Report by
Dave Usher at Anfield
Just like they’d never been away. The Reds picked up where they left off last season and recorded another routine home win. Anfield is definitely a fortress again, although I feel like we could play on the moon and still batter anyone these days.
West Ham looked terrible but most teams tend to look that way when they play us. I never had any doubt that we’d win this game and win it handily. I was thinking 5-0 beforehand so I wasn’t far off with that. It may seem like over confidence, but it’s not. It’s just realism.
I saw loads who were nervous beforehand, worried that there’s be a letdown after all the pre-season optimism. I get that, to a degree. It’s a natural reaction to much of what we’ve experienced over the last 30 years. It’s not really relevant to what’s happening right now though. Look how many games we win by three, four, five goals. It’s what this team does. Not every week of course, but enough to justify the confidence many of us had going into this game.
This was easy. At least that’s how the lads made it look. It was second gear for most of the game and any time we hit third it usually ended with a goal. We never reached fourth. There’s still so much more to come from this team when it’s required, but when you can routinely reel off wins like this it’s a great sign. We had plenty of these last season too, it’s those frustrating draws that cost us.
It feels like we’re better equipped to prevent those mishaps this year though. The team has been together a while now and we’ve added more quality. If we’re still being held to draws by fucking Newcastle and shite like that this season then we’re never going to solve the problem, but I’m not unduly concerned about it right now. Everything is in place for us to run fucking wild this season.
It would help if all of our opposition were coached by Manuel Pellegrini. I know he’s got a good reputation and a decent CV, but I didn’t think he was much cop at City as no matter how good they were we always had his number tactically. He’s massively over-rated and he won’t do much better at West Ham than Moyes did.
I could tell inside of ten minutes of this one it was going to be easy. We had an attack and then all of a sudden the entire West Ham defensive line stopped as one on the edge of the box and caught us offside. Then it happened again a minute later. What the fuck is this shit?
That’s when it came back to me. This is how Pellegrini’s City used to play all the time, and I always thought it was risky even then. Now he’s doing it with lesser players and he’d only had a few weeks to implement it. I turned to my dad and said “As soon as our lads figure out what they’re doing we’re going to take these apart”.
West Ham can complain about not getting offside calls all they like (only one goal was offside and that was a really tough call for the linesman to make), but if you defend like that and put your fate in the hands of a linesman you deserve all you get. It’s suicide to play like that against skilful, quick, clever players. And our team is fucking ram packed with them.
The only surprise was it took so long for us to break the deadlock. We looked razor sharp and were swarming all over them. Fabianksi was in good form though and made a flying stop to keep out a curling free-kick from Trent. I love that he’s got seniority on set-pieces now, it’s great. He’ll score a couple this year I’m fairly confident about that.
We were threatening to cut them open every time we went forward, but just couldn’t quite put it together. One brilliant move looked like it would end in a goal for Firmino, but Antonio diligently got back in to nick it off Bobby’s toes just as he was about to shoot. Would have been some goal that.
The breakthrough was always going to come though, and when it did it was worth waiting for. Great team goal, but the best part of it was something has probably hardly even been mentioned. Such a small thing, but it was the key to the whole move.
When Naby was driving forward he saw Robertson in space on the left. Most players would have released it early into his feet, but Naby delayed for a split second and allowed the whole thing to open up before rolling it behind the right back for Robbo to run onto and hit a first time cross that Mo converted at the back post.
If Keita plays the standard pass that most would have done, Robbo has to take a touch and then attempt his cross. We might still have scored but the odds would have lengthened considerably. Little things like this can be the difference in those tight games against ‘park the bus’ teams. Naby’s timing of pass was excellent, especially in the first half. The forwards are going to love playing with him.
The front three themselves all looked sharp and there’s no reason to think they can’t repeat what they did last year. 90 goals is a tall order but why not? They’ve got a better supporting cast this year and they’re all still yet to hit their prime. The individual numbers might be different this time and it could be Mané going over 30 and Mo coming back a little.
They’re all going to get big totals though and depending on how much time he gets off the bench and with the odd start, Sturridge should be in double figures too based on how he’s looked these past few weeks.
Mo thought he’d added a second after another great team move but his close range snap shot hit Fabianski in the chest. Again, what a goal that would have been. Just great to watch and impossible to stop.
Mané opened his account for the season with a tap in at the Kop end after brilliant work by Milner. He timed his run perfectly to beat the West Ham offside trap and then showed great technique to stretch and cut the ball back into the box for Sadio.
West Ham wanted offside, and Mané was a mile off when the initial cross came in but that’s not how offside works any more. It’s a shit rule and I’d change it if I could, but if West Ham have a problem they can blame their new manager and his daft “hold the 18 yard line” policy.
Look at where all the defenders are when Sadio taps in. There’s no-one anywhere near him, other than Bobby who was just standing around three yards out. Keita was closer to Mané than any of the West Ham defenders too.
That was seconds before half time and it was just what we needed. We’d been well on top but a one goal lead is nothing. All it takes is one lapse and we almost had that when the otherwise flawless Gomez allowed a ball to go over him into the path of Arnautovic. His first touch was brilliant, his second was just as good, but Gomez got back to get a partial block on the shot to take it wide.
That was it really in terms of West Ham chances. Actually wait, there was another when Anthony Taylor decided that just giving decisions against us wasn’t enough and instead decided to intercept a pass from Wijnaldum and set West Ham on the attack. Thankfully Arnautovic didn’t connect properly with his shot and it drifted harmlessly wide.
