After the initial bangers and mash the first Sky TV dish of the day turned out to be more of a passing fancy. The quality of Nottingham forest's football in the first half of yesterday's game at the City Ground proved enough to defeat a Liverpool side still trying to find the right mix.
If the match did not manage to sustain its early excellence, becoming scrappy and dis-jointed after half-time, there was still enough to remind the watching England manager that accurate, imaginative football allied to incisive finishing is possible amid the helter-skelter of the domestic game.
Graham Taylor returned from his European Championship failures making worrying noises about playing more direct football in the World Cup qualifiers. He is entitled to quote the style of Nottingham Forest, who are hardly long ball specialists but still move the ball forward quickly, as examples of what he was getting at. But that would beg the question why Nigel clough did not get a game, or even part of a game in Sweden.
Clough's vision, the speed of his footballing brain and his ability to find a team-mate in a scoring position with a firm pass or careful lob, could have opened Liverpool's Premier League career with a rare rout. But for the form of James, in the Liverpool goal, the contest would have been over long before half-time.
James, signed from Watford for £1 million during the summer, played because Grobbelaar was on World Cup duty for Zimbabwe in Harare. A good three inches taller than Grobbelaar, he is less fun to watch but for a Liverpool goalkeeper, probably more fun to be with.
In the third minute James saved feet first from Keane, whose runs from midfield terrorised Graeme Souness's three-man defence from the start, then repeated the process twice in quick succession as Clough made two attempts to score from rebounds.
James could do nothing about the goal, which arrived after 28 minutes and followed one of those patient Forest build-ups that probe for weaknesses like men tapping an oak-panelled room, expecting to hear a hollow ring. Wilson, Pearce and Woan were all involved before Sheringham collected the a ball from Gemmill on the left and with the defence half-expecting him to pass to Clough, cut in-side to unleash an unstoppable shot into the top far corner of the net.
"We don't work on scoring goals like that," said Brian clough later. "They come out of the blue from pure ability. Teddy Sheringham stuck it in...bang! That's what strikers are paid for." The Lineker-less Tottenham, still hoping to sign the former Millwall player, would certainly have been impressed by yesterday's performance.
At the end of the first half Nigel Clough set up Gemmill for a centre from the right which Keane nodded down hard, only to see James save at the second attempt. Liverpool appeared to take fresh heart after this. Rush, who had a slight groin strain was replaced by McManaman and his willingness to take on defenders with the ball caused Forest problems.
For a time Liverpool, with Wright coming up from the back, looked capable of forcing a draw, although their passing never reach the standards Forest has set earlier.
When Forest reasserted themselves late in the game the referee decided that Keane had dived over James's lunge and refused to award them a penalty. Sheringham's shot found the side-netting after Wright and Thomas had failed to clear the ball, and Liverpool came off still looking second best.
via Guardian
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