Stoke 0-1 Liverpool: Back With A Win

When the Premier League fixture list was announced a few weeks ago, it was met with many a grimace from Liverpool supporters. The very first game of the season saw us return to the Britannia, the scene of our 6-1 humiliation at the end of the last campaign. As it turned out, however, it was a blessing in disguise; Liverpool exorcised the demons of last season by overcoming Stoke 1-0 courtesy of an outrageous strike from Coutinho. Although it was by no means a perfect performance, the result may well prove symbolic – we’ve left 2014/15 behind us, and are capable of big things this time around.

Amongst the positives was a fairly solid defensive performance. Although there were a few nervy moments (for a couple of awful seconds I was convinced Johnson was going to smash it home), on the whole Liverpool’s back line contained Stoke convincingly. Dejan Lovren deserves a special mention here – he looked confident and assured for once, winning headers and clearing the ball with apparent ease. Even his positioning, so often the thing that lets him down, was pretty much spot on most of the time. His central partner Martin Skrtel was also decent; dodgy underweighted backpasses to Mignolet aside, he did well. The much talked-about Joe Gomez also impressed – Stoke appeared to be targeting him due to lack of experience, but on the whole he stood up well to the test. Clyne was a little disappointing at first, wasting possession multiple times with misplaced passes, but soon grew into the game. As well as being solid defensively, he made some very promising runs forward to create space for Ibe: rather than overlapping he showed a desire to cut inside into the box, and this stretched Stoke’s defence. The Potters had scored at least once in their previous 12 Premier League matches, so keeping them out at their own ground is an achievement that should not be underestimated.

This newfound defensive assuredness did, however, come at a price. Presumably anxious to avoid conceding too many after the previous humiliation, Rodgers had clearly instructed his team to play with a degree of caution. Thus, chances were at a premium – the creative spark was very much lacking for a lot of the game, with Benteke looking very isolated for most of the match. Lallana, Ibe and Coutinho were the three carrying the main responsibility for chance creation in the first half, and none of them were at their best; Lallana barely had the ball, Coutinho was ambitious but wasteful and Ibe was regularly too slow to cross. It looked like a 0-0er for much of the match – had it not been for two astute changes from Rodgers, this may well have been the case. Renowned for making bizarre switches last season, this came as a relief to fans. His decision to bring on Can allowed Milner and Henderson to push further forward, thus piling more pressure on a Stoke side who were dropping further and further back. Firmino then entered the fray, immediately showing his talents – he was a real handful, keeping the Stoke defence very busy. This allowed more space for others, and Coutinho capitalised in full from this extra room by scoring a truly unbelievable goal.

There is a case to be made for this being the little Brazilian’s best strike yet in a Liverpool shirt, and considering he was shortlisted for goal of the season last year that’s saying something. A long way from goal, he got over the ball perfectly – the resulting shot flew sublimely into the top corner, the perfect combination of power and precision. Butland was helpless. The timing of the strike was also excellent; Stoke were given precious little time to recover, and Liverpool were able to see out the remaining few minutes without serious incident.

Of course, we cannot rely on Coutinho scoring those sort of goals every week (although they’re getting much more regular!). Moving forwards, Liverpool definitely need to up the intensity of their game and improve upon their chance creation. However, this is early days, and a win to start the season is truly excellent. It was particularly important after the disappointing end to the last campaign – this really shows the turning of a new leaf, a fresh start. It is also worth noting that when Firmino is fit enough to start, chance creation should be less of a problem; even in his 15 minute cameo, the new man showed a glimpse of how much skill he possesses. With other big teams tripping up this weekend, we look like we might be on for my predicted competitive Premier League season: I think that we’ll still have 6 teams in the title race at Christmas, and I believe that we’ll be one of them. Looking at our squad, particularly our attackers, there is no doubt that we have the players to challenge for the title like we did two years ago. The question is, can we put in the performances? To me, the signs are encouraging. Roll on Bournemouth!

