Liverpool 2-1 Southampton: It’s Not Vintage, But It’s Victory

So much for easing us in lightly. Liverpool’s first game of the season did end in victory, but it certainly wasn’t done the easy way. It took a 79^th minute winner from Daniel Sturridge to scrape victory for the reds, and the argument could be made that the win wasn’t deserved. Still, at the end of the day it’s the three points that matters, and the win moves Liverpool joint top of the Premier League.

 Right from the off it was apparent that we weren’t going to be treated to a vintage Liverpool performance of the like we got so accustomed to last season. We didn’t come out all guns blazing, and were happy to knock it around without really penetrating the Southampton defence. Part of the problem can be traced to the selection of Lucas- his clumsy, disjointed style of play broke up the midfield and prevented good transition from midfield to attack. However, after just over twenty minutes Liverpool did manage to get a goal. The pundits have been droning on prior to the season about how Liverpool will struggle to score in tough games now they don’t have the magic of Suarez, but it appears that we can now rely upon the magic of Henderson. It was his glorious long ball that found Sterling, who finished extremely coolly past Forster. This in itself is very encouraging for the season to come; the only thing Sterling was lacking at times last season was a clinical finish, which is something he appears to be adding to his game.

The control of possession which the reds had managed to exert over the game up to this point vanished after the goal. Southampton were able to push forward a lot, and they looked dangerous at times. Morgan Schneiderlin came the closest to scoring, forcing Mignolet into a good save. Liverpool made it to half time with their lead still intact, but it was clear that something would have to change if they wanted to hold on to it. The second half started, nothing changed and the inevitable happened. Nathaniel Clyne’s 56^th minute goal was no less than Southampton deserved. That said, it could and should have been prevented. Tadic’s backheel, though executed with pinpoint accuracy, was excruciatingly obvious. Johnson, who other than Lucas was our worst player, was a mere spectator as Clyne ran round him and smashed it home. On the plus side Johnson will probably no longer be featuring in the first team very much- Manquillo (who had a very good game) is making the right-back position his own, and new signing Alberto Moreno will slot in at left-back.

If Rodgers was hoping that conceding the goal would prove to be a wake up call for his team, he was left disappointed. Southampton continued to pile on pressure, and it took some truly desperate defending at times to stop the Saints taking the lead. Lucas coming off for Allen improved Liverpool’s play a little, but it wasn’t until Coutinho made way for Lambert that we were really able to get going. This wasn’t because Lambert terrorised his former club (although he played fairly well); it was because the change meant that Sterling moved into the number 10 role, which allowed him to wreak havoc. His pace and movement put us back on the front foot, and it was he who set up the winning goal. He flicked the ball on with his head from the edge of the box, and Sturridge had positioned himself perfectly to knock the ball home from close range.

Still, the game wasn’t over. Much like after the first goal, Liverpool regressed after scoring. Their half-hearted attempt at keep-ball in the immediate aftermath of the goal fizzled out pretty quickly, and soon the reds had nearly everyone camped in their own box, trying to absorb the huge amounts of pressure Southampton were applying. It very nearly wasn’t enough- Mignolet made a simply amazing reaction save to tip Schneiderlin’s effort on to the underside of the crossbar, and Long somehow headed his follow-up attempt wide of the target. After this Liverpool managed to wind down the clock in the corner, and they saw the game out.

There are both positives and negatives to take from this game. The obvious positive is the three points, which is the ultimate aim of any Premier League game. Another encouraging sign was the goal and assist for Raheem Sterling, who looks all set to have a very big season for us. The versatility that Rodgers has given the team with his transfers also showed- changing the system to put Sterling through the middle was what changed the game and won us the match. The negatives were also quite apparent- Lucas and Johnson simply aren’t good enough to play for Liverpool, and the defence, though improved, still looks shaky. Personally I think that Sakho and Lovren would be a better choice of centre-back pairing that Skrtel and Lovren, as Sakho strikes me as much less error-prone.

