Crystal Palace 1-2 Liverpool: Post-Match Analysis

With half an hour to play at Palace, it looked as if it was going to be another joyless trip to Selhurst for Liverpool. An early second half goal for Joe Ledley had left the visitors in trouble, and the problems were seemingly compounded when James Milner was sent off after a needless second yellow. However, this seemed to spur Liverpool on – they were by far the better side after being reduced to ten, and stole a victory in the dying seconds of the game with a dubious penalty won and converted by substitute Christian Benteke. It probably was a spot kick, but the element of doubt only served to make the victory sweeter – the anger of Pardew and the Palace fans is some measure of revenge for the infamous 3-3 draw. Liverpool are now just six points off the top four, and can move to within five of Arsenal with a victory in their game in hand: although it is a long shot, it means the season is suddenly far from over after all.

In many ways it was an odd match. The first twenty minutes or so were full of promise for Liverpool: they played some lovely flowing football and created multiple half-chances, only being denied clear-cut opportunities by their tendency towards over-intricacy in the attacking third. Admittedly the defence looked shaky; Palace looked capable of getting a goal or two, coming extremely close through Adebayor after a Lovren error, but it seemed likely that Liverpool’s front line would be able to counteract this. However, this pattern of play gradually stopped – by the half-hour mark the defences were very much on top, with Palace in the ascendency going forward. Only dominant performances from Sakho and, after a poor start, Lovren, prevented the home side from taking the lead before half time; they won the vast majority of their aerial battles, and doubled up well with the full-backs where necessary to nullify the threat of Zaha and Bolasie. This is the second week in a row where Lovren has been worthy of singling out for praise: it would perhaps be premature to say that he is now looking like a 20 million pound defender, but at the very least he no longer looks out of place in the team.

Nevertheless, Palace were able to take the lead very early in the second period. Predictably, it was from a corner: it looked as if the danger had been cleared, but a poor touch from Firmino fell favourably for Joe Ledley. Despite not having scored in over a year the midfielder inevitably came up with an excellent finish, driving the ball beyond Mignolet and into the corner. Having not threatened in any meaningful way since the opening exchanges, things were not looking promising for Liverpool; Jurgen Klopp apparently felt the same way, opting to bring off Jon Flanagan and replace him with Coutinho. This is about as far from like-for-like as it gets – it probably gave Van Gaal some sort of fit – and it certainly signalled the manager’s attacking mindset. Just seconds later, however, he was forced into another major re-think when James Milner picked up a second yellow card for a completely brainless challenge in an area of no particular danger. The formation after this was essentially unrecognisable: the visitors went to a back three, but with two of the defenders –Moreno and Lovren - essentially playing at wing back rather than centrally. Fans have become accustomed to Moreno’s marauding runs, but do not expect them from Lovren; he was a revelation down the right, with his committed performance epitomised by an inch-perfect challenge to rob Souare deep in Palace territory. Emre Can was also immense. He seemed to be absolutely everywhere after the sending off, simultaneously a sweeper and playmaker. He is becoming quite a player, and it is exciting to see how he develops. Even so, the hosts should surely have found a way of capitalising on Liverpool’s makeshift, open back line. Instead they panicked, allowing the visitors to come on to them: it was as if they had just got a man sent off. This fear was evident in the manner of Liverpool’s equaliser – goalkeeper Alex McCarthy failed to deal with a fairly routine back-pass, gifting the ball to Roberto Firmino. He made up for his earlier poor touch, controlling the ball beautifully before coolly slotting the ball beyond McCarthy and into the corner.

