When Liverpool FC Comes to Town

When love comes to town I'm gonna take that train

When  love comes to town I'm gonna jump that plane

(U2 feat. BB King)

This is not Anfield. But the real Anfield must be proud of the loyal fans in Indonesia. The fans have brought the Kop atmosphere to Jakarta, which is more than 7,000 miles away from Merseyside.

Liverpool FC visited Indonesia for the first time to play a match against Indonesia XI in 20 July. The arrived three days earlier on a special Garuda Indonesia plane. For many supporters, it was like a dream coming true – sorry for the cliché, but no words better described the moment.

Hundreds of supporters welcomed them at the airport. For the next two days, supporters waited them at the hotel just to see Stevie G and friends in person, attended the training sessions (5000 of them!), some kids attended a coaching clinic by Didi Hammann, or having a meet and greet session with Robbie and Rush at a local mall.

I was one of the supporters who came to the hotel just to see them very close. My friend worked for the agency whose client is Garuda Indonesia, the flight sponsor. He informed me that Steven Gerrard and Glenn Johnson will have a photo session and we could come and perhaps have a chat. Well, turned out many people from different sponsors have had the same idea. And only some well-connected people had the access to the session. But still I could see Coutinho, Gerrard, Johnson from less than a meter away. It's still worth many things in my life! I was also very lucky to be able to get very close to Kop heroes Ian Rush and Robbie Fowler - both are LFC ambassadors who have travelled to Indonesia several times now.

The fans

Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) is Indonesia's national stadium. Its capacity is 88,000 seats. In the older days before a seating rearrangement to improve safety, it could fit more than 100,000 supporters. A historic 110,000 attendance was recorded in a local match in 1985 between Persib Bandung and Persija Jakarta. It is a huge stadium - a football field with athletic tracks. So there is a significant distance between the tribune and the field, unlike a typical European football stadium. 

A source cited that there were 82,000 attendants in the stadium last night. What a turn out! You can hear the fans sang “You’ll Never Walk Alone” over and over, giving us a goosebump.

Of course we were also supporting the Indonesia XI team. So yes, we sang YNWA, we sang our national anthem. We shouted Li-ver-pool, and we shouted In-do-ne-sia..! We cheered when hearing LFC players' name, we also cheered for our local players. Even the fans did not forget to sing "Luis Suarez, Luis Suarez" in the beginning and in the end.

The LFC Indonesia supporter clubs – they came from different cities – were really amazing! When Brendan Rodgers said that he feels like playing at Anfield during an interview, believe me they were not merely diplomatic remarks. It was very emotional. The songs, the chants, the cheers, as well as the banners, the posters, the big replica shirts, even the flare. There was a “Thank you Carra” mosaic to honor another Kop hero Jamie Carragher, who just retired.

The best moment was when the fans in the north side raised the “Justice for the 96” banner in the hour mark. It was a transparent banner. The fans behind them lit the flare so it became visible. Justice for the 96 was a movement to remember the victims of Hillsborough tragedy in 1988. All Liverpool supporters, wherever they are, are emotionally united by the tragedy.

In the final minutes the fans sang YNWA in a slow tempo, just like fellow supported at Anfield always do.

The match

Indonesia XI (since they can't call it the Indonesian National Team as a national team can't play against a club) has never been a strong team, admittedly. The team was just beaten by Arsenal 7-0. Earlier they lost 3-0 to the Dutch national team. Next week they will play against Chelsea.

LFC fielded a mixture of senior players and young/new players. The back five is an indication of BR's preferred line: Mignolet, Johnson, Agger, Toure, Enrique. The midfield trio of Gerrard, Lucas, Alberto. The front three of Coutinho, Aspas, Downing.

In the first half the Indonesian team never posed any real threat. However they were able to put some pressure to the LFC defense once in a while. Fortunately Toure and Agger were pretty much commanding both on the ground and in the air. Gerrard still lack of match fitness by far. But it was still great to see him playing. Alberto did not disappoint in the midfield. Overall, the back line and the midfield were fine. Our fullbacks also linked up with the attack quite well.

But our forward line, and the finishing, still looked disappointing. Sure, there is a promising individual skills of Aspas. And Coutinho  continued his brilliance from last season. In fact, he was our main source of creativity. Downing, well, he was our main weakness in attacking. He was OK in the 2/3 of the field, helping the defence and linked up well with Johnson. But several times he lost possessions, and seemed to be clueless in the forward line. Many times he was in a good position to deliver crosses. But that crosses never happened.

The first goal by Coutinho was a good individual play. His pass was deflected by Indonesia's defender. The ball returned to his own path. He reclaimed the ball, made an individual solo run, then put the ball behind the net. But that summed up the first half. Good individual plays by the players, but we need to work more on the team play.

Gerrard and Enrique was subbed by Allen and Wisdom in the half-time. For the first minutes of the second half, Gerrard's absence gave room to Indonesia to press. For a while, our defence were under serious threat. Good to see Toure and Agger could link up, and Mignolet, although didn’t have much to do, was still there when needed. The new goalkeepers even made a crucial save, denying a long-range shoot by Sergio van Dijk.

After the hour, the whole team bar Mignolet has been subbed. Ibe, Sterling, Kelly, Skrtel, Borini, Assaidi, Henderson entered the field. As stamina has always been Indonesian players's problem, the youngsters could reclaim the possession.

Poor finishing is still a problem. Sterling denied by the post once. Aspas missed a open goal. The good side was Henderson looked improved over time.

The second goal needed to wait until the dying minutes. Jordan Ibe started good counter-attack run from the left wing by Ibe, after a corner or Indonesia, the ball was passed to Assaidi who was free in the middle. He was one-on-one with the keeper. But he chose to pass it to Sterling who came from behind and was in freer position. A good team goal, I should say.

Two comfortable wins in the pre-season, two clean-sheets. Not bad. I am quite optimistic for this season. But we need to work harder in making the team link together. And to polish our forward line.

Epilogue

The fans has rewarded Liverpool’s visit by a very warm and noisy receptions. Most of the current supporters may have never known Liverpool during the Dalglish era. Even the days when Robbie Fowler terrorized defense is already a distant past.

However, the experience in the last few days just showed that true supporters still exist. That what it takes to be supporters: you support your team, winning or losing, and won’t let your team walk alone.