That was a lot like the Sion game only a little bit worse because we were playing against ten men. Clearly it’s going to be a lot easier to implement the pressing game than it will be to get us scoring again. I don’t necessarily agree with Klopp’s take that “98% of this was ok” because I’d say that putting the ball in the net counts for more than 2% of a performance, but his overall point is fair.
A lot of what we did in the game was fine, but when you’re not finishing moves off either with a killer final ball or a shot on target then it’s easy to dismiss any other good stuff that is happening. Some of the approach play was good and I did feel like we played with more urgency than we had been under Rodgers, but the play in the final third wasn’t really good enough.
It’s been a problem for years really, when teams sit back on us and want to just defend, we have massive issues breaking them down. Klopp’s not going to just solve that in a week, so this shouldn’t really be too much of a surprise.
I’d say that there are mitigating circumstances for this one though, not least that Divock Origi just isn’t really up to the job at the moment. He might go on to be a really good player who “we can have a lot of fun with” but the drop off from Sturridge and Benteke to him is just too big right now.
The other issue is Coutinho. He’s not himself at all and hasn’t been for most of the season and given that he’s our most creative outlet then obviously that’s going to have an impact. We looked better when Benteke was on the pitch and we all know how much of a difference Sturridge makes on the rare occasions he decides to grace us with his presence, so there are reasons to be optimistic that the goals will start to come again.
The balance of the side looked quite good to me and they had very little trouble working the ball around up tot he edge of the box, but when you don’t have a genuine goal threat as your main striker then it impacts everything else. Some of the approach play was actually very good, especially on the right flank where Clyne was bombing forward and linking well with Milner and Lallana.
It wasn’t translating into clear chances though and then we fell behind against the run of play. Good goal to be fair, we should have dealt with it a bit better as Skrtel played them onside and Clyne got wrong side, but the lad finished it really well. Minor details though, shit happens.
It was weird, the goal was greeted with complete silence and I don’t think they had any fans in the stadium. I can’t ever remember that before, you could have heard a pin drop.
We were huffing and puffing a lot but not really creating much and then in the space of a few seconds the game changed completely. First Can made a surging run that was halted by a somewhat cynical foul by their right back. He’d already been booked, so off he popped.
From the free-kick the ball was nodded to the back post and Can finished from close range. Great, we’re back in business we all thought. The problem was that them being reduced to ten men meant they completely stopped attacking and went into full on defence mode.
Now I’m fairly new to all this “gegenpressing” stuff, but isn’t the premise of it to try and win the ball high up the pitch and press the other team’s counter attack before it starts? How can you do that when they aren’t passing it around in their own half and they are making no attempt to counter attack? The answer is you can’t.
Which meant we were back to playing “attack versus defence” and we’re never particularly good at that are we? The 2nd half was better than the 1st, especially after Benteke replaced the disappointing Coutinho, but it's always a struggle when teams do this to us.
Benteke could have had a hat-trick and he certainly made a difference. He volleyed one over from a great cross by Clyne, he had another one get stuck under his feet and also put a snap shot over the bar. The closest he came was with an excellent first time shot that came back off the post.
We looked a hell of a lot more threatening with him on the field though, so it’s going to be fascinating to see how this all plays out with him, Sturridge and Firmino over the next few weeks. Who will Klopp go for? Right now I’d say it’s anyone’s guess.
The rest of the side seems fairly settled though. The goalkeeper and back four pick themselves, so does the midfield three (at least until Hendo comes back into contention), and right now Lallana deserves his place too. I thought along with Sakho he was easily our best player. He was the one creative spark we had and this was one of his best performances for the club. He’s settled to life under Klopp as well as anyone so far.
It’s disappointing not to win because we all wanted Klopp to come in, wave a magic wand and get us winning games immediately. That hasn’t happened, but we haven’t lost any yet either so there’s that. We should be beating Kazan as they’re shite and they had ten men for the whole second half, but this group we’re in is so shit that one win in the next three games will probably be enough for us to go through, so the damage done is fairly minimal.
I feel like we’ll win on Sunday because we’ll finally have some frontline strikers available. Had Sturridge played against Kazan we’d have won easily and after Benteke came on he had chances to win it, so I’m looking forward to seeing what we do against Southampton, regardless of whether Sturridge decides he’s ready to return or not.
Star man was Sakho, but what the fuck was that shouting any time he got the ball in the opposition half? I thought people were shouting “shoot” but a mate who was on the Kop said it was “beast”. Either way it’s shit, embarrassing and needs to stop. Who the fuck are we, Barnsley or someone?
Klopp was hoping for a special atmosphere. It wasn’t that, not by a long way, but it was better than it has been. I wonder if the days of “special atmospheres” are gone for good now though, as it’s just all pretty shit these days. When was the last time anyone came up with an original song for example?
Remember when we had songs for all of the players? They were usually different songs for each one too. Who from the current team has a chant? Coutinho & Lucas have original ones and Sturridge has one that’s just a remix of the old Paddy Berger. Aside from them?
Oh yeah, Emre Can has one to the “here we go” tune, which I like actually. It was good enough for Ian Rush and Steve McMahon. Most of them don’t have one, and mock me all you like but it’s a fucking crime that Lallana doesn’t have his name sung to Kylie’s “can’t get you out of my head”. I mean how fucking obvious is that, and yet on the odd occasion he gets recognition it’s “Adam La-ll-ana” *clap clap clap clap clap. A little piece of me dies every time I hear that.
There’s no originality anymore is there? Klopp is used to Dortmund, and for all the mystique and aura about Anfield, let’s not kid ourselves, there’s absolutely no comparison with the Westfalonstadion.
Still, at least the crowd stayed with the team and didn’t get too frustrated even though once again we couldn’t put away a shite team we had on the ropes. The players are putting in a shift and the days of pass pass pass in our own half are gone, so at least we’ve got something to try and get behind now.
Roll on Sunday then!
Team: Mignolet; Clyne, Skrtel, Sakho, Moreno; Allen (Lucas), Milner, Can; Coutinho (Benteke), Lallana; Origi (Firmino):
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