De Boerexit Means De Boerexit, but Will Palace Make a Success of it?

After just four games of the Premier League season, Crystal Palace’s Frank De Boer has become the first managerial casualty. A record of played four, lost four, scored none does not make comfortable reading for the Dutchman, but it is nonetheless staggering how quickly the Palace board have opted to pull the trigger. Roy Hodgson is being touted as heavy favourite to take over; aside from shared managerial stints at Inter Milan, the two coaches could hardly be more different. That he is their go-to replacement suggests Palace were never all that invested in rebranding their style of play – De Boer may well feel in hindsight that he was doomed from the start – but the appointment of the one-time England boss could nonetheless prove successful for the London outfit.

Many failed relationships have ‘compatibility issues’ cited as the reason for the breakdown, and in the case of Palace and De Boer this rings true. The Dutch tactician built his considerable success at Ajax around possession – they dominated by stroking the ball around with precision and purpose, transitioning seamlessly from one phase of play to another. How, then, must he have felt upon first walking into the dressing room and seeing the likes of McArthur, Tomkins and Benteke staring back at him? All are good players in their own right, but to ask them to make up the spine of a De Boer team is absurd. Still, the manager was brought in before pre-season had begun: there was clearly time to mould the squad a little more into his image and likeness. However, it appears that the powers that be lacked the inclination, or perhaps the resources, to do so: Mamadou Sakho and Jairo Riedewald were the only permanent additions to the squad. Both of these are good defensive additions, particularly Sakho, and both are far more ball-playing than any of the centre-backs already at the club. Nevertheless, they are not transformative. Riedewald was not a definite starter in De Boer’s brief reign, and Sakho may not even have been a choice of the manager; the former Liverpool man had enjoyed a successful loan spell at the club in the latter half of last season, and following this the club board were set on getting him. In a Trump-esque tweet storm, club chairman Steve Parish admitted that acquiring Sakho blew most of the budget – if this is indeed the case, De Boer was left stranded with a squad completely incapable of executing his philosophy. This was damaging to both club and manager: Parish will need a lot more than 140 characters to explain himself.

Given all of this, the sacking actually appears to be a sensible decision. Granted, it is the first good call in a string of terrible ones by the Palace hierarchy, but it was probably wise to step in now and attempt damage limitation rather than persevere with a manager they never equipped with the tools to succeed. Hodgson as the replacement places a considerable ceiling on the ambitions of the team, having proved at Liverpool and then at England that he is utterly useless when entrusted with any squad even vaguely capable of challenging for trophies, but he is more likely to succeed with the current squad than De Boer was. Prior to his catastrophic spell on Merseyside he had impressed with Fulham, and his poor showing with England was preceded by a solid stint with West Brom – it must be conceded that he has some expertise in taking relegation-threatened squads to mid-table safety. This will hardly enamour Palace fans, but priorities must surely have shifted to staying up after the sacking of De Boer brought the sorry attempt at a rebrand to an abrupt end. Hodgson is not one for the future at the ripe old age of seventy, but he has as good a chance as any of steadying the ship: if he does this, Palace can try properly investing in a progressive vision in a year or two. For the time-being, Benteke represents an ideal focal point for a coach who is essentially a relic of a bygone era. Combined with traditional wingers in the shape of Zaha and Townsend, the materials are all there for Hodgson to create a goal-scoring outfit that can stay afloat in the top flight.

All that said, Hodgson essentially represents admitting defeat for Palace. The best he can achieve with the squad is good damage limitation, as opposed to positive steps for the future – with De Boer the club had a chance to put building blocks in place going forward, but the chance was comprehensively blown. The board was right to let De Boer go, but for all the wrong reasons: Palace can now only hope that Hodgson does well as a stopgap, and that another promising coach is waiting to join them on the other side. If the board are fortunate enough to see this come to pass, then they must fully invest in the new man – a lesson learned is perhaps the only potential positive to come out of this sorry saga.

-          James Martin (@JamesMartin013)

Liverpool 1-0 Crystal Palace: Good Win, But Depth is Lacking

Liverpool set up against Crystal Palace with the crucial midweek clash against Hoffenheim in mind. A significantly weakened starting eleven was fielded: Lovren, Moreno, Alexander-Arnold, Salah and Can were all notable absentees. By and large, the deputies put in a decent shift – Joe Gomez and Andrew Robertson were particularly impressive at full-back, and Ragnar Klavan looked assured aside from one dreadful moment against Loftus-Cheek. However, the introduction of Salah was needed to make the attack look genuinely potent: not until he and Solanke came on did Liverpool finally get the breakthrough. From there, they remained comfortably on top and recorded a narrow but deserved win.