Alisson had a very straightforward debut all things considered. A few little bits and pieces to do here and there but nothing too testing. He'll have much more difficult games than where he can prove what he can do.
Taylor can fuck right off though the baldy manc bastard. He booked Trent for absolutely nothing early on, and that knocked the youngster out of his stride a bit for a good 15 minutes or so. His crossing went to shit and he looked edgy and unwilling to get too close to the cheating fuck who got him booked. After one ridiculously wayward cross, Kloppo pulled him aside and had a quiet word and he settled down again then.
If we never see Taylor again this season it will still be too soon. Mancs should never get to referee Liverpool games.
Thankfully his linesman didn’t have it in for us as much and he generously allowed the third goal to stand even though Mané was offside when he swivelled on Bobby’s pass and fired home from 12 yards. In fairness, Anderson had drifted back in while tracking a runner and he was moving one way as Sadio came back out in the opposite direction. When the ball was played, Mané was offside, but when he received it he wasn’t, and that was an incredibly difficult one for the linesman.
Again though, if you play with fire then you’ll get burned. West Ham were asking for trouble all day, and trouble is what they got.
We eased off considerably at 3-0 and Klopp sensibly took the opportunity to make some changes. Somewhat surprisingly the first one was Hendo for Bobby, meaning Mo went central and Keita went into the front three.
Hendo looked like a man possessed when he came on. He was chasing around like a dog with two dicks. Jack Wilshere is probably taking a restraining order out against him, because Hendo harassed the shit out of him. Any time Wilshere got the ball Hendo just fucking charged at him, it was boss.
I love Hendo, I’m a big supporter of him and it bothers me how he still has so many questioning his quality. Not sure what he has to do to win them over. Had circumstances not conspired against us he might have lifted the European Cup last season, maybe then that would have silenced all his critics.
I’m expecting him to have a great season because he’ll need to if he’s going to get in the team. He didn’t want to go on holiday after the World Cup and I can imagine how unsettled he’ll have been the whole time, knowing that all the other midfield lads were in training, trying to catch the manager’s eye. It must have done his head in, as that’s the type of lad he is.
Midfield is the most intriguing area of the team right now. I don’t think as a group they got the credit they deserved last season, especially given how depleted they were in the last couple of months, but the competition for places in there now is fucking ferocious.
I’ve seen loads of people picking their first choice team and having Fabinho in there. Based on what? Hopefully he’s going to be fucking boss, but he has to play his way in. Keita is a little different in that he has very little adapting to do as he looks like he was born to play in a Klopp midfield.
The arrival of the two new boys has intensified the competition though and for anyone to get in, and stay in, this team they’re going to have to play at an extremely high level. Both Wijnaldum and Milner would struggle to get in a lot of fans best elevens as they’re not the sexy option.
Yet both were brilliant against West Ham and in this form they’re undroppable. Gini always looks great in the number six role to be fair, which is bad news for Fabinho as he isn’t just competing with Hendo for that spot.
Milner was the best player on the park by some distance. He was just fucking brilliant. It’s almost impossible to talk about him without mentioning work rate and professionalism, but it does him a real disservice as there’s so much more to his game.
Yes he’s a great pro and we all know he runs more than anybody else, but his technical ability and intelligence are often overlooked because of that. This was a complete midfield performance from him and he looks to be getting better with age. He ran this game from start to finish, everyone was dancing to his tune.
His passing was great, his movement was terrific, he tackled, he pressed and some of his crossing was out of this world. The amount of games we’ll have means that we’ll see a lot of rotation, but when it really matters my midfield is Milner, Keita and one more. Probably Hendo but I have no qualms whatsoever about Gini in the holding role.
The rest all have a real job on their hands forcing their way in, but that can only be a good thing for Klopp and for us.
Look at the bench for this game. When did we last have a bench that strong? Lallana and Fabinho couldn’t even get on. Shaqiri and Sturridge did, although Sturridge was made to wait.
86 minutes? He deserved more than that after what he did in pre-season, but as it turned out it didn’t matter as he scored after about ten seconds. Made up for him, he could be a vital weapon for us this year. Having his quality coming off the bench, or occasionally spelling Bobby when the fixtures start to come thick and fast, it makes a big difference.
Seeing the wriggly arms dance again was great. After the way last season went it seemed unlikely he'd ever get to do that again, but my gut feeling is we're going to see a fair bit of it this year.
Final word is on West Ham's fans. Bad Tory whoppers going through the full anti-scouse repertoire. That wasn't even the worst of it. Did anyone else get onto the big flag they had about "winning the World Cup"?? Sad bastards, that's Evertonian-like in it's cringe factor.
Would love them to go down but unfortunately there's just too much shite in the league this year and there's no way West Ham will be bottom three. We can but hope though.
As for us, it's clear that we're the only ones with any chance of giving City a run for their money. It's hard to make any predictions because there are so many variables involved, but all I will say is that right now I believe the only thing that can stop us is injuries. If we get a bit of luck on that front and don't lose any key players, we'll take some stopping irrespective of how City play.
Next week is a big test though. Palace have a style that is awkward for us. They'll defend deep but unlike most teams who do that they actually know how to counter attack and they have plenty of pace. Selhurst isn't a happy hunting ground for us and it's under the lights too, so it's a tough one.
I can't fucking wait though, roll on next Monday.
Team: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson; Wijnaldum, Keita, Milner; Salah (Sturridge), Firmino (Henderson), Mané (Shaqiri):
Recommended Comments