Well that was harder work than I expected it to be, but when you’ve got Divock Origi you’ve got nothing to worry about. Especially against Everton. He’s the bogeyman to them. They wake up in a cold sweat screaming his name in terror every time derby week comes around.
I half jokingly suggested on the last couple of podcasts that we should be starting him against Everton. I’m not going to now say that it was a mistake not doing so, because the players we’re selecting ahead of him are world class and you can totally understand why Klopp went with them. In fact I’d be far more inclined to give Klopp credit for the fact he wasted little time in getting him on to win the game for us.
The game absolutely changed with the arrival of Origi and Diaz, and we further strengthened our grip on it when Henderson was belatedly introduced too. Now that was someone who definitely should have started, but I’ll get to that in a bit. It was fitting that the goal that made the game safe was fashioned by the three lads who came on.
It’s easy to say things might have been different had they all started but that’s just hindsight talking. The first half was awful, both as a spectacle and in how we played. Everton did what they had to and for that I offer no criticism. Tactically anyway. The rampant cheating is another matter, but in terms of them setting up with everyone behind the ball and just hoping to sneak the odd counter attack, well that’s exactly how they should be playing.
There are two reasons for that. One, depending on your allegiance, we’re either the best or the second best team in the world. Secondly, Everton are proper fucking shit. I’m not saying that in general terms, the way we always would even when they were finishing sixth or seventh under Moyes. They are genuinely proper shit right now. They’re in the bottom three and they deserve to be there. Because they’re genuinely awful.
So for them to come here and try to engage in a football match was only going to end in them getting the kind of spanking they’ve had regularly in recent seasons. Lampard played under Mourinho so he knows all about parking the bus. They did it pretty well I thought. Yes, we were really poor, but you have to acknowledge that they made it difficult for us and handled us well.
Of course they did that with a flat back nine and Richarlison was the only player within snarling distance of our defenders, but as I say, what else can you expect them to do? They went into the game having dropped into the bottom three so there were as desperate as it gets. A point would have been a massive win for them.
At half time they will have been delighted with how it went. From a football perspective they’d restricted us to virtually nothing. A Mané shot just over and a Jota effort that went wide were just about all we had to show for a dire 45 minutes. The bigger concern for me was the way frustration had set in with the crowd and our players.
Everton’s diving, time wasting and general shithousing really rattled us. I compared it on the post match pod to being “like playing Atletico Madrid only without the good players”. This was straight out of the Simeone playbook. Constant dives, feigning injury, kicking off at the ref over every single decision, rampant time wasting, trying to start little skirmishes all over the park. And it worked as we got sucked right in to it.
I’ve watched a lot of Everton in recent months. Usually I never bother, but because of their proximity to the bottom three I’ve taken far more of an interest in them of late and because of that I knew what Anthony Gordon was well before this game so nothing he did surprised me. This is who he is. It’s what he does. He’d rather dive than back himself to try and score.
The first time I noticed what a cheating little fuck he was was when we played them at Goodison. I’m pretty sure he was one of three Everton players booked that day and he should have been booked twice for it. With the second one the ref bottled it and gave him a free-kick even though he hadn’t been touched. So that put him on my radar and he’s done it in every game I’ve seen since.
There was one a few weeks ago when he won a pen against Burnley with an outrageous bit of cheating. Fuck all was said about it too. Everyone just said it was a pen and I thought I was going mad. How was it I was the only one who could see what he did? The answer is that people don’t want to see it. He’s a young English kid playing for a plucky underdog team. No-one wants to call him out on his cheating.
Even now, after this, the focus is on the ‘penalty’ he didn’t get even though it’s clearly not a penalty. He initiates the contact himself when he was actually ahead of Matip and could have tried to score. As I said though, he doesn’t back himself to score because his real talent is not football, it’s diving.
He’d been booked in the first half for a clear dive which he later described as “probably not a penalty but there was some contact”. Ok, some contact. Right. So explain the four rolls and the screaming in pain then if there was only minimal contact? He’s just a cheating little fucking rat.