Nobody could criticise Klopp’s desire to rest key players ahead of Wednesday: the second leg of the Champions League playoff is the most important game for the club since the Europa League final against Sevilla, so it made sense to keep as many players as possible fresh. However, the lack of additions so far this window was thrown into stark relief by the situation that this left the team in: removing just a few starters left a side littered with players who have no business lining up for a team with title ambitions. Milner in midfield was just about the only way to field a central three with less creativity than at Watford, Klavan can do a job when called upon but is prone to getting bullied, and Gomez is still very young and was played out of his natural position. The only two players to come in who represent very strong squad options were Sturridge and Robertson – Sturridge would be a luxury for any side to be able to bring in, and Robertson will most likely make himself the first-choice left-back in the near future. This kind of depth is required across the pitch if the squad are to genuinely challenge on multiple fronts this season, and Klopp must therefore look at making more signings before the September 1^st deadline.

Fortunately, even the weakened team had enough about them to get past Palace. Sadio Mane was one of the first-teamers to retain his place, and he was vital: he constantly looked likely to make things happen, and indeed was the one to eventually beat Wayne Hennessey. When on the left, he linked up very well with debutant Andrew Robertson – the new signing from Hull was equally impressive. Particularly in the first half, which was bereft of invention for the most part, he was the only one creating chances; his deliveries were consistently excellent, and only a dreadful miss from Matip denied him an assist. On the other flank, Gomez was also quietly impressive. There were far fewer marauding runs – understandable given that Gomez is naturally a central defender – but it was encouraging to see him look at home in the Premier League. The promising youngster had an injury-plagued campaign last time out, but thankfully appears to have picked up where he left off. His intervention early in the second half was vital, as he did just enough to put Benteke off in front of goal. This was only required because Klavan had been comprehensively beaten by Loftus-Cheek moments before, but in fairness to the Estonian this was the only blip in an otherwise strong performance. It would be madness to suggest that he is good enough for a regular spot in the first team, but it was telling that the back line was generally much calmer without the presence of Lovren. An elite partner for Matip (ideally, of course, Virgil Van Dijk) may well finally give Liverpool the competent defence they have needed for years.

It was also encouraging to see effective substitutions from Klopp. He has been much criticised for leaving it too late to make changes, but acted in good time this time out to ensure that the team got the win. Of course, this is easier to do when half of the usual starters are available off the bench: Salah will not regularly be deployed as an impact sub, a role he played to good effect. His pace and skill added a new dimension to the attack, and he was unlucky not to get himself a goal. However, the other important change saw Solanke introduced – he was not one of the regular starters to be dropped for Palace’s visit, and ‘super-sub’ is likely to be a part he is asked to play quite regularly. As such, it was excellent to see that he had a big hand in the goal. Having replaced the frustratingly poor Wijnaldum, it was a matter of minutes before he made the difference; he used his physicality to contest for the ball on the edge of the box, and it broke for Mane to finish composedly. Based on what he has shown so far, Solanke is one of those rare breeds of target man that can also function effectively in Liverpool’s system – he therefore provides a ‘Plan B’ that doesn’t make the side look horribly dysfunctional, and this could be invaluable over the course of the campaign. Origi was introduced at Watford, and was anonymous: his squad position is undoubtedly under threat from the man who is looking more and more like a steal with each passing day.  

In short, the game largely confirmed what everyone already knew about Liverpool: the first team are very strong going forward, and the defence is a signing away from at least passing as competent, but beyond the regular eleven there is a worrying lack of depth. The problem has been highlighted by the joint absence of Lallana and Coutinho, which has left a midfield in dire need of a creative influence. Nonetheless, the overall result was a positive one: multiple young players continued to show that they can step up when called upon, and ultimately the three points vindicated Klopp’s decision to rest players for Hoffenheim’s visit.

- Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013

Crystal Palace 2-4 Liverpool: Post-Match Thoughts

There’s something about playing Crystal Palace that brings out the inner crazy in Liverpool. It has been well-documented (perhaps too much so) that Liverpool possess huge talent going forward and suffer from defensive deficiencies, but this fixture always seems to highlight these dual features at their starkest. That this was the second six-goal contest between the sides in the last three years speaks volumes – indeed, a meeting between these two teams has not yielded fewer than three goals since 2005. Fortunately this particular goal-fest went in favour of Klopp’s side, and their impressive run continues.

