West Brom 1-1 Liverpool: Post-Match Analysis

Yesterday, Liverpool were hosted by West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns. Despite looking in control for large periods of the match, Liverpool were unable to hold their 1-0 lead, and ended up taking just one point away from the game after drawing1-1.

Liverpool didn’t start quite as brightly as usual. West Brom were clearly fearful of getting hit on the counter-attack, so didn’t commit many men forward. This made it tough for either side to create any chances, leading to a cagey opening 20 minutes. Eventually though, Liverpool’s supreme attack was able to break the deadlock- Luis Suarez produced a lovely cross after some great trickery on the edge of the box, resulting in a simple tap-in for Daniel Sturridge.

This opened the game up a little. Our failure to strengthen in defence in January means that our back line is still very vulnerable, and the Baggies proved this. They produced multiple half-chances, and though they didn’t really test Mignolet in the first half it wasn’t for a lack of trying. The trend continued after the break, with both sides looking like they had the potential to score. Suarez came close to the doubling LFC’s lead, denied only by a good 1-on-1 save by Ben Foster. Gareth McAuley also came very close for Albion; his headed effort was kept out thanks to one of the saves of the season from Simon Mignolet. Just as Liverpool seemed to be getting into their rhythm and shutting West Brom out of the game, disaster struck.  Kolo Toure, who was only in the team due to an injury to Mamadou Sakho, attempted a ridiculous pass across his own back line. Presumably he didn’t see Anichibe lurking nearby, as his pass went straight to him. Anichibe was then left with the task of smashing the ball emphatically past Mignolet, which, to be fair to him, he did very well.

This defensive error is by no means an isolated incident. Throughout the season, the defence has looked very shaky, and it has undeniably been costing us points. We were all gutted when Liverpool failed to sign Konoplyanka on deadline day, but the more worrying issue is this: why were we trying to sign a winger? Other than Sakho, all of our centre-backs are sub-standard. Flanagan has proved himself to be better than we first thought this season, but he is by no means a player one would associate with a Champions League club. Cissokho has been dire all season, although to be fair to him he actually performed quite well against West Brom. In short, we need an overhaul of the defence, and whether it is the fault of FSG, Rodgers or Ayre, we aren’t getting it. The current squad is by no means beyond finishing in the top 4, but our lack of defensive signings has certainly made it harder. If we can still reach it, hopefully a positive multiplier effect will ensue- better players will want to join us as we have Champions League football, so our team will improve, resulting in us doing even better. On the other hand, if we don’t manage to get in the top 4, we risk losing our key player, Suarez, without whom we will really struggle.

Anyway, back to the match. After the shambolic concession of the equaliser, Liverpool, as one would have expected, pushed harder in attack. Sadly though, they lacked their usual attacking potency. Sturridge was operating in a wider role than usual, which made him quite a lot less effective, and by his standards Suarez was having a bad game. Sterling was our best attacking player, but even his pace and quick feet weren’t really able to create anything threatening. Matters weren’t helped by the amount of times West Brom fouled our players to prevent a promising attack. In spite of our efforts to force the issue and get a winner, the game finished 1-1.

Overall, the result is a really disappointing one. Fortunately Tottenham also dropped points at Hull and Manchester United were beaten by Stoke, so the loss didn’t allow our rivals for 4^th place (other than Everton) to gain on us too much. We are also still only 3 points adrift of Chelsea, who today go to City. It is clearly by no means a season-ruining result, but the players will need to be at their best even in the ‘smaller’ games if we want to maintain a proper challenge for 4^th place or higher with the squad we have.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013