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Far from perfect but on the whole that was just what we needed. We rarely tend to look great in Champions League away games even at the best of times, especially in the group stages, so I’m not bothered that we made slightly hard work of it. In fact, being able to grind out a scrappy one like this is probably more beneficial to us in the long term than a spanking four or five goal win would have been. Put simply it was a test and we passed. This was an important game for us after a torrid few days and the players came through it well. Specifically, the lads at the back charged with filling the giant void left by Virgil really stood up strong. Fabinho and Gomez were both really good and delivered just the kind of performance we needed. Between those two and ol’ Big Bird we can get by until January as long as they can stay fit (seems unlikely in Matip’s case but you never know). Of course we’ll miss Virgil but everyone now needs to do their bit to make up for his loss. The forwards need to be on their pressing game all the time (not just in the high profile games), the midfielders need to be filling gaps and denying space in front of the back four and the defenders need to concentrate more than ever before. In recent months there hasn’t been enough of any of that. Not consistently anyway. We’ve looked great in some games and then sloppy as shit in others. I mostly put it down to the lack of fans but that’s not going to change any time soon so we need to get over that quickly. And we’ve now got to cope without our most influential player so who knows, maybe that will help them focus better. If they all work together they can get by, but if any area of the team isn’t bang at it then the back four aren’t going to be able to deal with any sustained pressure. We were conceding far too many goals even with Virgil, so maybe now he isn’t there the rest of the team will realise they can’t afford to be at anything less than their best. I thought the concentration levels were mostly good in this game. There were a couple of wobbles (Adrian grrrrrrrr) and some bad moments that came from us losing the ball cheaply. *glares angrily at Firmino* So Ajax had a few chances and we were by no means water tight but I don’t think it’s going over the top to say we defended well. Or is it? Maybe I’m reading too much into it and Ajax were a bit shit, but I was fairly pleased with how we defended. Certainly as a back four anyway. I dunno, we’ll see how things shake out but this was a good start and the more clean sheets we get the less people will talk about what we don’t have and maybe start appreciating what we do still have. We've still got the best team in the land even without Virgil, although obviously the gap has now closed between us and City. As for Europe, other than Bayern I don't see anyone better than us. For all the talk about Van Dijk it's easy to forget that we went into this without Alisson, Matip, Tsimikas, Keita, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Thiago as well. Yet the team was still very strong and the bench was too. Jones was something of a surprise inclusion to many, but when you actually think about it there wasn’t really much else Klopp could have done. No Ox, Keita or Thiago while Hendo is only just back and needs managing. Klopp didn’t have much option but to start Curtis. I thought he did alright. He played a little within himself and didn’t try too much, but that’s a sign of his growing maturity. This wasn’t the game for him to be doing rabonas or shooting on sight and he put in a good disciplined performance. Him being subbed at half time didn’t really mean anything as it was clearly pre-planned. Klopp said afterwards the medical people told him Hendo couldn’t play 90 minutes so he decided he’d only play 45. Curtis was getting subbed no matter how he played. We were 1-0 up at half time and bringing Hendo on was going to make it a lot easier for us to see the game out. There’s just a massive authority about him these days isn’t there? He’s a dominant player and personality and it shows any time he’s on the pitch. I expect he’ll step up even more now that Virgil is out and we need leadership. He’s already the leader but expect him to crank up the alpha male even more now because we need it. I’ve said how I thought we were good defensively but it was a different matter at the other end. It didn't click properly even though Ajax looked wide open. It was weird, because I felt as though we were looking dangerous and were likely to score three or four but it just didn’t happen and the one goal we did get was a total fluke. Sadio’s turn away from the defender was world class but the shot he hit after it might be one of the worst I’ve ever seen. It took the defender completely by surprise and he got his feet in a mess and deflected it into his own goal. I don’t blame him at all for that because put yourself in his shoes there. He’s watching Mané get himself into shooting position and then let fly. The last thing he’s expecting is for the ball to come his way as he was more or less level with him. It would have to be the worst shot in the world for the ball to come to him, but that’s what happened. He had Salah immediately behind him and therefore he knew he had to play at the ball, and the next thing you know it’s in the net. The closest we came to a second was also when an Ajax player almost put through his own net while trying to cut out a cross (from Robbo I think). And yet we played some nice stuff going forward. For whatever reason we didn’t test the goalkeeper anywhere near enough, although surprisingly it got better when Klopp brought off the entire front three and replaced them with Shaq, Minamino and Jota. The latter two were very bright (Shaq was quiet I thought) and Jota in particular really looks like he should be starting now. Firmino was shite again and while it’s admirable that Klopp is keeping faith and giving him the opportunity to play himself back into form, there comes a point where that has to stop. That point has been and gone for a lot of fans but we’ll see how much more leeway Klopp gives him. It’s times like this when the lack of fans is really an issue. Bobby would be having having his name belted out to the rafters every home game (away ones too) as the fans would be doing their bit to get his confidence going again. We’ve seen that loads with strikers in dry spells down the years, but Bobby isn’t getting that now and is suffering because of it. I was also thinking how shit it was that we were playing in the Amsterdam Arena and there were no fans there. That place would have been bouncing. Games like this are what playing in Europe is all about, but instead it was a like a ressies game at St Helens. It’s shit isn’t it? Like I said, Ajax did have chances, most