Liverpool started brightly. The deadly front three of Firmino, Coutinho and Mane that has proved so effective this season was a constant menace, and the home side did not look capable of containing them for long. Coutinho in particular was superb; many are calling his performance the best individual display from a Liverpool player since the days of Suarez. His constant movement made him almost impossible to mark, meaning he nearly always had an extra half-yard of space. He certainly made the most of that space, pinging passes around with delightful incision and precision. It was Moreno, however, who provided the assist for the visitors’ eventual opener. It came after 16 minutes – the Spaniard, only in the team due to Milner’s illness, squared the ball in from the left flank to Can, who finished well. Moreno was a constant threat throughout the game, hitting the post later on: it was an impressive staking of a claim for regular football from a player who many Liverpool fans are far too quick to criticise.

The lead did not last long, however. Barely a minute after Can had fired Liverpool in front, a Lovren error allowed Palace back into the match. He received the ball from a Matip header, but misjudged his own header horribly – it looped up and McArthur nicked in to nod it over the oncoming Karius. It was an utter shambles: Lovren was clearly the main villain, but Matip’s decision to give it to him initially was questionable and Karius’s failure to raise his hands to try and make the save was bizarre. It was the kind of series of errors that Liverpool fans have grown all too accustomed to seeing; particularly given that Palace were the opponents, many started to think that it might just be ‘one of those games’. As it happened, Lovren had other ideas. Determined to atone for his error, he headed in the third goal in the space of five minutes following a lovely corner from Coutinho. After re-taking the lead Liverpool continued to dominate, and in truth should have added to their lead: Mane was guilty of a poor miss from close range, leaning back and striking the ball over the bar. They paid the price – with 33 minutes on the clock, Palace were level once more with just their second shot of the game. Again the circumstances were infuriating, a poor clearance allowing the hosts to shift the ball wide and then cross it in for McArthur’s second goal.

It looked as though Liverpool were going to go into the break level despite their domination, but with scarcely a minute left of the half Joel Matip restored the lead for a third time. Again it was from a corner, remarkable given Liverpool’s impotence from corners in recent times and Palace’s aerial prowess. The Cameroonian, who has been hugely impressive since joining on a free transfer in the summer, was left unmarked in the middle. He jumped well and powered his header towards goal, over Mandanda but under the bar. Nevertheless, Klopp was probably less than impressed with his team at the break. Certainly things had tightened up in the second half: Crystal Palace had in truth not created much in the first period, but produced even less going forward in the second. Liverpool, by contrast, looked just as dangerous – they could only add one more goal to their tally though. Mane came close, but was denied by the feet of a sprawling Mandanda after being put through by Firmino. It was Firmino himself who added the fourth, latching on to a glorious through ball by Henderson before chipping the ball delightfully over the oncoming keeper. His shirt was off in celebration before the ball had even hit the back of the net: that’s the confidence in this Liverpool side right now!

It was definitely a deserving win, and it extends Liverpool’s unbeaten run to an impressive eleven games. They remain level on points with top of the table City, and are starting to be discussed as genuine title contenders. It is early days, but if Klopp can keep his team performing as they are currently then they must be considered not only contenders but favourites – the attacking football on display is truly sumptuous. The defence, too, is getting better on the whole. This was not the best game for showcasing that fact, but generally speaking the open play defending has improved significantly since Matip came into the side. Set pieces remain the one persistent problem, but with the forwards scoring so freely it frankly doesn’t matter if a few goals from corners get shipped. Next up is Watford at home: a good opportunity for Liverpool to keep the pressure on City and Arsenal going into the international break, and maybe even make inroads into their goal difference advantage.
-James Martin
Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013

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

Crystal Palace 3-1 Liverpool: Post-Match Thoughts

When the fixture list was released earlier this year, Liverpool fans were quick to notice the twist of fate that saw us host Chelsea and then head to Selhurst Park for the next game – with memories of last season’s capitulation fresh in most fans’ minds, this pair of games seemed the perfect opportunity to exact some sort of revenge upon the teams who cost us our first Premier League title. However, far from looking fired up with determination to make the two London clubs pay, consecutive poor performances meant we failed to take a single point from either game. Sadly, these lacklustre showings are hardly an anomaly: Liverpool now find themselves just four points off the relegation zone, having accrued a measly 14 points from 12 games. This shocking run of form is showing no signs of abating – on the contrary, the club are now on a four game loss streak. Consequently, Brendan Rodgers’s future at the club is starting to come into question.

The only sign of improvement in recent weeks is that the quick start that was such a feature of Liverpool’s play last season has shown itself once more. Against Chelsea it was Can who put us into an early lead; at Selhurst Park it was Lambert who fired home after a glorious pass from Adam Lallana. Sadly a football match lasts longer than 10 minutes, and Liverpool’s defensive weaknesses were soon exploited. Seventeen minutes in, as if the sense of déjà vu wasn’t strong enough already, Dwight Gayle tucked the ball into the net to draw the hosts level.