He was fouled not long after that when Trent nudged him in the back and sent him flying. The ref didn’t give it, just like he didn’t give the one in the second half when he tangled with Matip. Everton have written to Mike Riley to ask for an explanation on why they didn’t get a penalty. Honestly, the absolute fucking gall on these wankers.
Gordon and Richarlison spent the entire game trying to con the referee by diving and pretending to be injured. If the referee then decides to rule against them on a call he’s not completely sure about, that’s only natural surely? The boy who cried wolf.
It’s like Lampard kicking off on the touchline and Doucoure running around trying to boot anyone in red because we didn’t put the ball when Richarlison went down for the third time in the half (it may even have been fourth, I lost count). No-one believed Richarlison was injured because why would you? He was at it all game, so when he went down under no sort of challenge from anyone, the entire ground (including the Everton end) thought he was taking the piss again.
So we didn’t put the ball out, and Doucoure takes the law into his own hands, sparking a confrontation in the middle of the pitch that ended with Sadio being yellow carded for shoving Coleman in the face. On another day that could have been a red card and it was silly from him to get involved in that shit. That’s what they wanted.
Doucoure was booked for chopping down Fabinho to start the whole thing, but none of that happens if Richarlison and Gordon hadn’t been trying to con the ref from the opening whistle. Lampard and Klopp were going at it too, but again, that doesn’t happen if they weren’t playacting.
It was a wretched 45 minutes in which no football was played and the ball was own play for about 10 minutes. Pickford took an age on every goal kick, he took even longer when he had the ball in his hands and the smug little tit was loving every minute of it. The way he kept collapsing to the floor every time he caught a cross, what a little fucking bellend he is. He’s such a tit that even Alisson felt the need to mock him, and he’s the nicest man on the planet who will turn the other cheek to anything.
Pickford will never learn will he? He’s actually the living embodiment of modern Everton. Any time he does shit like that he ends up with egg on his face. I remember him winding up the Newcastle fans and then throwing one in late in the game. That’s just pure Everton. Like throwing a flare onto the pitch when Van Dijk skied a volley only to then see Origi heading into the net three seconds later.
Or like invading the pitch after an equaliser at Bournemouth, causing a load of extra stoppage time to be added which allowed Bournemouth to score a winner. This is what they do. Every fucking time. Why would you ever get chesty if you were connected to Everton? It always, ALWAYS comes back to bite you.
But at half time I did have some concerns. I mentioned to a couple of the lads I meet with in the concourse under the Main Stand that the feeling I had as that half unfolded was a bit like how it felt in that Chelsea game in 2014. The parked bus opponent, the rampant shithousing, the frustration starting to get to everyone. There were definite shades of that game here.
The differences are that Everton aren’t Chelsea, this Liverpool are not that Liverpool, and we’ve got Divock Origi.
The second half was undoubtedly better, but if I’m being completely honest, the first ten minutes or so reminded me even more of that Chelsea game. We did exactly the same thing we did on that day. We just pushed everyone miles up the pitch and left 70 yards of space for the opponent to run into any time our attack broke down.
Everton had three or four of those breakouts because we were all so high up the pitch. Most of the time all ten of our outfield players were within 35 yards of their goal. So when we lost it, they would just look for Gordon to run into the space left by Trent. Iwobi got away in that space too on one occasion.
None of it led to anything because Everton are shit. I suppose that factored into the risk we took. It’s worth pushing right up on them because chances are they wouldn’t be good enough to punish us. I doubt we’d have done that against better opposition.
Klopp said that we just played poorly in the first half and they needed to make some adjustments so we could get in behind them. I actually said that myself at half time. Everything was in front of them, we didn’t get behind them at all and the passing was too slow and the tempo not what we needed it to be. I could see all of that but I wouldn’t know how to fix it. Thankfully Klopp and the staff do and they always have video clips ready to show the players to point out where the space is and what they should do to exploit it.
