Liverpool 3 Leicester City 1 (Sep 27 2023)

[tlw content]

 

So is anyone detecting any patterns to our season, then? Slow starts? Check. Conceding single goals? Check. Dominant, front-foot, attacking displays? Check. Big impact substitutions? Check. 3-1 wins, even? Again, check.

 

This season feels like it's gone from the zero of last season to, if not quite 100mph, at least 80 in pretty short order. Excited again everyone? If not, you should be because I don't think we've got any right to expect so soon this level of entertainment and - more importantly - run of results, given the huge changes in system and personnel coming off the back of the most depressing campaign of the Klopp era.

 

Because it is, isn't it? An era. If you consider our ridiculous history of both great and dominant football, these years under Jurgen stand apart. Yes, we can quibble about the varying demands of football over the ages, but most professional observers acknowledge the quality of the modern game surpasses anything that came before and in Klopp we have a manager who not only navigates these choppy waters of state ownership and billion pound transfer outlays, but builds a battleship that's as fast and destructive and resilient as anything else at sea. And then, once the rust suddenly appears, takes the good ship LFC into dry dock and whips her back out again in short order ready to take on all comers once more.

 

 

An over-egged appraisal of where our season is at before we even enter October? Maybe. But if there's one thing we can surely all agree on, it's that these days under Jurgen have been, for the most part, overwhelmingly fun and if we don't enjoy the good times while they're here, more fools we. Because make no mistake: the season to date has been fun and there aren't too many signs of that waning.

 

Leicester arrived at Anfield on the back of an equally exhilarating run of form, relatively speaking, that has taken them to the top of The Championship, with a team which, while denuded of the continuing intermittent deadliness of Jamie Vardy, still retains numerous PL and international experienced familiar names worthy of some respect. Plus Conor Coady.

 

Let me get this our of the way now: my years of bewilderment at Dave's hatred of Coady were rectified at the final home game of the 21-22 season when, as "a massive Red"...

 

*Coughs* Bullshit!!! *Coughs*

 

...he proceeded to waste time from the opening minute of our final opportunity to go a step closer to the unprecedented quadruple we had in our sights and generally revelled in he and his team shithousing their way through the game. And that's before he joined Everton!

 

No, he's a completely self-obsessed prick and not anything even vaguely approaching my idea of a Red. Don't get me wrong - I wasn't looking for any favours from him in that match against Wolves (which we ultimately won, anyway). However, I didn't expect him to literally try and cheat us out a win that day and absolutely delight in doing so! And how any genuine Red - regardless of what's happening with his career - joins an Everton as embittered and shambolic as the current iteration and then continues to look in the mirror is literally inconceivable; ergo, he's no Red.

 

Anyway, I digress (been reading Dave for too many years, soz). The line up from Liverpool was almost exactly what I wanted to see in this competition: an almost completely rotated side which had eyes on the triple prizes of squad freshness, individual development and - most crucially of all - victory. I say "almost" because Curtis' inclusion was a surprise.

 

That said, it was a happy one given the fact that Jurgen elected to make him captain over a more established option such as Jota. This has been a huge season for one of my long term favourite players as he has emerged from what feels like years in a wilderness of injury and ill-fitting tactics to become a nailed-down first team player.  So to see him given what looked like further affirmation - and also opportunity to continue his growth into a serious talent firmly harnessed to the team - was genuinely delightful. And the fact that he was trusted with the Trent hybrid role speaks volumes about the esteem in which both his talent and intelligence are held by the coaching staff. 

 

We have a very proud tradition in this competition, despite it's numerous name changes, and I desperately want to put further distance between us and the flat-track bullies who've crept into sight in our rear view mirror as all time leaders on the league cup honours board. I admit there was a time when I was dismissive of the league cup. However, given what sports washing has done to squads in terms of size and quality for the top English clubs, it's not only desirable to go deep into the domestic and lesser European trophies, it's essential. We need the games in order to keep the entirety of the squad focused and fresh, whilst also retaining a keen eye on a fundamental aspect of our success under Klopp: player development.

 

So the game kicked off with a much changed line up of familiar faces and almost immediately hit a snag as Leicester broke against us by pressing Kostas, who was running towards his own goal, and exploiting his tendency to over-elaborate when trying to convince the referee he's been fouled. Look, it probably was a foul (it certainly looked as much from my spec on The Kop), but he's got to be cuter than that silly effort when trying to win a free kick - especially given the position he was in and the fact that so many of our players were higher up the pitch than him.