An hour of very little action followed this – the tendency of the reds last season to spring rapid attacks and win the game early is gone, but what we are witnessing is by no means the ‘total football’ that Rodgers said he would bring to the club either. This terrible hybrid takes the worst elements from the two philosophies: our side now has a lack of incision that one might associate with the so-called death by football approach, but has a hugely exposed defence that is common in a team who likes to quickly throw men forward. This failure to create a clear team identity is Rodgers’s main problem. He should either have stuck to his guns and instilled the passing game as Liverpool’s default, or totally changed tack and built the team around pacey bursts forward. His claims of pragmatism are unfounded; indecision would be more accurate.

Another of his key problems is his failure to bring in any good defenders during the transfer window (coupled with his stubborn refusal to get a defensive coach in). Yannick Bolasie is a relatively good player, but Dejan Lovren managed to make him look like an amalgamation of Ronaldo, Messi and Maradona. It was Lovren who was at fault for the second goal; Bolasie flicked it over the Croatian’s head with ease, dumbfounding him to the extent that he fell to the floor. Unchallenged, Bolasie then pulled the ball into the area – Joe Ledley was on hand to slide it past Mignolet. Some fans have said that Mignolet could have done better with it. Whilst this may be true, I feel that the Belgian keeper has been used as a scapegoat throughout this season; his defence are hardly giving him any protection, and he has pulled off some good saves to keep us in games. Admittedly he has very little presence in the box and often fails to claim aerial balls that he should be collecting, but he is by no means the root of the problem.

Nobody could blame Mignolet for the third Palace goal, which was an absolute peach of a free kick from Mile Jedinak. The alleged foul by Martin Skrtel on Dwight Gayle was dubious seeing as they were holding on to each other’s shirts, but by this stage most fans were beyond caring. Jedinak took full advantage of the referee’s decision by curling the free kick beautifully around the wall and into the top corner. This capped yet another bad day at the office for LFC, who now sit perilously close to the relegation zone.

This is even more shocking when you consider the title challenge that Liverpool mounted last season. It seems a world apart from the repeatedly awful performances we are currently witnessing from our team, and the rapidity of the downfall is truly astounding. Whilst it can partially be attributed to the sale of Luis Suarez and partly to the lengthy absence of Daniel Sturridge through injury, a lot of the blame has to fall on Rodgers’s shoulders. A deadly combination of poor judgement followed by stubbornness has led to a series of shambolic performances from a team vastly inferior to the one we had last year, and if Rodgers can’t find a way to turn this around soon then he surely has to go.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013

Royal Screw-Up At Palace

Contrary to what the article heading may suggest, this is not a piece for OK! magazine about Prince Harry’s latest escapades. In fact, it is in reference to the frankly shocking capitulation that we witnessed yesterday evening at Selhurst Park. I’m over-using humour in this first paragraph because to seriously stop and think about it is frankly too much- we lost nearly all hope of the title yesterday.

We didn’t throw away our already rather slim chances in the way that many predicted- failure to break down a packed, resolute Palace defence. The breaching of what the Palace fans dubbed ‘Fortress Selhurst’ was actually rather easy; Liverpool fired 3 past them, and should have had a lot more. 3 goals to the good with 12 minutes to play- it looked a certainty that Liverpool had overcome their last remaining big hurdle, and kept the pressure right up on Manchester City. Our defence has been unreliable all season, but surely even this motley crew wouldn’t concede 3 in the space of 9 minutes to a side who has struggled to score many all season? Alas, that’s exactly what we did.

Was it the pressure getting to us? Was it the fact that Palace had nothing to lose whatsoever, and so put their all into that last 10 minutes? Was it simply that our defence is not good enough? It was most likely a combination of the three, with the emphasis on the 3^rd. The first goal, the one that let Palace back into the game, was a freak deflection. Damien Delaney’s well-hit but ultimately speculative effort struck Glen Johnson and flew right into the top corner. Any usual title contenders would at this point have stopped pushing to increase the goal difference, and shut up shop. But we are no ‘usual’ contenders. We neither have the ability nor the inclination to go defensive, and here that cost us oh so dear.

Of all people to shatter Liverpool’s remaining title dreams, it was Dwight Gayle. He was talked about a lot at the start of the season- the club’s record signing who had just months before been in the Conference! I even considered him for my Fantasy Football team (though seeing as I currently lie in 150,573^rd place that’s no high accolade). However, he has barely featured all season, and only came on for Crystal Palace as a late substitute. It was he who scored the two goals that sent us from cruising to crying in a frighteningly short space of time.

