Report by
Dave Usher at Anfield
Eleven different starters but very much the same result as the West Brom game four days earlier. Spurs put up more of a show than the Baggies did, but just as with the game on Saturday we didn’t kill them off at 2-0 and then conceded late to make it more nervy than necessary.
Overall it was a good performance though and keeps our momentum going. You can argue that it’s not worth reading too much into it given that both Klopp and Pochettino fielded second elevens (I think Der was the only Spurs starter to survive from the weekend), and while that’s true, at the very least you’d have to say it shows that we’ve got much more strength in depth than Tottenham.
In fact, we’ve probably got more depth than anybody, certainly in attack. Who else can boast back up strikers of the calibre of Sturridge and Origi, not to mention Ings who could only make the bench.
What we can draw from this is that our second eleven is clearly better than Tottenham’s, therefore we have more depth. That’s not really in doubt after watching this game, because we were clearly superior all over the field.
That said, the main reason we won was Daniel Sturridge, who once again seems to be the focus of much debate and discussion. Klopp will keep getting grilled about him (oh how he loves that) and fans will keep talking about it. On the way home I had the radio on and 5live were stirring it up and a bemused Lawro ended up arguing with some fans who were ringing in and generally spouting a load of shit.
Whether it’s those who insist he has to play or those who insist he doesn’t fit in and should be sold, we keep hearing about this “Sturridge problem”. Right now it isn’t a problem at all. We’re all good because the first eleven don’t rely on him any more, but when he comes in he can still do things like this. Where's the problem?
As long as Sturridge doesn’t start sulking (and to be fair to him I’ve seen absolutely zero sign of that so far) then what’s the problem? We’ve got a great striker to come off the bench or to start if Klopp sees fit. I’d much rather have that ‘problem’ than the one Spurs have got, having to pick that Janssen jabroni, or the Dutch Soldado if you like.
Sturridge showed his poachers instincts to put us in front early in the game. Grujic's shot wasn't the best and a little deflection on it gave Sturridge the chance to just about beat the keeper to it and lift the ball into the net.
He brought a good save from Vorm with a powerful 20 yard effort and then should have scored after a surging run by Origi that promised much but then fizzled out when he took too long to decide what to do. Fortunately it broke nicely for him to feed Sturridge who had all the time in the world, but unusually for him snatched at the chance and hit a tame right foot shot straight at the keeper. Just take a touch and bury it with your left foot Danny lad.
That miss wasn’t like him, but in the second half when he was put clean through by Wijnaldum there was never any doubt he’d score. With a lot of strikers *cough* Benteke *cough* they struggle to deal with those situations when they’ve got all the time in the world and only the keeper to beat, but Sturridge lives for those moments and put it through the keeper's legs.
He could easily have had a hat-trick but was denied a couple more time by the overworked Vorm and also the crossbar. The effort with the outside of his left foot that hit the bar was world class, but that’s the thing with Sturridge, he’s got that in him.
There’s been so much talk about what he can’t do that I kind of feel like people are forgetting about what he can do. I’m not saying he should be an automatic choice, but he’s not some decrepit old crock who needs a walking stick to get around the field either. If I had to bet on it, I’d still say he’ll finish as our top scorer this season (in all competitions, obviously).
It was great to see Origi suddenly burst into life too. I thought he was fairly ineffective in the first half and early in the second half I said to my arl fella that I’d sub him for Ings as he wasn’t really doing anything. He must have heard me because all of a sudden he just exploded out of his slumber and began running Spurs ragged.
A mate text me with the observation that “Big Div is heating up like a player on NBA Jam”. Personally I’d liken it to when Hulk Hogan would be getting his arse kicked and then eventually reach the end of his tether and start “Hulking Up” and leg dropping the shit out of everyone. I don’t know what lit that fire under Origi but for a 15-20 minute spell he was fucking brilliant. Then he got cramp and was replaced by Ings.
At that point I no longer wanted to see Origi go off, but we’ve all been waiting to see Ings back on the Anfield turf so that was a nice moment. He looked sharp as fuck too I thought. Some of his layoffs are class and he’s got great awareness of where team-mates are. It would have been nice for him to get a goal and he had two good chances but couldn’t quite convert either. Great to see him back, although it’s difficult to picture him getting too many more opportunities to play unless we get an injury or two.
It’s really unfortunate for Ings as he could be great in this team if given the opportunity, but if you’re Klopp how can you possibly give him that opportunity when you’ve got so many other quality options? Great for Klopp, great for us, not so great for poor Danny, but maybe his time will come.
What a team performance like this shows is that we’ve got good competition in most areas now and in some cases the drop off between starter and back up isn’t that great. In others the gap is more pronounced, such as both full back spots and centre midfield. It's not that the lads who came in there didn't play well, it's just you wouldn't see them as serious competition for those who currently occupy those spots.