notably when Fabinho cleared off the line in the first half and Klassen hit the post in the second. I never really felt like we were in any real danger though, strangely enough. The only real concern I had was that Adrian might do something daft, which he did a couple of times but wasn’t punished. In the interests of fairness it should be pointed that he also made two very good saves. As much as we’ll miss Van Dijk, we’d be worse off if it was Alisson ruled out for the entire season. The sooner he gets back the better as his absence is something we can’t really cope with, especially now Virgil isn’t there either. The drop off to the replacement is far greater in goal than anywhere else on the pitch. Adrian isn’t that bad in terms of a number two keeper. We've had far worse than him over the years. Far, far worse. He actually makes quite a lot of saves, some of them really good ones. The problem is you know a clanger is about to happen at any given moment. You don’t know when, you just know it’s going to happen at some point in the game. He had a couple of really ropey moments here and we could easily have been talking about him costing us another European game. The first cock up was when he took too long to clear and the ball was blocked by the striker. He got away with that, but there really is no excuse for it. This isn’t about a keeper being asked to play out from the back and therefore having to take risks he doesn’t feel comfortable with. This is just a fella thinking he has far more time than he actually has. There’s no need. Just fucking play the ball before the striker gets there. It’s not hard. He got away with another error late on too when he came out for a cross and could only knock it down to an Ajax player who shot over the bar. He must be hard to play in front of because he’s not exactly predictable. He’ll stay on his line all game, not coming for one he probably could get, and then all of a sudden he decides he’s coming for one that he probably shouldn’t. The defenders can’t possibly know what he’s going to do and that’s a problem. He had an early mix up with Gomez too that left Joe just looking at him like "the fuck are you doing?". I don’t usually get mad at players for being injured but I’m making an exception in the case of Alisson. I’m pissed off at him for being injured again. I know he can’t help it but I’m still fucking annoyed with him regardless as he misses too much playing time. He’s a goalkeeper, he shouldn’t be injured as much as he is. It wouldn’t matter if he wasn’t so fucking good, but when you lose the best in the world and replace him with Adrian then it’s going to catch up with you. Everyone blames Adrian for us losing to Atletico but the more I think about it, the more I hold Alisson equally responsible as if he’d been available we wouldn’t have had to pick Adrian, who has no business in the latter stages of the Champions League. I know this is an unreasonable take but that’s just how I feel. I’m fed up of Alisson being injured and he’s one more enforced absence away from entering Joel Matip “can’t be trusted” territory. Yes I'm being unfair, but it is what it is - he's winding me right up. So anyway, Ajax were throwing everything they had at us looking for an equaliser and seemed to bring on about four strikers in place of defenders. That left them wide open to counters and we almost picked them off a few times but didn’t get the final ball right. The one time we did, when Jota picked out Gini, the keeper made a save with his foot. Would have been a great goal that. Eventually Klopp sent on an extra defender to help deal with the aerial bombardment. Rhys Williams was playing non-league last season and now here he is in the Amsterdam Arena playing Champions League footy. Things can change so quickly in football and who knows, maybe he’ll be the one to ultimately benefit the most from Van Dijk’s absence. We’ve got three senior lads covering the two centre back spots but that’s not enough and there will be minutes available for others. At the moment Williams might be in pole position to get those minutes, especially as Nat Phillips is ineligible for Europe as he wasn’t registered in the original list and is too old for the B List. So all in all, a satisfactory night’s work. It’s easy to criticise the performance because it wasn’t great by any means, but over the last few years most of our away group matches have been shite and we’ve lost quite a few of them. To go away and win 1-0 without too much drama is something I’d have happily taken beforehand, especially as we needed to get the events of the past week out of the system and get back to playing again. The players will have been as down in the dumps as we are about what happened to Virg, but they can’t feel sorry for themselves and need to just carry on. The process started with this game and hopefully now they’ll be getting their heads around the fact that they need to play the rest of the season without him. It’s encouraging that Gomez performed well and that Fabinho was the star man (just ahead of Robbo, who was great). Imagine how we’d be feeling if the defence had creaked all over the place and conceded three or four goals. I’m not saying our defence is going to be as good as it would with Virgil as I’m not a fucking idiot. It won’t be. What I am saying is that - more injuries notwithstanding - it should still be as good as any of our title rivals because none of them are great either. Matip needs wrapping in cotton wool though because if he breaks down again we’re down to the bare bones. Fabinho has looked brilliant when he’s played at the back, especially in Europe, so maybe play Matip in domestic games and Fabinho in the CL? There’s no way we can have Matip playing twice a week and it’s a risk having Gomez do it too, so some rotation will be needed that’s for sure, and we’ll also need plenty of luck. I seem to say this every year, but if we can secure early qualification for the group stages then at least that way Klopp won’t need to keep going with his strongest team. And every year we find a way to take it down to the last fucking game. Hopefully this time we can win the first four and then rest everyone for the last two, because that would help massively. Anyway, onto the next one. Sheffield United at home. They gave us two difficult games last year but they’re struggling big time this season. It’s a game we need to win after losing three points at Villa and having two stolen from us by David Coote at Goodison. Just win, it doesn’t matter how. The injury to Virgil almost supersedes performances now. It’s just about getting results until we find some rhythm. Team: Adrian; Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho, Gomez, Robertson; Wijnaldum, Milner (R Williams), Jones (Henderson); Salah (Shaqiri), Firmino (Minamino), Mané (Jota):