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Report by
Dave Usher
Our recent wobble, coupled with a woeful record at the Riverside made this look like a really tricky fixture beforehand. The absence of Joel Matip made it look even more of an uphill struggle, and just for good measure we had the whole goalkeeper situation to deal with too. So all in all, this went much better than expected. We needed this one badly, and we got it.
Klopp’s decision to recall Simon Mignolet was the right one but it was something of a surprise, to me anyway. I didn’t think he’d do it, especially after launching into the Chuckle Brothers for their criticism of Karius. A lot of managers would have felt that they had to stick with him to avoid losing face and proving the critics right, but it says a lot about Klopp that he didn’t allow that to influence him.
Reading between the lines, Karius didn’t take the decision well (Klopp joked that “he didn’t want a hug at that moment”) but tough shit. He was sat on the bench giving Klopp the stink eye, but Mignolet was dropped earlier in the season for an awful lot less and he’s just got on with it, so that’s what Karius needs to do. I’ve criticised Karius more than most but I’m not writing him off. He might come good, and hopefully he will, but if he doesn’t it’s no big deal as he only cost £4m or something.
Right now he doesn’t deserve to play as his performances were hurting the team. If we were just a mid table side with nothing to play for then we could afford to be patient, but that’s not the case. Chelsea are setting a pace that’s going to be difficult to keep up with, so we can’t have any passengers as every point could be vital come May. Like it or not, Mignolet gives us our best chance to win right now so it’s logical that he should play.
He’s handled himself well since losing his place but there was a lot of pressure on him in this game. Granted, not as much pressure as there would have been on Karius, but he was still under a pretty bright spotlight. He handled it well. He looked good against Leeds recently too and you’ve got to credit him for his attitude. He’ll undoubtedly make a mistake sooner or later (hopefully later considering who we play next) and when he does it will be interesting to see what Klopp does.
For now though the position is Mignolet's to lose, and he made the perfect start in his fight to re-establish himself with a clean sheet and a commanding display against Boro. It’s not like he had too much to do, but then our keepers are very rarely overworked and it’s usually just a case of saving two or three shots a game and claiming a few crosses here and there. Mignolet made one really good save in the first half and a couple of fairly routine ones. He also caught every cross he came for, which is all you can ask really.
The other decision Klopp had to make was who replaced the once again injured Matip. Klavan got the nod and did the kind of solid job we’ve come to expect from him. He looked to have fallen behind Lucas in the pecking order, which seemed a little odd to me, but he’s back ahead of him again now and both he and Lovren handled their business well enough against an isolated Negredo.
We were ok in the first half and deserved our lead at the interval, but it felt a bit precarious. We’d started well enough and led through a Lallana header following a beautiful right wing cross by Clyne. We were dominating possession and Boro were just content to sit back and defend (as they do every week), but as the half wore on it felt as though we were losing a bit of the control we’d established. We did go desperately close to a second goal when Mané ran through and hit the post with a good effort, but other than that we weren’t doing much and there was every reason for the home side to feel hopeful.
As previously mentioned, Mignolet made one really good save at his near post and also had another couple of efforts to deal with, while Lallana also had to get back and make a crucial block to deny Forshaw. They weren’t great chances but any attempt on goal always offers encouragement to a side, and Boro were well in the game at this point. Adama Traore’s pace and willingness to run at people was more or less the only weapon they had, but it was an effective one and he caused a few problems.
The second half was a different story though, we dominated it from start to finish and Boro rarely got anywhere near our goal. Klopp seemed to change things tactically as we hit a lot more balls over the top for Mané and Origi. Some of our play in the first half had been a bit laboured but that’s not always a bad thing as if the other team doesn’t have the ball they can’t score. With Boro having ten behind the ball at all times though the patient approach wasn’t really getting it done. The more direct tactic wreaked havoc though and from the opening seconds of the half we swarmed all over them, with Mané and Origi especially prominent.
Mané was denied by Valdes and then a minute later he had a shot blocked after Lallana had nodded the ball down to him. We had our tails up and it felt like the goal was coming. It wasn’t long before it did, and what a goal it was too. The quick passing and interplay was just too much for Boro, and credit to the ref too for playing an advantage after Mané was taken out.
It’s a measure of how devastating our attacking play was that even as Mané was taken out, the ball that was intended for him still found one of our players. In fact, we had two players running onto it but Clyne deferred to Lallana who coolly picked out Origi in the centre for his fifth goal in consecutive games.
We’ve thrown leads away before but it never seemed likely this time as Boro just can’t score, and besides, you could see the focus in our players this time. They weren’t going to fuck this one up. Defensively we were solid but not just that, it was the way they kept the ball and just didn’t allow Boro any kind of hope that there might be something in the game for them. It’s exactly what we didn’t do against Bournemouth, so hopefully that’s a lesson learned.
Lallana wrapped it up with a well taken second after another quality move and another assist for referee Jon Moss who played a good advantage once more. How good was Lallana though?
Fucking hell, he’s probably our best player now as he’s delivering the goods every time he steps onto the field. Six goals and six assists (not from set-pieces) from centre midfield is a hell of a return so far, but it’s not just the improved end product, it’s everything he does. The energy, the timing of his runs, the pressing off the ball and his sublime technique.
It’s taken a while for him to prove it, but that money we spent on him was not only money well spent, but it now looks like a bargain. My mum still hates him, but at least now it's just his face, hair and fashion sense that he has beef with and she's stopped complaining about his "stupid twirly whirlies". That's progress.
He was given a bit of a rest for the last ten minutes as Klopp sent Lucas on to help see out the game, while youngsters Ejaria and Alexander-Arnold saw their bank balances swell with late cameos that will earn them a nice little appearance bonus. No dough for Ben Woodburn though, not this week anyway. Hopefully he’ll get his at Goodison next week with us a few goals up.
I can't wait for that one now. Amazing what a difference a win and a clean sheet makes, eh?
Team: Mignolet; Clyne, Lovren, Klavan, Milner; Henderson, Wijnaldum (Ejaria), Lallana (Lucas); Mané, Origi (Alexander-Arnold), Firmino:
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