At this point Palace were in limbo: a point against Liverpool would have been a good result for them considering their woeful form of late, but with the extra man they felt that they could get more from the game. Instead of shutting up shop and seeing out the last few minutes they continued to come forward – Sako and Gayle were introduced to inject pace into the attack. Gaps were subsequently left at the back - despite a late defensive switch from Klopp that saw Toure replace Firmino, Liverpool showed no signs of wanting to settle for a point. The manager highlighted this after the game: although Palace largely gifted Liverpool the three points, the team still showed great spirit to push on. With just a minute of added time remaining, Henderson picked out Benteke with an inch-perfect pass: the Belgian showed a rare piece of good movement to get on the end of it, then went down under the challenge of Damien Delaney. It was a ridiculous tackle to make – Benteke was running harmlessly towards the by-line, and could simply have been shepherded out. Delaney tried to pull out of it but his knee caught Benteke’s foot: the striker went down, and after consulting with his assistant Andre Marriner pointed to the spot. Benteke himself stepped up to take the penalty: he showed incredible nerve to execute a perfect stutter penalty, making McCarthy commit then putting it the other side. He may not have had the best of times since joining for Liverpool, but the £32.5 million was all worth it to get one over on Palace like this.

The result means that Liverpool continue to make their league position look more favourable: they are the most in-form side over the last five games, and that turnaround in fortunes is reflected in the fact that we are now just six points off a Champions League space. Even though snatching a fourth place finish late on is highly implausible, it is no longer beyond the realms of possibility: this gives the team something to play for, and will prevent the season from simply petering out. With the Europa League clash to come against United on Thursday, there are bound to be plenty more exciting moments still to come in this campaign.
-James Martin
Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013

Liverpool 0-0 West Ham: The Kids Are Alright

Another day, another fixture for Liverpool. They have averaged roughly a game every four days since Jurgen Klopp arrived, including nine games in January alone. The German cannot be blamed, therefore, for opting to field a young side in this FA Cup clash with West Ham United. They held up well against the Premier League opposition, succeeding where the senior side have already failed twice this season in that they avoided a loss. However, the reward for their endeavours is yet another fixture: they were the better side but failed to find the net, so will have to do it all again in a replay at Upton Park.

The game was largely an uneventful one, but nonetheless there were some positives. Most of these young players had never been tested against a big side like West Ham, and they coped with the challenge admirably. There were a couple of shaky moments in defence, but the back line was comprised of mostly senior players. In the midfield the likes of Teixeira, Brannagan and Stewart featured, and all put in good performances. Brannagan took the majority of the plaudits, partially because he came closest to scoring with a well-struck effort that forced a smart stop out of Randolph, but Stewart was arguably the more impressive. I’ll admit to not having heard of him until relatively recently, but he did not look at all out of place at this high level of competition. He showed composure on the ball and passed it around nicely; the only sign of his inexperience was a little overzealousness in the challenge from time to time. Teixeira showed flashes of his quality, playing in a couple of dangerous balls, but was often on a different wavelength to Benteke and consequently was largely ineffectual.

This lack of attacking cohesion was the biggest problem in the match - although Liverpool were regularly able to work the ball into the final third, they looked clueless as to what to do with it when they got there. Ibe, Teixeira and Benteke all seemed to have different ideas about what runs should be made, meaning the killer final ball just never materialised. This has been endemic of Liverpool’s season, particularly when Benteke has played: it would be churlish to suggest he is not talented, but it is hard to avoid the fact that he simply is not compatible with the fluid , high pressing front line Liverpool employ. He was not entirely to blame - Ibe had another poor game, passing up good opportunities to pass in favour of pointlessly cutting inside in a Glen Johnson-esque fashion. His season has been far from inspiring: it would be foolish to write him off at this stage as he is still so young, but Klopp is right to leave him out of the regular first team picture for the time being.

