Of all the possible ways this game could have unfolded, this was probably the last thing I’d have expected. 0-0 with virtually no chances for either side wasn’t in the script at all. Maybe this is how it’s going to be from now on though, as there was a definite shift in the approach of Pep Guardiola this time.
Usually City won’t alter their style for anybody, but going toe to toe with us hasn’t worked out well for them up to now. This time Guardiola clearly set up with the main objective of not getting beat, and anything else being bonus. That’s a huge compliment to Klopp and his players and Guardiola didn’t try to hide from it afterwards, basically admitting that if you try and attack us you have no chance, no matter who you are.
We’re defo in his head and that probably earned us a point, because at this moment in time we aren’t the team he thinks we are. They probably could have opened up a bit and gotten away with it this time because the team that tore them to pieces last season has been nowhere to be seen so far this year.
Both teams cancelled each other out but I don’t think Klopp’s intention was to play it cagey, it just turned out that way because we posed virtually no threat up front and City did a great job of denying us space. And for our part, we defended superbly for most of the game.
City’s line up was incredibly attacking but the way they approached the game was not. They were still more adventurous than most teams we’ll see at Anfield but Guardiola learned from previous lessons and ensured they wouldn’t be caught out like that again. Walker and Mendy rarely ventured forward and that meant very few opportunities for Salah and Mané to get isolated against the centre backs. Still, that’s nothing new, teams have been setting up like that against us for years. Not City (or Arsenal), but basically everyone else. It doesn’t normally stop us from creating chances, so what’s going on right now?
I tell you what this reminds me of. For my 30th I went to see Bon Jovi play Old Trafford. It almost goes without saying that it was boss, but a few months later I saw a tribute act called “By Jovi” playing at a bar in Belfast. They were alright, they looked like the real thing and sounded like the real thing, but it was obvious they weren’t the real thing. That’s what this feels like.
Guardiola set his team up that way because he thought he was facing the fearsome threesome from last season, but in reality he was up against a jarg tribute act.
We barely threatened them at all. I’m not sure how much of that was down to Guardiola figuring out how to nullify us and how much of it was just down to the forwards looking like “By Jovi”. I suspect it’s more about us but that’s not to take anything away from whatever it was that Guardiola did, because clearly it worked a treat for them.
The space that we normally have against them just wasn’t there, mainly as their full backs stayed home and Fernandinho was a one man wrecking crew in front of them. He was terrific, but his job was made a lot easier by Martin Atkinson giving him a free pass to foul whoever he liked, as often as he liked, without any sort of punishment.
The forearm smash to the throat of Mané that didn’t even draw a free-kick let alone a card was a particular highlight. Atkinson was fairly card happy throughout, so you have to wonder what Fernandinho has on him. Not that I’m offering this as any excuse for how we played.
It was such a weird, sterile game that there’s very little to talk about in terms of incidents. City had a couple of efforts from Mahrez, one which he dragged wide and another that was saved comfortably by Alisson. We had a couple from Salah. One that he blasted over and another he curled straight at the keeper. Last season they would have been in.
The one he put over the bar highlighted perfectly the difference in this Mo and last year’s Mo. The keeper had come rushing out, the ball was sat up nicely, yet he elected to just lash at it wildly. Last season he’d have calmly just lobbed it over his head into the empty net. That was the best chance we had. It was virtually the only chance we had actually.
Sturridge did have a tame header straight at the keeper and there was a loose ball that for a second looked like it would drop to Keita but didn’t. That was it though, no other genuine threat. It was pretty disheartening to watch.
At least we didn’t lose though. We didn’t deserve to lose but we certainly should have. Virgil’s brain fart was so unlike him that at the time I actually thought it was Lovren. It was only afterwards I discovered it wasn’t.
It was a terrible pen from Mahrez but I’m buzzing off Achteburg calling that perfectly and telling Alisson where to dive. The man gets an awful lot of unfair shit but manager after manager have kept him around so he must be doing something right. Tell you something else; Alisson looked fucking huge bouncing around on his line like a big gorilla. No wonder Mahrez missed, it probably looked like he had virtually nothing to aim at.
The penalty was the one moment when the defence let themselves down. Other than that they were outstanding I thought, especially Lovren. His inclusion in the side was something of a surprise, but given the way Trent played in Naples it made a degree of sense.
