That was great. Just what we needed. Good performance, loads of balls shown by the lads, a win, qualification from the group and - fingers crossed - no serious injuries. No wonder Klopp looked happy for the first time in a couple of weeks afterwards.
Even leaving aside the positive result for us this was just a great game of football. Really enjoyable to watch from first minute to last. Two teams just going after each other with attacking intent and not a VAR review in sight. We even had linesmen flagging for offsides! It was like a throwback to when football was fun.
It's so much better like this, even though if this had been a Premier League game we’d have been facing ten men as Ajax would almost certainly have been a man down when their young centre half chopped down Sadio as he went clean through. The ref gave a yellow when that was a clear red. You know what though, if decisions like that are the price to pay for scrapping VAR, sound. I can live with that.
There have been refereeing decisions in the recent past that have stayed with me. Naby not getting a penalty against Leicester. Kompany not being sent off for the foul on Mo. Sterling and Suarez having goals ruled out for outrageously bad offside calls. I could go on, but the point I want to make here is that none of them have left me as angry, frustrated and disillusioned as I have been with VAR.
So let the officials do their jobs, like in this game. How refreshing was it to just have a normal game of football? I know VAR is in use in these games and I've seen some CL ruined by it, but my point is that we didn’t see it here and the game was infinitely more enjoyable as a spectacle because of it. I know it’s easy to say that because we won but I’d honestly made the decision even before the game had ended that I was going to bring this up in the report regardless.
It was just a really good, entertaining game of football and despite the ref not getting everything right, the intent was there from him to just let the players play. Last week against Atalanta was similar actually. That ref just wouldn't give any free-kicks at all. I reckon he switched off his ear piece so he didn't have to listen to anyone advising him on anything, because 'fuck that, I'm letting them play'.
The problem last week was that the ref was trying to let us play but we didn’t oblige him. That game was terrible because we were shite, that’s all.
And because of that result we really needed to get something in this one to avoid the nervy finale next week in Denmark, or Germany or wherever it will eventually be played. Klopp went with the strongest line up he could and as I’d said in the Brighton report I think that was the smart play, even if it had meant we picked up another injury or two. It was a risk he had to take.
And it paid off because now we can completely disregard that final group game and send the legends team over to play it. Ok, not really as they aren’t eligible, but the kids are as they don’t need to be registered. Send them over to play the game and rest EVERYBODY. Because we can. Its not even like Ajax or Atalanta need us to take the game seriously as it has no bearing on their qualification.
So yeah, the lads have earned the night off and the great thing is we can now forget about Europe until February. The reduced fixture load will hopefully slow these fucking injuries down a bit as we’re running out of players.
Who’d have thought a couple of months ago that we’d go into a really important Champions League game and end the night with Kelleher, Jones, Williams and Williams on the field? We did though, and three of them actually started the game. And how cool is, all three were in contention for the star man. I’m not giving that away yet though, you’ll have to read until the end to find that out. We call that a teaser in the writing game.
There had been rumours the night before that Alisson was missing with some sort of knock and so it proved. No-one expected Kelleher to play though. Even the Twitter team selection mole got that one wrong. I think we saw in this game exactly why Kelleher got the nod over Adrian and it’s not even because of his goalkeeping (although that was very good on the night). There’s probably not too much to choose from them on that front but with a ball at their feet it’s like night and day.
Adrian looks nervy and always on the brink of being caught on the ball and that in turn makes others look nervy around him. In his most recent appearances it has started to look to me like the defenders don’t really trust him and you can understand that. If he’d played in this game, straight away there’d have been a negative vibe about it and the narrative would have been completely different.
Instead of everyone worrying about what Adrian might do, the question was more “let’s see what this kid has got then”. The players probably felt the same way. They'll have been excited for him. He’s played before of course, in the domestic cups, and he’s never really looked like anything out of the ordinary.
He wasn’t particularly eye catching in this game either (which is good, as Alisson rarely is either) but everything he did looked assured and confident, and that goes a long way. With the ball at his feet he was superb I thought. His clearances with both feet were really secure and when the chance was there to pass it he invariably pinged it to a red shirt.
The saves he had to make were ones you’d expect your keeper to make, but he made them and that hasn’t always been the case when we’ve had to call on back ups. Shit, it wasn’t always the case when we were calling on our first choice either until Alisson arrived.
But Alisson is turning into the goalkeeping equivalent of Daniel Sturridge. Brilliant when he’s fit but constantly picking up one ailment or another. He’s missed a lot of games since he’s been here. The shoulder injury I can live with but goalkeepers shouldn’t be pulling hamstrings and calves, surely?
It remains to be seen how long he’s out for but that was just the latest injury blow in a season that has so far been full of them. It’s ridiculous, we seem to be losing two players a week at the moment. It looked like we might lose Robbo early on too as he got a nasty knock on the ankle and was hobbling around for much of the first half. He gritted his teeth, got it strapped up and soldiered through. Fucking love Robbo.
Hendo too. Apparently he’d done his back in but he shrugged it off too and played the full game. We’ve seen that before from him. “It’s only pain”. Remember that?
In terms of the rest of the line up Klopp didn’t have too much choice really. He had to decide which forward to leave on the bench and he opted for Bobby. Fair enough. He also had to decide whether to retain Neco at right back or maybe switch things around a bit. Tsimikas could have been used thereat a push, or Fabinho could have switched over and Rhys Williams could have partnered Matip.
Neco has had some problems recently but he was still the best option we had. Klopp revealed afterwards he had a long chat with him this week. Whatever was said worked as Neco started steadily and just grew in stature as the game went on. He was brilliant in the second half which was great to see. Made up for him as he needed this.