By contrast, Allen has had an excellent season compared to his previous ones at the club. He still hasn’t earned himself a spot in Klopp’s go-to starting eleven, but if he keeps up his current levels of performance he may well break into the first team soon. His goal against Arsenal and winning penalty against Stoke can only have boosted his confidence; this was epitomised by his attempted bicycle kick from the edge of the box against the Hammers. Such was the nature of the game that this was one of our better chances - he was barged as he went for it, prompting half-hearted penalty shouts, and the ball almost fell for Teixeira. It almost certainly wasn’t a penalty, but he must be applauded anyway for at least trying to make things happen in front of goal. At the other end West Ham should have had a spot kick - Steven Caulker was shown to have deliberately handled the ball inside the box from a West Ham free kick. The hosts got away with it, however, and at the end of the day a draw was probably a fair reflection.

It would be easy to be negative about this result and complain about the extra game it gives us in an already congested schedule. However, there are enough things to be pessimistic about without needlessly placing a negative spin on this match - ultimately we have succeeded in remaining in the competition and keeping our treble hopes alive! This is no bad thing, and while an extra match isn’t ideal it is good news that we are still in the FA Cup.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013

Liverpool 1-0 Bournemouth: Post-Match Thoughts

Two games into the season, I’m getting a real sense of déjà vu. Despite missing our star striker we’ve opened the campaign with two victories, albeit unconvincing 1-0s. The parallels from 2013/14 are clear, and if this season pans out like that one did then I for one will most certainly not be complaining! It is a little too early for talk of title races though; on the whole Liverpool have been largely uninspiring, and there was a definite hint of fortune about the victory over Bournemouth.

The visitors took the game to Liverpool from the off: Eddie Howe opted to play two strikers up top, and they caused real problems in the opening 20 minutes. King and Wilson seemed to have the beating of the LFC back line – their pace got them in behind, and there were a couple of nervy moments early on. The worst of these came after Wilson absolutely embarrassed Lovren with a nice bit of trickery, drilled a shot in at the near post and won a corner. The ball was subsequently whipped in, and Elphick headed it home; it was no more than the Cherries deserved, but the officials ruled it out, deeming that the Bournemouth man had fouled Lovren while jumping. This was a harsh decision at best: Lovren made the most of minimal contact having realised he’d lost the header.

This incident did seem to shake Liverpool out of their reverie somewhat. After a couple more waves of attack from the away side the Reds got their act together, and were soon creating a few chances of their own. Benteke was being utilised much better than he was at Stoke, and the big man won multiple knock-downs that were picked up by teammates. His pressing was also excellent; he fashioned a few chances out of absolutely nothing by robbing defenders of the ball deep inside their own half. Even so, there weren’t really any clear cut opportunities. Lallana seemed loathe to utilise any of the space he worked for himself, preferring instead to turn back into trouble, and Coutinho was not having a particularly good game by his standards either – as such, creativity was limited. Somewhat unexpectedly, however, Liverpool did make the breakthrough in the 26^th minute. A short corner was worked out to Henderson, who whipped in a great ball. Coutinho went for it and missed, but Benteke was lurking at the far post to knock home. Unlike Bournemouth’s disallowed goal, this one shouldn’t have stood: the Brazilian’s attempt to play the ball should have prompted the assistant to raise his flag. Still, the home crowd weren’t complaining – they roared their approval of the goal, which to be fair was no more than Benteke deserved on what was an excellent home debut.

From here on in Liverpool did a fairly good job of controlling proceedings – they came close to doubling their lead minutes after the goal through a sublimely controlled first time volley from Henderson, and the skipper then had a penalty shout turned down after a push in the small of the back. Half time saw another slight shift in momentum in favour of Bournemouth, but Liverpool began to control the pace of the game a lot more, and saw out the rest of the match fairly comfortably.

their attacks were handled well; throughout the game they were only allowed two shots on target. Clyne in particular was immense – he contained the threat of the rapid Max Gradel excellently, putting in a few amazing tackles. This defensive prowess combined with an extremely potent attacking threat is what makes Clyne such a brilliant signing: the days of Glen Johnson as first choice right back seem like a distant nightmare now. Much like in the first half, Bournemouth’s attacks lost momentum about twenty minutes in –