Speaking of unlikely players, there is no doubt that the ball fell to the wrong person in the 94^th minute. Rodgers had taken off Sturridge for Moses at 3-2, and it was the Nigerian who had the chance to re-ignite Liverpool’s title dreams deep into stoppage time. After a scramble, the goal lay almost empty- did Moses manage to even make proper contact with the ball? What do you think…

It was an almost comical moment, at least it would have been had the ramifications not been so severe.

But just how severe are said ramifications? Are we now out of the title race which we did so staggeringly well to even get to in the first place? There is no doubting that Manchester City are now unbelievably strong favourites; they would have to either draw to both Villa and West Ham or lose to 1 of them to open the door again for Liverpool. This, however, is not impossible- Liverpool have to make sure they are ready to capitalise on any shock slip-up. If City did lose to West Ham or Villa, and we failed to win our game against Newcastle on the last day, it would be too much to bear. Liverpool just need to keep focused on their game, and maybe footballing fate will smile upon them by turning up just one last shock in this staggering season of Premier League football.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013  

SAS Strike Again- Liverpool vs Crystal Palace

Yesterday (Saturday 5^th October), Liverpool hosted Crystal Palace at Anfield. Palace sat 19^th in the table, and Liverpool were certainly the favourites going into the game. They did not disappoint; the game was essentially over after 38 minutes, by which time Liverpool were 3-0 up. Palace got a consolation towards the end of the 2^nd half, and the game finished 3-1.

As is becoming customary for Rodgers’ Liverpool, the hosts were quick out of the traps. They were all over Palace within minutes, and got their reward just 14 minutes in. Somewhat inevitably, it was scored by Luis Suarez, who since his return from suspension has reminded us why it’s so hard to hate him. After going to ground, he produced a wonderful piece of improvisation to somehow hit the ball in. In the lead-up to the goal he combined excellently with Jose Enrique. This is a sign that the 3-5-2 that Rodgers has used in the last couple of games is working well, as it allowed Enrique to play in a much more advanced role than if he were playing as an out-and-out full back. He should definitely stick with this formation, as the two striker positions allow the Suarez and Sturridge partnership to flourish.

Perhaps partly due to this, it was Sturridge who struck next, just three minutes after the first goal. Suarez’ goal was special, but Sturridge’s was arguably even better! He cleverly jinked past three players, before firing the ball past Julian Speroni from a tight angle. This put Liverpool in a dominant position in the game, but they did not sit back. Throughout the first half they continued to press Palace, and in the 38^th minute they reaped their reward by adding a third. Raheem Sterling (in for the suspended Lucas) played a ball to Suarez, who cleverly tried to return the ball by dinking it over Dean Moxey and back into Sterling’s path. It would have come off beautifully, had Moxey not pulled Sterling back. The incident was adjudged by the referee to be inside the box (though it was dubious), and Gerrard converted the subsequent spot kick with ease, setting yet another club record by scoring in a 15^th consecutive season.

Unfortunately, the 2^nd half was (you guessed it) extremely underwhelming. AS has been the case in virtually all of our games this season, the players dropped the tempo significantly in the second period, and even invited some pressure from the visitors. Palace were able to create a couple of decent chances, and scored one in the 76^th minute throughout Dwight Gayle. Though admittedly Liverpool never looked in danger of failing to win the game, in what is shaping up to be an extremely competitive Premier League season goal difference could be important come the end of the season. Had we not conceded in the second half, but instead come out and continued to be positive, we would now be top of the league instead of second, remaining behind Arsenal due to fewer goals scored. If we want to stay so high up in the league, we will need to up our game in the 2^nd half. I’m frankly getting bored of writing this in my articles, so hopefully they’ll soon take the hint and step it up!

That said, we certainly can’t complain about the weekend as a whole. Everton’s unbeaten run finally came to an end, and more significantly West Brom held Arsenal to a 1-1 draw. The icing on the cake was West Ham’s rather improbable 3-0 thrashing of Tottenham! All in all, as the weekend draws to a close, I’m feeling very satisfied (in terms of football at any rate). Although the 2^nd half performance was once again not up to scratch, at least we were able to get the win. Last season we had a tendency to only manage draws against ‘small’ teams, and this season teams like Spurs and Man City are proving vulnerable to weaker teams, so it is important to get the win. If we can keep this up, we’ll be a long way to securing that Champions League spot we all crave.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013