Well this was a thriller and then some! I expected Leeds to give our defence trouble, but I couldn’t see us shipping three goals in our opening fixture.
The Premier League champions against Championship league winners, it looked promising when the fixture ist became public, but honestly, this gung ho battle was not on the cards, even though both Kloppo and Bielsa are total football maniacs.
I liked how we started, with Naby lad driving into the box to create an early chance. So glad to see him thriving in the starting eleven and finally blossoming into the layer we paid big money for all these years ago. The first goal didn’t take long, as Mo Salah got a pen for shooting it straight into Koch’s hand. He confidently converts the penalty after his signature long run up.
We have a flying start, controlling the ball amazingly. Helder Costa scores from offside, but overall, the early minutes looked very promising until Leeds decided to show why they got promoted. Trent lost his flank completely, and Harrison cut inside to score a beauty of a goal, leaving all our defenders powerless to stop the equalizer.
Sadio tries to right all the wrongs, but overthinks it and misses a good chance. He scores from distance after some good pressure from Robbo, but this goal is also ruled out for offside. Don’t sweat it though, because Big Virg easily puts us back in front with a powerful header! The keeper caught the ball, but only behind the line. Very fun start, it’s an end to end game, and soon enough it’s level once again! Uncharacteristically bad play from Van Dijk, who got robbed by Patrick Bamford. He had some similar mistakes last season, hopefully that’s not a trend the Dutchman will follow.
This wild ride keeps swinging back and forth, and Salah gets his second with a super volley into the top bins! 3-2, and the match timer goes backwards. Shit’s insane… Bielsa once said they study their opponents to attack, and not defend, and that couldn’t be any closer to the absolute truth. Leeds are fun, but they won’t have many clean sheets this season if they keep such a high line. Speaking of defence, Leeds just highlighted the issues that were lingering the Reds for some time now.
Second half gets a bit more steady, but there is this worrisome moment from Trent where he scores in his own goal after Alisson is chipped. I don’t know what that was, but I’m glad nothing resulted from this bizarre moment. Keita is off at 59th minute, and Rodrigo steps in for Leeds. Hendo off on 65th, Curtis Jones, the promising youngsters gets a lot of minutes tonight. After some changes on the field, the scoreline also changes to 3-3. Klich runs into the box late and scores a good goal, celebrating and laughing so much that he gets subbed. Well, maybe I imagined that. Mo almost gets a hatty, but skiles a volley…
Vrg scores his second, but it is ruled out for some stupid foul. I was getting anxious, but I also felt that this match had one more crazy moment in it, and that was the right idea, as Fabinho got slammed in the box by the record transfer Rodrigo. A debut to forget for the spanish forward, and it’s Mo Salah who takes the ball and seeks to give us our forth lead… GOAL! Hat-trick in the first gameweek, not too Xabi Alonso.
Trent had his worst game ever probably, but Salah entered God mode today and pulled off a miracle. This was some heavy metal football, and I found a lot of respect for the opponents. It wouldn’t be the case if we drew with them though! Bielsa is a character, and this league needs guys like him to be even better. First three points, and a crazy bout to boot. Let’s go!
I haven’t posted for a while about Liverpool, which is very strange considering my favorite football club has won their first league title in 30 years.
It was a special moment that happened under special circumstances, but I was so burnt out waiting for the restart that all I could be thinking was “Thank God it wasn’t voided”. Plus the end of the season felt very odd, and I wasn’t paying much attention to the actual level of play, just wanting that season to be over.
The results were not the best at the end, but now it’s a clean slate. First game comes early, against Arsenal, who made a habit out of grabbing FA cups lately. Interesting test after just two friendly matches. A thrashing of Jurgen’s favorite club Stuttgart and a comeback draw against semi-finalists RB Leipzig.
What else to say before the match? I like Arsenal’s white kit, it looks stylish. What I don’t like is Mo Salah’s new haircut. Doesn’t look as gangsta is it did before, why did you trim those sides, Mo?
