Sunday's Capital One Cup final — Manchester City vs. Liverpool — won the day because, not only was it a great game soccer-wise, it gave us a phenomenal array of subplots. Let's run them down real quick:
The Yolo Derby
Brendan Rodgers proposed to his girlfriend in Times Square. She said yes. This is undeniably happy news for the former Liverpool boss, but it closes the book on one of the greatest Premier League romances of all time: Brendan Rodgers and Joe Allen.
Congratulations to Brendan Rodgers who proposed today in public pic.twitter.com/gFwXTRQt67
— Indigo (@IndigoLFC) February 23, 2016
Liverpool defender Mamadou Sakho is one of the happiest dudes in the Premier League. We offer as evidence this video of Sakho zooming around Paris on a motorbike talking to himself in French. He spies former PSG and current France international teammate Blaise Matuidi standing by a car and just has to pull over and say hello.
Mamadou Sakho casually bumps into a surprised Blaise Matuidi in the streets of Paris on his motorbike. pic.twitter.com/0k2uD176mi
Kolo Toure scored the goal of the year in the Premier League. We couldn't believe it either, which is precisely why it's the goal of the year.
Now, remember that we said it's the "goal of the year" not the "best goal of the year." By "goal of the year," we mean the goal that most exemplifies the year in the Premier League. You can look at it a number of ways.
Much commotion surrounded the walking out of Liverpool fans in the 77th minute of Liverpool's home match against Sunderland. The walkout protested ticket prices, which have risen to 77 pounds in some main stand seats (hence the timing of the walkout). Borussia Dortmund fans are a lot like Liverpool fans in that they care deeply about their club and also ticket prices (they are also intimately familiar with Jurgen Klopp).
Borussia Dortmund fans planned their own protest of their club's rising ticket prices, but Dortmund's was a little more comical than Liverpool's.
Liverpool have failed to score a real goal in their last three games, and inevitably, the internet is ramant with speculation as to the cause.
And we think we found it.
Skrtel now has hair. What! pic.twitter.com/ZgXjeNHTlG
— Indigo (@IndigoLFC) February 1, 2016
Ronaldinho is one of the best attacking midfielders of the modern era, up there with Kaka, Zinedine Zidane, Andres Iniesta, Pavel Nedved and others. That's exceptional company to be in, and he has now anointed a player he believes will join that group: fellow Brazilian and Liverpool man Roberto Firmino.
From The Mirror:
"I didn't ever question if he would be a great player for Liverpool, I knew that he would be," said the World Cup winner.
Liverpool are having a miserable season, but there is a silver lining behind their ninth-placed cloud. That metaphor is particularly apt in regards to Liverpool fans because clouds are a major part of storms, which Liverpool fans find themselves walking through with their heads held high.
AND DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK...
Sorry, we got a little carried away there. But it is pretty much a universal truth that miserable people sing the best songs, and with the likes of Christian Benteke and Simon Mignolet in the squad, Liverpool fans are singing pretty well right now.
The Arsenal-Liverpool game from the other day was exciting. More exciting than Chipotle’s secret menu even (yes it’s a thing — supposedly there’s something called a Burritodilla). It had goals, crunching tackles, endless drama, and that classic England atmosphere of perpetual rain. But even better than the show on the field was Jurgen Klopp’s celebration off it.
Today was the Liverpool vs. Arsenal match, which holds a special place in The18's heart because two of our staff writers, Sam Klomhaus and Ivan Anich, are diehard fans of Liverpool and Arsenal, respectively. We made them watch the game together (plus a few cameos from Connor the intern), and hilarity ensued. Here's what transpired (Liverpool in italics, Arsenal regular):
Liverpool’s lineup: Mignolet; Clyne, Toure, Sakho, Moreno; Can, Milner, Henderson; Lallana, Firmino, Ibe