 

Curtis had a go at slowing the attack while cutting off the pass, but ultimately his back line/offside trap inexperience left him a little too deep and McAteer broke through to receive the pass and beat Kweev low and to his right. It looked very offside to me at the time but, while it's not absolutely conclusively onside, having seen the highlights, it was a welcome throwback to the pre-VAR footballing age.

 

I say "welcome" because I thought referee had a good game. There's something really refreshing about watching a game that's allowed to flow because my biggest bugbear with the new anti-time-wasting directives to have 100+ minute games is that it doesn't actually help a side like us which thrives on momentum and the flow of our game. Besides, despite the early set back, I had absolute zero concerns about the ultimate outcome of the match - and so it proved.

 

The rest of the first half saw us completely dominate Leicester with high-pressing, fluid football which, while occasionally dipping in intensity, created myriad opportunities for goals somehow thwarted only by the woodwork and desperate goal-line clearances. Key to much of this was the new triangle on the right hand side of Curtis, Harvey and Ben Doak with the prodigious teenager showing plenty of evidence of the potential height of his Liverpool ceiling by taking on numerous one on ones, putting dangerous crosses in and hitting the bar himself.

 

Other areas of the attack seemed less lustrous and I suspect that's why Jurgen called Endo over at the mid-point of the half to pass on instructions to Curtis, who then switched into the double pivot slot thereafter, curtailing that right side threat considerably. Certainly the attack seemed better balanced until half time, albeit slightly neutered.

 

It was in this period that the lack of regular match experience for much of the crowd became clear. I have no issues with good Reds taking a rare opportunity to get to Anfield as the regulars opt to save their money for the bigger games, even if they do betray themselves every time with the inevitable early applause for YNWA. What does irk though is a lack of patience in what they're seeing and an inability to, if not recognise the predictability of a Liverpool comeback (we almost never drop points/results at Anfield under Klopp), at least suspend their audible disbelief. That said, we went in at half-time a goal down and, in my mind at least, comfortably placed for a second half assault on The Kop end augmented, if necessary, by the big guns sitting on the bench.

 

And that's exactly what transpired when we came out for the second half. After just a couple of minutes or so, Gggggravenberchhhhhh (shout out to Chris on the pod for the pronunciation skills) received the ball under pressure on the edge of the area and defied the received wisdom about footballing "big men" to rapidly switch feet and play an incisive pass around a defender's attempt to close him down and into the feet of Gakpo. Cody then used his strength to hold off the defender and spin him to hit a great shot into the right hand bottom corner.

 

1-1 and that thing about classy grocks which I've wittered on about previously was starting to look like a theme, given the emergence of Szoboszlai not long afterwards to similarly impact the game. Ever since Arsene Wenger (from the time when he was good, rather than when he went all "tiki-taka tart") showed the way in the signings of Viera and Henry, it's always seemed clear to me that - give or take what will be obvious exceptions - modern top class sides shouldn't see power and pace as incompatible attributes with touch and intelligence in a footballer. If you can have everything in one package, why the hell wouldn't you?

 

And in the two new Dutch lads, plus Hungary's apparently god-like captain (not to mention Jarell Quansah - more on him later), that seems to be our new recruitment aim. To me it's an absolute no brainer and I think we're increasingly going to see the significance of these physical yet gifted players as Klopp 2.0 continues to emerge. 

 

On 64 minutes, the aforementioned Szoboszlai came on alongside Darwin to replace Gravenberch and Doak and the performance immediately moved through the gears as Darwin caused utter mayhem with his pace, energy, pressing and clever movement, thereby creating space for teammates all over the place. One such moment ultimately led to Szoboszlai's screamer as a clearance fell to Endo (finally starting to look like the experienced pro he is with a busy yet composed second half) and he immediately fed Dom to unleash what has to be one of the hardest hit shots Anfield has ever seen.

 

It was an absolute screamer into the top left corner that seemed to actually be picking up speed even as it billowed the net. The Stevie comparisons have started unduly early with this lad for my taste, but I don't see there's anyway to stop them given the way he's starting to impose himself on games and opponents with increasing frequency (witness the near-as-dammit mirror image effort on goal some ten minutes later in the game). It seems bizarre that he's only 22, so preternaturally mature is his reading of the game and deployment of his talent therein.

 

However, it's equally bizarre he has fewer than ten appearances for Liverpool so absolutely at home does he seem in a Red shirt and fundamental to the way this team now wants to play. I'm not going to eulogise him at length here as others are already doing so wherever you look in the LFC-verse right now. However, I will say this: no matter how excited any of us feels about him currently, I think we've barely scratched the surface of what he will eventually be for Liverpool. 

