Well, wish I’d have had a cheeky fiver on that as I predicted a 3-2 victory and a Suarez opener, but never had the chance to get down the betting shop due to having football myself and seeing the old girl before heading to the pub to catch the game.
Good though wasn’t it? To finally get the proverbial monkey off our backs and beat a team that is further up the table than us. It was a battling, gutsy performance without actually being our best at Anfield this season. IMO we were far superior against United and City than we were yesterday and only came out with a point between those two matches. Some of the passing was good, certain players had good games, others bad, but what is important is that we not only took three points from the game, but that we showed the mentality to come back against a top side and not roll over, and that ‘sign of champions’ by winning a game we probably didn’t have the right to.
Starting from the back, Brad has a tendency to make me almost chew my heart. Despite Pepe’s lack of form over the last, well three years or so, I always feel more confident when the big Spaniard is between the sticks than Jones. There were several efforts which he parried out into dangerous areas when he probably should have caught them and was fortunate to be bailed out by an alert defender prepared for the drop to save his skin. He also made one or two decent saves, but it’s clear that Agger and Carra look more comfortable knowing they have a footballing goalkeeper behind them in Pep rather than Brad when we have the ball in our own half; having said that he didn’t have any calamities, although I feel he only ever looks like one well struck shot away from one.
Johnson was decent, but not his swashbuckling best going forward. His defending from Bales cross though was extremely lacklustre; be brave and never, ever, turn your back on a cross. After it dropped behind Carraghers head, Glen should have done more to pressure Vertonghen who had pretty much a free header only a few yards from the goal. Could Jones have saved it? I think maybe a top ‘keeper on top form may have done, but it was a big ask.
Same can be said for Enrique on the opposite flank, who although at times looks clueless, is a force to be reckoned with given his strength and determination. Without being spectacular, he was fairly effective down our left flank.
I thought both Agger and Jamie were pretty good. Agger won more than his fair share of headers and Carragher swept up danger well and continues to show that he is still at a good level, even if he struggles to do it on as regular basis as he did yester year.
Lucas had as poorer game as I’ve seen him have in a red shirt, and I’ve probably been the lad’s biggest fan since he arrived at the club. Gave away about 5 sloppy passes and mistimed more than his fair share of tackles. He was absolutely superb against Zenit the other week, but today he looked a little leggy and off the boil. For a fairly long period we were overrun in the midfield and I felt that Henderson should have started ahead of Downing. In hindsight I may have got that wrong, as Downing played very well, but I think Lucas did struggle not having that energy ahead of him to make his job easier.
Gerrard was excellent I thought. Made his presence known all over the midfield and put the boot in whenever he could to make life difficult for Livermore and Parker. His passing was spot on for the majority and he ran the game well when we were in possession. He’s adopted the Xabi role very well, and despite his age and some people’s concerns (including my own re his central midfield role) we look a far better side with Stevie than without, especially when he is playing as well as he has during the last few months. This man is a leader, a world class player, and kept his nerve superbly for the penalty to win the game late in the second half.
Coutinho is magic isn’t he? That little bit of skill to keep the ball and move it down the line just before the goal was sublime, and the through ball to Jose when he received the ball back showed excellent vision and technique as well. The lad has an enchanted ability to turn on the ball whilst running and bring it into his stride effortlessly; allowing him to lift his head and see what surrounds him. Reminds me of Thierry Henry the way he pulls that off. Obviously he faded second half, and it was clear we were only gunna’ get an hour out of him by half time, but he has shown plenty to be excited about in his short spell here so far.
Downing was excellent. Provided excellent levels of energy and tenacity down our right hand side and always looked like he wanted to beat his man and make something happen. Flashed an excellent cross past the 6 yard box which I think Philippe was probably fouled to prevent the young Brazillian from making contact and a simple tap in. Stewart was probably a little lucky the shot for the goal found its way between Vertonghens (was it him?)legs, but he had the guts to take it on rather than square it or shit himself like he may have done six months ago. Didn’t put him in my starting lineup as I say because I felt we would need Jordan’s influence tucked into the midfield, but I was proved well and truly wrong, and I love that. Keep up the good work Stewie, you’re beginning to show what you are really made of.
As for the front two, Suarez was his menacing self and took his goal brilliantly. I think Lloris was expecting a touch or maybe that Luis would swivel onto his right foot in order to get an effort on goal, instead Luis lifted his head, saw that the ‘keeper was in the process of setting himself and caught him out with a swift to poke into the near post. Lloris didn’t really stand much of a chance. Loved that goal as a whole after Coutinho’s part and a clever little slipped pass by Jose, very good stuff to witness. As for Sturridge, as with Lucas I thought he was well off the pace. Had one golden opportunity where Coutinho played a delicious ball with the outside of his boot and into Daniels path with Lloris rushing out late to reach him. However, Sturridges touch was far too heavy and he forced himself wide. The sort of chance Luis would adore that with the opportunity to round the goalkeeper off, that.
The game itself was interesting. Against other top sides this year we have played some excellent football at Anfield and dominated for long, long periods to little avail due to individual errors (I include referees in that )that have denied us the points we probably deserved. Today was different.