Overall though, we can’t complain. We’ve got off to a winning start, something that prior to last season’s victory over Stoke we had failed to do for a long time. Though by no means the ideal performance, the main weaknesses that we exhibited are relatively easily fixable, and I’m sure the team will be exhibiting much nicer football than this before too long. Facing Manchester City is the ultimate kick up the backside, so I’m sure the team will be much more fired up for next week’s game. With a bit of luck they’ll be able to continue their winning start to the season.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013

Southampton 0-3 Liverpool: Persecution of the Saints

Yesterday (Saturday 1^st March), Liverpool travelled to St Mary’s to face Southampton, a team who they have had huge trouble beating in recent times. Fortunately, despite playing nowhere near their best, they were able to overcome their problems, eventually emerging 3-0 victors.

This game saw one notable change to the starting 11- Rodgers opted to play Joe Allen in place of Raheem Sterling. On the one hand this was harsh on the 19-year-old, who has been in excellent form. However, Liverpool have lacked control of the game away from home this season, so an extra man central was a good idea. It proved effective- Liverpool dominated the early exchanges, creating a couple of pretty good chances. Nothing came of this pressure until the 16^th minute, when Luis Suarez got back in amongst the goals after capitalising on a defensive error from the usually solid Southampton back line.

The Saints responded well, with Adam Lallana proving instrumental in their attacks. Sometimes he plays wide, but yesterday he operated in the number 10 role and was extremely effective. He combined exceptionally well with Jay Rodriguez and Ricky Lambert on multiple occasions, and nearly equalised for Southampton after a lovely little move- his effort struck the post. They kept up a relatively strong amount of pressure on the Liverpool goal all the way through to half time, but couldn’t get anything to show for it.

The second half showed signs of continuing where the first left off- Liverpool had to absorb a fair bit of pressure from the home side. However, 57 minutes in, Rodgers made a substitution that culminated in the killing off of the match. He brought on Raheem Sterling for the uncharacteristically ineffectual Philippe Coutinho; a change many fans had been clamouring for at half time. Just over a minute after coming on, and with his very first touch of the ball, he put Liverpool two up, firing home from a nice pass from Suarez. From here on in Liverpool cruised. Southampton looked demoralised, and Liverpool could have scored three or four in the second half. In the dying moments they did manage to add a third- Suarez embarrassed Jose Fonte with a series of silky skills, and was eventually clattered by him, resulting in a stonewall penalty. Gerrard stepped up to take it, and, as per usual, finished it emphatically. This was arguably his best penalty of the season- it flew right into the top corner, leaving Boruc (who had dived the right way) completely helpless.

After the game, Rodgers said that this game was, in its own way, just as impressive as the 5-1 thrashing of Arsenal. I am inclined to agree with him. It’s an age-old saying that to win when not at your best is the mark of champions. Liverpool didn’t just win; they produced a score-line of 3-0! With only 10 games remaining and Liverpool sitting in 2^nd, just 4 points off the top, people are finally being forced to take our title challenge seriously. We are the form side- since the halfway point in the season, no team has a better record than ours. Our main title contenders, Man City and Chelsea, are still to come to Anfield: this is the best shot we’ve had at the title in years. If Suarez and Sturridge can keep up their scintillating form (if they were a team in their own right, they would be 6^th top scorers in the Premier League), there is no way you could justify counting us out of the race.

To conclude, these are exciting times for Liverpool, both fans and club alike. At the start of the season it is almost inconceivable that, with so few games to play in the season, there would be talk of winning the division championship. Even if we don’t manage to secure the title this year, we can be thrilled with the huge progress we’ve made and content ourselves with the all-but-confirmed consolation of a Champions League spot. That is not to say that we shouldn’t dare to believe- we have a great team with a great manager, and with a bit of luck we could yet go all the way. Do it for Stevie!

