Harvey Elliott the cameo star as Liverpool are in Seven Heaven
Liverpool 2 Lille 1, 21st January 2025
LIVERPOOL 2 (Salah 34, Elliott 67)
LILLE 1 (David 62)
One doubts that in the years to come the date of 21st January 2025 will be overly remembered by fans bathed in the Red Faith of Liverpool but it should be as, at the time of penning these words on a cold and foggy English afternoon, Arne Slot’s Liverpool have now won a perfect 7 games from 7 in the Champions League, conceding a miserly 2 goals in the process, and when Ipswich Town visit the fields of Anfield Road on Saturday the Reds will be 6 points clear at the top of the Premier League, and with a game in hand on the best of the rest too. Simply put, this is one hell of a time to be a Liverpool fan.
Last evening at a rather quiet Anfield they faced arguably their toughest test in the competition so far and a LOSC Lille team riding high on the crest of a domestic unbeaten wave of 21 games. Les Dogues or “The Mastiffs” were bright, sharp and inventive through midfield and as easily comfortable playing from their defensive third as they were attacking the space behind Reds right back Conor Bradley. Here’s where the game really took place and especially so in a first half of lightning quick breaks from both teams looking to exploit that space behind Bradley for the speedy runs of Rémy Cabella and on the same side of the pitch in Liverpool Red, Mo Salah constantly in receipt of the ball with space to run into and create goal scoring chances for others outside of his expertly taken goal on 34 minutes.
For all their bright football and invention through midfield, Lille only registered one shot on the Reds goal and quixotically, this one single shot became both their equalising goal from their free scoring striker Jonathan David and came just 2 minutes after they were reduced to 10 men following the red card dismissal of Aïssa Mandi, a sending off Ireland legend Gary Breen on TV co-commentary couldn’t resist celebrating in song as he twisted the Barry Manilow classic into “Oh Mandi, you came and you went without taking the ball, and the ref has sent you away!”. I rather think he was hoping Mandi would be sent off just to crowbar in this karaoke classic!
But your star of the show, and I’d like to believe the 21 year old Liverpool fan from Chertsey in Surrey would revel in belting out a karaoke hit or three, was Harvey Elliott. Okay his winning goal on 67 minutes was heavily deflected by Ngal’ayel Mukau past helpless goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier behind him, but I’ve long described this kid (he’s only 21 lest everyone forget) as a Spanish type of footballer: he plays the game on the green grass so beloved of Liverpool manager Bill Shankly and he plays it simply and progressively, passing and moving the ball to another red shirt, finding space for the return, head up, always looking to advance the game, an eye for a goal and a determination to be a fixture in first Jürgen Klopp’s team of winners and now Arne Slot’s team chasing the impossible once more. Just as he demonstrated in his substitute appearance at Brentford on Saturday, the kid can be central to so much in a red shirt of Liverpool and now fully fit after his injury playing for England late last year he’s staking a claim again to a starting place in a Reds team approaching February still in every competition they entered in a long ago August. As I rather excitedly stated earlier, this is one hell of a time to be a Liverpool fan. Again.
The Reds are a perfect 7 from 7 in Europe.
6 points clear at the top of the Premier League.
A 0–1 deficit to overturn against a woeful Tottenham in the League Cup.
A tricky but easily winnable away game at Plymouth in the FA Cup.
Harvey Elliott heads a bunch of Jürgen’s “kids” chasing for it all again.
And Mo Salah registered his 50th goal in European competition for the Mighty Reds and celebrated, as he must these days, by sitting upon an advertising board at the Anfield Road End, a King upon his 21st Century throne.
Shall we sing another chorus of “Mandy” or shall we see what the boss thought of it all last evening?
Arne’s Afterword
“What maybe today asked a bit more from them that they had to be patient because the reason why Lille has done so well — 21 games unbeaten and the teams they’ve beaten in the Champions League — is, without any disrespect at all, they don’t have the best players in the world, they have very good players, but they don’t have the best players in the world and then to be able to do so well tells you how disciplined they are, how hard they want to work and how well the manager does over there. We didn’t force a pass; we just kept the ball for as long as we could. The only thing I wasn’t happy about is that not for the first time in recent weeks it was one chance for the other team and a goal, but that’s maybe a phase of the season we are in at the moment”.
“Special is I think the word that describes most Mo’s performance at this club the best. Maybe there are even better words to use, but he’s been outstanding for this club for so many years and still he does. Today, a great goal. If Mo goes on a one-v-one there’s a serious chance that he is going to score, but this goal we scored probably tells you a lot about why we are top of the league and why we are doing so well, because the work-rate from the players that won the ball back before Curtis gave a great pass towards Mo, that tells you why we’re doing so 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
Whilst you’re here I may as well brag about the release of my two recently self-published books. Both are free to read if you subscribe to Amazon Kindle “Unlimited” or reasonably priced in both paperback and hardback. Go on, treat yourself or a loved one and help out an Indie Author! Buy the books if you’re financially able to.
We HAVE to keep the spirit of reading books alive and well.
Thanks.
"still life, with gooseberry" - link to Amazon
"Rasputin and Raspberry Jam" - 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.