I was a little dismayed at the set up, as I alluded to earlier. With the absence of Lennon I thought it was fairly obvious that Dembele and Sigurdsson would play infield from wide areas, and that Lucas was going to have to spare a fair amount of his attention to Gareth Bale and forsake some other duties within the pressing game and whatnot. This left Gerrard almost alone in midfield at times with Lucas sticking to the roaming Bale and Parker and Livermore controlling the tempo with only Gerrard there to press and hassle them. Added to that Sigurdsson and Demble were drifting to their more natural central positions with the two full backs providing an outlet, giving our midfield duo even more issues to concern them. Lucas did a decent job of denying Bale any real space in behind him, but he was as poor in possession as I’ve ever seen him, possibly due to the fact we were outnumbered in midfield with their wide players cutting off routes to Coutinho and Downing, and Livermore and Parker patrolling the middle and allowing Gerrard or Suarez little space to receive the ball. Lucas was sloppy in possession as I say, but I think another midfield body in there would have given him the out-ball he needed and made life simpler for him.
Suarez as well, although a threat no matter where he plays, doesn’t quite give us the balance at the tip of our midfield we need, not unless we are going to pair Lucas with a more defensively able partner than Stevie to give us a solid base. With an aging Gerrard and a not yet fully fit Lucas, playing Suarez as our #10 makes us lightweight and vulnerable in midfield. Yes it worked against United second half with Gerrard and Allen at the base, but we were chasing a game United were trying to close out, which they did, and again that was after an over adventurous starting 11 which left us a mountain to climb. Against less able sides than Spurs at Anfield; teams that will just sit off and get behind the ball, then I can see the logic in dropping Suarez that bit deeper and being more ambitious with our attacking instincts to try and pick the lock, but really, against the Spurs, United’s and Chelsea’s of this world, Lucas and Gerrard need support in a midfield runner able tooffere an easy outlet and workhorse pressing ahead of them from the start if we plan on governing the game in order to get the points.
The first Spurs goal was down to three things, firstly the referee allowing Bale to enter the field during a period in play where the extra man from nowhere could and really did, benefit the visiting side. I’m not 100% sure on the rules regarding when you can allow a player to re-join the field of play and when you can’t etc, but it seems a little off to me that players can have the play stopped, and then return to the field at a vital time for their side. The second thing was Johnson, as I mentioned earlier. The third, which I didn’t notice until re watching the highlights on YouTube, was the fact that there were 5 white shirts in our penalty area and only 4 of ours. Yes Johno was at fault, but where was his support? It could have easily fallen to another Spurs man and they’d have scored, as they had two men unmarked in our 18 yard box, which is as extraordinary as it is concerning.
Their second, again from a wide area, was all a bit of a display of disarray. The ball came from a deeper position and Carragher only half won the initial header, which bounced off Agger, fell kindly to Vertonghen who rearranged his feet in a manner that Robin Van Persie would be proud of and finished superbly, assisted by Johnson tripping over a worm and ending up on his arse. Again our defending from set pieces (or wide areas in general) looked lacking, and there seems to be an absence of responsibility adopted by some key players and again it seemed to have cost us. At this point I was wondering whether we’d lose our spirit and any slight grip we had on the game, thankfully I was mistaken.
Here I am complaining when we just got our best result against a top four side this season, it’s a terrific feat to finally achieve that and from a losing position shows how far we have come. The turning point of course was the introduction of Joe Allen.
Coutinho as I say had a good game, but the balance the side lacked due to the set up was suddenly rectified by the appearance of the young Welshman. Joe came and played ahead of Lucas and Stevie, a slanted three man midfield with Lucas the deepest, Gerrard just ahead of him to the right and Allen ahead of him slightly to the left gave us the stability to control the tempo that we had been crying out for in the middle of the park. Suarez then played from the wide left position and pinned Kyle Walker back, not only stopping him from playing and providing the outlet for Spurs, but indeed leading to the mistake which played Stewart Downing in. Once that went in we turned the tide and took charge; only one side looked capable winning thereafter.
The penalty for me was pretty clear cut. A clumsy challenge on a deft player and the referee is rightly pointing to the spot. It’s not the first we could have had but it was possibly the clearest. Stevie, cummoth the hour etc etc, well done.
Overall I am delighted not just with the three points, nor the performance, but the manner in which we won. To come behind against a very good side with one of the best players in the league leading the charge is more than commendable when you consider how mentally fragile we have appeared at times when the wind blows against us. The Barca style control, tempo, and ability didn’t look there Sunday, but the United winning mentality, the fire in players eyes and bellies alike, that desire and never say die attitude, the confidence that we are still the side in the ascendency despite the score line and the pure and simple will and expectancy to win, these are massive qualities. There’s been little doubt that with the talent we have we should still be a side more than capable of challenging for the top four, and yes results have gone against us, but all too often we have beaten ourselves, missed chances and made individual errors both on the pitch and touchline, but now we have shown we are capable,we do believe in ourselves, and we are Liverpool Football Club. We will not walk alone.
