Liverpool 1 Crystal Palace 2: Liverpool weaknesses jumped upon by Alladyce and Benteke

Sunday 23 April 2017

It’s hard to know what to say after a defeat like this simply because we’ve been there before on so many occasions this season.  Jurgen Klopp has many qualities as a manager, but it appears learning lessons is not one of them.

 

There was no magic wand from Sam Allardyce; Crystal Palace did exactly what it said on the tin.  Once again, a team comes to Anfield with the clear aim of stifling Liverpool’s front three and do so with relative ease.  We barely created a clear cut chance of note (just one on target) in spite of enjoying a wealth of possession, yet Palace from the moment Benteke scored their second comfortably held on to the lead.

 

It was another match where Klopp was made to look one dimensional.  The Premier League is different in its makeup from League’s around Europe because teams outside of the top six often offer a physical presence to combat pure footballing ability and this is where Klopp falls down.

 

Allardyce’s comments said it all, "Liverpool were only as good as we allowed them to be.

 

They had a lot of possession as did Chelsea and Arsenal. We did more with our possession than Liverpool and that is why we won.

 

"We finished our analysis with how many goals Liverpool have conceded from corners. We showed that it might not be the first ball in but the second or third if we make runs in the right areas.”

 

In short, he did his homework and Klopp was outmanoeuvred.

 

The lack of width makes it easy for teams to contain us with a well organised defence, where we struggle to get in behind and without the electric thrusts of Sadio Mane we looked a fairly average team devoid of ideas. Coutinho for a time looked to be Liverpool’s saviour prompting and probing and it was Palace’s special attention for him which provided the opportunity to bend a stunning free-kick in past Hennessey.  It was exquisite and a reminder of just what Liverpool may lose should Champions League qualification not be forthcoming.

 

There are many holes in this Liverpool squad and if proof were needed the bench was littered with inexperience and Klopp must now take a great deal of blame for the lack of quality in depth.  That a club of Liverpool’s stature with an outside of chance of becoming Champions has a bench with the likes of  Gomez, Brewster, Woodburn and Alexander-Arnold says a lot about the club’s ineptitude in the transfer market.

 

These are some of the finest young talents in the country, but they are patently not ready to bear the burden of Premier League run in.  With Liverpool struggling after Benteke’s second, Liverpool required a different mode of attack and Klopp failed ignominiously to fathom out the web weaved by Allardyce.

 

Unfairly Brewster and Woodburn appear to have been bench warmers and in the case of Woodburn having been thought enough of by his manager to start against Stoke, he did not warrant a thought when Liverpool were in dire need of a goal.  Daniel Sturridge, who may well have started had he not succumbed to a hip injury yet again, left Liverpool bereft of proven quality and it will no surprise if sadly he has kicked his last ball for the club.

 

Wijnaldum impressive during the run of recent good results was strangely subdued, Liverpool missed his ability get into the last third to support Origi as did the striker who often lacked support.

 

The crux of the matter is that Liverpool were in capable of coping with the threat posed by a player who until recently plied his tried at the club.  Funnily enough, Klopp seemed unable to utilise Benteke’s strength, here he had no idea how to stop him. Lovren was embarrassed during the first goal, diving in as he often does and left floundering by Cabaye who delivered a stunning ball across the box for Benteke to dispatch with Matip nowhere on the cover.

 

Matip is on shaky ground, yes he cuts an imposing figure and is good in the air and on the ball, but he does not provide the leadership the club so badly need and with Sakho being allowed to sit on the Crystal Palace bench for some unknown reason, the lack of a defensive rock was shown up in stark focus.  In times past, a player of the ilk of Benteke would have been marked by a player of similar strength and ability in the air and to say that didn’t happen against Palace was an understatement.

 

This is a Liverpool team which is struggling not only with its performances on the pitch, but with the expectation of possibly propelling itself back in the big time.  Any team would struggle without Sturridge, Lallana, Henderson and Mane, but Klopp is one dimensional in his outlook in not playing to the attributes of his main striker, but still focusing on the pressing game which is based on the talents of some of his long-term injured.

