Articles
Liverpool’s defence held out
In football, as in law, a good defence can get you almost anywhere. Thus, Liverpool, overplayed and threatened with a father and mother beating at Sheffield hung on gamely until two minutes from the end. At this point the amateur Leonard Carney put his golden head to a Nieuwenhuys centre and, presto, Liverpool were winners. Luck, perhaps, but typical of Liverpool.
Most of the game was United attack v. Liverpool defence. Sheffield, all speed flurry and confidence had the Liverpool defence chasing them for inordinately long spells. It was usually a chase in which the Liverpool man “hailed” his opponent in the end. Without Hagan to calm them and give them studious lines to goal, United were fiery fritterers of speedily made openings. If they had a shot in their boots they must have laced up with extraordinary lightness. Their sheer speed may disconcert the best of defences, but it will not win them matches until they temper it with the thoughtful near-goal move.
To be fair, Liverpool rarely looked like losing. For this we have to thank Sidlow for consummate confidence, Ramsden for a “They shall not pass attitude characteristic of a son of Yorkshire (even when playing against a team of his native city). Harley for 90 minutes of dourness and Hughes for being the rock on which an apparently never-ending series of attacks broke up. On them and the wing half-backs was victory based.
For five or ten minutes early in the second half the Liverpool attack gave them some respite; from three-quarter time onwards it was Liverpool who stood the pace the better. The inevitable reaction for United was to tire.
Will this unexpected, yet deserved, success be the forerunner of others? I wish the answer could be “Yes.” We must wait and hope. The forwards, Balmer excepted, produced scarcely a shot. Carney, in his first full-scale debut, did not succeed. But there is time, and he is adaptable. With Liddell away through a thigh injury which promises to be stubborn, the attack is without punch. The news of Jones at centre forward is good. He did the few jobs which came his way with quiet, admirable ability. What Liverpool need, and what United needed on Saturday, is someone to guide their feet into more considered football channels. The confidence from this early success may help.
Copyright - Liverpool Daily Post, 31-08-1946 - Transcribed by Kjell Hanssen
Most of the game was United attack v. Liverpool defence. Sheffield, all speed flurry and confidence had the Liverpool defence chasing them for inordinately long spells. It was usually a chase in which the Liverpool man “hailed” his opponent in the end. Without Hagan to calm them and give them studious lines to goal, United were fiery fritterers of speedily made openings. If they had a shot in their boots they must have laced up with extraordinary lightness. Their sheer speed may disconcert the best of defences, but it will not win them matches until they temper it with the thoughtful near-goal move.
To be fair, Liverpool rarely looked like losing. For this we have to thank Sidlow for consummate confidence, Ramsden for a “They shall not pass attitude characteristic of a son of Yorkshire (even when playing against a team of his native city). Harley for 90 minutes of dourness and Hughes for being the rock on which an apparently never-ending series of attacks broke up. On them and the wing half-backs was victory based.
For five or ten minutes early in the second half the Liverpool attack gave them some respite; from three-quarter time onwards it was Liverpool who stood the pace the better. The inevitable reaction for United was to tire.
Will this unexpected, yet deserved, success be the forerunner of others? I wish the answer could be “Yes.” We must wait and hope. The forwards, Balmer excepted, produced scarcely a shot. Carney, in his first full-scale debut, did not succeed. But there is time, and he is adaptable. With Liddell away through a thigh injury which promises to be stubborn, the attack is without punch. The news of Jones at centre forward is good. He did the few jobs which came his way with quiet, admirable ability. What Liverpool need, and what United needed on Saturday, is someone to guide their feet into more considered football channels. The confidence from this early success may help.
Copyright - Liverpool Daily Post, 31-08-1946 - Transcribed by Kjell Hanssen
