I really hoped this kind of spineless collapse was behind us and that we were made of sterner stuff now. Guess I was wrong. Dress it up however you like, call it a blip, blame the keeper if it makes it easier to stomach the result, but when you concede four goals in one half to Bournemouth.. fucking BOURNEMOUTH…. it points to something more underlying, especially as it's not like we haven't seen this kind of capitulation before.
We didn’t lose this because of the keeper. It wasn’t because of Lovren turning back the clock to two years ago either. It wasn’t because the midfield didn’t provide enough protection for the defence and it wasn’t because we didn’t have Coutinho or Matip. All of that played a part, but the reason this got away from us was because the players simply stopped doing the things that had put them in such a commanding position and that allowed Bournemouth to find hope where there had previously been only hopelessness.
Bournemouth were dead and buried, but then we not only dug up their corpse and gave it the kiss of life, we jumped in the empty grave and covered ourselves with soil. It was fucking ridiculous. A mate said when it was 2-0 that he didn’t think it was over, but that “the only team that can beat us is ourselves”. Turns out that was bang on the money. Bournemouth didn’t beat us, we did that for them. Credit to them for not giving up I suppose, but like I said, we basically picked them off the floor, dusted them down, stuck our chin out and begged them to stick one on us.
It’s hard to comprehend how this could happen given the high stakes involved. We're in a title race and every point is vital. We started off like we meant business and for the opening 35 minutes or so this was complete and utter dominance. I was sitting there thinking “we’re fucking boss, aren’t we?”. The problem was, it looked like the players were thinking that too. Bournemouth had no chance of getting anything from the game and they were so overmatched I was actually feeling sorry for them, more fool me.
It might have looked easy for us in the first half, but it was because we made it that way with how we played. It was just like the Southampton and Sunderland games. Neither of them could lay a glove on us and Bournemouth were finding it just as tough to get near us. At times in recent weeks there's been shades of Barcelona about how we've been completely dominating possession and strangling the opposition, but you have to work to have that sort of dominance.
Against Bournemouth we looked as though we could score any time we wanted. Origi missed an absolute sitter when he wouldn’t use his left foot and shamefully went with his right and missed from a few yards out following a killer cross from the impressive Clyne. It didn’t matter, because soon after Mané put us in front with a deft finish after running in behind Ake and showing great pace and strength to get goal-side. Nice ball by Can too, and that was a ploy that worked well for us as we mixed up our game and played some good early balls in behind for the pace of Mané and Origi.
That’s how the second goal came too. Henderson played a ball down the inside right channel and Boruc foolishly decided to come out for it. Origi’s pace got him there first but with the angle narrowing and a defender getting back towards goal it didn’t look like much of a chance. The finish from Origi was stunning though, the biggest “wow” moment since Mané hit that amazing goal at the Emirates.
At that stage I was thinking this would be a good opportunity to boost the goal difference as when we play like that we’re virtually unbeatable. The problem is when we slow down and play like a ‘normal’ team, we’re bang average and vulnerable. I don't know if we can play at a high intensity for 90 minutes every week, but I do know that what happened here was nothing to do with tiredness/running out of steam and everything to do with thinking the game was over.
You could visibly see it happening, the drop in tempo, the complacency setting in, Bournemouth suddenly being able to find space and put a few passes together where previously they couldn't even get out of their own half. It started happening in the ten minutes before half time and the warning signs were all there. Klopp saw the same thing I did as he even said afterwards he wasn’t happy with how we ended the first half, but nothing he said at half time made a difference as they came out flat, lifeless and seemingly happy to just let the game meander along at 2-0.
All that does is give hope to the opposition, especially when you then gift them a penalty. They thought they should have had one in the first half when Ake went over Firmino’s knee. On first viewing I thought it was a stonewall pen and couldn’t believe we’d got away with it. After seeing the replay I knew why Bobby Madley didn’t give it. Firmino pulled out of the challenge and Ake was looking for it and initiated contact before hurling himself to the floor. Great decision, but he probably should have booked the little Chelsea prick.
