The Victors
I've wanted to put a close up photo of the players on the victory buses with their names. It's caused me some trouble to get a reasonable shot. I thought I had done it last week, but when I looked carefully I realised that it looked as if Sadio Mane was punching Mohamed Salah in the head. An optical illusion that I did not want to upload. You may remember that some time ago there was a news story that they had fallen out because one of them had shot at goal and missed when the other was in a more promising position nearby. All nonsense, of course, but not something I would like to add gist to the mill about.
So here they are from left to right.
Leading bus: Jordan Henderson (captain), Georginio Wijnaldum, Mohamed Salah (goal scorer), Sadio Mane, Andrew Robertson, Adam Lalana (unused substitute), Alisson (goalkeeper), Jurgen Klopp (manager) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (hero of the semi-final second round).
Second bus: Fabinho, Virgil Van Dyke (man of the match), Divock Origi ( substitute and goal scorer), Joel Matip (standing behind Origi), Roberto Firmino, Xherdan Shaqiri (unused substitute), James Milner (substitute) and Alex Oxlaide-Chamberlain (unused substitute).
If you are wondering what happened to Joe Gomez who came on as a substitute, I have to confess that I made a mistake when painting the figures and missed him out. I'm rather embarrassed about this and it's certainly nothing personal. I think he's a very fine player who has stepped up and proved his worth. My plan is to buy (or change another figure) to add him to the scene. Sorry Joe! I also want to add Daniel Sturridge who was an unused substitute and who I have great respect for.
That's the last of my Victory Parade photos, so I'll be uploading something completely different tomorrow. Perhaps with more trains. Perhaps.
Ian Alan