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013 

Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea: Post-Match Thoughts

There’s nothing quite like a semi-final against Chelsea to get the team fired up. That certainly proved to be the case in yesterday’s game; Liverpool treated us to a footballing master class of the likes we haven’t witnessed since last season, and were hugely unfortunate not to come away with the advantage going into the second leg. As it is, we go to Stamford Bridge next Tuesday requiring at least one goal in 120 minutes of football to save us from going out on away goals. 

It wasn’t only Liverpool who seemed back to their old ways – Chelsea, who have been playing lovely football for much of this season, turned up to Anfield determined to park the old bus once more. Having not been forced to witness this phenomenon for quite some time, I had forgotten how frustrating this was. It’s just so annoying. It feels like they’re cheating. This feeling of injustice was quickly intensified; after Liverpool had dominated the opening 15 minutes, Chelsea pushed into our half for almost the first time in the match and won a penalty, which Hazard subsequently slotted away. It was undoubtedly a penalty – Emre Can showed his inexperience, clumsily clattering Hazard and leaving Atkinson with no choice but to point to the spot. It should be noted that Can was excellent for the rest of the game – he undoubtedly has potential to become world class (at either centre back or in central midfield), but his moment of naivety gave Chelsea a wholly undeserved lead.

It didn’t seem possible for Chelsea to sit back further, but that’s exactly what they did on scoring their goal. They invited the pressure from Liverpool, clearly confident that they could deal with it. However, they hadn’t banked on the reds finally hitting the potential that everyone knew they had. Coutinho’s immense first touches and clever passes combined with Sterling’s pace and skill and the excellent pressing from Gerrard bamboozled the Chelsea rearguard; Matic, usually so solid, was totally flustered by the intensity and quality of Liverpool’s play. However, Chelsea clung on stubbornly, and many Liverpool fans were worried that it was just going to be “one of those games”.

This feeling was heightened by the turning down of a huge penalty shout for Liverpool right on half time. It was admittedly very hard for Martin Atkinson to see what exactly went on in the scramble in the box, but replays clearly showed that Diego Costa handled the ball while on the ground. A lot of people have said that this was accidental: I strongly disagree. There were two key phases to the handling of the ball – it initially struck Costa’s upper arm (this was unintentional), but then he definitely seemed to guide it with his lower arm/hand with a sort of scooping motion, taking it away from the danger zone. Where he’s looking is also important; you can see on the replay that he is watching the ball as he moves it with his arm, heavily suggesting that it was deliberate. However, it wasn’t given, and Liverpool somehow ended the half behind.

When faced with a wall of defenders, it often takes a moment of magic to unlock them. This proved to be the case here, and it was Raheem Sterling who stepped up to provide it. 15 minutes into the second half he turned Matic exquisitely before running past Cahill – the shot from the edge of the area that followed arrowed past Courtois, leaving him helpless. This hugely whipped up the Anfield crowd, who roared their team forward again and again. It truly felt like we were going to take the lead, and we very nearly did on multiple occasions. Gerrard had a glorious opportunity made for him by Coutinho, but he could only guide his shot onto the post. Lallana replaced the skipper and nearly made an instant impact – he struck the ball gloriously following Sterling’s cushioned knock-down, but the swerving shot was saved amazingly by Courtois. The Belgian stepped up again to deny shots from Henderson and Sterling in quick succession.  Sadly, the second Liverpool goal just never quite materialised.

Still, the fans and players alike will be hugely heartened by this performance. It was definitely the best they’ve played all season, topping the draw with Arsenal. In fact, we played at such a high level that we completely dominated arguably the best side in England. If we manage to put in a similar performance on Tuesday then it is almost unthinkable that Chelsea will keep us out for a full two hours, so although the advantage is with Chelsea going into the second leg I think we stand a good shot of getting through. In terms of the season as a whole, though it’s much too late to challenge for the title once more, if a level of performance close to what we witnessed yesterday can be maintained then we should comfortably make the top 4.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013

Tottenham 0-3 Liverpool: Rampant Reds Race to Victory

We’re at it again! Though the scoreline was not quite as emphatic as in the equivalent fixture last season, Liverpool once again totally dominated Tottenham in their own back yard. You wouldn’t have known Spurs were the home side- both the assured performance of the Reds and the noise the fans were making was more reminiscent of an Anfield fixture. From start to finish Liverpool were the better side, and they were rewarded with a comfortable victory.

