A PERFORMANCE to be genuinely proud of from Liverpool but a result that is fundamentally frustrating. Another game the Reds need to prepare for, another gratification deferred.
It’s the deferred gratification that hurts the most. Celebrating a goal is a fantastic thing and we haven’t been able to do it enough.
Those lads deserved their moment in front of the Kop but they just couldn’t get the ball into the back of the net. Even had it led to a West Ham equaliser, Anfield needed the explosion of a goal. The footballers needed it, too. A moment of stitch that.
Prior to the game, I wrote about the fourth round against Leeds and that was all about stitch that. Stitch that feels more and more like it is in any Liverpool side Jürgen Klopp selects.
The fight in the side was excellent. Dejan Lovren gets a fantastic yellow, and it is genuinely encouraging how much better Liverpool are getting at that.
It is a crucial part of the game, breaking the play up, stopping breaks. Joao Teixeira staying down, too. Do it and keep doing it. This isn’t Corinthian. This is football.
Most Liverpool players emerge with credit. Christian Benteke will always need to score to impress. He didn’t, so he didn’t. The equation is that straightforward for the forward. It may be unforgiving but it is writ through him like rock. No goal, no glory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbUGdZh0LhM
Teixeira, Cameron Brannagan and Kevin Stewart all did impress, Stewart grew into the occasion while Brannagan perhaps faded.
Teixeira is the player who has probably done his long-term chances of making it as a top-flight footballer the most good.
Against an endlessly physical midfield he was able to impose himself on the game. It may not happen for him at Anfield long term but it will somewhere and he now has another game to look forward to.
For an hour, Joe Allen was Liverpool’s most important performer but like Benteke he will go to bed rueing the lack of a winner.
His movement off the ball is exceptional, constantly finding pockets of space. In a season of a million captains it was nice to see him wear the armband after the month he has had. But again, again, again — the round thing into the rectangular thing.
Steven Caulker had a strong full debut and Lovren was solid on his return. Brad Smith looks the most likely young starter to be a Liverpool squad player in two to four years, Sheyi Ojo from the bench notwithstanding.
In short, Liverpool have another game but they have the players to get that extra game. They have the chance to do the thing they yet again haven’t done tonight.
It hurts to watch many of these Liverpool performances.
Impressive but not, never, final. Liverpool seem hell bent on having the longest season possible.
They seem hell bent on having the longest roller coaster ride imaginable. But goals and thrills and goals are spills and we can have some more of that in an ideal world.
The world is anything but ideal. We go back to Upton Park one more time. A mix-and-match kit. One more time. A win there, one more time.
We don’t stop.
Yeah, the kids really rose to the challenge: that was a strong West Ham lineup. Our worst players were the serial clown Mignolet (what was he doing with that backpass?) and Benteke, a striker who was born on his heels.
Mignolet 1 bad pass he’s a fucking monkey.
Everyone else 15 each inside an hour….wonderful.
He was referring to his extraordinary decision to pick up the “back pass” from Smith. His “passing” was as usual uncertain and often perplexing. The abject attempt to come and punch a cross was just sad. Of course it’s boring and repetitive to make critical remarks about him after virtually every performance – but it’s also boring and repetitive to have to watch his inadequacy on display virtually every match. I’m not even particularly frustrated by it anymore. Just resigned and gloomy. I assume Klopp will sort it out at some stage.
Mig made two excellent penalties the other day :). Cheer up. And join #MignoletImmunity club
Agreed. Cheer up and lay off the Mign. Focus on how well the young kids did. Unlucky to not get the win
positive match review, Neil. Tks.
A surreal feeling to watch the match without much pressure or stress. I was just pleased to see Allen as captain (I was so relax whenever Allen is on the ball because of trust that he won’t give away cheaply), two CBs as a new pair, and youngsters given an opportunity against a strong opponents.
Benteke: a real disappointment for the night. Was thinking Lambert or Crouch would have done much better than him tonight.
Ibe: He needs to turn around his performance soon (Yes, still young, but the issue is whether he keeps making the same mistakes).
Mig: Excellent saves for two penalties. and he is still on one-month immunity :)…so I shall not mention about his coming for crosses, kicks, or decision making :)
You miss the decent save he made after caulker possible handball?
Yes, just saw in the reply (was too fast to notice that save during live). I guess congrats to Mig for not conceeding from only shot on target then?
