Flanagan piles in to ignite the Kop spark

THEY have had this experience before: May 2012, three days after losing the FA Cup final, Liverpool welcomed Chelsea to Anfield.

It was a game nobody really wanted. Liverpool, suffering after a 2-1 Wembley defeat, wanted to see the back of an erratic campaign.

Chelsea had a big Champions League task on the horizon and in their ranks was a former Anfield favourite returning for the first time since an acrimonious move.

The pre-game atmosphere was muted. The Kop barely responded to taunts about how they failed at Wembley nor did they have the inclination to make life unpleasant for Fernando Torres. Then, the game began and Liverpool sensed a chance to make some kind of amends.

Tackles began to fly, the atmosphere changed and a three-goal blitz in nine first-half minutes paved the way for Liverpool to win 4-1. Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish frequently sprinted down the touchline, sporting a smile as wide as the Mersey. Sound familiar? If there was ambivalence among Liverpudlians about facing Manchester City so soon after losing Sunday’s Capital One Cup final to them on penalties it all changed in 26 seconds.

That was the time it took Jon Flanagan, the local defender making his first start in the Barclays Premier League since May 2014, to deposit Raheem Sterling — the night’s pantomime villain — on the turf and show his team-mates what it meant to be back.

This contest was loaded with the potential for Liverpool to flounder. They are becoming a heads or tails team: you never known what you are going to get when you flip a coin and you never know what you are going to get from Jurgen Klopp’s men.

But that challenge from Flanagan — whose performance showed why Liverpool must offer him new terms before his current deal expires in June — set the tone for a performance that was full of vibrancy and ruthlessness. From that moment, City were going to get nothing.

All over the pitch, Liverpool swamped a side that City manager Manuel Pellegrini anticipated would use success at Wembley to reignite their pursuit of the Premier League title. Bar one jinking run from Jesus Navas, City were kept comfortably at bay as their hosts ran riot.

Klopp is planning a summer revamp, so many now in the ranks must show over the next three months that they deserve to stay. Fear can be a wonderful motivation.

Take Adam Lallana. He described his first season at Liverpool as ‘pretty average’ following a £25million move from Southampton and his second campaign has been ravaged by inconsistency and fitness issues.

Here, though, he was exceptional. This was his finest performance for Liverpool, crowned by a goal which embarrassed Joe Hart and an assist for Roberto Firmino. It even ensured his name was sung by the Kop, who appreciated his efforts.

He was not alone. James Milner — whom Klopp described as a complete player after his first game at Tottenham last October — was terrific and also got on the score sheet, as did the enigmatic Firmino. Dejan Lovren, meanwhile, kept City danger man Sergio Aguero at arm’s length.

Perhaps privately Klopp will lament that Liverpool did not produce a performance of this nature at Wembley but this offered proof that, perhaps, next season, with the right investment, will be much more consistent than his first campaign in charge.

The trick now is to get the results when they really matter, not four days too late.