 

With its history of great wingers at the club, the fact there is not a winger of any substance available should be an embarrassment to all those concerned. That Lucas is the focal point of the midfield and Lovren is persistently exposed is something that will need to be remedied in preseason.  From coming into the game in charge of our own destiny, should results go against us we will need luck to stay in the top four.  It was performance lacking intensity and cutting edge.

 

How many times has it been said in the last few years, Liverpool need a reaction in the next game and with their physical presence Watford will undoubtedly want to put us under pressure, the question is can Jurgen Klopp set Liverpool up to combat the threat and will his defence cope against the guaranteed onslaught they are sure to receive?

 

Team:

 

Liverpool:

 

22 Mignolet, 2 Clyne (Grujic – 84 mins), 32 Matip, 6 Lovren (Alexander-Arnold – 79 mins), 7 Milner (Moreno – 82 mins), 23 Can, 21 Lucas, 5 Wijnaldum, 11 Firmino. 27 Origi, 10 Coutinho

 

Subs: 1 Karius, 12 Gomez, 16 Grujic, 18 Moreno, 57 Brewster, 58 Woodburn, 66 Alexander-Arnold

 

Crystal Palace:

 

13 Hennessey, 2 Ward, 34 Kelly, 5 Tomkins, 31 Schlupp, 28 Milivojevic, 11 Zaha (van Aanholt – 78 mins), Cabaye (Delaney – 83 mins), 42 Puncheon, 10 Townsend, 17 Benteke (Campbell – 88 mins)

 

Subs: 1 Speroni, 3 van Aanolt, 4 Flamini, 9 Campbell, 18 McArthur, 26 Sako, 27 Delaney

 

Referee:  Andrew Marriner

Attendance: 53,086

Manchester City 1 Liverpool 1

Sunday 19 March, 2017

Liverpool came into the game on the back of two successive victories with the assurance of having beaten City in five of the last six games between the teams.

The only change from the side which defeated Burnley in the last home fixture was Firmino returning from a groin injury to replace the unlucky Origi who having picked up a knock and succumbed to illness during the week, was only thought fit enough for the bench.

Dejan Lovren having returned to the fray in an under-23 game was another not thought to have regained full fitness.

City looked the sharper of the two in the opening ten minutes, testing the Liverpool backline from two offside moves looking to get on the front foot with Sane and Sterling stretching the play out to the touchlines.  Surprisingly, the Liverpool midfield struggled to get a grip being beaten to the punch and cramped for room.

City should have taken the lead on 20 minutes, when Silva floating again out to the right-hand side to help Sterling occupy the thoughts of Milner blazed over with the goal beckoning after Sane’s cross shot was palmed out by Mignolet.

Mane after seeing his shot blocked in the previous attack, outran Outamende to be through on goal before the defender, looked to have tugged at him at the point of shooting with the referee waving away Mane’s penalty appeal.

Liverpool began to get some traction in the game with Mane, Wijnaldum and Can coming to the fore, although Coutinho still looked sluggish.  One on one against Fernandinho on the left corner of the area, he will have been disappointed having feinted to the left to see his curling right foot shot sail harmlessly into the crowd.  He still seems light years away from his early season form.

The game, a thrilling spectical because of the attacking ethos of both teams, began to move the way of Liverpool before half-time, although it was Man City who came closest to scoring with Sterling clipped from behind by Milner failing by inches to poke in Silva’s cross and Fernandinho shooting just wide.

Roberto Firmino right footed shot from the left side of the area was saved flashily by Caballero.  The same said goalkeeper punched a corner straight to Lallana who volleyed to the top right corner only for Cabellero to save.

Liverpool were out of the traps with alacrity in the second-half as Can began to boss the midfield and City with legs frayed from their Champions League exploits, wilting under the increased pressure.  Mane, Liverpool’s main attacking threat had another shot blocked by City’s man of the match John Stones, but that was only a temporary rest bite.  GaëlGael Clichy, after having rashly left left Firmino, rushing back to atone upended the Liverpool forward in the area to give away a penalty.