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013

Liverpool 0-1 Southampton: Post-Match Thoughts

After taking 10 points from their first four games and sitting pretty at the top of the Premier League, Liverpool had the right to go into this home game against Southampton feeling fairly confident. The Saints started the season relatively well, but if Liverpool had performed as they did in their first three games of the season, you can’t help but feel this game would have been a walk in the park. The fact is they didn’t play like that; they played awfully. Southampton’s drive and determination to win was contrasted by Liverpool’s lacklustre, uninspired performance, and consequently they flopped to a 1-0 home defeat.

If I was trying to be kind to Liverpool, I could say that nobody was entirely to blame. A perhaps more accurate way of looking at it would be to say that everybody was, to some degree, at fault. This includes Brendan Rodgers, who made some very odd selections. Despite Jose Enrique being fully fit, Rodgers opted to play Sakho, a centre-back by trade, at left-back. Kolo Toure, another central defender, was also played at full-back in the absence of Glen Johnson, meaning that Liverpool lined up at the start of the game with 4 centre-backs in defence. At first I thought this could be a shrewd tactical decision, as the sheer physicality of Agger, Skrtel, Sakho and Toure should have been enough to prevent Southampton from getting anywhere near our goal, but as it transpired they simply could not function properly out of position.

This was the first mistake; unfortunately it was followed by many more. Liverpool started the game relatively brightly, but right from the start seemed to be lacking the incisive edge that they have shown when on the attack in previous games this season. Steven Gerrard had a free kick saved well by Boruc, and Liverpool should blatantly have had a penalty when Lovren took out Sturridge in the box. Moses also looked relatively bright, but those were the only two real chances of note for Liverpool in the first half. This was partially down to the absence of Philippe Coutinho, who is normally so good at creating chances. Iago Aspas was played in the number 10 role for the first half, and he simply wasn’t good enough. His poor performance led to his replacement by Raheem Sterling after just 45 minutes.

If the first half was underwhelming, the second half was downright disgraceful. The attackers continued to fail in making chances, but now it was coupled with defensive sloppiness. Mignolet looked extremely uncertain whenever he received the ball from his defenders, and the defenders themselves kept tying themselves in knots by refusing to boot the ball clear. In attempt to retain possession by passing it around the back, the defence gifted Southampton many chances, and eventually a goal. Their refusal to clear the ball out of danger led to the conceding of a pointless corner, which Dejan Lovren subsequently scored from. Daniel Agger, who was meant to be marking him, got nowhere near the ball. Gerrard was also at fault: he was standing on the goal-line, and had he used his left foot he could have smashed the ball off the line, and away to safety. Instead he opted to use his favoured right foot, and consequently he was only able to hit the ball into the roof of his own net.

I hoped that this may prove the stimulus that Liverpool needed to kick on and start playing some decent attacking football. I was disappointed. Not only did the reds seem unable to create attacks, they also seemed unwilling. Their was no desire to push forward and try to equalise, and the team merely continued to pass the ball around in midfield, never really troubling the Southampton defence. To be fair, Sterling (who had replaced Aspas at half time) looked bright; he combined well with Sturridge on a couple of occasions to create the only half-chances Liverpool made throughout the second half.

I defend Liverpool whenever I can, but there is simply no denying that Southampton deserved the victory in this game. They pressed the ball, put pressure on our defence, and generally harried us into mistakes. In the end, they were rewarded. Liverpool were the polar opposite: their lack of desire and effort were what lost them the match. It was not the performance of a team that can finish in the top 4, and we will need to up our game hugely if we want to keep that ambition alive. Hopefully the return of Suarez next game will rejuvenate our side. Whatever his faults, nobody could accuse Luis Suarez of lacking passion and drive. If he slots back in well, I expect to see a huge upturn in performance in the League Cup against United, and subsequently in our league match against Sunderland.

-James Martin

Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013