Right from the off it was clear that Liverpool were in the mood. They came out with much more positivity than they showed against Southampton and City, closing Spurs down and limiting their time on the ball from the very start. They capitalised on the bright opening after just 8 minutes; Sturridge showed some nice skill before passing it to Henderson, who picked out Sterling with deadly accuracy. Sterling finished coolly, slotting it in at the near post. Our only real negative from this game- the shaky centre-back pairing of Lovren and Sakho- was highlighted just moments later. Both went for the same ball and Adebayor got clean through, but his lobbed effort looped over the bar.

From this point onwards, Tottenham never really got a look in. Despite having large spells of possession they never looked like doing much with it. In contrast, Liverpool looked dangerous whenever they got hold of the ball, partly thanks to new signing Mario Balotelli. His movement along the front line, combined with that of Sturridge and Sterling, made for a fluid, lethal attack that Spurs struggled to contain. Indeed, Balotelli could have scored two or three in the first half- the Italian, undoubtedly due to over-eagerness to get off the mark for his new club, was uncharacteristically wasteful. Overall though, he definitely had a positive effect on the team. Sterling in the number 10 role behind Balotelli and Sturridge is an amazing trio; although we sold one of the best strikers in the world this summer, we still have the league’s best attack!  The sides went in at 1-0, but Liverpool were clearly the team on top.

This trend continued into the second half. Far from coming out eager and determined, perhaps with plans to exploit the vulnerable heart of our defence, Spurs looked as clueless as ever, unable to produce anything that caused any bother to Liverpool. Predictably, it was the Reds who struck next, just four minutes into the second half. Eric Dier put an arm across Allen in the box, and though it was soft there’s no denying that it was a penalty. In typically clinical fashion, Gerrard stepped up and dispatched the spot kick.  We didn’t have to wait too long for the third either- good as the first goal was, this was probably the pick of the bunch. Moreno robbed Townsend (who had only been on the pitch a few seconds) of the ball, before embarking on a marauding run up the length of the pitch. His electric pace got him past everyone, and he certainly didn’t panic when he got through on goal- he positively rifled it into the far corner. Moreno was judged harshly by many after his first game- it was, after all, his error that lead to the Jovetic opener- but he more than made up for it in this match. He was one of our best players, not only making excellent runs forward but also showing himself to be excellent defensively. Manquillo, too, looked very good- with a bit of luck, the two of them put in good enough performances to encourage Rodgers to keep Johnson well away from the first team.

Though they threatened to add a fourth, Liverpool couldn’t find another goal. Sterling came closest- he danced exquisitely through the entire Spurs defence, reminiscent of Lionel Messi, but completely scuffed his shot, rolling it tamely into the hands of Lloris. Spurs seemed to wake up a bit towards the end, and created a couple of openings- they had a strong case for a penalty when Adebayor had his shirt pulled by Lovren. As it was, it ended 3-0, and Liverpool can be immensely satisfied with their performance. They played like a team who can most definitely challenge for the title again this season, and considering the new signings have had only weeks (or, in Balotelli’s case, days) to settle in, that is high praise indeed. Not even injuries can hinder our push for the Premier League title too heavily this time around- our squad depth is excellent compared to the last campaign. Markovic, Can and Coutinho all had to content themselves with a place on the bench, whilst Lallana, reportedly back to full fitness, didn’t even make the squad!

The performance and the strength in numbers both make me look on the rest of the season with an extremely positive outlook. If we can keep playing like we did in this match, another push for the title is not only possible but probable. Last season was not a fluke. Exciting times lie ahead. The rebirth of Liverpool is only just beginning.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013