"Ten years and counting eh?" Well the wait for a win at the Theatre of Prawn eating wankers is over, although we may have to wait another season to end the other ten year wait, that of the championship. Still, we're getting closer it seems, and in the meantime that arrogant manc tosser who came up with that banner cvan shove it up his arse. Incidentally, I heard that he had to pay the plc £800 for the priviledge of putting that banner up on the Stretford End. If they're all as guillible as that arsehole then it's no wonder the club continues to fleece it's fans! But enough about that tosser for now. This was just a great day. All week I'd been telling anyone who'd listen that we'd do them, but I have to admit that on the morning of the game that confidence had gone. On the coach journey there, I started thinking that no matter how well we played, fate would somehow conspire against us, after all, it usually does. Whether it's blatant penalty appeals turned down, dodgy pens to them being awarded, goals in stoppage time or our defensive lynchpin being kicked off the park, something always goes wrong.
This time though....YEEERRRRSSSS!!!!! When Danny's free kick hit the back of the net, there was absolute bedlam in the away end. It was pretty mad last year when Paddy scored, but this was even more manic. Usually a goal celebration consists of about ten seconds cheering and jumping around wildly, a further twenty to thirty seconds applauding, and then maybe a chant for the goalscorer. At this place though, it's a bit different.
Maybe I'm exagerrating due to being a bit too carried away in the moment, but the actual cheering and jumping around seemed to last a good two minutes at least. As a result of this, my shins were bruised to fuck from banging against the seat in front, and my legs and back were stiff were a couple of days afterwards (although that could be more to do with my appalling lack of fitness these days!).
There were similar scenes at the final whistle, and although it could be argued that we are putting far too much importance on one result and that we should save such joyous celebrations for when we actually win something, who cares? The fact is that we've come so close so many times to winning at this shithole, and now that we've done it we have every right to savour it. After all, they're not slow to rub our noses in it when they win are they? Just ask Gary Neville (you'll find him at the local volleyball club practising that great double hander of his!).
So despite the comments from our blue neighbours, we are well within our rights to enjoy this one. Besides, they're just pissed off because we beat their mancunian mates!
Song of the day has to be "Keano thinks you're wankers" which Chris Murphy assures me he started! I saw Chris at the end, and he was carrying a seat under his arm to take home as a souvenir! I should point out that he didn't rip the thing out himself, but picked it up off the floor after someone else had done. There was quite a lot of that going on, and it wouldn't surprise me if United sent Liverpool a bill for all the damage. But as I said, Chris didn't do it, so if his mum or his teachers are reading this, he isn't a vandal, so don't punish him!
Other highlights included "You can stick your prawn sandwich up your arse", "Shit on the cockneys" and of course "Gary Neville sh..... you know the rest." As for their response? Well there was the usual monotonous drones of "We hate scousers" and "You're not famous anymore" Not famous anymore eh? Not in the eyes of their fucking gobshite 'fans' who only started following football when it became trendy after Italia 90 maybe, but ask any foreigner about the name Liverpool, and see what their reaction is. Enjoy you success while it lasts boys, because you're heading for one almighty fall, and let's see how many of your glory hunting bandwagon fans stick around when the trophies stop coming in.
This game really could be a watershed, not just for us, but for them too. I would hope that other teams throughout the Premiership would have looked at that and thought, "they're not as invincible as they're made out to be." Yes, they're a damned good side, and are currently the best in the country, but they can be beaten if you have a gameplan, work hard and counter attack well. Too often teams believe the hype and are beaten before the game even kicks off. A bit like the aura that used to surround Mike Tyson until Buster Douglas proved that he is human after all. So let's hope that the rest of the league follows our lead.
As for us, well this win should give the lads a massive psychological boost. They now know they can beat anyone, anywhere. This was no fluke, it was well deserved, and had we shown a bit more composure and maturity in our counter attacking, we could have given them a bit of a mauling. They were there for the taking, but we kept giving the ball away. The only time I was concerned wasthe first fifteen minutes of the second half. We dropped back too deep and could have gotten punished for it. We weren't, and from then on we were in a comfort zone, as they never even looked like scoring.