Milner dispatched the penalty with his usual aplomb and remarkably in the 47 Premier League games he has scored has been involved in 37 wins, never losing.

Liverpool on the front were controlling possession with Man City’s two wingers looking lightweight in the central areas.  Recognising his team needed help, Guardiola brought on Bacary Sagna for Yaya Toure, moving Fernandinho into midfield and Sterling into a more central position with Kevin De Bruyne swapping with the former Liverpool winger.  It paid dividends almost immediately.

City moved the ball out right to De Bruyne and with Belgium international not looking to go by Milner, he controlled instantly whipping a lethal curling cross out of the reach of the outstretched Klavan and into the path of the omnipresent Segio Augero to poach yet another goal.

The game was now without parallel this season for its breath-taking quality and City almost took the lead with Aguero rampaging, but stumbling into the area, before the ball found its way to De Bruyne whose scuffed attempt kissed the outside of the post.

With the quality on show it was unbelievable that chances  went begging.  Firmino presented Lalllana with a guilt edge chance in front of the goal.  So confident was he of the England international’s execution that he wheeled away in delight only for his celebrations to be cut short when Lallana failed astonishingly to connect with his attempt as the ball trickled away.

In the ebb and flow of the game Man City looked the more likely as the game reached its conclusion.  Sterling running through bravely attempted to lob Mignolet with the keeper almost on top of him, before his shot wafted wide of the post.

Then in time added on Aguero missed a glaring chance volleying over De Bruyne’s cross from close in.

City had most of the clear-cut opportunities throughout, but Liverpool could argue that Yaya Touré was lucky not to have received a straight red card for his sliding tackle which caught Emre Can flush in the chest which referee Michael Oliver deemed only qualified for a yellow card.

If the game was fantastically entertaining for its attacking brilliance, the defensive frailties of both teams highlighted just why they are not challenging for the title.

Teams:

Man City: 13 Caballero, 25 Fernandinho, 24 Stones, 30 Otamendi, 22 Clichy, 42 Yaya TouréTouré (Sagna – 65 mins), Sterling 7, 17 De Bruyne, 21 Silva, Sané (Fernandinho – 83 mins), 10 Ageuro

Subs: 1 Bravo, 3 Sagna, 6 Fernando, 9 Nolito, 11 Kolarov, 72 Iheanacho, 75 Garcia

Liverpool: 22 Mignolet, 2 Clyne, 32 Matip, 17 Klavan, 7 Milner, 20 Lallana, 23 Can, Wijnaldum, 19 Mané, 11, Firmino (Lucas – 89 mins), 10 Coutinho (Origi – 73 mins

Subs: 1 Karius, 6 Lovren, 10 Moreno, 21 Lucas, 27 Origi, 58 Woodburn, 66 Alexander-Arnold

Referee: Michal Oliver

Attendance: 54,449

West Brom 0 Liverpool 1

No excuses this was a must win match.  The businessend of the season and no time to falter. Time and again we had struggled at the Hawthorns and against physicality of a Tony Pulis team whether it Stoke or West Brom has always represented a stern test.

Without Sadio Mané (out for the season), Danny Ings (long-term), with Jordan Henderson and Adam Lallana recuperating overseas in an attempt to return before the seasons end, Liverpool were shorn of potential match winners relying extensively on the talents of Coutinho and Firmino which made it all the more surprising to see the Brazilian duo languishing on the bench.

The third Brazilian, Lucas Leiva again started, but this time more in a holding midfield role than one of three centre-backs as he started against Stoke.

Once again Liverpool were slow out of the traps and were almost caught out in the first minute when Philipps’ miscued shot fell just out of reach of Hal Robson-Kanu.  Liverpool were finding it hard to break down or get beyond Stoke’s rigid formation which was blunting their attempts to play a fluid game even with 73 per cent of possession.

Coutinho latching on to a mistake in the centre of West Brom’s midfield drove to the edge of the area before releasing Firmino on his left.  The forward looked up for support before shooting beyond the far post.  Firmino showed his other side, getting a featherbed touch to his defensive header as Chadli cocked his leg in anticipation of volleying West Brom into the lead.