 

So at 2-1 it was clear to all that the result was in the bag and the only question remaining was to what extent we could turn our dominance into goals. That it transpired only once more should not detract from the overall quality of performance from a scratch side and especially not in the context of that final successful strike. Kostas took a free kick from a couple of yards outside the penalty area on the left hand side and the ball eventually broke to the right after a great effort by Harvey to intervene in what would have been a fortuitous Leicester counter-attack.

 

Quansah charged back at pace from his attacking position at the set-piece and bullied Justin off the ball before running into the penalty area and laying a lovely pass on for Jota whose finish was class personified as he judiciously flicked a back heel at the ball, hitting it perfectly into the far corner. 3-1 and that really was game over.

 

So, Bournemouth away next in this competition at the end of next month, which I'm a little gutted about for two reasons: firstly, I've really got a taste for seeing the full depth and breadth of our squad displayed like this and I doubt we'll see such a complete change before that next round, even allowing for the Europa League matches in between. Second of all though, it's frustrating that the next match is away as I get the sense that the significance of Anfield is going to show itself again this season and we all know that the more opportunities the players have to perform in front of their home crowd, the more confident and therefore effective they will become.

 

Before then though we go into consecutive tough away games in the league (separated by what should be a comfortable visit to Anfield for us by Macca's brother and his mates) that will give us an indication of just how ambitious we should really be this season. Spurs and particularly Brighton will present challenges of the kind we've not faced this season and together have the potential to really shape the campaign, should we emerge with good results from each match.

 

On the pod a couple of games into the season, I said that, contrary to what we'd all thought about the opening match of the campaign having been a good time to play Chelsea, rather Chelsea might come to regard it as having been a good time to have faced us. Given the way we have passed every subsequent test, moving through the gears as we do so, who would bet against a couple of great away wins now? I don't think we can regard either game as anything less than a real challenge, but I just get the sense that this is a team - and squad - that will continue to find ways to win.

 

The significance of the five substitutes rule is becoming apparent to all Liverpool fans now as Jurgen repeatedly deploys our attacking riches from the bench to deliver wins. Furthermore though, he is able to make in-match adjustments to our tactics in response to the problems presented by other sides and I think both factors are going to be significant over the next few matches and beyond.

 

I'm aware I need to rein in my default setting of overwhelming optimism a little right now as we're not even out of September yet. However, I think the summer business is starting to look far more astute than it appeared in the context of the switch away from Bellingham, the fruitless jousts with Chelsea and the left-field recruitment of a clearly far from first choice option for number six. Dom and, to a lesser extent, Macca, speak for themselves as signings, and Endo and Gravenberch have clear potential to be at the very least excellent value, if not more, based on what we've seen so far.

 

Of particular concern to me though this summer was the lack of action in signing a centre half. However, the previously never-mentioned Jarell Quansah has seized his pre-season opportunity and acquitted himself magnificently when called upon so far. He's another one who combines brawn and acceleration with touch and composure and I've been delighted to watch his low-key emergence as a viable squad option, even as I continue to worry about the availability of the senior centre halves we have on our books. 

 

So after the first eight games of the season, I don't think any of us could be happier given the mess of the previous campaign and the wild fluctuations in mood of the transfer window. This feels like an exciting bandwagon that's rapidly gathering pace and - hopefully - momentum. Entertaining matches such as last night's are very much part of the recipe; rather than these being an annoyance or a distraction, we need to see ourselves as favourites to win the trophy and be the first club to move into double figures with league cup wins.

 

Star Man is a difficult one given the quality of goals, the precocity of some of the performers and the fact that we were denied what could have been an absolute trouncing of Leicester. However, I'm going to go with Endo just edging out Harvey, Quansah and Dom, for producing what was, for me, a reassuring performance that showed me what I wanted to see from him from the outset. He's not going to be a world beater, but he can be a wise older head and leader whose ability to play a specific role can be the tactical foundation for the more mercurial talents liberally scattered throughout the rest of the squad to explode from.

 

And Saturday tea time? I'm going to go right out on a limb with this team and predict...

 

 - you've guessed it -

 

...3-1!!! Come on you Reds!!!

 

Team: Kelleher; Jones (Bajcetic), Konate, Quansah, Tsimikas (Chambers); Endo, Elliott, Gravenberch (Szoboszlai); Doak (Nunez), Gakpo, Jota:

View full article

[King Kenny 86]

This used to a chance to blood youngsters from the U18 and U21.