Obviously there were a lot of frayed nerves amongst us, but that was more to do with what they had done to us in the past than what they were actually doing in this game. The back four were immense, and Sander looked as though he was in one of those moods where he was never going to be beaten. He didn't have much to do, but he had an authority about him that has been missing since the end of last season. Welcome back Sander, we've missed you.
Sami and Stephane are playing like they were last season too, and it can't be over-estimated the difference having a settled defence makes. This was their sixth game together, and it was the fifth clean sheet. 'Carra' was great, but I knew he would be. To beat United to have to cut off the supply from Beckham, and Carra is the best equipped player at the club to do that. Quite simply, he's a stopper. He'll kick Beckham and make life uncomfortable, and that's what he did. 'Carra' is an unsung hero, and it pisses me off no end when I hear anyone slag him off. He's the best left back we've had since Steve Nicol, and it's about time he was given a bit more appreciation. Of course, he's never going to run down the wing and whip over crosses with his left foot, but so what? Ziege can do that, but he can't defend. Carra is first and foremost a defender, and we're a lot better side with him in the back four than when he's not in it.
Another player who was immense was Markus Babbel. He's come in for quite a bit of criticism this season, and I've had the odd dig at him here and there too I admit, but fair do's, this was his best game for us. Maybe he has finally come to terms with the fact that he is going to play right back, not in the centre. One swallow doesn't make a summer, but at least we know that he can play at right back when he puts his mind to it. We expect more of the same now Markus.
Of course, the back four were given wonderful protection from the midfield, and also the strikers. Barmby ran himself into the ground, Gerrard bossed the game and Biscan was quiet, but hugely efficient. Murphy was having a poor game until he scored, as he kept giving the ball away, but he worked hard for the scause, and scored that great free-kick. To think he's been playing second fiddle to Hamann on set pieces all season.
Anyway, we held on fairly comfortably, despite having to endure four minutes stoppage time. A quick point on that, in the first half the trainer was on and we had one minute added. In the second half the trainer wasn't on once, and the only stoppage was when a horse ran onto the field and hauled down Smicer as he was clean through on goal. So where did the four minutes come from then? It's claimed that 30 seconds are added on for each substitution, but frankly that's bollocks. Had we been losing 1-0 you can bet your life there wouldn't have been four minutes. But who gives a shit, they could have added on four hours and they still wouldn't have scored, such was our dominancs in defence.
So the journey home was to be a happy one for us, but not so for them. The looks on their faces were something special I have to say. Before the game they were all making gestures at our coaches calling us wankers and such, but after the game there was nothing. Not even a V sign or one finger salute. Fickle bastards.
One final point. I returned home and watched a tape recording of the game, and what I heard from Sky was most certainly not what I'd heard in the ground. On Sky, from start to finish, the United fans were singing, and all you could hear from us was the odd bit of the 'Gary Neville' song. Now anyone who was at Old Trafford will know, that there was hardly a peep out of them all game. In fat, the only time they were actually audible was when their singing was funneled through the loud speakers in our end! Yes, they actually put crowd noise through the speakers to make it sound as though they were making some noise. How sad is that? Before the game, there was this really loud chant of 'United' coming from all around us. I looked around the stadium, and all I could see were people munching on crisps and prawn butties, they certainly weren't singing. Yet there was noise all around us. I looked behind me to see where it was coming from, but there was nothing. That was when I realised what they had done. Sad, very sad, and they can deny it all they want, but anyone who was there knows what was going on.
TEAM: Sander Westerveld; Markus Babbel, Sami Hyypia, Stephane Henchoz, Jamie Carragher; Danny Murphy (Gary McAllister), Steven Gerrard, Igor Biscan, Nick Barmby; Michael Owen (Vladimir Smicer), Emile Heskey:
