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Liverpool 0 West Brom 0 (Dec 14 2017)



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Report by
Dave Usher at Anfield
 
 
 

 

A dozen goals against Brighton and Spartak and then just one against Everton and West Brom. This team *shakes head*. Mark this down as another game we should have won and we did enough to win, but that we somehow didn’t. Also mark it down as another game where a key decision went against us too. 

 

That’s not to say that Solanke’s ‘goal’ should have stood. The point is that it could have stood, and on another day it would have. Just like on another day Everton wouldn’t have had a penalty. Fine margins. 

 

I have no complaints about the decision as the ball did go in off Solanke’s arm, albeit accidentally. Where we were unlucky is that the ref had no idea what was going on and initially gave the goal. I think maybe the linesman told him it was handball, or he just changed his mind after being harangued by a load of Baggies players. 

 

The decision was probably correct (I'd have gone mad if a team had scored against us like that) but it’s yet another call that hasn’t gone our way. We got lucky at Stoke recently but fuck me, we’ve paid for it since. If this is how it’s going to be whenever we get a dubious decision in our favour then next time I don’t fucking want it. 

 

That ref was crap. No idea who he was but that’s twice in the last three games we’ve been given the fucking work experience ref who is learning on the job. This fella got so many little decisions wrong and he did nothing to stop the relentless time wasting from Ben Foster. 

 

None of this is to blame for us not winning the game though. The performance was below par and we didn’t create as many chances as we usually do. We did still carve out a few really good ones but none were taken and it cost us two points. 

 

The team selection raised an eyebrow or two as I doubt anyone expected Salah to start after all the talk pre-game about possible hamstring concerns. Karius in goal was surprising too, but Mignolet did take a heavy challenge from Niasse on Sunday and apparently missed training on Monday. He could have played but you can tell Klopp wants to get Karius in there whenever he can. 

 

The midfield was interesting because it’s beginning to feel like any time Klopp plays a two in there instead of three, he wants to go with Can and Wijnaldum. Hendo only seems to play when there’s a three. It’s too small a sample size to form a definitive conclusion yet but it’s something to keep an eye on. We’ve had some success with that formation but not this time. 

 

The first half in particular was terrible. Just really flat and lifeless. The atmosphere was weird too. It was as though no-one could be arsed and we were all just sat there hoping to be entertained but fearing the worst. It was deathly quiet at times. The crowd were so subdued that people weren’t even moaning when the ball was passed backwards, which it was, a lot. 

 

We had one great chance in the first half that Firmino couldn’t take and another situation that could have resulted in one those electric breaks from an opposition corner. Mané cocked that one up with a poor touch. It looked like he tried to find Salah when he really just needed to control it and go himself. So that incident on Sunday when he didn’t pass has now cost us twice, basically, because it no doubt factored into that decision. 

 

At half time I expected Klopp to change the system because the 4-4-2 clearly wasn’t working. He gave it another five minutes or so before switching to what looked like 4-3-3 with Coutinho moving into a central role. It made an immediate difference as suddenly we began to create some openings. 

 

I felt as though we’d need to score quickly because eventually they’d figure out what we’d done and adjust accordingly. We had chances to do it but couldn’t take them and West Brom did indeed get to grips with it and we ran out of steam. There were a few chances, especially when Solanke and Ox came on and gave us something different, but you could just tell it wasn’t going to happen for us. 

 

It was just a disappointing night all round and few players were anywhere near their best. The ‘Fab Four’ were more like Union J than the Beatles. What was going on there? They were way below par, especially Mané. He was pretty much useless and was lucky to stay on as long as he did. Mo wasn’t bad but it just wasn’t happening for him. 

 

And that midfield. Christ. Big Emre wasn’t good but at least he was involved and put himself about. What the fuck was Gini doing? Five yard sideways and backwards passes mostly. Is Wijnaldum the Dutch word for Wilkins? Because that’s who he was playing like. Ray fucking Wilkins, aka the Crab. 

 

The 4-4-2 system is fine when the two midfielders can sit and just feed the ball to the forwards and let them run. Against deep lying teams when there’s no opportunity for the forwards to run, we need some guile and creativity in the middle of the park and in this game we had none. It was just so safe and unimaginative from those two and it was only when Coutinho went central that we got anything from that area of the pitch. 

 

It was doing my head in; the full back would make a run and be in space but neither of the midfielders had the ability or inclination to get the ball to them quickly. Can would either take three touches and then play the pass too late, or Wijnaldum would just pass it 5 yards to Can who would then take three touches and play the pass too late. Oh for an Alonso in these type of games. 

 

Overall it was a poor showing but we still should have won because we created enough clear chances to do so. In games like these you have to find a way to win and too often we don’t. It’s impossible to play well every game but we just can’t eek out wins in tight games and that’s the thing that’s killed us this season. The only 1-0 win we’ve had was against Palace. 

