Liverpool 0 Inter Milan 1 (Mar 8 2022)

[tlw content]

 

 

 

Report by

Dave Usher

Weird game this. We never looked like ourselves and we definitely can’t say we played well, yet we dominated the game, hit the woodwork three times and saw two other certain goals prevented by heroic blocks. Inter basically had one and half chances and scored from one of them.

 

Contrary to much of the post match analysis we’ve seen, we deserved to go through over the two legs but the way we did it definitely leaves something of a bitter taste. We didn’t exactly back door our way in to the last eight but we certainly didn’t roar into it either, in the way that Bayern did for example.

 

Ultimately though it really doesn’t matter. This ‘defeat’ will bother me for a few days but then it will be forgotten as there are no consequences to it. It hasn’t hurt us other than maybe knocked the aura of Anfield invincibility a touch. It may even help as it shows what can happen if we aren’t at full throttle. 

 

So what went wrong? Well it’s easy to point to all of the near misses and put it down to one of those nights, but there was more to it than that. We never looked right all night, especially at the top end of the pitch. The passing wasn’t sharp, the movement never looked right and the forwards seemed to lose the ball every single time they had it. 

 

That’s maybe harsh on Sadio as he wasn’t bad, but Diogo and Mo were shite in the first half. Mo got better after the break and his second half display was fine, but Jota just couldn’t get going and frankly I’m amazed he lasted 80 minutes before eventually making way for Diaz.

 

Inter were feisty and positive and made life very difficult for us, but they didn’t threaten much. They pressed us well and they passed around our press, but they just seemed a bit toothless up front. Sanchez was given the nod over Dzeko and to be fair he rolled back the years and put in a quality performance until his costly sending off. I’ll get to that in a bit.

 

The energy and desire showed by him really took me by surprise. I don’t know how he’s done for Inter but I remember how fat and shit he was at United. This was more like the Arsenal Sanchez though. Lively, skilful, hard working, he was popping up fucking everywhere. I was really impressed.

 

Some will say he should have been sent off for a high, studs up challenge on Thiago. I would say he certainly could have been sent off for that, and it looks particularly bad on the freeze frame of the moment of impact. But watching it at full speed I’d say a red card would have been somewhat harsh, simply because there was a lack of force behind it. It was a rake of the studs rather than a full force, dangerous impact challenge. The ref could have justified a red if he’d wanted to, but for me a yellow was just about right.

 

It’s one of the few things the prick did get right all night. What the hell was wrong with him? He’s been refereeing at the top level for donkey’s years and he’s done loads of our games. I had a generally positive view of him before this but he was fucking hopeless. At one point I was thinking Inter had paid off another ref, but then he sent Sanchez off who dispelled that theory.

 

He was not biased, as I’m sure Inter are just as baffled by a lot of his decisions as we are. He fluctuated from giving no free kicks at all to giving them for absolutely nothing. They weren’t major decisions, thankfully, but so many of the minor decisions were just completely wrong.

 

As an example, Virgil was about to head the ball clear and was blatantly shoved in the back and missed his header. Such an obvious foul, but this clown said play on. A second later Dumfries is taking a tumble after minimal contact from Robbo (I’m not sure he touched him at all) and not only is he giving a free-kick but he’s booking Robbo, who is immediately pointing to where the Virgil challenge took place and is yelling “THAT’S A FOUL!”.

 

There were loads of things like that, it was embarrassing to watch at times he was getting so much wrong. The worst decision (or I should say non-decision) of the night was when a defender just barged into Mo from behind and flattened him about a second before the ball even arrived, and he gave nothing. That is legitimately one of the worst calls I’ve ever seen. It was genuinely incredible.

 

He definitely didn’t help but as woeful as he was I’m not using him as an excuse for how we played. In fact, he probably made life easier for us by sending off Sanchez. Again, that’s a decision that you can give or you can ignore. You can say it’s a yellow because he caught Fabinho with his follow through, but if I’m honest I absolutely hate that decision. 

 

Sanchez wins the ball and his follow through isn’t high, it’s basically on the floor as he tries to pull his foot down to avoid contact with Fabinho. We shouldn’t be giving cards for those. We shouldn’t even be giving free-kicks. It’s different when the follow through is high, but I think that’s harsh. Maybe I need to just get used to it though as that’s the way the game has gone.

 

It had a huge impact on the game because had just gone ahead on the night and we were set for a potentially very edgy last 20 minutes or so. Their confidence was now up after that brilliant strike by the otherwise anonymous Lautoro Fernandez but almost immediately the wind was taken out of their sails with the sending off.

 

Actually Fernandez had another chance just before the goal. A much easier chance, but it hit Robbo on the heel and deflected wide. Given how shite he’d been over the two games it was a surprise when he rocketed one into the top corner. Bad goal from our point of view, as Joel gave it away cheaply and we never dealt with what came next. Hell of a finish though.

