Really not what we needed after last week. We’ve dropped four points now to teams that will probably finish in the bottom half. Palace might actually be better than that, but probably not. The point is, you have to be beating these teams and by not doing so we’re giving ourselves a mountain to climb already.
This could have been different had we made our early dominance count, but once again the lack of a clinical edge cost us and then, yet again, we found ourselves behind. Six league games in a row now we’ve conceded first. Klopp saw his arse when asked about this ‘trend’ in his pre-match presser but it’s a valid question. It’s a big enough sample size now to be able to say this has become an issue.
That being said, we did start this game quite brightly and had we taken one of the early chances then we’re not talking about conceding first and we’re almost certainly celebrating our first win of the season. Palace can’t chase games, they just aren’t equipped for it. They’re great at doing this though. Sitting in, making blocks, defending for their lives and then using the quality and speed on the break,
You do not want to go behind against them. The first goal is crucial and we should have had it. Despite the number of players missing and the late changes made to the team (this eleven would not have been training together much this week), we began the game on the front foot and put some nice moves together, especially down the right side where the lively Elliott was combing well with Mo.
Milner blasted a good chance over, then Elliott went close with an effort that was blocked more or less on the line by Anderson. Harvey’s balance and footwork on that were class, but when you look at that it typifies just how awkward Palace are to break down. Elliott had three Palace players flagging themselves in front of him to make a block, and he beat all of them. Anderson had dropped back to cover the goal and he made the key block. They were throwing themselves in front of everything though.
Nunez had a clear opening at the back post but completely missed his volley and spooned it up into the air. It wasn’t the easiest of chances but that was a terrible effort. His night would only get worse.
We’d been playing well to this point and Palace hadn’t offered anything other than a clearly offside chance that Alisson saved. It was clear their plan was get Zaha in behind Big Nat and they’d tried it to no avail a few times. Even though Nat had dealt with it, you could see he was kind of at full stretch in doing so and it was a concern.
Then out of nothing they did a number on us. We were on the attack and the ball ended up at their keeper’s feet. He cleared out to the left to Eze, who was closed down by Fabinho but not quickly enough. Trent was on the scene too but didn’t really commit to anything. Eze skinned Fabinho and as soon as that happened I was bracing myself because you could see what was about to happen.
Nat’s in big trouble as soon as Eze gets away. Zaha is running in behind so he has a choice. Run with him (not going to end well for him) or hold the line and try to intercept the pass or play him offside. He tried to hold the line and it was tight, but Zaha was onside and the pass from Eze was perfect, so Phillips was out of the play now completely. Zaha ran clear with Virgil sprinting back to cover. Virg turns on the gas and looks like he’s almost back in position to make a challenge, and then he doesn’t. He slows up, doesn’t go towards Zaha and just lets him shoot. Which he does, and scores.
Quick point on the inclusion of Phillips. It was a big shock seeing his name on the team sheet, especially as Gomez was on the bench. It was obvious that it was fitness related because this wasn’t really a Nat Phillips game. Being left to deal with Zaha one v one isn’t a good match up for him, but it’s ideal for Gomez who has the speed to deal with it.
I was happy for Nat that he finally got his start in a packed Anfield but this wasn’t necessarily the opponent I’d have wanted him to be facing. He’s partly responsible for the goal but there is a fair bit of blame to go around, and in terms of the overall result there are much bigger reasons for that than the inclusion of Phillips.
Going behind fazed us. We did hit the post through a scuffed Nunez effort following a lovely Elliott pass, but overall we looked disjointed for the rest of the half and I thought we were in trouble at half time. I might have taken a point if you’d offered it to me then. I’d definitely have taken it when we went down to ten men.
I didn’t see the incident at the time as I was looking elsewhere, but TLW stalwart John G was sat next to me and he saw it. His view of it was that Nunez aggressively stuck his chest into Anderson and that the defender hit the deck like a sack of shite. He had one view of it, from fifty yards away. He wasn’t far off though, as that’s pretty much what happened. There was some contact with the head too though, which was more because of Anderson cleverly getting right up in there and drawing contact (like an NBA player taking a charge) as it was Nunez throwing the head in.
The furious reaction of Nunez and refusal to leave the field had me thinking there must have been a serious injustice carried out here and the red card was unwarranted. The fact it was Paul Tierney making the decision gave further credence to that. The crowd were furious, with the ref but mostly with the playacting defender.
Having seen the replay of it, Tierney has no choice but to make that decision and Nunez was completely out of line, both with his reaction and the way he needed to be dragged from the field by Milner.
That little feud had been simmering all night though. Anderson stuck to him like a limpet, he was constantly leaving a little something on Nunez after the ball had gone and generally seemed to be on a mission to rile him up and get a reaction. Don’t take that as a criticism, because it’s not. It’s just clever. It was a wily defensive player completely playing a raw attacker like a fucking fiddle.
Chip, chip, chip away at him and if you see any sign of a reaction then do it all the more. In the first half Nunez had a wild swing at him after being grabbed. If he’d connected with that he’d have seen red even earlier. Anderson will have known it was working and he was getting under his skin, so he just carried on. Nothing particularly bad, we’re not talking Sergio Ramos v Diego Costa here. It was standard stuff and I can’t believe Nunez let it get to him that much.
The incident that led to the red card comes about after a tussle between them and then Nunez flicks his head backwards trying to nut him. He missed, but Anderson was angry and shoved him in the back. Nunez spins around, not realising just how close Anderson is to him and the next thing you know Anderson is rolling around on the floor and Nunez is being sent off in shame.
