I WAS commentating on the Napoli vs PSG game on Tuesday night.
The good news is that it was a draw, the bad news is that it was a bloody good draw.
If Liverpool are to play any Champions League football after New Year, they will first need to play some of that Champions League football they were playing at the start of this year.
The accident that was waiting to happen in Belgrade will receive more than enough discussion elsewhere on TAW, but it was an untimely reminder that the Champions League represents the highest level of club football in the world. Even the minnows have a bite.
On the evidence of the two close encounters I’ve witnessed over the last couple of weeks, both Paris Saint-Germain and Napoli are capable of playing at that highest level.
It is true that a proper Anfield European night on December 11th could right all the wrongs and deliver the requisite win over the Italians. But don’t count on it.
Liverpool cannot simply rely on tradition and history to magically spirit them past the company they are keeping in the group phase this season. They were third seeds, remember. Brinksmanship doesn’t always deliver. 2004 was then, this is now. Neil Mellor, Florent Sinama-Pongolle and that other fella have all left the building.
PSG have spent a couple of deep oil wells on trying to gatecrash the top table of European football. They are still to get beyond the quarter finals of the Champions League and have the air of a spoilt rich kid who can’t make his own way in the big bad world beyond the French League.
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Liverpool needed a late goal to beat them in September but played with an intensity and drive that PSG couldn’t stir their souls to match that night. More of the same will be required in Paris.
In their first game with Napoli at Parc des Princes, PSG found themselves 1-0 down at half time. Thomas Tuchel, the latest manager hired to try to add up the sum of their precious parts, changed tactical tack. A switch to 3-4-3 helped make them more of a team. They still got dogs’ abuse in the French press but they deserved the solace of Angel Di Maria’s late equaliser.
Last Tuesday, they started the game with the same setup. Three at the back. No Edinson Cavani, no Adrien Rabiot, no passengers. PSG owned the first half in Naples playing with authority and control. They certainly merited the lead they grabbed on the stroke of half time.
Cue Carlo Ancelotti. The Napoli he sent out for the second period were totally reenergised, pressing high and pushing PSG back until they forced the penalty that squared the rematch.
Napoli have a reputation for not travelling well but Kalidou Koulibaly is currently playing as well as any centre back in the world and the Brazilian Allan proved a determined defensive shield in central midfield on Tuesday. Ancelotti’s diddy man strike force of Lorenzo Insigne and Dries Mertens are both smart, canny players.
There is little genuine pace in the team and they sat deep and allowed PSG to dictate to them for 45 minutes on Tuesday before upping the ante with a more aggressive, progressive approach after the break.
Tuchel’s side didn’t lie down when Napoli got in their faces and challenged their grip on the game. Quite the opposite. Both Neymar and Marco Verratti began to get mardy and confrontational. Their yellow cards were only a matter of time.
Up to that point, Neymar had been outstanding. I spent most of the World Cup dying to give him a good talking to, but on Tuesday he took responsibility for himself and the team, constantly looking for the ball to run past defenders and combine with the blur that is Kylian Mbappe. Only when he lost focus did he lose his way in the game. Memo to Virgil van Dijk.
The worst you could say of PSG is that they didn’t kick on from half time and win the match, and it is their failure to realise their full potential that is the recurring question mark against them. When push comes to shove you just wonder if they truly believe they can see off the best in the Champions League.
Liverpool must try to push and shove them towards those doubts in three weeks’ time… Rattle their gilded cage and ruffle those preened feathers, and find out how deep their desire to succeed really goes.
Napoli did a bit of that to Liverpool in Italy last month. Their pugnacious Portuguese left back Mario Rui showed the way, fancying himself to force Mo Salah back down the flank they were contesting. His teammates caught the drift.
Napoli are not as talented a team as PSG but they “avere i coglioni” (look it up). Their visit to Anfield will rock the rafters but if Liverpool are back on song (and there’s an “if” in that sentence), they can win a few of those battles of will and impose themselves on the night.
European football is awash with rumours and accusations just now. FFP is under scrutiny, a Super League is (apparently) under discussion. This is not the Europe that Bob Paisley and Joe Fagan conquered but it is no less contagious.
The trophy that Klopp’s boys had to walk past in Kyiv is still the same and so is the kudos. Liverpool recently went six years with only a glimpse of the giddy pressure they face in the remaining two group games. Embrace it. This is the place to be.
Going deep into this competition requires more memories of the kind Liverpool made against Manchester City and Roma. That’s why it’s special.
Bring it on.
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It’s important we continue to go further in this year’s competition… it’s all about tgat European Coed Efficiency Rating and what placed is in the 3rd ranking pot. To avoid more of the same next year (should we qualify) then we need to go further. It also awards us more dosh to improve our squad as well.