Moreno had a good game but Spurs could have equalised with a couple of minutes to go when he was about forty yards out of position. Fortunately the kid mis-controlled the ball and allowed Mignolet to save at his feet. I know Moreno is told to bomb forward when we have the ball, but there’s also a time and place and there’s absolutely no way on earth that Milner would have been so far up the field with a couple of minutes to go and us protecting a 2-1 lead.
There’s lots to like about Moreno, and as much as I moan about him I do genuinely find his enthusiasm and passion quite endearing. He’s a good lad, but he just doesn’t have much between his ears, which is a bit of a problem like.
On the other side, Alexander-Arnold did well and I’m a massive fan of his. There are a lot of similarities between him and a teenage Gerrard, and that tackle he threw in first half had “reckless young Stevie” written all over it. Another ref may have sent him off for that, but thankfully Jon Moss seemed to understand that this was just an over eager kid on his debut and that there was no intent there.
From what I’ve seen of him, Alexander-Arnold is going to be a star, but right now he’s obviously nowhere near as accomplished a full back as Clyne. I wouldn’t want to see us go out and buy anybody to compete with Clyne though because that would only block Trent’s progress. If Clyne picks up a knock, stick the kid in there and let him get some experience.
It’s the same with the other young players, like Ejaria and Ben Woodburn. There needs to be a clear path for them and others to come through, and although every manager we have had likes to talk a good game on this, usually the first chance they get they go out and buy squad players rather than putting their faith in the Academy products. Klopp genuinely seems different though.
Ejaria wasn’t brilliant but he definitely wasn’t overawed in any way and he looked like he belonged out there. He’s comfortable on the ball and seems to have great confidence in himself, which is half the battle for young players.
I thought Kev Stewart was really good too. There were one or two slack passes but he got through so much good work that you can live with that. It’s difficult for him with Henderson and Can both ahead of him (probably Lucas too) but he won’t let us down if he has to play and Klopp seems to love him.
Then there’s Grujic. I’m a huge fan of his so if I’m being totally honest I was a little disappointed in his performance. Disappointed is probably not the right word actually, as he didn’t have a bad game by any means and did some good things, especially the longer the game wore on. I didn’t think the number ten role really suited him though and he wasn’t involved as much as I’d hoped, especially in the first half when it seemed to pass him by a bit. He’s gonna be a good one though that lad, but I hope Klopp had a word with him over going over to stretch out Origi's leg when he got cramp, leaving us to defend with nine players (has to be said that Spurs were bad shithouses there though).
You know who looked good? Mignolet. He wasn’t overly tested but what he had to do was done with assurance. When Spurs got that penalty I was convinced he was going to save it, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, he’s been great on pens recently, and secondly it would have added to the keeper controversy we’ve got going on.
Klopp has said that Karius is number one, but he hasn’t played like it and Migs has every reason to feel a little aggrieved. Had he saved that pen he’d have really put an exclamation mark on his beef, but he didn’t so Klopp has avoided that particular land mine.
I’m not sure it should even have been a penalty though, it was a blatant dive but you also have to wonder just why the hell Lucas is snapping at Lamela’s heels when he’s going nowhere and has his back to goal. Just jocky him and don’t give him the chance to go over. Lucas should know better as he’s not an inexperienced kid.
Spurs had another shout for a pen soon after when Moreno tangled with Lamela. Again, the Spurs man made a meal of it and that’s probably why Jon Moss waved it away.
Other than that scare when Moreno went walkabout, we saw the game out comfortably enough, as indeed we have done almost every other time we’ve looked like we might be in trouble. We let Arsenal get back to 4-3 but were pretty secure after that. Chelsea got back to 2-1 but never looked like grabbing an equaliser, West Brom was straightforward after they scored and aside from that one scary moment there was no drama here either. Swansea is the only genuinely lucky escape we’ve had when defending a lead in the closing stages, so we’re making progress on that front.
We're making progress on a lot of fronts actually, not least in the quest for honours. The League Cup isn’t the priority this season but there’s no reason we can’t go balls out to try and win it because to do so we’ll only need to play four more games, and there’s plenty of time in between each so it won’t be too taxing on the players. The teams in Europe can’t really give it their best shot but we definitely can, and getting some silverware in the cupboard is always important.
Revenge over City for last year's final defeat would be nice, assuming they can get past Mourinho's parked bus tonight that is.
Star man is Sturridge, who edges out the quietly effective Stewart.
Team: Mignolet; Alexander-Arnold (Clyne), Lucas, Klavan, Moreno; Stewart, Ejaria, Wijnaldum, Grujic (Can); Sturridge, Origi (Ings):
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