertson to the wolves and into the dustbin of sporting history?
The Scotland captain had a day to forget yesterday and perfectly in keeping with the chaos unfolding all around him. Badly injured in the opening seconds of the game via a reckless and dangerous challenge from Fulham’s Issa Diop, he never settled into the game before being badly caught out by ex Red Harry Wilson and through on goal, “Robbo” simply had to go. Already trailing 0–1 to Andreas Pereira’s 11th minute back post volley and now down to ten men, Arne Slot had to reconfigure an already miss firing team (who didn’t trouble the Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno for the first 45 minutes) but to gain a foothold in the game a defensive back 4 became 3 with holding central midfielder Ryan Gravenberch now alongside Virgil van Dijk in central defence and Joe Gomez moved to emergency left-back. As the first half progressed and throughout the equally frenetic second half that followed it, Gomez would also feature heavily in left midfield, so too Trent Alexander-Arnold on the right and with the second half introduction of Jarell Quansah, Gravenberch reverted back to his midfield role as Gomez and Alexander-Arnold either side of him continued to maraud forward in search of first a winning goal at 1–1 and then an equaliser once more when trailing again late in the game. Joe Gomez and Ryan Gravenberch were IMMENSE all game. Absolutely bloody immense.
As was the skipper Virgil van Dijk. Curtis Jones ran himself into the ground before being substituted, Mo Salah’s assist for Cody Gakpo’s diving header for his 47th minute equaliser was sublime, Dominik Szoboszlai never stopped running and then, 5 minutes into injury time and a fragile drawn Premier League point in the balance, Alisson Becker brilliantly denied Adama Traoré what would have been a cruelly unjust winning goal.
Biased though I may be and whilst also appreciating the sheer chaos of this fantastic game of football, a 2–2 draw wasn’t justice for the 10 men of Liverpool let alone a late, heartbreaking, 3–2 defeat. But a draw it was in a harum-scarum game of football of old, harking back to their tussle of a year ago and even, should you be so inclined, to the games of your youth. Arne Slot and Marco Silva brilliantly organised and coached the on-field chaos but it was still chaos!
Arsenal drew at home to Everton. The Manchester Derby has just kicked-off at the time of writing and Chelsea don’t play until much later this Sunday evening. Whatever happens, in Manchester or South West London, the Reds of Liverpool will still be Premier League leaders come the end of the day and with a considerable points advantage over both Arsenal and Manchester City and games in hand over both and indeed Chelsea too.
Perspective everyone. You could wail and gnash your teeth at Robertson’s one match suspension, his Manager Arne Slot too, or the complete loss of confidence of Jarell Quansah or lack of outward interest as well as form from a seemingly wantaway Trent Alexander-Arnold. You could pass worried looks at an already thin looking squad depleted by injuries and the congested fixture list ahead or even return to Andy Robertson and kick a legend of the club who has won EVERYTHING in the game since being at Liverpool.
Or you could grab some perspective, see the Mighty Reds at the top of both the Premier League and the Champions League having lost only one game all season long and rejoice that Arne Slot has guided his new team so far and in such a brief flicker of time.
I’m going for the latter.
Up the table-topping (10 Man) Mighty Reds.
Arne’s Afterword
“I couldn’t have asked for more, but of course not with the result because if you drop points in a home game with Fulham that is definitely not what you expect or what you want. Being two times a goal down, so many things go against you except for one thing and that is our players and our fans, who were outstanding today”.
“Ryan Gravenberch did outstanding again today. Without the ball, he was mostly in our last line, had to play sometimes against a nine, against wingers who are really fast. And with the ball, he came into the midfield. An outstanding performance from him. But if we only highlight him, I don’t think I give enough credit to all the other ones that played next to him and around him. I couldn’t have asked for more. Dominated the game, more ball possession with 10 men, more chances created — everything what you want. Unfortunately for us, maybe the only chance they got with 10 men led to a goal — that sometimes happens as well.
Thanks for reading. I pen my thoughts on every Liverpool game and in recent seasons, with the addition of numerous pieces of retro writing on Reds games of the past, I’ve curated and created the following two self-published books:
"A final word from The Boss" - link to Amazon
"Chasing the Impossible and a Sword of Damocles" - link to Amazon
As you’re kindly here and read this far, I may as well proudly show off my latest self-published book too, first published exactly a week ago, Sunday 8th December:
"My Ironbridge Summer" - link to Amazon
Thanks for reading. I hope this message in a bottle in The Matrix finds you well, prospering, and the right way up in an upside down world.
“Harum-Scarum” is defined as “behaving in an uncontrolled way”....
It's also the name of one of the many movies Elvis Presley made in the 1960s which were truly not worthy of his talent.