The lineups are nothing special. Trent has a knock, Hendo, Matip and Xherdan (sure he is) are still injured. Some people say Divock has that virus, hopefully that’s just some speculations. Keita doesn’t get a start despite having a kickass end of a season and some good friendly matches. One the bench we have some lad named Billy Koumetio. He’s 17 years old and 195 cm long, sheesh… Leaped other youngsters for the 4th centre back choice by the looks of things, but I doubt that he will get minutes tonight.
Would like to see the Championship sensation Rhian Brewster get a run out, the boy is good. (This aged like milk!)
The game started with a quick goal from Big Virg, although the score stayed 0-0 because van Dijk was offside. He has a busted eyebrow after a collision in the last friendly match, RB was playing dirty there. Arsenal has changed their philosophy quite a bit and are playing with a new low block formation for some time, which makes it tougher to break them up and gives them a lot of space for counter attacks.
One such attack broke out quicker than COVID, Saka switched the ball to the right flank where Aubameyang capitalized on Neco’s positional mistake. A good shot – a good goal, can’t blame Alisson there. Auba payed homage to Mr. Black Panther.
Neco played a bid first half, looking short of breath on the flank. Lots of free space between him and Joe, playing a high line with them and without Hendo is super risky. On the other side of the pitch Saka created 3 or 4 good chances for his partners, I wonder if he will be put on the bench with Willian’s arrival. That would be a shame…
Not much has happened in the first half, with Robertson, Milner and Mane having most of the ball. Constant crosses do not work here, and the set piece threat is not as evident without our wonderboy Double A.
Felt like checking the comment in half time, and people call for Thiago ASAP, underlining how invisible Gini has been in the first 45 minutes. I agree, but we have Naby lad on the bench right now. Later in the second half he subs Millie and yes, creates a lot of chances driving right at the defence. He changed the game, stepping on the pitch with Taki Minamino, who went on to score his first goal in the official match for LFC.
I hope it gives him some much needed confidence, and this is a sign of things to come. There was a question of handball, but VAR decided there was none.
Arsenal started playing more in the last fifteen minutes, giving LFC more room to breathe, but it all went down to pens. Rhian was brought in for Gini with one minute left, shame James did not play until the end to score one. Well, this sub wasn’t for nothing.
Rhain missed the third pen, and was the only one to not score in the series. Alisson didn’t get close to any of the shots, and that was it. Aubameyang brings the Community Shield to Arteta, congratulations to the Gunners.
Not a good result, and you would think LFC would have enough quality to beat this Arsenal side, no disrespect. Last year we also missed out on this prize, but the season turned out great at the end.
Gladly, the season wasn’t voided and Liverpool can finish the season to claim what rightfully belongs to them. What a way to return to action too! A derby with blue shite, led by Richarlison talking shit non-stop. “Everyone hates Liverpool” in his world, which is fair enough.
One hour before kick off the starting eleven is unveiled. No Robbo at all, and Mo starts on the bench. Matip partners Big Virg. Keita, Fab and Hendo make up the middle three. Good squad, plus a solid bench. This COVID-era games will give teams an option to make five subs, so the young guns can get some precious minutes.
Before the match all players kneel. Well, except for Sadio, who sprinted when he heard the whistle. I appreciate the dedication, that was funny.
Cameraman puts TAA’s boots in focus. Black Lives Matter.
The setting is so quiet that everyone can hear the airplane sounds in the distance, or whatever that was. The FIFA 20 soundbites are awkward, but I guess we will learn to ignore them soon, just like some of us were able to ignore vuvuzelas during WC 2010.
First thing first, Fab makes a mistake and big nose Richarlison has a sniff at our goal. My commentator says that Mike Dean is hella strict, and he is, booking Millie for bumping Richarlison down.
As I watch the match, it is painfully evident how much the teams lack match fitness. You can run on the treadmill all you want, but that’s not gonna happen you feel the ball and get into the rhytm of the big game. Starter Taki takes an ok shot, King Kenny meanwhile fixes his mask. He has a huge key ring in his hand. Give the man a key to the city too?
Minute 22 – let’s drink some water, lads. Mini time out, Kloppo not happy.
Around the 30 we get three chances back and forth. Matip goes close after Trent’s free kick cross, then Richarlison shoots from offside position, and finally Bobby goes close after a qucik transition. Taki stole the ball and started the attack, props to him, even though he struggles a bit.