All of those things improved in the second half but it wasn’t until the subs came on that we were able to make it count. The personnel changes helped but so did the system switch. Basically 4-2-4, and Everton couldn’t cope because it threw them out of the defensive shape they were in. Suddenly we had players able to find space.
Mo had tried that cut inside and look for a one-two thing several times with no joy, but as soon as Div came on it worked. Mo found him, Div held it and then popped it back to him, Mo crosses into the middle and Robbo arrived round the back to head past Pickford.
If I could have picked any player to score a vital goal at the Kop against Everton it would have been Robbo. Trent would have been a close second, but Robbo is definitely who I’d have most wanted to see get that goal. He loved it and because he doesn’t get to experience that very often it means more to him (and us) than it does when it’s Salah, Mané, Jota etc
What a moment. It completely changed the flow of the game too because from the restart Everton immediately lined up like they were in an actual game of football. Suddenly there was space between their midfield and defence. 30 yards of it in fact. It was incredible seeing the difference in how they were now set up.
And I knew then it was over because if they have to take us on in a game of football they have no chance. We had space to play in now and we just started to look much more dangerous. They had a couple of moments too. Gordon stayed on his feet for once and then dragged a shot wide, showing exactly why he usually looks for the dive rather than the shot.
Gray fizzed a brilliant effort just wide too. What a strike that was. He was invisible for the rest of the game but I do like him, he’s too good for Everton and whoever picks him up will be getting a decent player.
But those were isolated moments and we looked like we had more goals in us. Matip had a header cleared off the line and Salah lashed the rebound over the bar. Then Pickford had to scramble across to keep out a deflected Thiago shot.
And then Divock struck. Hendo crossed to the back stick, Diaz went with the acrobatic volley across goal and there was the man himself lurking on the back post to head past Pickford from close range. We’ve seen that movie before. This sequel wasn’t as funny but it was still enjoyable.
Even on a day when we were miles from our best we still had moments to remember. Divock scoring again, Robbo’s celebration, the Diaz Rabona trap, Alisson trolling Pickford and yet another Kloppo fist pumping celebration in front of the Kop. It’s great being us isn’t it?
I want to pay tribute to Hendo here because when he came on he showed exactly what we’d been missing until then. Not just with his passing and energy (which really gave us something at a time when we needed it), but just with his savvy and know how.
Look at how he dealt with Richarlison. Had the ref done his job that twat would have been sent off and it would have been completely down to Hendo playing him like a fiddle. He’d had to sit there watching from the bench as that shithouse was rolling around, stopping the game and generally just riling everyone up. I guarantee Hendo knew exactly what he was going to do if he got on, and we saw him do it.
He was harassing Richarlison and he was always going to foul him, but he’d do it in a way that just looks like he’s been a bit over eager in his pressing. Hendo got tight to him, nudged him, held him, chipped away at him until Richarlison did what he always does - fall to the floor. And that’s when Hendo kicks the ball out of play while making sure he left a bit on the grounded Richarlison too.
He knew by doing that he’d provoke a response from the petulant little twat and sure enough he did. That’s a red card and had it not been 2-0 the ref would probably have sent him packing and Hendo’s plan would have been carried out to perfection. He’s the one player in the squad who knows how to deal with shithouses. Milner too, although his approach is less crafty as he tends to just clatter them. If we were allowed to use five subs now I’d have defo sent Milner out there with instructions to boot Richarlison and Gordon. Not that he’d even need telling.
We missed Hendo in this game though and I don’t how what the logic was in going with Naby over him for this particular fixture. That’s not any kind of shot at Keita, it’s just that Hendo is fucking boss against Everton. Hopefully he’ll never get another chance to prove that though, not in the league anyway. I’m be more than happy to get them in the early rounds of the cup now and again, just to inflict a bit more pain on them.
