Alright lads and ladies, and welcome to the very first Is Right La! It’s basically my view on the happenings within the football world during the past week. Did I mention I’m a Scouser and can’t be arsed taking anything seriously? Ah well, if you’re not keen on Liverpool, Everton or Scouse as a dialect in general, then probably best to bail on us now. If you’re not as easily wound up, then have a geg at this…
Seeing Red
So being a red, there is only one place to start. How poor were Kloppos boys on Sunday? It was blatantly obvious from the minute Christian Benteke’s name was read out on the team-sheet that Liverpool would lose that game with two goals from the big Belgian. Here we are, crying out for a plan B, and there he is playing for the opposition. Honest to god Jurgen lad, if you had a brain then you’d be dangerous mate. You can see why Benteke was sold. The target man experiment has failed twice before with Andy Carroll and Ricky Lambert. But I will put my house on it now that Liverpool will go out and buy a target man in the summer because everyone will say we need a “plan B.” It honestly couldn’t be any more painful either that the two teams chasing us down for our Champions League place are from Manchester. I feel like I’ve been promised a Carrera mountain bike for Christmas off my arle fella (for you non-Liverpudlians, that’s pronounced the exact way you’re saying it in your head), and I’ve woken on Christmas morning to a fold away scooter!
Foxtrotting out of Europe
Plucky old Leicester! It was so nearly the stuff of dreams. It was so close to being a modern day version of Nottingham Forest. They were inches away from the fairytale ending. Well, I don’t remember any princesses jibbing off Prince Charming at the first smell of trouble. But still, we all wanted Leicester to go on and show the rest of the big clubs how it was done. I was just made up that Leicester got further than Chelsea did this season, so that feeling pretty much started from last May. Seriously though, Leicester have been great to watch this season in Europe and they have proven a lot of people wrong. Let’s be honest, the Sevilla home game was boss and we all love to see an underdog do well. Yeah, so they sacked Claudio Ranieri. But can you argue with that decision now? I don’t think you can to be fair. After being knocked out by Atletico Madrid, the Spaniards have been drawn against city rivals Real. Could you imagine if Leicester had scored one more goal on Wednesday night? Now seeing Jamie Vardy having murder with Pepe and Sergio Ramos would’ve been boss!
En route to Wembley…again
I have to say I’m not a massive fan of any of the clubs involved in this weekends’ F.A Cup ties, but they were fantastic games to watch. Manchester City faced Arsenal on Sunday afternoon. Most people wrote Arsenal off. I suppose most people forgot that Arsene Wenger has only lived for the F.A Cup since 2005. An extra-time goal from Alexis Sanchez was enough to send the North Londoner’s to the final and, I have to admit, Gunners’ fans should be a little more appreciative of the situation with Sanchez. Let’s remember, he very nearly became a Liverpool player. If he had have signed, then he definitely would not have stayed at Anfield for as long as he’s put up with Arsenal. But the action started for us on Saturday evening with Chavski’s game with Spurs. For as much as I cannot stand West London Blue (I probably will refer to them by their Pro Evo name for the remainder of the season just for the lulz), Antonio Conte has them playing really impressive, effective football this season. They did exactly what they do – soaked up the pressure with ease and counter punched with devastating effect. Spare a thought for Spurs though. They’re starting to gain a similar reputation for their semi-final performances as Everton have for their displays in the Merseyside derby every year – bottle jobs.