Report by
Dave Usher
Not the worst point in the world, but it should have been three. Not because we deserved to win, but because any time you avoid defeat with Adam Bogdan in goal it should be worth three points at the very least. It was a typical end of season game and neither side did enough to win it. The most memorable thing about the entire day was the magnificent gesture made by West Brom for the 96. Fantastic stuff that.
As expected, Klopp made eleven changes from the Chelsea game, and what that does is pretty much confirm what the starting eleven is going to be on Wednesday night. Joe Allen was the only one who really had a shot at making the team for the final, but his inclusion for this game put paid to whatever hopes he may have had of that. It might explain his crap performance too. He’s been class for months but he wasn’t himself at all in this game, and was outplayed by both Cam Brannagan and Kev Stewart.
It was his mistake that led to the West Brom goal. He gave the ball away cheaply and then made a poor attempt at a tackle to win it back. The West Brom kid Leko did well to be fair, he looks a good player him, but there’s no way Rondon’s shot should have beaten Bogdan so easily. He’s shite though. We’ve had some bad back up keepers down the years but he’s right up there. Danny Ward couldn’t have got injured at a worse time for him personally.
The goal was a pity as we’d started quite brightly. Ibe was positive early on and Smith was getting forward well. Brannagan went close with a nice run followed by a weak shot that was too close to the keeper.
We didn’t trail for too long as Ibe equalised with a brilliant solo effort. That’s exactly the type of thing I expected to see from him when he first broke into the first team. He’s capable of it, we’ve seen it in flashes, but this was his first Premier League goal, and it’s taken 41 appearances for him to get there. That’s fucking appalling. I had no idea his record was that bad, probably because he’s bagged a few in the cups. That’s proper shit though. I mean, it’s Jesus Navas levels of shit.
He’s only young and therefore should get better, but this season has been one massive backwards step for him, especially after Sterling’s departure had opened the door for him. Even in this game, after his goal he just completely vanished. I don’t know what’s going to happen with him, because he’s just not getting it done.
Ojo’s arrow is pointed in the opposite direction, but he was shite against West Brom. He saw a lot of the ball and always looks supremely confident and assured on the ball, but he just kept losing it. This was probably his worst game for us so far.
Brannagan was good though. I like him, he’s a nice little footballer. Good feet, great energy, he’s what Brendan would call “a wonderful technician”. Aside from Lucas I’d say he was our best player.
Lucas was class. There are a few players in this team who might have been playing their last game for the club, and Lucas might be one of them. I hope not, I’d happily keep him around as a squad player as he’s shown this season he’s a very good back up centre half as well as midfield player. That might not be enough for him though, and if he wants to leave to be first choice somewhere then no-one can begrudge him that.
Skrtel is probably gone, and I don’t see too many tears being shed if that’s the case. If this was his last game for the club then at least he went out with a decent performance. He’s had some good seasons for us and some bad ones. This was a bad one.
West Brom were the more dangerous side in the second half but it was only really set-pieces that caused any real problems for us. Rondon hit the post with a flicked header from a free-kick and we had a few difficulties with corners, but generally there wasn’t much in the game at all.
Allen and Ibe were replaced by Hendo and Ings. That probably puts Hendo on the bench in Basel, while it was a nice reward for Ings to be back on the pitch before the end of the season. It was a little worrying that there was no Origi, but he was back at Melwood training with the first team so maybe that means he’s fine for Wednesday too?
Ings looked quite lively and was running around everywhere trying to get involved. Sergio Canos got on for the final ten minutes too, replacing Ojo. He wasn’t involved much but looked confident.
The best chance we had in the half came right near the end when Benteke got in down the right but instead of crossing to an unmarked Henderson, he got caught in two minds and ended up just running straight at the last defender and losing the ball.
I was leaning towards thinking I’d be happy for Benteke to stay as part of the squad and provide us with a different option. He spoke this week of wanting to fight for his place and that he didn’t come here for one season only. Good for him, and I was thinking he’d be worth keeping around if he was happy to accept not being a guaranteed starter. Now though?
He’s done some good things this season and chipped in with a few goals recently, but that dismal counter attack basically undid all of it. He’s a good player, he’ll score plenty of goals in the right set up, but we need someone who isn’t going to miss every one on one with the keeper he has and who doesn’t completely shit himself in that kind of situation.
It wasn’t an important game and it matters little that we didn’t win it, but that one incident just made me sad. I like Benteke, he seems like a really good lad and although at times this season he’s pissed me off, overall I still have a lot of time for him and think he’s a quality striker. But there’s just been too many of those situations. It wouldn’t matter so much if we let him do the things he’s good at, but the poor bastard doesn’t get any kind of aerial service at all.
We have loads of crossing opportunities and almost always ignore them. West Ham are one of the teams meant to be in for him, and you could see him tearing it up there because they just sling loads of crosses in and they won’t judge him on his limitations when he’s running through on goal. I can’t see any way he isn’t moved on now, but he may yet still have an important part to play on Wednesday night.
Had we won this game we’d have finished 7th, but it’s difficult to care about whether it’s 6th, 7th or 8th really. Those are the positions we’ve occupied in all but one of the last seven seasons and it’s shite. Hopefully this is the last time that happens for a while and from next year onwards we will be back challenging at the top.
In the meantime we’ve got a cup to win.
Team: Bogdan; Flanagan, Skrtel, Lucas, Smith; Stewart, Brannagan, Allen (Henderson); Ibe (Ings), Benteke, Ojo (Canos):
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