WELL well. The inevitable points dropped. They were going to be dropped somewhere. And they couldn’t be dropped better than that; couldn’t be dropped with greater elan and panache. That’s the strange thing.
Process and outcome. We have a manager in Jürgen Klopp who is all about process, who is very much engaged with that, who wants to make his footballers play and knows everything come from there. But he is a manager who will take outcome when he has to. He never had the opportunity to do that today, though his players deserved that.
Accentuating the positive? Perhaps. But Liverpool went to Southampton and forced them back and missed most of the key chances in the game. Only Charlie Austin’s header gave Southampton a sniff whereas Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Nathaniel Clyne will all feel they missed in big moments.
What’s true is that I might not be able to manage 26 more of these. My heart pounded, fluttered, did somersaults. Kicking every ball and it is still November. What can you do about this? Enjoy it? I am, but by Christ I am going to have to make sure I don’t miss another game. This nervous energy needs to go somewhere.
We didn’t need to be nervous. Loris Karius, Joel Matip, Dejan Lovren resolute. Assured. Every touch a good touch, reading the game with aplomb. Jordan Henderson in front of them spending his time prompting and probing, sitting when he needed to, covering across with aggression. Clyne and James Milner mostly secure in their own back thirds and the only question being is they can offer more in the final third.
Clyne probably should score; aiming for the side netting when anywhere in half the goal would be enough. Milner constantly on the verge of getting in behind, needing another pass rather than a cross.
Many will wonder about the changes. I like a sub, a fresh start, a new dawn, a different problem. Yet the manager second half was watching Liverpool create cracks, be perpetually one more chance away. Easy to think change it from the nervous seats, the TV seats, the cheap seats. He manages these lads and thought they had it within them. He trusts them and that is a better place than anything else.
But still Daniel Sturridge did look a live wire and the side did want to play through Coutinho. That coming deeper, sooner may have been no bad thing. Sturridge and Origi could both wonder about conditions, wonder about touches not quite coming off, wonder about the value of being the finishers, the professionally dead-eyed and wonder if they could just have offered that bit more clout. Football isn’t digital. Some things aren’t on or off, right or wrong. They are degrees of difference.
Still, Southampton deserve credit. Virgil van Dijk was excellent the first half, José Fonte excellent the second. Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Oriol Romeu solid, and Steven Davis deservedly in better company than when I saw him last Friday in Windsor Park. These are good players destined for a top-half finish. Liverpool pushing them back, forcing errors in their own gaff all the more significant for that.
You can’t win every week but every week you can show why you can win any game. Liverpool have done that. Dropped points but not pride, not momentum, not class.
Up the dropped points Reds. Process first. Promise.
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Nice team Southampton, which of them shall we buy next year?
A point at Southampton is not the worst. The defence looks better and better. Dropped points – fact of life. Missed chances – fact of life.
And yet. And yet. I was fuming – swearing at the TV for 20 mins fuming. I’m not one to fume, at least not about dropped points. I was disappointed about Burnley, frustrated about the Mancs (well maybe a little fuming that getting 0-0 with the most expensively assembled squad in history is a masterclass). But giving your on-fire striker 12 minutes, that is not a fact of life. That is total ‘simple game complicated by idiots’ territory. Yes, it is possible that given 30 mins he might not have scored or played another ball like the one from Clyne. But let’s find out. And let’s given him some incentive as Sean was saying the other day. If we fall short this year, I want glorious running back to half-way at 3-0 failure. I don’t want us to die with bullets in the gun.
How many beers ya have before that rant, hun?
None. If I had had more beers, would Sturridge have come on earlier? Hun?
So you just talk rubbish and can’t form coherent sentences even when sober?
Said the clean sheets start today but will take 6-1 all day folks the pressure will go down a bit with people saying it’s the same Liverpool all possession and no bite but no its not the same Liverpool at all the previous Liverpool would have lost this game let’s use this time to go on another run can really us wining the next five with us having all the time in the world to train and rest well done red men for not losing
Thanks for the match review Neil.
My only real criticism or rather a question is why did Klopp take so long to make substitutions?
Coutinho and Firmino played well but they looked a little jet-lagged. Really missed Lallana today. Like how the defense played.
