As the great Yogi Berra once said, it was like déjà vu all over again for Liverpool, who gave away vital points against a major rival with an embarrassing last minute howler from keeper Pepe Reina. Last season was built on these kinds of performances – toying with their fans, oscillating wildly between brilliant form and bone-headed balls-ups. Taking leads and throwing them away – snatching draws out of the jaws of certain victory. It was exactly the sort of thing new manager Roy Hodgson was hoping to avoid in the opening game of the season. Welcome to Anfield.
You probably won’t see new signing Joe Cole’s debut on Liverpool’s top 100 club debut performances DVD (out soon!). He looked completely out of sorts for the opening sequences and was sent off at the half-way mark for a clumsy challenge on Koscielny. The Reds may have picked him up on a free transfer, but if this sort of stuff continues they would still be entitled to ask for their money back.
But let’s not just dwell on the negatives – there were some positive sings there for Reds fans. Their team fought back despite a numerical disadvantage in the second half, and even though they threw points away at he end, the mood remained relatively upbeat in the post match interviews. That means that either their self confidence is starting to return, or they are just becoming used to this sort of thing occurring – with a Monday night match against Manchester City waiting for them, I guess we’ll find out which pretty soon.
The Gunners, for their part will be happy enough with how this one turned out in the end. They could have had a better result from this game. Things could have been worse. The important thing is that the come out of the Anfield clash with a point on the table and heading home to take on Blackpool in front of an always packed Emirates Stadium. Perhaps even more importantly – rumours abound that Aussie icon Mark Schwarzer’s is coming to boost the Gunners somewhat depleted goal-keeping stocks. If that doesn’t fill Arsenal fans with hope I don’t know what will.
For those keeping score at home – one week in and the Shirtman remains on 0 points.
New season. Same results. Deja vu indeed.