Klopp wasn’t happy with the penalty that was awarded, but I don’t know why as there was no doubt about that one for me. Milner didn’t look like he got anything on the ball, but even if he did the direction the ball went made it look as though the forward had played the ball and then been tripped. There can be no complaint with that, but the blame doesn’t lie just with Milner as it was Lovren’s sloppy header that caused the initial problem.
We actually responded well to that setback and it seemed like it was the kick up the arse we needed. Within no time we had our two goal cushion back after Can (star man for me) curled one into the top corner from 18 yards. That should have been the platform for us to go on and win comfortably, and if Milner’s corner had travelled another inch over the line we probably would have.
I’ve written several times before that I fucking hate that “whole of the ball has to cross the line” bullshit rule. It never applies to throw ins and corners etc, if most of the ball is over then it’s always given as being out of play and so it should. If more the half of it has crossed the line, that should be enough. It’s farcical that a ball that’s so far over the line is not considered a goal, but that’s the rule, stupid as it is.
That was a little unlucky, but what happened after that was just appalling though. That nomark Scottish kid (I don't even know his name and can't be arsed looking it up as I doubt we'll ever see him again anyway) who came on ran us ragged. Not because he’s any good (he’s on Bournemouth’s bench and none of us had ever heard of him before this, so how good can he be?), but because all it took was a bit of pace and effort to unsettle us and make our defence look like frightened rabbits.
It’s easy to blame the centre backs and keeper but even though they stunk they weren’t the problem, it was a total collective collapse. It reminded me of the Europa League Final. Utter, abject, capitulation on a grand scale. We were crap both with and without the ball in the second half and Bournemouth players were finding space all over the park. That’s not the fault of the keeper or centre backs, it’s the entire team not doing it’s job.
When they get to the penalty area that’s when the defence and keeper need to do their jobs, and they were found wanting, particularly Karius. He did make one brilliant save but he should have done better on two of their goals (the second and fourth). I’m not saying he won’t come good and prove himself to be a top keeper, and I desperately hope he does, but right now I think he’s a liability (Bournemouth’s captain even admitted they targeted him as the weak link) and I hate his fucking pretty face and boyband haircut.
Give me Simple Simon and his boxer’s nose any day. At least he looks like a keeper and not a fucking catalogue model, strutting about in tights and posting pictures of himself getting his hair done. All that shit is fine when you can back it up with performances, but if you aren't delivering on the pitch then don't draw that kind of attention to yourself, as it just gives miserable old knobheads like me a big fuck off stick to beat you with.
It could easily have been different if Origi’s snapshot on the turn had been a few inches lower when it was still 3-3, but when you live by the sword you sometimes die by it too, and we’ve had too many of these roller coaster games. Norwich last season springs to mind, but this time we were on the wrong end of the last second heartbreaker.
I don’t blame anyone who over reacts to it, as it all goes back to the trust issue. It took me a while to trust them again and while it’s tempting to just throw a tantrum and say “fuck these losers, they still can’t be trusted”, I’m not going to. Not yet anyway. A defeat was coming, we’ve been on such a good run but eventually we were always going to lose a game, it’s the way we lost that’s so frustrating and difficult to accept.
I’m going to try and just forget about it though. I mean, what choice is there? I was like a bear with a sore head after Burnley. I wanted to slap the piss out of the whole team and it took a while to forgive them for that one. That turned out ok in the end though, they bounced back from it and proved their mettle.
This one is a little different as the Burnley game was something of a freak occurrence where the the players could convince themselves they were just a bit unlucky. This one is more worrying because it was a complete choke job and because of that it may have more far reaching consequences. That’s up to the players and how they react though.
It’s all well and good walloping the likes of Hull and Watford when things are going well, but it’s how you react to adversity that really counts. Rocky Balboa summed it up best: “It ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done.”
This game is gone now. It was ugly, it was embarrassing, it was irresponsible, but it happened and it’s gone. We can’t change it, like Rocky said, the only thing we can do is keep moving forward, starting by twatting West Ham next week and then going on another winning run. If the players do that and learn from this, then it might actually be a game we look back on and say it did us some good.
If they don’t and they let this kind of debacle happen again, well they’ll deserve every bit of shit that’s thrown in their direction.
Team: Karius; Clyne, Lucas, Lovren, Milner; Henderson, Can, Wijnaldum; Mané (Lallana), Origi, Firmino:
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