TAA gets another chance from free kick – no luck. Couple seconds later Millie goes off with hamstring injury, hopefully just a precauion. Later James was caught trying to put some ice under his ham. Finally, a decent half chance goes nowhere as Minamino doesn’t blast the ball strong enough.
Half time.
Ox comes in for Taki, he has some seious hairdo. Almost as glorious as Firmino’s! Naby plays well so far, and creates a nice chance at the 50th minute. Virg has a shot a bit later, no danger from set pieces yet. Even from close range free kicks, unlucky for Trent.
Gini in for Keita, and Origi for Bobby! Divock, you know what to do. Drink water…
Few moments later the adorable giraffe boy Joel gets a cramp, or maybe something worse, shet. Dejan in, no Mo for tonight.
Yeah, the game is not good. Calvert-Lewin creates himself a career highlight scoring from a 20 yards offside after the whistle.
Oof. Babygirl Davies almost scored, hit the bar. Vintage Lovren almost lets the big nose score, smh. I have Virgil and TAA in my fantasy too, so I’m interested in a clean sheet. 5 minutes to go, Everton looked better in the ending so far.
Ox gets a promising free kick near the end of the match… Unexpectedly Fab strikes, good shot, but still nah. Kean enters the match with 2 seconds remaining… That’s it. Shite match, really. We need some time to get back into the form, plus two injuries did not help LFC slightly.
No Man of the Match for me… well, maybe Alisson deserves it for his save. Bore draw, we move on.
I’m not a woman, but I will enjoy these weekends a lot more now, following a scrappy 2-1 Liverpool win over Bournemouth.
It feels good to catch a game on Saturday, and get two more days off work, because lately watching our lads has been a little bit stressful. But it’s ok, we’re in the nervous part of the season. If you’re not nervous in March, then your team does something wrong.
Anyway, this wasn’t a great week news-wise.
On Friday Alisson got injured, and is now forced to miss a couple of games. People are spamming mad Hendo GIFs, but I think people are sleeping on Adrian here. He did well when called upon earlier this season, and maybe in some twisted way playing Adrian against Atletico is a blessing in disguise?
Was there a game where he didn’t make a crazy save?
While he’s not better than Alisson, he’s an experienced spanish keeper, and a spectacular shot stopper. Perhaps he would have that little extra advantage knowing the language of the opposition, which could help him at defending set pieces? Then again, he made most of his mistakes defending those set pieces, and we have been bad in dead ball situations lately. I’m probably looking too much into it.
Also Robbo’s situation… He felt a little something, and was rested before the second leg. We need him for Atletico in his best conditions, no doubt about it, and Milner needed some game time to sharpen up before the end of the season. He’s on the yellow card in CL, and I’m almost confident he will be carded in the next game. Not that I would want that, of course. Another notable absentee is Naby Keita, who people either love or hate it seems, there’s no middle ground. Earlier this week his brother got in a car accident, so maybe that played some part in the squad selection? Once again, probably a precaution from Kloppo.
Among other things, Mo Salah was about to make his 100th PL appearance for LFC. He scored 69 goals and assisted 27 times in that timespan. As we later found out, his track record against “Cherries” is still superb.
The Actual Match Review
Well, we conceded again, now inside the first 10 minutes.
Callum Wilson blatantly pushed Joe Gomez off and kept the attack going, putting one in the bottom corner after a low cross from Lerma. Those two fought and clawed a lot today, and props to them, but this should have triggered a VAR check. Klopp was mad, but called for the fans to get louder and overcome this situation together.
Then Ake won an aerial battle in the box, and Adrian had to show off his reflexes. When someone is threatening your goal while being marked by Virgil, you know something is wrong. That save kept us in the game though, and we played ourselves back in it.
We answered with a Firmino shot that didn’t equalize the score, but took captain Steve Cook off. That was a crucial moment in my eyes, as the young Simpson fella was robbed off the ball minutes later by Mane. At first I thought the moment was ruined after that pass, but Mo put the ball away with uncanny precision.
Not the strongest hit, but the accuracy makes it 1-1, and I’m actually reacting to this goal!
See, with Liverpool winning so much, my goal celebrations became more composed and calm, but this time I jumped off my chair. Thanks Mo, and congrats on your 70th goal!