Lovren could have given away a penalty himself in the first half when he got a little too close to Aguero, but it would have been incredibly harsh. Aguero jumped back up immediately and didn’t even appeal for anything, but the same can’t be said for some of his team-mates. Especially David Silva, who spent the entire game crying to the ref about decisions.
Back to Lovren though. In the second half he was left one v one on a couple of occasions and stood strong and won the ball both times. Made up for him. I’m not sure what he has to do to win over some fans. Performances like this have been the norm for some time now. He’s a top quality defender. Gomez has played so well that the shirt should still be his to lose, but Lovren couldn’t have done much more to stake his claim.
The defence isn’t an issue regardless of who plays (with one notable and obvious exception of course). We’ve only conceded three league goals all season, despite having faced Spurs, Chelsea and City. That’s fantastic. We conceded three at Watford in our opening game last year.
Unfortunately just as we’ve fixed that area of our game, problems have arisen elsewhere. I saw someone liken it to golf. Just when you get your driver going, the putter goes cold. That’s exactly it. Why can’t we ever just get everything working well at the same time?
Drawing with City is fine though, there’s no cause for disappointment there. It’s the way it went down that left me feeling a bit deflated. I hoped we’d be better than this. I didn’t expect it, because nothing we’ve seen in recent weeks suggested we’d suddenly look great, but I hoped for more than this. I hoped for a few shots on target at least. I don’t think that;s too much to ask.
I don’t know what’s wrong with the forwards right now. It could be just that they are lacking a bit of zip after the World Cup, it could just be a lack of confidence due to the slow start they’ve made, or it might be that opposing coaches have figured out how to nullify them. That is the biggest concern I have. I’m not prepared to jump to that conclusion yet, but it is chipping away in the back of my mind now.
It’s the chicken and the egg. Are the forwards struggling because the opposition now know how to deal with them? Or are the opposition dealing with them more easily because they are out of form? At this point I have no idea, but I do know that for our next game I hope to see Shaqiri in the line up. Personally I’d leave Mané out but if it was Mo that was benched then I couldn’t argue too much. Both were shite against City, and Bobby wasn’t any great shakes either.
Klopp had to go with the big three for this game though. It would have been insane not to. They’ve destroyed City in their last three meetings, but not only that, to be able to have success against City you need everyone knowing what their job is and carrying it out to the letter. City were almost as toothless as we were, so the forwards did their bit without the ball at least. They’ve done that all season though in fairness. That’s why starting either Shaqiri or Sturridge made no sense in this game as it would upset the defensive shape and intensity too much.
The next two games, however, are Cardiff and Huddersfield. One or even both have a good claim for a spot, because this can’t just go on indefinitely and we need a spark. The big three aren’t delivering for whatever reason, while both Sturridge and Shaqiri have shown enough to deserve more playing time.
Maybe putting Shaqiri in the midfield three would provide us with that x-factor to get things going again? Klopp certainly has some thinking to do over this next couple of weeks.
All in all though, this was a huge point because City had marginally the better chances and they missed a pen. We got out of jail and although there has to be some regret at not taking three points (it feels like we have to beat them because I don’t think we can rely on anyone else to do it), not losing feels absolutely massive.
City seemed happy enough to have finally come away from Anfield with something too, but really they should be kicking themselves as it was a real chance for them to put a little distance between us, and Mahrez blew it.
As it is, we’re level on points with them and Chelsea despite having played more difficult fixtures and not really having got going yet in attack.
The international break probably comes at a good time as we are wobbling a bit at the moment, although I’m not sure how much good it will do us when most of the players will be scattered all over the world playing pointless games.
We’ve come through a really tough period and the damage we’ve taken has been fairly minimal all things considered. It gets a little easier now, but only if the forwards get their shit together. It’d be nice if Naby started showing a bit more too, as he’s been distinctly underwhelming to this point.
The good thing is somehow we’re still joint top even though the one area of the team we didn’t think we’d have to worry about has been a big problem. It’s fucking mad like, but I’ve got more trust in the back four and goalkeeper than I do the front three now. Who could have predicted that a couple of months ago? Maybe in another couple of months the roles will be reversed again, but how nice would it be to have both working at full capacity?
Team: Alisson; Gomez, Lovren, Van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Milner (Keita), Wijnaldum; Salah, Firmino (Sturridge), Mané:
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