YNWA- Liverpool wins the carabao cup

Sunday was a fun day. As usual, we went to church and I got home hungry. Quickly I ate cocoa pops and started surfing the internet, trying to get occupied with something before the Carabao cup final starts. I’ve got no favourite between the two teams playing. Call me a neutral fan.

The match lived up to the hype. The two teams gave us a performance worthy of a final. Some people tagged it- "Battle of the keepers” I won’t disagree because Mendy was spectacular again. He never ceases to amaze me with his quick reflexes and positioning. His double save against Keita and his countryman Mane is my pick among his numerous saves. On the other end, Kelleher's choice as the keeper in goal came as a surprise. One would expect Klopp to use Alisson in such a big match but he stuck to Kelleher who has been the one between the sticks in previous Carabao cup matches. Kelleher also gave a good performance, he was outstanding, making so many wonderful saves.

Surely, the most talked about event after the match was the 22 penalties and VAR. But I can’t help this feeling that the match shouldn’t have gotten to extra time if Mason mount didn’t waste the opportunities he had. My brother who is a Chelsea fan jumped up in celebration when mount was presented with a good chance to score, but his celebration turns out to be premature since Mount wasted it. Also, Pulisic wasted a golden chance in the first half. This isn’t to take anything away from the keeper who was great or to say it was not an even match. Liverpool also had their chances. Luis Diaz in particular was fantastic.

VAR has been more of a headache to many teams since its introduction to the EPL than a pain reliever. Yesterday, VAR was at it again, though I  can’t help not blaming the referee and linesmen. Two of the goals Chelsea scored was a clear offside which the ref should have signified by blowing the whistle even before the ball hit the net. Also, the Liverpool defenders need to learn how to raise their hands to signify that there’s an offside, it’s of no use setting an offside trap when you can’t even talk when the offside happens. They look on without complaining- they need to learn some things from Bayern’s high line defending and Guardiola’s Barca.

Back to the VAR decisions. I feel cancelling Lukaku’s goal was a silent way of compensating Liverpool for the goal cancelled earlier. Matip’s goal wasn’t an offside in my book. Mane who gave the assist was onside before Arnold played the free-kick but the referee and VAR know better. I have a question for the VAR officials - “why wasn’t a line drawn when showing Lukaku's offside?” that’s a question that can never get to them. Anyways, all is well that ends well.

Straight to the penalties. I’ve listened to so many analysts and pundits blame Thomas Tuchel for bringing in Kepa Arrizabalaga for the penalty shootouts. “Hypocrisy and double standard” that’s all I can say. It’s easy to blame people when you’re not the one making the decisions. Kepa has proven himself several times to be the best penalty stopper in Chelsea. He did it not once, not twice- so it’s only logical to see him being called upon to be between the goal post in the shootout. “If Mendy was the one in goal, would he have saved at least one penalty?” that’s a question we can never know the answer to. He may save one and it’s possible Chelsea also miss one. We never can tell. If it were to be in Tuchel’s shoe I will do the same and I’m sure if Mendy was to be a player-coach, he would have subbed himself out for Kepa when it was time for penalties.

Congratulations to the champions- Liverpool. “Deserving” I’d say, though if Chelsea won I’d say the same thing. Thanks to the two teams for giving us such an entertaining final.

Thanks for Reading! ⚽️💚🪙

On Wednesday I will be writing about the re-surging Barcelona. My club. The Xavi effect and the ghost of Koeman.