 

When they scored I was worried. Not massively so as I expected a response from us and we were still ahead in the tie, but there was concern there because of how we’d been playing. If the sending off doesn’t happen when it does, who knows how this tie would have gone?

 

So I didn’t blame the Inter coaching staff and subs going mad about it. One of them was sent to the stands for taking his protests too far, although Simone Inzaghi stayed fairly calm, to his credit. Imagine Simeone in that situation! That decision killed any chance they had because there was no way ten men were going to complete the comeback against us. So any concern I had when they scored disappeared when Sanchez did.

 

I was hoping we would avoid defeat though as losing at Anfield is something that massively bothers me now because our record here is so great in recent years (at least when fans are present). We’ve been on such a great run of late that it’s something ideally you’d want to keep going, but then losing a game that doesn’t actually matter can be a good thing in the long run.

 

We just didn’t look right and there were lots of examples of it. Whether it’s Joel’s weak ball down the line that led to the Inter goal or Robbo failing to beat the only covering defender with his cross when it was easier to bypass him and pick out one of the three team-mates that were running into the box unopposed, it was evident all night from most of the team.

 

Two of our better players were Jones and Thiago and they were the first ones to be subbed. I didn’t agree with that but at the same time I do think Henderson and Keita gave us more control than we had previously. Then again, Inter were down to ten men so that made a big difference.

 

I liked what I saw from Curtis but I don’t think we got him the ball enough. He looked bright and sharp when he had it but we couldn’t really build up any momentum as every time the ball went the forwards they invariably lost it cheaply. Thiago was involved more and he played well I thought. He won the ball back brilliantly on a few occasions with slide tackles and I assume his withdrawal was just a precaution following his injury. 

 

It did surprise me that with five subs to call on that Klopp didn’t make a change up front earlier. To me the game was crying out for Diaz but maybe because we were still creating chances Klopp wanted to see how it played out. Mo hit the post twice and it just one of those nights for him. I don’t think he did anything wrong with either chance, it’s just unlucky really. 

 

The first one comes after some lovely play by Thiago. Jota challenged the keeper and his punch fell to Mo. It looked like the goal was gaping but there were defenders back on the line so he had to try to place it in the corner and it hit the post. The second one was from a lovely pass by Sadio and Mo did everything right with the finish, it just didn’t go in.

 

It happens, but far better it happens in this game than in the league. Diaz eventually came on and looked great again. He looked like he’d salvaged a draw for us late on but Vidal arrived from absolutely nowhere to make a block. That typified Inter’s resilience. Woodwork great last ditch defending was the main reason we lost this game. In the first half they survived a couple of major scares too. Joel headed against the bar and then Virgil had a goal bound header blocked by a defender. He didn’t know much about it but his desire to get in front of his man and try to impact the play probably deserved some reward. 

 

They defended very well and they had luck when they needed it. Sometimes that happens. There’s no cause for concern at this point although there’s no denying that ee weren’t at our best last weekend against West Ham and we were off it again in this one. It’s possibly a result of winning the League Cup Final and then dropping off just a fraction in terms of focus and intensity. We’ll get it back, hopefully soon and before it actually does cost us.

 

Star man was probably Trent. His set-piece delivery was great, as was most of his crossing in general, while he also made some decisive contributions defensively. It’s going to be interesting to see how many changes Klopp makes this weekend. I don’t expect too many but who knows, he’s done it before where he makes eight changes out of the blue just to give us fresh legs. 

 

I don’t know if tiredness has contributed to the last couple of performances, but if it has then maybe we’ll see sweeping changes at Brighton. Personally I don’t think it is tiredness, but it’s probably worth freshening it up at least a little. Hendo will come back in after not starting this one, we might see Konate too. We have to see Diaz as he’s the liveliest of all of our forwards right now, and certainly the one who loses the ball the least.

 

Since Potter arrived there Brighton have played us as well as anybody has but that needs to stop now. We need the points but we also need a performance. Hopefully this kick up the arse we had against Inter will refocus the team and get us playing our football again.

 

 

Alisson: Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Thiago (Henderson), Jones (Keita); Salah, Jota (Diaz), Mané:

 

 

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[AdamD]

Agree with most of this Dave but what I have noticed overthe last few games is the turf seems spongy and not suited to a slick passing game. Also players are slipping a lot.

 

Very noticable last night how many times Sadio slipped and it seems to me the ball is travelling slowly.

 

I am not at the ground so may be it is just my eyes deceiving me

[DalyanPete]

I'm slightly OK with the loss, better now than going forward. Think I saw that Mo said we were overconfident, sure Jurgen will sort that out. Still believe the quad is on.

