Liverpool 4-0 Fulham: The Reds Bounce Back in Style

After a poor game against Arsenal last week, Liverpool hosted a weak Fulham side with only one thing in their mind- getting back on the right track. They certainly achieved this, dominating from the outset and eventually coming out 4-0 victors. Thanks to this, as well as losses for Manchester City and Arsenal (and a draw against West Brom for Chelsea), we are now looking very strong indeed, sitting in 2^nd place- just two points off first.

The game was the perfect response to the lacklustre performance against Arsenal. Straight away the team looked a lot sharper, showing great willingness to press the opposition high up the pitch. Admittedly Fulham and Arsenal cannot reasonably be compared, but it was our style of play that was so encouraging. Against the Gunners, Liverpool sat back somewhat, inviting pressure. They were like a different team against Fulham, and their determination to put pressure on the opposition meant that they never had much time on the ball. This led to Liverpool dominating the early exchanges. They finally got the breakthrough on 22 minutes, when Amorebieta turned the ball into his own net after a brilliant free kick from Steven Gerrard. After this, the floodgates opened. Just three minutes later Skrtel doubled Liverpool’s advantage, heading home from another Gerrard delivery- this time from a corner.

Suarez looked dangerous throughout the game, and he finally got his first goal on 35 minutes. Jordan Henderson played a glorious through-ball into the path of the Uruguayan, who made the tough task of beating the on-rushing Stekelenburg look exceptionally easy. Henderson’s performance throughput the game was outstanding- though many have openly voiced doubts about his quality (and, in the case of Alex Ferguson, his running style!), he demonstrated just how good he is in this game. His combination with Glen Johnson (who also had a great game) down the right hand side was a joy to watch at times.

Fulham managed to keep the score at 3-0 until half-time, but it was clear that they didn’t stand any real chance of getting back into the game. Somewhat predictably, Liverpool were able to effortlessly pick up where they had left off in the second half. Daniel Sturridge was denied a goal by a great save from Stekelenburg, and Suarez uncharacteristically fluffed the follow-up shot, blazing over from about 6 yards out. However, he made amends minutes later, latching on to a nice ball from Gerrard and, once again, finishing extremely coolly. Despite piling on the pressure for the majority of the rest of the game, we couldn’t add another goal, and it finished 4-0.

Philippe Coutinho, who looked understandably rusty against Arsenal, played very well. Admittedly he is not yet back to his sparkling best, and some of his long shots were frankly absurd, but he showed glimpses of the brilliance he demonstrated during the second half of last season. The only real negative thing to take from the game was the once-again useless performance of Aly Cissokho. Despite the weakness of Fulham, Cissokho was unable to provide any attacking impetus When Enrique was brought on to replace him things got better, but was still nowhere near up to the standard of play Johnson and Henderson were producing on the right. It highlighted the need to strengthen in this area come January.

On the whole though, the win was very encouraging. We finally returned to playing pressing, attacking football (something we have strayed away from doing in recent games), and it paid dividends. In a season as tight as this one is panning out to be, beating teams that ‘should’ be beaten is even more crucial than ever before, so the excellent performances we have been pumping out against teams such as Fulham and West Brom bode very well indeed. Hopefully the convincing victory will give the team confidence to go on and win the Merseyside derby, which is coming up after the international break.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013

Sturridge Show at Craven Cottage

On Sunday 12^th May, Liverpool faced Fulham at Craven Cottage. Despite going 1-0 down, Liverpool romped on to a 3-1 victory, and frankly it could (and probably should) have been a lot more.

Unusually, Liverpool weren’t able to get off to a quick start. They saw more of the ball early on, but weren’t being at all incisive, and struggled to create any real chances. Fulham were also struggling to come up with any decent attacks. However, on 31 minutes, Sascha Reither put in a lovely cross, which allowed Berbatov to head home from close range. It was obviously disappointing to go behind, but in my opinion we weren’t positive enough in possession, and consequently were asking to be caught out by a one-off attack.

Fortunately, Fulham’s goal acted as the stimulation Liverpool needed. They came alive, and just 3 minutes after Berbatov’s strike we equalised through Daniel Sturridge. The striker was picked out in the box and looked to have dwelled too long on the ball, but then showed a quick burst of pace to get past his defender, then blasted high into the net, past a helpless Schwarzer. Despite a couple more chances for Liverpool, the teams went in level.

Liverpool came out strongly in the second half, as they should have done in the first. Fulham were pinned back, and both Phillippe Coutinho and Glen Johnson had goal-scoring opportunities. They didn’t convert, but eventually the LFC pressure paid off,  Sturridge latching on to Coutinho’s deflected shot and guiding it smartly round the keeper. This effectively killed off Fulham, and despite being only a goal behind, they never showed any signs of being able to salvage anything from the game. Liverpool then created a plethora of chances, but somehow failed to add another until five minutes from time, where Sturridge completed his hat-trick with a lovely chip over the oncoming Mark Schwarzer.

Daniel Sturridge played brilliantly, and is so far proving to be an excellent signing. He certainly made the difference in this game. However, his form is slightly hit and miss, and he does have a tendency to be too selfish. Had he passed a little more yesterday instead of desperately trying to complete his hat-trick it may well have been 5 or 6! On the whole though, he has the makings of a potential key player in Liverpool’s upcoming seasons, as he is the potent goal threat that (other than Luis Suarez) we have been lacking recently.  With two clinical strikers (once Suarez returns from his ban), Liverpool will hopefully no longer have the issue with wasting chances that they had at the start of this season. If we are able to make a couple more quality additions to our squad over the summer, there’s no reason why we can’t push for the top 4, or potentially even higher, next season.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013