Bit disappointed that the rest of the players who stayed behind both weeks played like they were at the internationals. Wet conditions didn’t make it easier, and Southampton defended well against the Reds except for a couple of fouls that could have gone our way.
Sunderland is going to be tougher than Southampton, coming off a win and being in the pit. They will park the bus no doubt, so I hope Klopp has a proper plan against this.
Up the Reds!!!
If the team is playing well and creating chances, why change it and potentially kill the rhythm?
You have a point James, but the rhythm that you mentioned was sort of flat to me, or at least in patches throughout the game. No discredit to Southampton, they did their best to defend and nearly scored and the weather was somewhat of a factor.
I noticed that Coutinho was being marginalized due to his size and weight at times, and Firmino missing chances that he and Couts would typically bury; so maybe they needed help early on. Can didn’t have much impact and I think he was left out of the international duty. Goals need to come from players other than the usual suspects in situations like these.
Origi brings some muscle and pace, and Sturridge clever feet and trickery that could have helped if they were given more time.
Klopp isn’t beyond criticism. I’ve read Dortmund fans comment on TAW about his sturborness that sometimes rears its head, and was just wondering if this is a pattern with him or is he just taking his time to assess?
I’m not privvy to the dressing room discussions or tactical plan but it looked to me like Klopp should maybe bring on players, who can continue or up the rhythm if you like, instead of Origi and Sturridge whose talent looked to me like it went underused last night.
I’m happy how we defended last night with all the factors in place. I think I read on TAW or some other website that Southampton was the team that halted our progress the last time we were on top. Then they beat us. So drawing with them I realize is a step better and a point won.
Still a Red fan and still love Klopp though. ;o)
Up the Reds!!!
The boss has to take the blame today.
Why play Coutinho who had travelled thousands of miles, played lots of minutes and been doubtful enough to have a scan before playing, when you have Sturridge desperate to play and in good form for LFC and England?
To then not bring Origi on until injury time, having only brought Sturridge on 12 minutes earlier, when we had needed a goal for 90 minutes, is quite honestly odd – oh and wrong!
Why play Coutinho? Because he’s our best player and he has a very expensive medical department to let him know he was 100% ok to start. Think you’ve been on Championship Manager or Fifa a bit too often lad
As Klopp said, those ones are easy to lose. How many times have we heard lines like: ‘and Liverpool are BEHIND against the run of play!’? Too often for my liking, and yet we didn’t look remotely like doing so.
Matip cost us £0, whilst Stones cost City £50m.
Bah!
Great stuff as always Neil and bang on, we bossed it, we deserved it but a point aunt bad when many of our rivals will drop points there!! Up the under par, slightly tired, table topping Reds…
Would have started Sturridge. Would have put him on 20 minutes earlier.
That said, I was most pleased by the way we didn’t panic, right up until the final whistle. We will be better served by that patience in the long run. Two points dropped, but as an exercise in mental discipline I went away content with the point earned. More often than not, those chances will get put away. And one goal would beget more as opposition seek an equalizer. Suddenly it’s 3-0.
Not all that frustrated about drawing away to a side who could easily be above United, who played against us with a similar level of ambition.
Up the level-headed Reds.
To the lad watching in camp and furnace following the Sturridge lazy narrative: https://twitter.com/statsswearwords/status/799537432047865857
Good point, Neil:
“Yet the manager second half was watching Liverpool create cracks, be perpetually one more chance away. Easy to think change it from the nervous seats, the TV seats, the cheap seats.”
Still think Origi needs more than 2-3 minutes of injury time to (1) affect the game and (2) grow his confidence.
Brilliant line this:
“You can’t win every week but every week you can show why you can win any game.”
They were set up for us not to score. Usually they set up to win. They did well.
DS and Or in from start or at least earlier?- but damnit we were composed and attacking – just not getting over the line. So maybe not.
Lallana out meant PC played deeper more often- missed Lallana big time.
That clean sheet will get the pundits looking for another reason why they doubt us!!:)
One thought occurred to me. If teams are going to sit back, it might be worth starting Lucas over Lovren more. Better distribution, y’see. Same principle as Milner for Albie, except Lovren’s a much better player than Albie!