Spurs 0 -5 Liverpool: Post-Match Thoughts

Yesterday (Sunday 15^th December), Liverpool travelled to White Hart Lane to face a team who have been widely tipped as their rivals for a Champions League spot, Tottenham Hotspur. If Liverpool were at all concerned about the potential season-long ramifications of the game then they did not show it- despite (or perhaps in part thanks to- I’ll get to this later) the absence of the skipper Liverpool put in arguably their best performance of the season to come out, astonishingly, 5-0 victors.

For the first five minutes it looked as if the game would pan out as widely predicted. Both sides were piling on the pressure, trying to get in the faces of the opposition. If anything, Tottenham had the better of the early exchanges. However, they were quickly overwhelmed by the rapid passing and movement of the Liverpool attack- Sterling in particular wreaked havoc. The reds deservedly broke the deadlock after 18 minutes, with Henderson and Coutinho combining nicely before Suarez exquisitely beat his man in the box and curled the ball into the corner. Spurs had no answer to the Liverpool pressure, and consequently Liverpool were able to add a second before half time- Suarez this time turning provider for Jordan Henderson.

When the first half ended it was a disappointment- we had the upper hand, and I was worried the break would kill our momentum. It wasn’t to be- Liverpool came out very strongly. In all fairness Spurs made a half-decent attempt to rally- they had a few decent attacks, but in truth never really looked like scoring. Any distant hope of a comeback was quashed on 63 minutes when midfielder Paulinho was sent off. There has been a fair bit of debate surrounding the red card, but I definitely think it was the right decision. Accidental or not the fact is Paulinho caught Suarez in the chest with his ridiculously high boot, a dangerous ‘challenge’ (in inverted commas as it was never really a contest for the ball- Suarez was always getting there first) worthy of a sending off.

12 minutes later Liverpool took advantage- Suarez played a nice cross into the middle, where Jon Flanagan of all people hit the bouncing ball expertly into the very top corner. This crumpled the last of Tottenham’s resistance; the floodgates opened and Liverpool slammed two more past Spurs in the latter stages, Suarez scoring the 4^th with an excellent lob and Sterling rounding things off in the 89^th minute.

Although Tottenham were not at their best, it cannot be argued that Liverpool weren't deserving of the win. They played some sumptuous football, moving the ball round expertly in midfield then making a slick, smooth transition into attack. This may well have been partially down to the absence of Steven Gerrard- though his long balls are exceptional when they come off, he does have a tendency to be wasteful. His age also means he isn’t quite as mobile as he once was- the role of technician that Allen played in his place was a breath of fresh air for the team. 

To sum up, Liverpool put in one of the performances of the season to thrash Tottenham away from home. Suarez was excellent as usual, involved in all 5 goals, but the emphasis was more on the team than the individual. If we can keep up this standard of play we will certainly be in with a very real chance at the title come the end of the season. A lot of people are still dubious, but if a 5-0 win away from home against the team that finished just a point off 4^th last season isn’t enough to make people reassess just what we’re capable of, I don’t know what is. The future is bright.

-James Martin

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