Blog by
dedlfc (David Douglas)
Liverpool
3: Allen
10', Ojo 74', Teixeira 82'
Exeter City 0:
Exeter City 0:
Pre-match
news and thoughts
Instead
of naming Benteke captain this time Klopp has named Jose Enrique surprisingly
as the captain. It is more or less the same line-up as the last time out.
Little Joe Allen comes in to help babysit the lil' Reds. Mignolet comes in for
Bogdan (whose Liverpool career seems to be up in smoke despite getting back
his place on the bench mainly due to Ward being ineligible to play in this cup
tie), and Ibe comes in to help Benteke on the other end of the pitch. Also
fantastic to see Jon Flanagan getting picked as a sub for the first time in 20
months. Hopefully we start well and don't
have to come from behind at any point tonight. Also, goals would be nice. Like,
really, really nice.
One of those
famous FA Cup Anfield nights to reminisce about with a packed Kop singing all
our great songs over the years……
A few
half-chances in the first ten minutes as we look to play a more direct,
lump-it-in to Benteke style.
It eventually pays dividends as...maurading left wingback Smith plays a brilliant one-two
with Benteke, gets to the byline and plays it back for Little Joe Allen who
calmly slots it home. 1-0 to Liverpool! Excellent start (That’s two goals in
three games for Allen)
Teixeira
gets in behind the defense and whips in a great cross to a free Benteke near
the 6-yard box. The big Belgian diligently puts it over the cross bar. Minutes
later Benteke gets free on a corner and puts it into the side netting from a
tight angle. You would expect him to bury one (or both) of these chances,
especially considering the competition. It is a sign that he is not in the best
of confidence after being reduced to the bench in the league games in favour of
Firmino despite being the only genuine striker fit in the squad.
Smith has
again been fantastic here in the first half. He's been very dangerous down the
left side, and his pressing and defending has been on point too. Smith even
committed a pretty cynical foul after an errant pass by clumsy Kevin Stewart
which would have set an Exeter player free down the sideline. Good stuff all
around and very good tactical gamesmanship from our Brad Smith.
Halftime: Klopp looked mildly annoyed as
the halftime whistle approached. And fair play: for as much as we have
dominated this game, Exeter are still very much in this tie. Benteke had
multiple chances to effectively put this game away, but he failed to put his
shots on target. So far, Liverpool are out-shooting Exeter 13-0, with 5 of
those shots on target. Yet only one goal in this. We have Ibe causing all
sorts of problems for the Exter left back down our right side of the pitch but
without producing the complete cutting edge in terms of chances created.
The
second half starts and 5 minutes into it the LFC fans produce their biggest
roar of the night with one of our local lads Jon Flanagan making a well
deserved return after 20 months out comes on for Conor Randall. The Scouse Cafu
is BACK!!!! It is great to see him back in a red shirt but our problem is we
have signed Nathan Clyne to play in his preferred right back role so he has a
great fight on his hands to get into one of the defensive positions.
Ibe is
denied by a stray white blade of grass, as the replay looked like his driving
shot off the bar bounced just on the line. You don't get much closer to
scoring than that. As has been the case of late, Ibe's attacks have often
lacked creativity, but he has looked dangerous tonight with this type of
progressive attacking wing play he will definitely come into contention for the
league game away to Norwich.
Stop me
if you've heard this one before: Benteke gets 1 on 1 with the keeper, and hits
a weak shot straight at him.
Little
Joe comes off for Ojo. It was another good outing for Allen, and another
decisive goal as it stands.
A couple
of minutes after coming on Ojo makes his mark by calmly curling a sweet left
foot shot into the far corner to make it 2-0! The Exeter goalkeeper was glued
to his line as the shot sailed past him. 2-0 to the Redmen, which should be
enough to earn us a spot in the fourth round.
Chirivella
comes on for Ibe as our last substitute of the night. Chirivella was very calm and mature beyond his years in his short spell on the pitch.
Benteke
suddenly goes beast mode, rampages through Exeter's defense, and then plays in
a wide-open Teixeira who calmly slots it to make it three. Game Set and
Match !!!
Just before the final whistle Benteke
then proceeds to be played through for another one to one he goes past the keeper but does not show
enough confidence in himself and the chance goes awry.
Full
time: If the
first run out for the youth players was shaky, this was a very assured
performance. The added experience and early goal from Allen helped settle the
nerves, and we never looked back. So now we have the joy of hosting West Ham in
the fourth round. I'm sure we'll beat 'em in the replay.