No complaints. The ref is right, Anderson was just clever and took advantage of a weakness he saw in his opponent. The blame here lies entirely with Nunez and he better fucking learn from this. He’s Uruguayan, he should be better than that. They invented the dark arts and rule number one is never get caught. Suarez only ever got done because TV footage was around to grass him up. Prior to every game having a thousand cameras scattered all over the gaff he’d have never got caught doing anything because he was a master craftsman. Nunez was naive as fuck and paid the price.
So now we were really in trouble. We weren’t playing that well, we were barely threatening their goal and now we were a man down and a goal down. So yeah, trouble. We had nothing on the bench to really change it up top either. Klopp actually used his subs well and the changes helped. Hendo for Milner was a no brainer. So was Gomez for Phillips. But for injuries picked up in midweek both would have started the game.
Kostas for Robbo was something else I thought was fairly obvious. Robbo wasn’t good and he seemed bothered by a hand injury. Either a wrist or maybe his fingers. Defo an issue there as he was getting treatment during the game and he went off with one of the physios at full time.
Hendo and Gomez made a big difference but Kostas was even worse than Robbo had been. He didn’t have his radar at all and some of his crosses were like watching Stig Inge Bjornebye back in the day.
Klopp had been preparing his changes when we equalised out of nowhere. Diaz had done nothing all night. Palace had done a great job of keeping him away from their goal and making him play a lot with his back to goal. He just couldn’t get turned and ran at them which made him hugely ineffective.
Then the sending off happened and something in Diaz snapped. Not like it snapped with Nunez. With Diaz it was more a case of “fuck this, there’s no way I’m letting us lose this game”. He took the team on his back and he was sensational. He covered so much ground and caused so many problems that it never looked like we were a man down.
The goal was just stunning. Brilliant run, great determination and then a rocket shot. That woke the stadium up, because it went completely silent in the minute or two following the red card. Now the place was rocking and there was every chance we’d go on and get a winner, as we had the momentum with us now.
I said to John that Palace would get one more really clear chance on the break and they did. Thankfully they missed it. Other than that, it was all us. Mo volleyed just wide and then the fourth sub, Carvalho, looked as though he’d won it with a fantastic volley on his left foot. The technique on that was off the charts. Deserved a goal.
But the goal didn’t come and we had to settle for a point. It’s disappointing, frustrating, deflating even. Not good at all. The only positive is that we came back and made sure we didn’t lose. That doesn’t seem like much now, but who knows, it might prove to be an important point. And even if it doesn’t, it’s still important because it preserves the unbeaten home record that stretched back to when Palace beat us all those years ago. I know we lost six on the bounce in the Covid season but as I keep saying, that doesn’t count.
We haven’t lost a league game at Anfield in front of fans since, I don’t even know. I think it’s 2017 but it might even be a year longer than that. So I’m glad we salvaged something from this even if I agree with the view that draws are the thing that really fuck up a title challenge. They’ve fucked up a few of ours over the years so starting this campaign with two of them is pretty ominous.
We’d have been better off losing at Fulham and winning this one. Draws are so deceptive as it’s so easy to look at how few defeats a team has and think they’re doing great. You’re better off having half a dozen defeats and no draws really. I know you don’t have a choice in that and the results just play out as they do. I’m just saying, draws are not as demoralising as a defeat but they’re really damaging.
We’ve got problems right now. Mostly fitness related but it’s something we need to battle through. The suspension of Nunez comes at a terrible time because Bobby and Jota are sidelined. For all the criticism Bobby has had we really need him next week. He was class against United last season as they’re so badly coached he just had the freedom of Old Trafford. I don’t expect much different next week so hopefully he makes it.
Elliott was a bright spot. He didn’t do that much but he looked bright and tidy. He was the pick of the midfield which is not saying much as Milner wasn’t really in it and Fabinho just looks leggy at the moment. He might play in a different role next week if Bobby doesn’t make it. Harvey in the hole with Diaz and Mo ahead of him? It could work. Maybe Carvalho in that role, or out wide with Diaz through the middle.
I don’t know how we’ll line up, not least because we’ll probably lose a couple more in training between now and then.
Whatever side we put out should be good enough to beat United as they don’t even look like a professional football team right now. They’re a mess. Not one area of their team is functioning at a reasonable level. Even if they improve and give their best effort next week there’s no excuse for not beating them.
Next week is an opportunity for us to finally get this season started. Go out and twat United and then we’re off and running.
Star man is Diaz even though he did fuck all until Nunez went off. The only other one I would even consider is Elliott, with a little shout out to Joey Gomez too. There’s a chance for him to re-establish himself now and I really hope he stays fit long enough to do it.
Final word on the crowd. The atmosphere was shite until Diaz scored. It started off ok but just fizzled out. The shouting of ‘shoot’ whenever someone has it forty yards from goal is irritating as fuck and seems to have only crept in post-covid. Virgil actually did it at one point, prompting Klopp to turn to the Kop and shush them. He was probably joking, but it’s a fair point. Shut the fuck up with that shit.
I also wasn’t impressed when the Palace fans asked “where’s your famous atmosphere” and the Kop’s response was “fuck the tories”. I mean, I’m all for singing that, but there’s a time and place for it and that just wasn’t it. Palace aren’t Chelsea and we had a game to win.
On that note it’s worth mentioning that once again I’m fairly sure the Palace fans didn’t resort to the “sign on” “always the victim” shit we get from virtually everyone else. I might be wrong as I don’t sit down that end (and if I am I take all this back!) but it’s something I pick up on each year. Best opposition fans, home and away, every season.
Team: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Phillips (Gomez), Van Dijk, Robertson (Tsimikas); Fabinho, Elliott (Carvalho), Milner (Henderson); Salah, Nunez, Diaz:
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