It is remembered now as the penultimate act in football’s answer to a Shakespearean tragedy.
The 2013/14 title race featured the mortifying misfortune of a great leader, who took his side to the brink of triumph only to snatch disaster from the jaws of victory.
Steven Gerrard’s infamous slip against Chelsea was rendered all the more unforgettable because, two weeks earlier, he had greeted victory over Manchester City at Anfield with an impassioned, on-pitch speech that included the phrase: “We will not let this slip.”
At the time, another senior captain seemed the culprit as silverware seemed to have slipped away.
Liverpool had scored three times against City in what many thought was the title decider and each goal was, to some extent, Vincent Kompany’s fault.
He had been baffled by Raheem Sterling’s movement for the opening goal, then he lost Martin Skrtel when the Slovakian headed in Gerrard’s corner, and it was his sliced clearance that led to Philippe Coutinho’s inch-perfect winner in the match, which finished 3-2.
Kompany was conforming to the captain’s cliche: playing through the pain barrier in an attempt to lead by example.
It backfired but, five weeks later, he was able to lift the Premier League trophy; unlike Gerrard, his errors did not come at a cost.
Some felt Kompany had escaped unpunished because if it had been Martin Demichelis, then the resident scapegoat, who had delivered such a performance the Argentine would have been named, shamed and blamed by outsiders.
As it was Kompany, the reaction was comparatively muted.
Now he returns to Anfield on Sunday with a different backdrop, while Demichelis has put the mistakes of his first few months in Manchester behind him to emerge as City’s most consistent centre-back this season.
“Demichelis always has a good performance,” manager Manuel Pellegrini said.
In contrast, Kompany turned in an erratic display against Barcelona on Tuesday.
He was partly culpable for Luis Suarez’s opener, just as he has to share responsibility for goals conceded in 2015’s home losses to Arsenal and Middlesbrough.
He goes to Anfield today with a point to prove, but with his manager’s backing that adversity will bring out his best.
“Vincent is an experienced player with a strong character,” Pellegrini said. “I think it’s not a problem for him, I am sure that he will have a strong reaction.
“He must receive the criticism that everyone receives when our team doesn’t have the performance that everyone hopes for.”
Yet in the aftermath of City’s chastening defeat to Barcelona, it was tempting to recall Pellegrini’s pre-match words.
“Vincent always grows in these type of games,” the City manager had said.
He often does, after all, the cult of Kompany is partly based on his capacity to perform in the major matches.
It is true, too, that Kompany’s best is better than virtually any other defender’s.
“He is a great player,” Pellegrini said yesterday.
His height, pace, assurance in possession, ability to read the game and complete confidence in himself can make an awesome combination.
The counter argument is that he has a risky style of play and a willingness to jump into tackles that can attract the attention of referees.
A determination to dart in ahead of strikers and win the ball means he is out of the game when his gamble fails.
The concern is that frequent hamstring and groin injuries have taken their toll resulting in this season being maybe the poorest of his seven in City colours.
The question is if Kompany the person is now more admirable than the player. Eloquent and intelligent, multilingual and an adopted Mancunian, Kompany appeals to many who dislike footballers’ excesses and sense of entitlement.
In many ways, he is more of a figurehead than the deliberately dreary Pellegrini.
His wife, Carla, is a City fan, he represents the closest thing to a local in a cosmopolitan side and he brings a brand of commitment that others would do well to emulate.
He has spurned Barcelona’s advances in the past and there have been times when, despite the considerable qualities of Yaya Toure, Sergio Aguero and David Silva, he has been the one City player who would have been guaranteed a place in any club side in the world.
It is that Kompany that City require at Anfield, the one who can turn a title race with his excellence, not the one that played in this game last year.
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