Trent continued to dominate the right flank and getting in super advanced positions, and that was kinda logical, as Millie had to switch it to his right peg every play. Trent could have had another assist, but the young lad who gifted us a ball redeemed himself. Not for long though…
One sloppy pass is all it takes.
Soon it became 2-1! Key interception from Van Dijk, and a beautifully simple pass forward to Sadio, who’s free to run like a gazelle. He has the goal at his mercy, and he finishes it perfectly calm. Sometimes his shot selection can be wild, but this was a very composed final touch. And yes, at this point we actually looked like ourselves.
Milner shoved Fraser to the ground as a revenge for Gomez treatment, a little detail that made quite a difference in this match. If you haven’t seen James talking to the lads during the warm up, you’re missing out.
A leader, a man of steel and great character. His best moment was waiting for us in the second half though! He also found himself unmarked, but his first touch shot went straight at Ramsdale.
First half ended, Sadio with a goal and an assist to his name. With Mo scoring an opener, I really wanted Bobby to put this to bed and give us some new memey celebration, but for some reason Bob can’t find the net at Anfield. Scenes when he pulls something outrageous against Atletico and shuts all his critics down.
The second half burned down more nerves for me, but there were some interesting moments that made me think about non-football stuff.
For example, Harry Wilson sitting in the LFC coat, and looking pretty smug about it.
I know he belongs to us, but I also can see how he deliberately did this to get some attention from the fans. Hopefully this doesn’t get him in hot water, he needs as much game time as possible. I would like to see him get a chance in our team, but who knows how it all ends.
Then something heroic and beautiful happened. The man, the myth, the legend James Milner sprinted to his goal to deny “Cherries”. This clearance reminded me of Jamie Carragher against Chelsea in a Champions League game more than 10 years ago.
Was this enough to warrant him a MOTM award?
Maybe, but between all of our guys I would name Sadio the best today, a goal and an assist is nothing to scoff at. There would be no arguments about it if his curling shot found the top bins near the end of the match.
That would be so satisfying, but the bar cockblocked the collective Kop orgasm.
I say, “save it for Atletico, Sadio.”
Solanke got some minutes, remember him?
He scored once for us, and it doesn’t look like he’s in high regard in Bournemouth either. Perhaps the Premier League is just too much for him, and he needs to try himself in some Championship side? I really don’t know how we got so much money for him. More questions than answers with this lad, but good luck to him.
2-1 is a slippery score, and we were almost punished for our sins near the end. Few seconds later Bobby had a clear cut chance to complete “The Holy Trinity” on the scoresheet, but the ball went over the bar. Who cursed you, my man?
Post Match Reactions, Don’t Gang Up On Fab
3 points is 3 points, we win again at Anfield, and hopefully get a little morale boost before the all-important fixture with Atletico.
We punished Bournemouth for two mistakes, we created more chances than usual, but we were not ideal. Expecting some outstanding display would be naive though, it’s all grind from here on.
Now there’s the ugly part of the discussion, people wanting Fabinho’s head on the stick for his latest performance. While he is far from form right now, we really don’t have a player with similar capabilities in our squad. When people called for his sub, I scratched my head, because we don’t have any other defensive midfielders.
Subbing him off for Lallana would be a risk, as Adam’s defensive efforts are best when they are far from our half of the pitch. Then again, people raged when he came in too, so you can’t please everyone. Some people want to see Naby, some criticize Ox for taking a shot, some just want to see Minamino on the pitch.
All I wanted is a third sub, but that never came. Jurgen is not a fan of all this substitution business, you know? But then again, he knows so much more than the out-of-the-mill fan, that I won’t even criticize it for him. Just wanted to hear a reason for it. Probably didn’t want to deal with the 4th referee?
Just joking, let’s celebrate. Atletico played 2-2 with Sevilla, ugh, guess I’ll watch highlights now.
Champions League is back, as Liverpool returns to Wanda Metropolitano, the same stadium that brought them the 6th European Cup. The setting will provide some with good memories, but it’s also a place that would test LFC cup ambitions like no other arena could.