Yeah, I desperately want them to go down and quite honestly I struggle to understand how any Red feels differently. Actually that’s not quite true. I understand that some Reds don’t want to see their Blue friends and family members have to deal with a relegation. I don’t feel that way myself, but I get it. What I don’t get is people wanting them to stay up for the good of the city or because they’d miss the derby games.
Funnily enough, before the game I saw one of the lads from the forum who I hadn’t seen in a while and he was saying he didn’t want them to go down. He wouldn’t be bothered if they did, but he couldn’t bring himself to wish for it. I said “That’s fine, I can wish hard enough for both of us”.
He messaged me after the game and said “I’ve changed my mind since we spoke before the game. Fuck them the little mongrels”. Quite.
I do understand the sentiment about how no more derbies means no more of the countless hilarious moments we’ve had with late winners, absolute spankings and Pickford making a tit of himself. Playing against them often sees us deliver something special that will live long in the memory, but that’s actually why I’m happy for them to go down and never come back.
I’ve got loads of great derby memories I can relive. I don’t need any new ones. If the consequence of them going down and disappearing without trace is that we don’t get to play them anymore, that’s a small price to pay and I’m more than willing to pay it.
Yeah, of course it’s great when we beat them and more often than not we do just that, but it’s not all Pickford clangers, Origi goals and us taking the piss out of them and their purple flares. There’s downsides to playing them too. There’s the wild, out of control challenges from their overly amped players, the nasty shit that often comes from their away end (nowhere near as unrelentingly vile as United, but it’s still pretty bad at times), there’s Richarlison, Pickford’s face, Anthony fucking Gordon’s face, Richarlison, Anthony Gordon’s diving, Calvert-Lewin’s diving… did I mention Richarlison?
Of course if they go down that doesn’t mean we won’t see Richarlison and Pickford again. They won’t hang around in the Championship and Everton couldn’t afford to keep them anyway. So they’ll resurface somewhere else. Probably at United as Evertonians can continue supporting them then.
I’ll despise them wherever they end up but it won’t be as bad as when they’re playing for Everton because they just won’t be as rabid when they play us. No-one ever is. Even mild mannered players because vile little scrotes when derby day comes around. Coleman for example. Holgate is another.
Anyway, I don’t want to say too much more about them and their relegation fight. I am desperate for them to go down though so all being well they will do.
As for us, we keep on rolling. We don’t need to play well to win but life is so much easier when we do turn on the style. I thought we’d smash Everton everywhere but it was clear from quite early on that we just didn’t have our A Game with us. That’s fine, on those days just go out and win. We did that and all we can do is continue to rack up the wins and hope City slip up somewhere.
It was never going to happen this weekend so I don’t feel in any way disappointed or disheartened. In fact, I’m kind of relieved that we still have a goal difference advantage because City playing Watford meant there was a possibility that would be wiped out completely. A four goal margin of victory for them almost feels like a mini win for us.
Our attentions now turn to Europe again and the first leg against Villarreal. I expect quite a few changes for that one as I want to see us go strong at Newcastle on Saturday. We should be able to mix things up a bit on Wednesday (not too much though) and still perform to the level we need to, and it would make sense to bring in some fresh legs as Klopp hasn’t really made too much changes in recent games.
I’d suggest that Kostas, Konate, Diaz, Henderson and Jones should all come in but we’ll see what Kloppo has up his sleeve.
Star man is a toss up between Robbo and Divock, but I’ll go for the living legend because he pulled it out of the bag for us yet again. He’s an absolute marvel in the way he can just come in out of the cold and deliver in big moments. We’ll really miss him when he goes.
Maybe there’s a twist in the tale yet and he could be persuaded to stay for another year, especially as five subs will be allowed from next season. I can’t see it happening but I know that I feel a hell of a lot happier knowing that we’ve got him in those ‘break glass in case of emergency’ moments.
Still, if Everton go down Div can probably just ride off into the sunset knowing his work here is done. What a man.
Team: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Keita (Origi), Thiago; Salah, Mané (Diaz), Jota (Henderson):
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