LIVERPOOL 4 MANCHESTER UNITED 0 #premierleague #bookreading #liverpoolfc #lfc #audiobook

"It was reportedly 25 consecutive passes, but it felt a lot more watching the game live and as far as the blue changed shirts from Manchester United were concerned, it may as well have been 125 passes. It was the 22nd minute of a first half of football that verged on the perfection the Reds produced against United’s neighbours Manchester City just 3 days ago at Wembley in the FA Cup Semi-Final, and it was a move so beloved of my soon to be trademarked “PlayStation Football”. It may only have been 25 passes (officially) and Virgil van Dijk the only Liverpool player not to touch the ball during the move, a sweeping move that rolled back and forth, front to back, back to front, defence, through midfield and into attack, and with the ball barely leaving the lush green grass of Anfield. The passes were mounting by the time Joël Matip set off on one of his galloping and marauding forward runs, his pass was instantly returned by the scorer of the night’s first goal, Luis Díaz, and Matip’s instant forward pass was incredibly turned instantly into the path of Mo Salah by his strike partner, Sadio Mané. The Senegalese striker’s pass was sublime, for the tight execution and accuracy of a reverse pass played across his body yet perfectly to the feet of Salah who controlled the ball instantly before slotting the ball into the far corner of David de Gea’s Manchester United goal.

22 minutes had passed, Liverpool were already 2–0 up and they were strolling along a road that would lead to an almost peerless first half of football (again), 3 points that would take them top of the Premier League (again) whilst simply tearing apart, time and time again, their oldest and fiercest domestic rivals.

The Reds first goal on 5 minutes was the stereotypically sublime to the ridiculous. The sublime was the simplicity with which Liverpool tore Manchester United apart down their right hand side. Trent Alexander-Arnold started the move with an incisive pass to Skipper Jordan Henderson who’s first time pass found Sadio Mané on the halfway line. He released both Alexander-Arnold and Mo Salah sprinting down the right flank with Salah reaching the ball first and his perfect first time cross was met by Luis Díaz who had the simplest and easiest of tap in goals. The ridiculous was two fold: (1) With Salah, Alexander-Arnold and Díaz all sprinting forward it was attack versus defence and a 3 v 2 situation that completely and easily undressed Manchester United and (2) the visitors from Manchester were already a dishevelled mess and the game was only 5 minutes old".

The above is a brief extract from a much longer chapter and a luxuriating read of a quite comprehensive win against the old foes from Manchester!

I'm incredibly proud of the self-published book linked immediately below and if you are able to support me to thumb the eye of the traditional publishers who refused to read my original manuscript, I'd appreciate this support greatly, and humbly.

Thank you.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C6W6TYCL

https://www.patreon.com/TheBlackfordBookClub
https://www.paypal.me/TheBlackfordBookClub
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/steveblackford

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