Other than those decisions the team picked itself really as there wasn’t really any other viable options. Jones has been getting a lot of games this season due to injuries to the likes of Keita, Ox and Thiago (or was he just a mirage?). He was always good enough to be a regular but the main thing missing was opportunity. These injuries gave him that and he’s responded well. He’s fucking boss and he'll take some shifting now because given equal playing time 'd back him to outscore every other one of our midfielders, and in some cases he'd be doubling their numbers.
He went close twice early in the first half in similar situations from the edge of the box. The first saw his left footer saved by the keeper. The second saw his superbly struck right footer come back off the post. We were really lively early doors but then Ajax started to find their own rhythm and the game had a nice end to end flow about it.
I thought they were wide open and we should have punished them several times only for a poor decision or a heavy touch from one of the forwards (more often than not Jota) let them off the hook. Ajax looked threatening too though and we had to defend very well to keep them at bay. Matip and Fabinho were pretty much faultless I thought but Ajax did still have some very presentable chances. They’re a good side though and have been in terrific form since we beat them last time.
The battle between Mané and their young centre back was fascinating. The kid held his own for most of it but he defo should have been sent off when he mistimed a tackle and sent Sadio sprawling. He’s the last man there and the covering defender wouldn’t have even caught me, let alone Mané.
It should have been red but the game was actually much better as a result of it being eleven v eleven. We’d have won comfortably if the kid had been sent off but him staying on kept the contest very even. Klaasen was their most dangerous player and I can only assume it’s because our lads looked at him with his old man head and his CV stamped with ‘Failed at Everton’ on it and decided he wasn’t worth marking.
They were right. Even when he was left in front of goal all on his own two or three times he still couldn’t score. Once you've been touched by Everton....
The closest Ajax came to a goal was when Kelleher made a save and Neres struck the post with the rebound. A big let off and we took advantage as around 90 seconds later it was 1-0. Neco had really started to grow into the game and had been making a lot of forays forward after the break. From one of them he cut inside and swung a deep cross to the back post that was missed by Onana and converted from a tight angle by Jones.
That was a fucking brilliant goal. The most orthodox way to finish that would have been with the left foot but by doing that the angle would have been much tighter. Curtis is just an instinctive, natural footballer and without even thinking he used his right foot so he could take the ball earlier and give himself more of the goal to aim at. I loved that finish, it was quality. That kid is a natural and he’s going to be great.
We had loads of opportunities to increase our lead but some of the finishing was wayward and a lot of the final passes left a lot to be desired. Salah went through a couple of times but was wasteful. He also put Firmino though (he’d come on for Jota) only for Onana to make an incredible save to tip his shot onto the post. Yes Bobby should score but nine times out of ten that goes in as the keeper doesn’t get near it. Onana did brilliantly there which was a shame, as Bobby looked lively and a goal would have been good for him.
I feel like he’s turned a corner with his form now though. He just looks more like himself. There was one fantastic run and lovely through ball to Mané that was so good it deserved a goal just for the quality of the assist, but Sadio allowed the ball to elude him and the chance was gone. It summed up his night. He did a lot of nice things but in and around the box it just wasn’t happening for him.
Defensively we did a good job keeping Ajax at bay but they did create one really good chance that needed Kelleher to make a good save. Initially it looked amazing but when you see the replay it was pretty much straight at him. Still, good reflexes and he pushed the ball well clear of the goal which is all you can ask.
Ajax threw the kitchen sink at us. Every forward they had was on at the end, even Huntelaar. I’m sat there wondering when Kluivert and Litmanen were going to get the call. We held out fairly comfortably in the end though.
Kelleher was the first player Klopp ran to at full time, which was fair enough as he was thrown in at the deep end but he did us proud. A clean sheet on his European debut against a side like Ajax is something he’ll remember forever. Shame there were no fans there to see it like, but hopefully we’ll get back in there soon.
The second player Klopp went to was Neco. Again, the right call. That kid has had a lot of unfair criticism, some of it from cunts who are meant to be supporting him. Its fine to say he didn’t play well. It’s fine to express concerns that you don’t think he will prove to be good enough. We’re all allowed to have an opinion and there's nothing wrong with that.
What’s not fine is when you force that opinion onto the kid himself by sending him messages on social media. If you do that you’re a fucking cunt. Simple as that.
Neco was brilliant when he first got into the side and he’ll be brilliant again in time. He needs to play his way back into form and this was a good way to start, as he was great in the second half. We need him because although Trent is on the way back, we can't just keep playing him week in week out so Neco needs to be playing well to give us that alternative when it's needed.
There was one bit of skill when he plucked the ball out of the air and lobbed it over the winger all in one movement. It was probably the best moment of the entire match, especially as he followed it up by pinging a great ball down the line. Made up for him and I hope he’s feeling a lot better about things now, as that must have been rough for him last weekend. The kid has character, we know that at least after this.
In terms of the star man, both of those two were strong contenders as was Curtis. The three kids stood up tall for us when we needed them. Both centre backs were class too, Gini was machine-like in the middle (give him that fucking contract) and Hendo was Hendo. Any one of them could have been the star man but I’m going for.....
Neco, on the basis that he was under more pressure than anyone else. I’m just really pleased for him. And for us. Because despite everything we’ve had to deal with and are continuing to deal with, we’re in the knockout stages and we’re still joint top of the Premier League.
Up the fucking siege mentality, sticking together and fighting for each other Reds!
Team: Kelleher; N Williams, Matip, Fabinho, Robertson; Henderson, Wijnaldum, Jones; Salah (R Williams), Jota (Firmino), Mané:
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