Liverpool’s better quality showed in the crispness of our moves and one such move saw Firmino float a striking pass over the right-back which Coutinho volleyed on the slide just wide of the far post.

Even with Liverpool’s dominance, the next clear cut chance fell to Robson-Kanu found delightfully by a beautiful through ball from Livermore between the centre-backs. The striker turned before scuttling his shot along the ground into the waiting hands of Mignolet.

The game, scrappy in its nature looked to be meandering towards half-time until West Brom gave away a free kick on the right.  Milner’s  free kick whipped in to the edge of the area was flicked on by Lucas to find Firmino coming late on the blind side to head in beyond Foster.

The second-half was always going one of mental strength, but Liverpool having fought back from one down at Stoke the previous weekend, were in no mood to let it slip with accusations that they are not the same team without talisman Sadio Mane.

In a bid to starve West Brom of any set pieces as the manager had instructed, Liverpool comfortably kept the ball away from the home team.  Origi, getting the ball out from under his feet curled an attempt just past the post and then a breath-taking move involving Clyne and Firmino ended with him finding an unmarked Milner arriving unmarked at far post before unbelievably blazing his volley over from close range.

With Liverpool seeing the game out comfortably, Rodden against the run of play sent Phillips clear with just over 10 minutes to go, Mignolet read his low shot brilliantly to deny him saving with his legs.

West Brom finally got up a head of steam pinning Liverpool back, but final chance fell to the away side counter-attacking with West Brom keeper up in attack.  Alberto Moreno collected the ball with goal gaping surged into the West Brom and from 35 yards proceeded to hit his shot wide as the ball curled away in the last moments with final attempt of the game.

As bad a miss at it was it utilised the final moments of the game for another three points without Sadio Mane and Liverpool learning to “win ugly” as the manager had demanded of his team.

Teams:

WBA: 1 Foster, 25 Dawson, 23 McAuley, 6 Evans, 11 Brunt, 8 Livermore, 5 Yacob, (McClean – 64 mins), 24 Fletcher, 10 Phillips, 4 Robson-Kanu (Robdón), 22 Chadli – Morrison – 61 mins)

Subs: 2 Nyom, 7 Morrison, 9 Robdón, M Wilson, 13 Myhill, 14 McClean, 47 Field

Liverpool: 22, Mignolet, 2 Clyne, 32 Matip, 6 Lovren, 7 Milner, 5 Wijnaldum, 21 Lucas, 11 Firmino, 27 Origi (Sturridge – 82 mins), 10 Coutinho (Moreno – 90+2)

Subs: 1 Karius, 12 Gomez, 15 Sturridge, 16 Grujic, 18 Moreno, 58 Woodburn, 66 Alexander-Arnold

Referee: Jonathan Moss

Attendance: 25,699

Liverpool continue their domination over Everton Liverpool 3 Everton 1

Blog by dedlfc (David Douglas)

PRE-MATCH: This was the first home game which coincidentally was the Merseyside Derby after the sad loss on Wednesday of our iconic and loved character Ronnie “Mr Liverpool – Bugsy – Moran. The mosaic before the game and the fitting minute’s applause was a beautiful tribute for the Liverpool legend – may he now rest in peace. Gone but never forgotten – don’t think you will ever see a player come through the ranks and cover nearly every single role at the club – 49 years of magnificent service. YNWA.

Going into Derby day, we had the news that our leader of the pressing game in midfield Lallana and our captain Henderson would both miss the game. Klopp decided to bring back Lovren after a spell on the sidelines injured, he also decided to take the gamble to bring in the veteran Lucas to play the defensive midfield position therefore adjusting Can’s role for this game. The game opens with a bit of back and forth, with both Clyne and Barkley lucky not to be booked in the first few minutes. Welcome to the derby.

GOAL! Mané 8’ – 1-0 - What a lovely solo goal from Mané, who weaves through the non-existent Everton defence and finds a opportunity to shoot, slotting the ball into the far corner.

Can puts a perfect ball over the top for Coutinho to run onto. Coutinho controls it and cuts inside to get one of his patented, right-footed shots off, which is blocked. Coutinho looked disappointed not to score there.