One extremely interesting change made by Rodgers in the latter stages was the introduction of Moreno at left wing. He was brought on in order to provide extra protection down the left side (Gomez, though still solid, did not look quite as assured as he did vs Stoke), and he did this admirably. He put in a couple of great challenges, breaking up a lot of would-be promising situations for Bournemouth. However, it was what he did going forward that really got me thinking. Freed at least partially from his defensive shackles he bombed up the left side, terrorising defenders with his pace and positivity. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he has been our best performing winger so far this season – never sure whether he’d sprint down the line or jink inside, the Bournemouth back line simply could not contain him. We know he’s capable of finishing; one only needs to hark back to his marvellous goal at Spurs. Maybe, then, he could reinvent himself; with rumours rife that he is now firmly second choice at full back, could he rejuvenate his Liverpool career as a winger? This change between positions has been done to great success in the past: while it would be a huge claim to suggest that Moreno could be as good as Bale, that is certainly the model of transition he would be looking to emulate. There have never been any complaints about Moreno’s talents going forward; defensive positioning has always been his issue. Surely it follows, therefore, that without having to worry about defending he could be a truly excellent wide player? This substitution would appear to suggest that the same thought has crossed Rodgers’ mind, and I for one hope to see a lot more of Moreno here as the season progresses.

Put bluntly, however, Moreno’s cameo was one of the few highlights in an otherwise average performance. Of course, the most important thing is the win, especially at this stage – racking up some early points can be a huge confidence boost. That said, we’ll have to play better than that if we want to get anything from our trip to the Emirates on Monday. Admittedly Arsenal are enduring a rather shaky start, and their back line are there for exploiting, but Liverpool look equally vulnerable. Firmino should be fit to start by next week; hopefully his flair and ingenuity inspires us to create more chances. It really is exciting to think that he and Sturridge are still to be integrated into our side – even without them (discounting a couple of Firmino run-outs) we have put together back-to-back wins and shown flashes of immense quality, which begs the question of what we are capable of with a full strength starting eleven. Could we be in for a 2013/14-esque season? Perhaps not, but a few more good results and Liverpool might just start to make us dream once more. 

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013

Liverpool vs Aston Villa- Post-Match Rant!

On 15th December, Liverpool put in a lacklustre performance against Aston Villa, resulting in a 3-1 loss. Although there were some decent individual performances, such as those of Glen Johnson and Stewart Downing, in my view a 3-1 loss to Aston Villa at home means that no player did their job well enough.

You may be thinking that this is a little harsh. Perhaps you’re right, but as a Liverpool fan I am fed up of seeing my team lose games we should be easily winning. We have a whole team of very talented players, and a very good manager, and yet the results still aren’t coming. I thought that maybe after our win at West Ham we’d turned a corner, but it seems not. It is so frustrating to know that had we played to our full potential this season we would be in the top 4, but as it is we are sitting in 12th place.

To be fair to Aston Villa, they did play well. I said on Twitter before the game that we would have to be wary of Benteke, a striker I rate very highly. I was proved right, as Benteke went on to score two and assist the other. Weimann was also impressive. However, the fact still remains that Aston Villa are a team we should be beating.

The worst part is there is nothing specific I can put my finger on to explain why we are doing so badly. Obviously one of the problems is finishing, but that can’t be the only reason. If the problem cannot be identified, then it is almost impossible to solve. I hope that one of the problems, the issue of having only one real striker, will be solved by the imminent return of Fabio Borini, but to be honest he didn’t impress me when he was fit at the start of the season.

In conclusion, Liverpool continue to frustrate me. I can see all of the talent in the team, but it just doesn’t seem to be working out. I am not used to seeing Liverpool in the bottom half of the table, and I don’t like it. I sincerely hope that we can turn the results around soon, because I am not sure I could take another loss to a relative weak team such as Aston Villa! We need wins, and we need them soon. Rant over.