Report by
Dave Usher
No-one can say it hasn’t been coming. It took longer than expected but someone was always going to be on the wrong end of a massive hiding from us. It’s just a pity it didn’t happen at Newcastle or last weekend against Mourinho’s Munsters. Still, hopefully now we can get back on track and relax a bit more in front goal. This was a phenomenal performance.
It’s easy to play this down and belittle the quality of the opponent but I’m not having that at all. Maribor aren’t great but they’re in the Champions League so they aren’t complete mugs either. If they were so bad then how come this doesn’t happen to them all the time? In their last four home games in the CL no-one had scored more than one against them. They’d never conceded more than four at home in Europe so for us to do this to them is impressive and there’s no caveat attached to it.
This wasn’t about Maribor being shite, it was about us being great. We'd have beaten almost anybody playing like this. Not 7-0 of course, but very few teams could have lived with us on this form. This was the team we were watching in August, before they inexplicably forgot how to put the ball in the net.
It helps when you score in the first few minutes of course. That started the ball rolling and for the rest of the first half it looked like we would score any time we attacked. They had no answer to Salah who caused havoc. Coutinho had his own way the entire game, he was absolutely imperious and they couldn’t get anywhere near him. Firmino enjoyed himself too, he needed this game.
Mo put the first on a plate for Firmino when he took advantage of the kind of situation he’s had a few times but has usually been unable to pick the right pass. This time he did and Firmino had a tap in. Nice for him to get back among the goals, as whenever the team isn’t scoring he’ll be the first one people look at as he’s the number nine.
He’s not going to get 30 a season and he needs others to be scoring to keep the heat off him. This game was the classic example of why Klopp loves him leading the line though. When it works like this, we don’t need a Lukaku or Kane. It’s all those other games where it’s a problem. I mean, scoring seven against Maribor is great, but only taking one chance against Spartak could have been very problematic if the group wasn’t so piss easy.
The roles were reversed soon after as Firmino played Salah in and he finished nicely. In between those, Coutinho had also found the net when he finished off a brilliant length of the field move that he’d started. That was all inside the first 15 minutes or so and it was surprising that we only got one more before the break.
It could have been four or five more as we sliced through them at will. Salah is being credited with the fourth goal, presumably on the basis that his celebration was more convincing than Firmino’s, as they both kicked the ball at the same time and I don’t know how you can credit one or the other for it.
I liked how we started the second half, as it would have been easy to just take the foot off the accelerator and conserve energy, but we went right back at them and quickly made it 5-0 when Firmino cleverly glanced in a Coutinho free-kick.
Klopp took the opportunity to give Mo a rest and get Chamberlain some minutes. Double win there, as AOC took advantage of the opportunity with a lively display capped by a well taken goal to make it 6-0. Good for him. I’ll refer back to what I wrote after United last weekend:
“I’ve got doubts about him like we all have, but I’m rooting for him to prove us all wrong and make the kind of impact we need him to. He’s getting all kinds of flak, but this lad turned down more money at Arsenal and rejected a move to the Champions to come here. Let’s try to suspend our disbelief for a little while and see what he can do, as he deserves a chance”.
I really want him to do well and this goal obviously helps, as it should allow him to relax a bit and keep his critics quiet for a little while. The door is open for him now with Mané being out, so let’s hope he can make a contribution.
Sturridge did well to set him up too, it’s probably the one part of his game that has improved in the last couple of years. He’s not the greedy bastard he once was and quite often you’ll see him playing in team-mates now.
Trent put the cheery on top with a deflected shot to make it 7-0. He was impressive down the right and Moreno had another eye catching performance on the other side. Neither of them had any defending too though, it was the kind of game attacking full backs must dream about.
I thought Klopp’s comments afterwards were interesting, how he absolutely gushed about the “counter press” and said he wanted to celebrate that more than the actual goals.
It was noticeable how Maribor couldn’t get out of their own half and as soon as we lost the ball we seemed to win it back immediately. Emre Can was like a man against boys out there. Big Sexy was just shrugging people off the ball all night and they just couldn’t live with his strength.
The best player on the pitch though was Milner. He was everywhere and he kept going right to the last, shouting instructions at team-mates and making sure there was no let up in our play without the ball. I love Milner, it pisses me off that he’s been marginalised this season as I feel like the team needs what he brings to the table.
He should be playing more often, either at full back or in the midfield three. I’d lean towards giving him Wijnaldum’s spot at the moment as he’s not doing enough. He’s not playing badly, but right now he’s the weakest of the front six and the most vulnerable to losing his place. Personally I’d start Milner at Spurs, but I don't think Klopp will.
The win puts us in pole position to win the group now, as we should take care of these at Anfield without too much difficulty. It won’t be 7-0 again as they’ll come here and play with a back nine I reckon. As long as we don’t lose to both Spartak and Sevilla we should go through, and if we win either we’ll top the group.
Time will tell if this result kick starts our season again or not, but I do feel as though the run we’ve been on should now come to an end and we can start picking up wins again. We’re not going to score seven every week, but two or three isn’t too much to ask considering how many chances we create.
Spurs at Wembley this weekend should be a good one as it always is when we play them. I’d take a draw if it was offered to me now, but it wouldn’t shock me if we won it fairly convincingly. To be honest, I’m more worried about Huddersfield the week after.
Team: Karius; Alexander-Arnold; Matip, Lovren, Moreno; Can, Wijnaldum (Solanke), Milner; Salah (Oxlade-Chamberlain), Firmino, Coutinho:
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