I quiet like watching this match. I was impressed with the youngsters with the way they controlled the game. Stewart, Texeira, Brannagan, Ibe and Smith were good and probably will improve with more game time. I think they lacked a mobile striker in front of them who can guide them through match on where to thread those through balls. Benteke is static and his movement has gone from bad to worse. I think if we had striker who can make runs behind we might have created more chances and probably won too.
In all I am pretty happy with the way youngsters played.
Frustrating. These are the games that you just want a routine 2-0 and then we move on and they get filed in the deep memory somewhere
Thought Smith did well and may be worth a place over Moreno.
Allen deserved the captaincy but thought today was one of his poorer games.
Do you think Texeira will make it in the top flight? Maybe in Portugal or a less physical league but I thought he looked very lightweight and too easily muscled off the ball.
I reckon Neil’s shopping list reads something like this…
Bread
Margarine
Eggs – The oval things. The obloid things.
Milk
Ham
Biscuits. Crunchy biscuits. Brown biscuits. Chocolaty biscuits. Biscuits, biscuits, biscuits.
Apples. Green apples. Good apples. Apples from trees in sunlit orchards.
Bananas
Peaches
6-pack of beer. Cold, golden beer. Imagine that beer. After a win. After goals. After goals that make grown men laugh, dance and sing.
Then to the till and out of the door. Furtive. Scurrying. Hurrying.
Up the road.
Gone
Gone
Gone
Quality
Broken biscuits.
So what exactly was the point of bringing Danny Ward back and then not having him play at all????
Surely Neil has minions to do that thing, that shopping thing, that put it in the basket and think about it later thing that makes us all happy.When Neil shops we all shop.
Fundamentally, this thing you’re implying, this shopping thing, this put it in a basket and pay thing, I think you’re dead right.
‘This is football’?
Most of the gamesmanship is anti-football. That’s why they do it.
It’s up to the refs, backed by the league, to get rid of it.
When a free kick is given, any opposition player who runs into the free kick zone should be yellow carded. Any player who approaches the ref should be carded.
Same with the nonsense in the box at corners. Defenders holding or obstructing players and attackers obstructing keepers should be fouled. Try winning the ball instead.
A few red cards and penalties would clear this up quickly.
The game would be a better spectacle. The better, fitter teams would prosper.
That is football.
Football needs a sin bin for these exact offences. Would clear it up in a weekend but the guys in charge don’t want it cleared up. Beautiful game and all that.
That’s us fucked.
Overall I was most impressed with the development of the youngsters and were just lacking the goal. A win was well justified.
Jordan needs to go back to the classroom for simple give and go pass lessons which bring others into the game who are better placed. Simples
Oh no Ojo! What a waste not stretching his awesome legs until 79 minutes, Thought Klopp was a tad negativ and maybe justifiable but he needs to give this kid 30 minutes in every game and he grows with his power with pace frightening the life out of the opposition defence. I don’t usually do this… He’s a great Studge like prodigy! And give Smith the 6 game run he deserves as well as to focus Moreno’s mind.
Liverpool Football Club will never become league champions with Simon Mignolet as goalkeeper or Benteke as the #9. Doesn’t get any plainer than that for me. Get rid in the summer. We need to get ruthless with cunts now and stop fucking around all our lives if at all possible.
Ojo came on and had electric pace with some evidence of good enough technique. If you’re not providing pace or good enough technique you’re part of every problem to do with football for Liverpool and need to fuck off outta me face right now. I’m becoming a big fan of Ojo based off this criteria.
Shout out to the ol’ Hammers. Massive, massive Tories to a man. They definitely think George Osborne is just a lad with an arse on the end of his nose making ‘the tough decisions’. Pig shagger David Cameron *was* in fact a West Ham supporter all along. What a twist in the tale/tail.
I felt LFC’s instinctive bond with the Labour Party was strengthened when Corbyn announced that he wanted to send our submarines out to sea with the warheads removed.
As a club, we have been pioneers of this strategy ever since Suarez was sold.
Good review and positive, would love to see a mobile striker in this team to see if all the young lads can play killer balls into space, you would expect they would flourish with Danny Ings or Divvy running the Chanel. I would keep them all as squad players and only buy first team stardust
Loving the pastiches of Neil’s writing style!