Some of them are so good they have driven themselves into the 1st team squad. So now the whole squad is good enough to play in any of the 4 comps this season. Only introduce an occasional "youngster" 

Consider this. We have managed the tricky FFP and Brought through academy talent. City 115 squad? 

No where near as strong ours I would suggest. Feel the sun is shining 

We have Szoboszlai they have Kovacic.

COYR

[DaveT]

It was a ‘clear and obvious’ foul on Tsimikas before their first goal, staggering that the ref couldn’t see it. He didn’t get any better after that either. 

[Trumo]

I hadn't even realised Paul had written this until he mentioned Dave partway down. A slight difference in writing style to that point suddenly gave way to full-on verbal flamboyance as words like "preternaturally" got thrown in.

[suzy]

I enjoyed that Paul!

[suzy]

6 minutes ago, Trumo said:

I hadn't even realised Paul had written this until he mentioned Dave partway down. A slight difference in writing style to that point suddenly gave way to full-on verbal flamboyance as words like "preternaturally" got thrown in.

 
How could you not notice?!

[Arnaud]

So because Usher took a day off, he had some one do his job for him and for free ?

 

This is socialism in disguise !

[Captain Howdy]

Good report that Paul

[Paul]

17 minutes ago, Captain Howdy said:

Good report that Paul

Ta mate. 

[Paul]

37 minutes ago, suzy said:

I enjoyed that Paul!

Thanks Suzy. 

[Mudface]

18 minutes ago, Paul said:

Ta mate. 

 

Just needed a few more 'cunt's.

[aws]

Nice one Paul. I thought the ref was shit. 

[Jimmy Hills Chin]

Why's Paul got a picture of Pete Price above his name?

[sir roger]

A highlight for me was Doak complaining about Gakpo not passing to him, and then realising that making a scene when we had just scored was probably not a good optic.

[DalyanPete]

Great report but i feel like ive been hit on the head with wet piece of fish!

Have you been eating blue smarties?

Glad to see you that the coaching on Coady paid off and you see him for the cunt he is.

All joking aside some great stuff in there. As for the day trippers, as i watched the camera pan around the ground i was thinking the Endo transfer paid off, (so racial sterotyping i know)

As for the game, this squad looks happy to share the load.

[Moo]

5 hours ago, Trumo said:

I hadn't even realised Paul had written this until he mentioned Dave partway down. A slight difference in writing style to that point suddenly gave way to full-on verbal flamboyance as words like "preternaturally" got thrown in.

 

I noticed much sooner than that, probably on "while denuded of the continuing intermittent deadliness of Jamie Vardy", though I'm sure if the opening paragraph had included "circumspect" I'd have been on it immediately. It's looking hopeful there will be less need to use that word this season all being well.

 

Nice read though Paul, enjoyed that.

[Daisy]

Even im excited. Cunts

[CapeRed]

9 hours ago, DaveT said:

It was a ‘clear and obvious’ foul on Tsimikas before their first goal, staggering that the ref couldn’t see it. He didn’t get any better after that either. 

Yip the fella stood on his calf

[CapeRed]

Very nice report, Saturday will be test so come through that unscathed and it will be a very good result . Does Dom have a song or chant yet , could be a challenge.

[s(k)aturation]

I look back now at our so-called pre-season deficiencies, and I'm starting to think - other than cover for one full-back - we're looking pretty deep in most areas.

The new mids, the (re-)emergence of Gomez, the Indian summer for Matip, the new mids, the young local boys, the forward arsenal.

This is better than perhaps any of us still dares to think.

Huge away day coming up.

 

 

[King Kenny 86]

5 hours ago, CapeRed said:

Very nice report, Saturday will be test so come through that unscathed and it will be a very good result . Does Dom have a song or chant yet , could be a challenge.

Living his boyhood dream
He comes from Hungary
Szoboszlai  Szoboszlai
Wears the number 8
Just like Stevie G
Szoboszlai  Szoboszlai

Trying to put a catch tune to it but struggling simple starter for 20

[Pete]

Look out for Dave's mate Coady having a word with the referee/linesman around the 10 minute mark.  

[Dave D]

16 hours ago, Trumo said:

I hadn't even realised Paul had written this until he mentioned Dave partway down. A slight difference in writing style to that point suddenly gave way to full-on verbal flamboyance as words like "preternaturally" got thrown in.

 

Possibly the first and almost certainly the last time it will get an outing on TLW.

 

History right there

[piphomer]

16 hours ago, Mudface said:

Just needed a few more 'cunt's.

And 'jabronis'

[aws]

Disappointed at the egregious lack of egregiousness.