Neil Atkinson’s post-match review for The Anfield Wrap after Liverpool 4 Sevilla 1 in the final game of The Reds 2024-2025 pre-season…
IT’S good to be back. It’s good to see you.
You being both you and those wild-eyed boys that had been away. And you being a new you. Felt fresh.
It’s always someone’s first game and today it was full of first games, full of people you don’t see, full of children and colour and sunshine. The weather helps, may not help them, may not help the running around, but helps the sense of occasion.
The whole thing begs the question – how do we have more of this? Not because it is perfect, nothing is. But because it offers pathways. Wanting to get different and new people into the ground is good. Change is good. Refreshing matters is good.
But change and refreshment based on principles and values is better. Taking what there is and building on it is the best. There are expectations around being Liverpool. The first is this – be good. Be the best version of yourself. The whole of the previous nine years was about that. Whatever that self may be, find your you in the context of this thing of ours.
We see some shift today and I like almost everything. Before there is a goal there is Ryan Gravenberch and he pulls together arguably his best complete performance in the shirt. He adores the responsibility. That’s the thing about the young – give them the heart of the matter and they make it beat.
Gravenberch is tremendous, loves his battles along with winning them and keeps the ball moving. He picks up a variety of positions while never abdicating that core responsibility. He’d have hard lines not to start next week.
Conversely, Alexis MacAllister should have to come on leaps and bounds to start – it looked his first game in a while. Further though, it could prove to be the case that in an old school way, the school being 2005-ish, that that middle midfielder may occasionally get lost. The job is to keep it ticking more than anything else.
There wasn’t a load of Dominik Szoboszlai until there was tonnes of him. That again is role specific, but I do wonder about finding space in tight areas. I like him involved, I ultimately want him deeper and constantly on it but you don’t always get what you want.
But the goals. Oh, the goals. Good God, the goals. To be young, to be free, to have it be your first game and then Diogo Jota does that. What a thing, what a sight. It overwhelms physics. It feels like Van Basten, like Batistuta, like Hughes, like these bygone names, but the truth is yet again Fowler, Fowler, Fowler. Everything builds on everything. Fowler because he takes it early. It is all about taking it early. It is a phenomenal strike.
Then all there is is Jota. Jota to Diaz for the second when Diaz ploughs himself to 10 yards out. Jota in the third. Jota dropping deep and sucking people and winning his battles and finding his man. Jota the business.
The oddest thing around Jota is any need to move him out the centre, but he encourages that in a way by virtue of doing it himself, asking to be played wide. He should be a fulcrum, an occasionally ugly fulcrum, but a fulcrum nonetheless.
Diaz nets and is at the business end. This is the key factor of The Diaz Question (TDQ): how can he be involved around the penalty area more? He finishes and moves expertly today and can’t be denied Ipswich.
Jarell Quansah has the wobbliest game he has had in the preseason period. It’s not ideal, but it is allowed. What is also allowed is the idea that Quansah won’t be linear. He is allowed that due to his excellence.
Luca Stephenson comes on and wins his battles, Trey Nyoni comes on and shows his class and gets his goal, Stefan Bajcetic was prominent. Though these are good, young players of theoretically differing potential, but even at a young age pianos need carrying and playing. Salah passed to Stephenson which says something.
It was all good and clean and all exciting. It was great to share it with the wider fanbase.
Seeing them troupe in and troupe out sends me back to wonder; wonder at the size of the thing, but wondering how we keep it fresh. Fresh is everything. Just so fresh and so clean. The boys are back. Driving all the old men crazy soon enough.
All my love.
More soon.
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