[alles ist gut]

Top, top Martinez analysis there, Dave.

[Reckoner]

I think it is tiredness myself, but if it’s not then what? Dropping in intensity after the cup final sure, but isn’t that due to tiredness? I hope I’m wrong as I can’t see when we can recover. Games every 3-4 days. I’d play the reserves in the FA Cup as the league and CL must take priority.

[dockers_strike]

Hmmm. Not often I disagree with Dave but I didnt think Curtis and sadio had a good game. I think Virgil was more at fault with the goal rather than Joel be each to their own opinions.

 

Mo's first shot that hit the post, he seemed to strike the ball with the side of his heel rather than the inside of his foot as intended. It is a bit of concern Mo, Sadio and Jota's finishing leaves something to be desired right now!

[Arnaud]

Mo was not unlucky, he was clumsy for once. I agree VVD was the main culprit for they goal.

[KMD7]

Good report Dave, just can't agree with you on the sending off.  Flying in studs up is always begging for a yellow nowadays at least. I'm glad he was sent off in the end because he might have gone in again on someone and really hurt them. 

[dave u]

1 hour ago, AdamD said:

Agree with most of this Dave but what I have noticed overthe last few games is the turf seems spongy and not suited to a slick passing game. Also players are slipping a lot.

 

Very noticable last night how many times Sadio slipped and it seems to me the ball is travelling slowly.

 

I am not at the ground so may be it is just my eyes deceiving me

 

Yeah Sadio did slip a lot. The pitch isn't in its usual condition but I think there's a lot more to it than that. We just haven't played well, but it'll come back.

[dave u]

Virgil didn't close him down but that seems to be something we do a lot. Mainly because the odds of Martinez (or anyone else) doing that are pretty remote. He played the percentages and lost.

[m0e]

Ermmmm

 

 

Who the fuck is Lautoro Fernandez?!

 

 

[sir roger]

19 minutes ago, m0e said:

Ermmmm

 

 

Who the fuck is Lautoro Fernandez?!

 

 

I assumed it was a gag based on a much-lauded player who's only contribution is a long shot.

[dave u]

Whatever he's called. The walking haircut they had up front who was terrified of Virgil.

 

Not just me though, Chris had five takes at trying to get his name right in the intro to the pod and gave up in the end.

[Waitak]

Totally agree with your analysis of Sanchez's game. Who knew he was capable of that ?  And what the hell happens to players like him when they move to Old Trafford ? 

[Arnaud]

Actually their goal was a bit lucky, the rebound just before the kick makes the hit stunning.

[Bernard Diomede]

I said before the game If I could guarantee a 1 nil loss I’d take it. We’ve won 12 on the spin before the game and realistically you’re not going until the end of the season without losing a game, it’s just law of averages. If we react in the right way I think it could be the perfect result for us. 

[Anubis]

The analysis of the Sanchez tackles is easily the worst stuff you’ve ever written, Skip.

 

And I was around when you were giving Jason Puncheon ‘my boy’ status…

[VERBAL DIARRHEA]

It was a sending off. 

[dave u]

You've all gone soft. 

 

I only wish I could put you in the 'shitness of modern football' thread.

[Barnesey]

I think we've been below par for some time. The Cup Final was the best we've played over that time and even there we didn't create as much as we might have done. I put it down to the normal cycles of any season - we used to talk about a poor January/February costing us the chance of honours. We've navigated that period now and, having put a loss on the board for the first time in ages, I hope we can now recover our gait for the finishing straight.

[StevieMax]

I am really surprised that no one has mentioned how much the wind affected the match.

It was quite strong and swirled about as well.

It definitely affected how LFC went forward and helped Inter's scampering defence.

I found it ironic that LFC's best 15 minutes going forward ended with Inter's "worldie" goal.

[Pureblood]

On 10/03/2022 at 10:51, dave u said:

You've all gone soft. 

 

I only wish I could put you in the 'shitness of modern football' thread.

I think he was unlucky to be shown a second yellow.  It looked like he tried to pull out of the tackle, and he easily got to the ball first.  It reminded me of the time Hendo got sent off against Man City during the run in of the 2014 season - just an honest pro going for a contested ball and his momentum taking him into the opponent.  I don't see Alexis Sanchez as a dirty player.  

 

Liam Brady was arguing that he deliberately raises his studs in a snide way to leave something on the opponent, but I'd give him the benefit of the doubt and don't buy that argument.  I don't recall Alexis being a dirty player when he was a regular in the Prem.  

 

In short - agree with Dave U 100%. 

 

[sir roger]

On 11/03/2022 at 23:24, Pureblood said:

In short - agree with Dave U 100%. 

 

 

[sir roger]

I saw the first challenge as 'orange' and the second as 'light yellow' so fuck Sanchez.