Very good
win with the majority of the players part of our under 21 squad it was an
excellent run out at Anfield for the lads – the big decisions to now be made
are will we start with Ibe away to Norwich. On this form I would definitely do
so.
Man of the Match – Joe Allen
Started
the scoring on the night and kept the midfield ticking over while on the field –
he impressed so much that he needs to also be in contention to start versus
Norwich – special mentions for Ibe – who showed why he has so much potential
with a couple rasping shots in the game – one in particular he was unlucky to
see bounce on the line but not totally over the line but Ibe continued to
frustrate with his poor crossing and not looking up for team mates in better
positions – that’s what he needs to continue working on.
Ilori
& Enrique both had good games, two disappointments on the night were Kevin
Stewart who gave the ball away too many times starting counter attacks for Exeter and Big Benteke who seems to be
totally devoid of confidence and with the team scoring three goals and him
scoring none – it has not helped his confidence at all despite setting up the
third goal for Teixeira.
Liverpool
(4-1-4-1): Mignolet, Randall (Flanagan 50), Tiago Ilori, Jose Enrique, Smith,
Brannagan, Allen(Ojo 64), Stewart, Ibe(Chirivella 79), Benteke, Teixeira
Subs not
used: Bogdan, Kent, Sinclair, Maguire
Goals: Allen
10, Ojo 75, Teixeira 81
Exeter
(4-3-3): Olejnik, Ribeiro, Brown, Moore-Taylor, Woodman, Butterfield (Hoskins
46), Nicholls, Davies, Oakley(Wheeler 63), Holmes, Morrison(Nichols 46)
Subs not
used: McAllister, Hamon, Tillson, Grant
Referee:
Neil Swarbrick (Lancashire)
Att: 43,292
Klopp’s assessment of the Reds’ win over Exeter…First of all, I really have to say thank-you to the crowd because I could not have imagined tonight would be so loud, in a rematch against a League Two team with the information that we would play with young players. It was a special atmosphere, it was great and it was a really enjoyable night for football. The lads enjoyed it, I could see that, and I spoke to them after the game. Everybody could see it. They worked hard, created chances and scored goals, wonderful goals. They made mistakes and reacted in the right way to mistakes. They fought against an opponent and I have to say, my first impression of League Two football – and I know their position in the table is not too good – is it seems to be a good league! They had a lot of good players in their team. In the first half, they were really experienced; it was very experienced against very young. So it was really hard work for the boys and I was pleased with the performance. A few weeks ago I could not have imagined I would enjoy a rematch in the FA Cup – now I did. Thanks FA Cup!
Klopp on Sheyi Ojo’s performance and goal…
He is very young, so there won’t be 20 interviews next week, or man-of-the-match things…leave the guys where they are. Everybody who has seen him playing has seen what big skills he has, but there are a lot of things he has to work on. I am happy to have him here. He made a goal – it wasn’t too bad! And in the last game [at Exeter] he came on and was important in getting the draw. He is in a good way – but it’s a long way [to go] for these young boys. They showed tonight what they are already able to do and they showed what they have to learn. That is always the case at this age. It’s not [about] protecting – it’s giving the lads time to develop. Tonight was a good moment and, yes, he did a few things that were impressive, but he has a lot of things to learn. The target at the end of the road has to be Liverpool FC in the Premier League and for this you have to be ready in all parts of your development. That’s where we’ll try to help the boys.
Klopp on his decision to field Mignolet, Allen, Ibe and Benteke…
It was because they were available. They didn’t play too often in the last few games, so they had no problems and so that’s the reason they played tonight. At Exeter, for example, Joe [Allen] could have played but was not available and Ibe felt his muscle and it wasn’t too serious but it wasn’t a situation to take a risk. We knew it would be a different game tonight; we played on a completely different pitch and we played differently from the first second, but against a good opponent. A really good opponent. They played football, had a playing build up, they tried everything and we had a lot of work to do, especially for 10-15 minutes in the second half when we lost a little bit of control, but then we scored the goals. We should do this more often and then we’d feel how goals change games!
Klopp on how LFC’s youngsters can make the next step in their development…
By working with them. It doesn’t mean they play because we cannot bring them in every week in the Premier League. We need to have all of our best players here at Liverpool FC – Kent was on loan, Ojo was on loan, Tiago [Ilori] was on loan, Stewart was on loan and a few more. We need to keep them here and then work with them. Football isn’t just about individual development. Yes, you have to develop individually but you have to develop as a team, you have to learn your position and you have to show you can work together with the team. You have to show you know about your job and the things you have to do. We will keep them here, work with them and I am sure the way will be shorter for them – but that’s for the future, not now