I wasn’t happy to get Atletico so early, they are a solid team no matter what. Bad form, injuries, rebuilding team – it all doesn’t matter as much, when the action on the pitch is bottled up to 180 minutes. They can get through and continue to be average in the league, we saw that before. Diego Simeone, always in black colors, is the type of manager that can always turn the heater in the lockers, and motivate his players to play hard.
And well, the start wasn’t ideal. Ball bounces off Fabinho, and Saul picks the corner for an early lead. Perhaps a dream start for Alteli, who then predictably sit back after scoring and give the ball away, looking for counter attacks.
Lemar, who I heard is not a regular first team player, is clearly designed to burn the ground behind Trent, who wonders forward quite a lot. In the first half, the right flank was covered up by Hendo quite a bit, more than the usual, when in possession too. Crosses didn’t go where they needed to go, and we started shooting from long range to lure the home side out. No luck, although I liked Robbo’s shot.
He’s on the card, which means he is risking a second leg appearance. I write this part in half time, so hopefully the game ends well for our left hand side (well, at least he is not disqualified). Sadio picked up a card, and got a bit aggressive in the end. Of course Vrsaljko, the best right back in FM 12 was a bit extra with his reaction, but would you expect anything else from a Spanish side? One of the main reasons I don’t like La Liga – too many actors rolling around the pitch and nagging the ref’s to play with cards.
We had two chances in the first half. Firstly a usually solid goalie Oblak blundered his kick, with Salah intercepting the ball and giving it to Bobby, who was offside. A goal disallowed, no arguments. Then Sadio and Firmino get their magic mojo on, creating a very decent shot for Mo out of thin air. God strike, but Atletico defender is in the way, blocking the shot from going into top bins.
Mo had a normal half, and I want to underline how good he became in his hold up play over the years. Second half is on! Sadio is put on the bench, as we await a goal from Origi. Not really a surprise, as he had an injury not so long ago, plus his competitiveness would warrant a second yellow.
Divock is not that nimble to operate in tight spaces, but he has a goal in him nonetheless. 60 minutes gone, still no shots on target, much more possession that results in Trent switching his play over and over again.
Need to come up with plan B, I suppose. This 4-4-2 rigid formation is a tough not to crack, and we’re lacking man power in the middle.
On the Atletico side, Lemar goes off at half time, Simeone doesn’t mess around with this guy. He subs Morata too, after he flubs a good chance. Pretty average forward, if you ask me, high maintenance for sure. Plus his play is not suited to counters, so Vitolo enters.
Next we see an answer from Klopp, who brings Salah off for Ox. I understand this move, we need a crazy moment, long shot and a burst of pace Alex can bring to the table, but sadly, it never comes. But… Divock shifts to the center and the best chance of the second half goes missing, unlucky for Hendo, who’s also in need of a break.
Millie on, straight off gets a captain’s armband and I wish for some penalty case. Meanwhile Correa goes off for shithouse master Diego Costa. Simeone fires up the crowd, who seem to be enjoying themselves a lot. Costa shoots badly from a distance, and that’s pretty much it.
A suffocating match, where we couldn’t explore the space behind the defenders, didn’t have a creative and decisive force in the center. It all boiled down to Trent, and that’s not a viable first, second and third option. No late goals, no drama. It’s a dull 1-0 win for Madrid, and they are patting each other on the back for a job well done.
Honestly, a snoozefest for a neutral, and a frustrating watch for any LFC fan. The match with Norwich was tough, and here we didn’t do as much as we needed to. We will see what comes in the second leg at Anfield, where the magic happens. By that point we would probably wrap up the league, knock-knock, and could concentrate on putting goals in the back of the net.
Eh, matches like that can happen. Calls didn’t favor us, and luck wasn’t on our side. Props to Madrid for executing their plan, albeit not a very elaborate one. Waiting for the next bout now, only up from here.
In the other CL match of the night, Haaland puts two past PSG at home. Will watch the highlights, but man, what a beast that blondie is. He can get the top goalscorer trophy without advancing too far! But all of that doesn’t matter. The trophy belongs to Liverpool, and next time we will show Ateltico why Anfield is the place where amazing things happen.
Let’s try our best to keep the title, nothing is decided yet. One month to get our form back!
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