 

Burnley, Newcastle and Everton all ended 1-1 because we gave away a goal that was either poor, unlucky or both. That’s six points to go with the two we dropped in this game. More worrying is how we just can’t seem to build up enough momentum to force late goals in these tight games. That’s how you win these type of games, you just keep banging on the door until eventually you knock it down. 

 

Sometimes it might happen on 75 minutes, other times it could be 95. Not that we even got to play 95 because that joke of a ref only added three, but we could have played 105 and still wouldn’t have scored. 

 

It’s been a terrible week really and we’ve lost ground on everyone except Arsenal, who have matched us with two draws. We’re even below Burnley now. Fucking Burnley. That’s difficult to take but a couple of wins should correct that, and it’s a marathon not a sprint and all that. 

 

That’s the thing now, these two games are gone and it’s how we respond to them that matters. Win the next couple and we’ll be back in decent shape as there are so many games over these next few weeks that those around us will all drop points too. 

 

Star man is… shit I don’t know actually. Trent was having a good game until he had a couple of bad touches and was immediately replaced. Robertson was alright and Lovren did ok against the impressive Rondon (his ability to trap a long ball with the defender all over him is mightily impressive), but Klavan was probably our most accomplished player on the night, which says it all really. No disrespect to arl Ragnar, but if he’s our best player then there’s a very good chance we’ve struggled. 

 

Team: Karius; Alexander-Arnold (Gomez), Lovren, Klavan, Robertson; Mané (Oxlade-Chamberlain), Can, Wijnaldum (Solanke), Coutinho; Salah, Firmino:


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It feels like we're paying for Mig opening his mouth after the Stoke game, stupid boy, but you're right, it looked like we could have gone on forever and not scored. It's annoying that we have to be on blob to win. I enjoy 3-0 as much as anybody but the odd goal victory would be just as welcome.

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No we're not.

 

Yeah I assumed we were because they were 4th going into the game and we didn't win. So we're level with them on points but have a better goal difference because their games never have more than two goals in them. Whoopee do.

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We'd have been better off having an away game after the whole dodgy penalty thing against the bitters. Playing at home against a Pardew side was always going to be a bit shit, especially when it looked like certain players were either sulking or just not arsed about busting a gut. I fully expect us to play a lot better in our next wo games which are away to teams who will not be parking the bus. 

 

You can't win them all, and at least we are not losing these games. Points will be dropped, so who gives a fuck where those points are dropped, as long as you make up for it in games where getting all 3 points is a bonus. We are still in the mix. 

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The crowd was freaking at Karius about 20 minutes in because he wasn’t throwing the ball out quickly enough, even though there was nobody to throw it to. Must be a wonderful atmosphere in which to play.

 

I wish people could just go to the game and actually support the team for 90 minutes. It would help a lot in these matches against teams who park two banks of 5 on the edge of their box.

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The crowd was freaking at Karius about 20 minutes in because he wasn’t throwing the ball out quickly enough, even though there was nobody to throw it to. Must be a wonderful atmosphere in which to play.

 

I wish people could just go to the game and actually support the team for 90 minutes. It would help a lot in these matches against teams who park two banks of 5 on the edge of their box.

 

You missed the 'get it fucking forward' scream in the second half - so that Salah could try and win a header against the 6'4 defender. 

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The crowd was freaking at Karius about 20 minutes in because he wasn’t throwing the ball out quickly enough, even though there was nobody to throw it to. Must be a wonderful atmosphere in which to play.

 

I wish people could just go to the game and actually support the team for 90 minutes. It would help a lot in these matches against teams who park two banks of 5 on the edge of their box.

This. And he ended up panicking under the pressure, and throwing it to Can on the edge of the box, us losing the ball and Hal Robson-Kuntface clipping the bar.

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I wish people could just go to the game and actually support the team for 90 minutes. It would help a lot in these matches against teams who park two banks of 5 on the edge of their box.

And I wish our players could find ways to break down two banks of five because it's costing us. Dearly.

 

Dont get me wrong, there's a massive tension between supporting the team and having high expectations.

 

Ever since I first went to Anfield as a kid, I was shocked by the abuse directed at some of our players by many of our fans. Some players presumably use criticism to get fired up, others run and hide. Maybe some just drive home crying in their Lambos and Ferraris.

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I think Dave has mentioned it before, but we need to be a bit cuter in games like this when the opposition sit deep. Draw a few fouls on the edge of the area to give Coutinho a chance from the dead ball or run into traffic in the area so you can go over a trailing leg. A bit snide, yes, but other teams (especially Spurs in recent seasons) seem to have no problem doing this when it's just not happening from open play.

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I think Dave has mentioned it before, but we need to be a bit cuter in games like this when the opposition sit deep. Draw a few fouls on the edge of the area to give Coutinho a chance from the dead ball or run into traffic in the area so you can go over a trailing leg. A bit snide, yes, but other teams (especially Spurs in recent seasons) seem to have no problem doing this when it's just not happening from open play.

Agreed but we only have one midfielder happy to run at the defence. Apart from Coutinho they all want to pass all day.

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