But as Clive puts, we need to up our game as we are woeful this season and these two WILL TEAR US A NEW ONE if we don’t turn up and start playing.
Most feared front 3 in the World…. Sorry but not this season and coupled with a non-existent midfield, then we could be looking at a very early exit from Europe as a whole this season.
For us to be in with a shout, then it’s up to us to start doing that shouting and start showing some desire, passion and best of all, actually showing we belong in this comp.
Unfortunately I have to agree with J about the front 3 and the midfield but I do think that the problems of the front 3 are at least in part due to the lack of spark and creativity in the midfield.
This has been obvious for a number of games now and we need to up our game of we are to compete in the OK and CL.
However Man City look unstoppable at present and the only competitions we are truly in are probably the CO and the FA Cup.
I’ve tried to be positive about it all. But the reality is that this team still has got these kind of performances like Tuesday and to an extent last Saturday in their locker. That doesnt bode well for a team that is supposed to be grown up, mature and serious about winning trophies.
Hope always remains and taking it one game at a time. but I rather tend to ask myself not if, but when will the period come when the season slips away from us. Looking at that two-point gap and looking at the winter schedule (December and aftermath in January) I doubt that we can keep the gap or even reduce it. It will rather widen further.
Enjoying the ride is tough when your team is supposed to be challenging for trophies. It was easier the last two seasons because we all knew that the team was a huge work in progress and top 4 was our aim. But right ow it is hard to believe that we will win the League this season. We are just too inconsistent. The players dont deliver.
There will be those who will point to unbeaten in the League. 3rd and just 2 points behind City, which is technically 3 points due to the superior goal difference.
We supposedly have the most feared attack in the World. Not on current showing we don’t. All seem to be self indulged of late. None seem capable of turning up and being a big game player so far this season.
3 wins in 9 games paints a picture. Only one win away from home in 5 and that was a fortuitous one at Huddersfield. We now have not won away from home in Europe since beating City. In fact a more worrying stat was we took 161 mins of football away from home in Europe this season to register a shot on target.
Quite frankly all of this could be seen all season, just now teams have worked out to get at us.
With Ox missing our only creativity comes from Shaq and stupidly he was left kicking his heels at both Arsenal and Red Star away. Keita has yet to do anything of note in a red shirt and quite frankly after all the noise, that’s been a complete damp squib.
So far then, no feared attack, no midfield, no gengerpress, no passion, no fight, no desire, no guile.
As said at the beginning we are just 2points behind City and everything is still in our hands in Europe. However we have to start walking the walk and actually putting in some performances otherwise this season will be over quicker than we can imagine.
Finally with regard to the support cast. They are not good enough. Time we offload Lallana, Matip, Clyne, Sturridge, Origi, Migs and Moreno
Cant offload all of those guys without having replacements lined up. If we get rid of Mignolet, we’ve got Kelleher as second choice keeper. Matip can’t go because we will only have 3 centre halves. If Moreno goes we need to buy another backup left back. If Sturridge leaves then we have literally no backup for the front three. Origi is halfway out the door already Solanke isn’t good enough.
Hi Rob, I understand what you are saying, however equally the guys occupying these places are no longer good enough and are just being a drain on the wage budget and occupying spaces. We need to identify the replacements and then offload as soon as possible.
Some of these players i was really rooting for to be the answer this season by the way and it included Origi, who I hoped would rediscover that purple patch he had before being injured in the Derby game. likewise i was hoping that Sturridge had possibly matured and would be an excellent vintage. Tuesday drove me mad with his greed and shooting from anywhere rather than passing to a team mate. that and him not doing anything, including getting back onside. He had an opportunity to get himself a starting berth and failed.
I will be honest and state I have never warmed to Lallana. Just didn’t think he was a player we needed when we went and got him. He just frustrates the life out of me. Would be fantastic if he suddenly became what people believe him to be for us, but he is one that flatters to deceive and even on Tuesday he didn’t even flatter.
As for Solanke. He needs to be playing. he is not ready for us so should have been loaned this season and still should come Jan.
As for Matip. I sooner we just didn’t play him anymore. He has been thoroughly unconvincing and if anything is getting worse. if we are struggling then I rather we went with Fabinho in his position than him as he offers nothing and proved this again on Tuesday.
As for Clyne. Decent enough player but offers nothing going forward. He just doesn’t suit what we need in this team. And Moreno always has the ability to do something bizarre in games and do so out of nothing situations. He was having a decent game against Cardiff, yet still managed to dive in to 2 tackles that he didn’t have to and on both occasions didn’t make the tackle and left his position wide open. We got punished for one of these with the softest goal we have conceded since Karius was around.
None of our supporting cast I have listed are doing themselves any favours as all look well short of what we need.