The leniency of the referee Anthony Taylor finally ended in the 25^th minute when Tom Davies became the first player to go into the book, after a harsh challenge on Sadio Mané.

Goal - Pennington 28’ – Everton equaliser 1-1, we concede, as ever, off of a corner. Yet again we fall asleep at a set piece, this time it is Emre Can not tracking Jagielka who headed on for Derby debutant Pennington to tap it in from close range in the six yard box.

GOAL! Coutinho 30’ – 2-1, After that warning shot earlier in the game, Coutinho gets a second chance with a little space in front of him in the 18 yard box, and this time he makes good use of it with a sweet curler into the far corner, giving Liverpool back the lead only moments after losing it. Our magician after going off the boil in recent weeks after his injury is now back with a serious bang !!!

Referee Anthony Taylor finally has had enough of Barkley’s fouling and books him at the third time of asking, this time it was for a shocking stomp on Lovren’s ankle – very lucky not to be given a straight red card.

HALFTIME: Everton are 2-1 down and quite frankly, lucky to still have 11 men on the pitch. My disappointment is that we look a couple of levels above our local rivals and should be two goals clear but have only looked like conceding from set pieces and that’s the only way that Everton are in the game.

Our talisman Sadio Mané can’t continue after he twists his knee awkwardly with Baines accidently falling on his ankle to make the matter worse, Origi comes in to replace him. If we are without Lallana, Mané, and Henderson — that is going to be a major problem going forward.

GOAL! Origi 60’ – 3-1 - Origi makes the perfect introduction off the bench. Coutinho’s happy feet get around the Everton defence, and he passes the ball off to young Origi, who hits a ROCKET straight into the back of the net. Now that is an emphatic way to make your mark to impress the manager after Origi stating recently that he wanted a chance to prove how he can help our team.

LFC youngster Trent Alexander-Arnold comes in for Coutinho, who has a goal and an assist to his name, but who has also done a lot of travelling with Brazil over the last week. I think Klopp was always going to take him out after 70 minutes, though Mane’s injury likely changed the substitution from Origi to Alexander-Arnold.

Alexander-Arnold nearly buries one into the back of the net, but the shot is palmed away by Everton keeper Robles.

Alexander-Arnold has another go which Robles claims, this youngster is definitely not short of confidence playing on the right side of midfield like he had played there all season – what a player he is going to be!!!

We win the game, but may have lost Mané – our top scorer and talisman.

Man of the match – Philippe Coutinho - Coutinho had a great game with his exhilarating form returning and his class oozing after having a great international game for Brazil midweek and even got to come off to rest after 70 minutes. If the Little Magician is back to his best form, that will go a long way towards making up the deficit that Lallana and, potentially, Mané leave in the squad

My three selection concerns going into the game were all very solid players for us, with Lovren totally dominating and at times bullying the top scorer in the Premier League Lukaku. Lucas having a calm game shielding the front of our defence as the defensive midfielder and Can performing well, covering most of the field apart from losing concentration for the goal we conceded.

Excellent win and with Man United unexpectedly drawing at home to West Brom 0-0– we have had a very good weekend, prior to Arsenal and Man City playing each other.

Liverpool (4-3-3): Mignolet, Clyne, Matip, Lovren, Milner, Can, Lucas, Wijnaldum, Mane(Origi 57), Firmino(Klavan 90), Coutinho(Alexander-Arnold 74). 

Unused subs: Karius, Grujic, Moreno,Woodburn.

Manager: Jurgen Klopp

Bookings: Can

Goals: Mane 8, Countinho 31, Origi 60

Everton (3-4-3): Robles, Jagielka, Ashley Williams, Holgate, Pennington, (Barry 67), Davies, (Valencia 66), Gana, Baines, Barkley, Lukaku, Calvert-Lewin, (Mirallas 82).

Unused subs: Kone, Stekelenburg, Lookman, Kenny.

Manager: Ronald Koeman

Bookings: Davies, Barkley, Williams

Goals: Pennington 28 

Referee: Anthony Taylor

Attendance: 52,920