After
successfully hurdling over the first obstacle in our season away to Stoke there
was a slight surprise move in store when our manager went with the same starting eleven
that struggled to do much against Stoke.
Then, there had been a case for defensive solidity on the road against a side that beat us 6-1 in the final match of last season. At home against Bournemouth, leaving Can and Firmino on the bench—two players who improved Liverpool immensely when they came on in the second half last week—seemed a brave and strange call.
Bournemouth came out firing,
constantly harrying and pressing our players at every moment, and rightfully
earned three corners in the first four minutes through constant pressure.
We were lucky not to be down in
the fifth minute when Tommy Elphick headed in off a corner. The referee
whistled the play dead, ruling he’d tugged Dejan Lovren’s shirt, but if it had
been the other way Reds fans would have been incensed at the borderline call.
Lovren was doubly lucky as the corner came after he was too easily beaten by
his man. On viewing the replay it was hard to fathom whether or not Lovren had
feigned being fouled to get a vital first goal disallowed.
After that controversial
disallowed goal we started to settle into our game a little with our little
magician Coutinho being at the hub of all our good moves. Our side looking more
balanced than it did at the Britannia stadium the previous weekend.
Even though credit must be
given for the work and industrious nature of the Bournemouth midfield who were
always in the game.
None of that mattered to us or
our home fans, though—nor did the fact that a clearly offside Coutinho was
involved in the play which led to the only goal of the game—when Benteke got
his toe on a deep cross off a short corner routine to put the us up against the
run of play.
Only minutes later, a cleverly orchestrated set piece from Milner led to Jordan Henderson sending a dipping, swerving shot off the top of the crossbar from 20 yards out.
The captain Henderson and impressive vice captain Milner combined again on another set piece where Anfield cried out for a penalty, but Henderson slid back to his feet and kept playing, and rightly so, as going down would've likely been grounds for a booking for simulation.
Just before
half time, Coutinho missed a glorious opportunity after a rebounded pass fell
to him, but his left footed curler slid yards wide.
Despite the
initial hustle and disallowed goal, Liverpool were relatively comfortable,
Bournemouth only registering a single shot in the first half.
Thoughts at halftime
I felt that Benteke was a constant positive threat up
front, Coutinho was causing havoc to the Bournemouth defenders, just was very
disappointed in the performances of Lallana and Ibe both our best players in
pre season, they were both not stamping their authority on the game and needed
to do so in the second half or we would have to bring on our other Brazilian
star Firmino.
If we felt fortunate to be up
at the half, we were less fortunate when our captain Jordan Henderson came off
five minutes into the second half with an ankle injury to be replaced by Emre
Can.
Milner missed a good opportunity after some great
pressing from Benteke. The formation changed to a 4-3-3 on offense, with Can in
the deeper role and Lallana in central midfield, and morphed into a 4-4-1-1
once Bournemouth got past midfield, as Coutinho would stay high up the pitch
and Milner would cover the right side.
What
followed was a spell of dominance from the away side, recording a shot off the
post from Matt Ritchie and one in the side netting after Lovren was nutmegged
in the box.
We
struggled to hold on to the ball for more than a few passes at a time, even
after Firmino was brought on for Ibe. Benteke had a great run and
pass for Coutinho, whose shot was sensationally blocked over. Bournemouth
started to run out of energy, and Liverpool had a big chance late, as Clyne was
expertly played into space on the right by Can, and his inch-perfect cross was
scuffed off the crossbar by Benteke when it looked easier for him to notch a
deserved second for his excellent performance.
Bournemouth
were probably the better side as the clock ticked down, and at times it felt
more like Liverpool were set up to just try and survive rather than to take the
game to their opponents. We held out for the win 1-0.
Result aside, it made for at
times difficult viewing we have more questions than answers after this team
performance.
Questions will rightly be asked of Brendan Rodgers'
decision to leave Sakho and Lucas out of the squad entirely, as well as the
attacking play continuing to stutter despite the vast amountof money spent
trying to improve that side of our game.
The fact of
the matter is that we were dependent on an offside goal and a soft foul to
avoid a home defeat to a newly promoted side, balance of play notwithstanding.
Both Lallana and Ibe had poor games, with the former trying to do too much and
the latter hardly getting involveat all.
The way the
team lost coherence without its captain was disconcerting, and Can again showed
that he hasn't quite figured out the holding midfield role yet, losing his man
and getting skinned on several occasions but there is some potential there to
work with.
On the plus
side, Bournemouth were kept from creating any chances of note, the formation
looked more balanced than last week, and Benteke was more involved and better
supported. The new striker getting off the mark and looking dangerous is
undoubtedly a positive. Henderson was absolutely dominant for the 50 minutes he
played, and is clearly relishing the role of captain. Mignolet did what he had
to do very well. Moreno looked energetic and dangerous when he came on, and the
back four in general had a solid game, with Clyne absolutely locking down the
right side.
Football is
a results industry so all that matters is that we won and gain another 3 points and another clean sheet will
look good at the end of the season.
Yet based on the tactics and
overall performance, it’s difficult to feel especially confident heading into
Monday's showdown match against Arsenal. We will have to perform better to
get a result in that game.
Man of the match - Benteke -
feels good having him as part of our strike force this season rather than
against us and his home debut goal is the first repayment from the player for
the large fee paid by the club. With Sturridge getting closer each day to
coming back its good to have our other main striker scoring important winners!
Hold up play, his intelligent runs and his all round game was a massive plus on
the night.
Liverpool
(4-1-4-1): Mignolet; Clyne, Skrtel, Lovren, Gomez; Henderson (Can
52,)Coutinho (Moreno 81), Milner, Lallana, Ibe (Firmino 70);
Benteke.
Subs not used: Bogdan,
Toure, Origi, Ings.
Scorer: Benteke 26.
Referee: Craig Pawson
Attendance: 44,102
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