ANOTHER three points on the road sees The Reds stride into 2018 — as The Anfield Wrap’s Mike Nevin brilliantly once said — “handily placed”.
In an almost complete reverse of 2016-17, Liverpool seem to be regaining momentum after a slow-ish start, having already recorded one more win than in the entire month of January last season, despite making seven changes to the side that bested Leicester City at Anfield by the same scoreline around 48 hours before.
Despite the huge changes in personnel, the two results share similar hallmarks. In particular, both games required Liverpool to summon a great deal of determination and resolve to win by the formerly lesser-spotted single goal.
Neither game would make the neutral’s top five performances, but given the un-Liverpool-like nature of the past two results, both have been celebrated far more than even the most impressive of 5-0 annihilations.
Liverpool have managed to get over the line for the second time in a week when they’ve been far from “on it”, registering their fourth win in five games and leaving them unbeaten in 16.
And while the last two performances haven’t been vintage by any stretch of the imagination, what hasn’t been lacking is effort, application and legs and maybe it isn’t a coincidence that the lack of mileage in The Reds’ legs compared to most in the league is finally telling.
What you can say with absolute certainty is that, in the same circumstances last year, you’d have taken long odds on Liverpool grafting it out when massive questions have been asked of them.
But of late, the Arsenal aberration aside, The Reds have taken massive blows on the chin and have come back off the ropes to recover with a maturity not seen before in this young side.
One often trotted-out stat that used to add to the anxiety that goes hand in hand with following these set of lads was the lack of goals after the 70-minute mark, the shrug of the shoulders as the clock ticked over. But, having registered four post-70th minute goals in their last four, The Reds have shown a developing resolve.
The learning over the last two fixtures, if heeded as I’m sure it will be, can be invaluable to this team as they cross the halfway mark in the season with plenty still to play for.
But while winning on the edge might be good for the soul, it certainly isn’t great for nerves of grey in the hairline, so hopefully we can return to the norm on Friday and get the result we should have got against the shite in our last meeting.
Up the unlikely winning lads.
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Easily my favourite result of the season so far, coming back from conceding a sloppy equaliser so close to the end of the game is a fantastic feeling. Only our third 2-1 win of the season in all comps and coming back to back in the league is showing us grit and determination in abundance that I like probably a lot of other fans doubted this team had.
Hard to pick holes in the team after a win like that but I felt Ox should have tried better to stop the cross and Big Joe Gomez was caught napping at the back post again, let’s hope it doesn’t become his “thing”.
Massive game from Alexander-Arnold, channeling his inner Stevie G throughout, putting in several great crosses and a fabulous shot that Pope did well to save.
plus TAA should have shepherded it out, b4 corner!
COYRM.
Rotation pays off. Yes until the next defeat and it will be rotation to blame. Behave. Rotation is a myth. There is no evidence to show that rotation is beneficial. Liverpool won that game yesterday simply because they dug in, had a wobble but didn’t throw the towel in and they got rewarded with an injury time winner. That was down to the players. It had nothing to do with rotation. And let’s not forget the support which was immense on a truly awful day.
Rotation is a myth? You expect a player to be able to play 2 games in 48hrs and play to the expected standard?
Do you remember anything about this time last year?
Jesus mate,I know a lot of fans still hold a “back in the day” mentality when it comes to football but it’s pretty strange to say rotation is a myth in this day and age,particularly with how we play.Clyne aside,we’re about 5 or 6 days away from a fully fit squad which for a CL side in the second week in January is pretty rare.The really good news is we’re likely to benefit even more as the season goes on and other teams who haven’t been able to rotate to the extent we have,wont be able to maintain freshness to the level we will.
I was expecting to sacrifice a few points over this period,confident that in the long run it would gain us more points than it lost us but Klopps bravery has allowed him to do it so well that it has barely affected our results.The traditional way to rotate in England is to pick a much weakened side at different intervals against what are considered lesser sides but that’s not the correct way to do it.Managing the games like Klopp has it allows us to keep the quality of the line up at a consistent level (a level high enough where the extra freshness can make up the for the difference in quality)and 15 or 16 players knowing they can play no matter what the opposition keeps the spirit high which as you rightly point out played a big part yesterday.It also means you can rest players when their bodies actually need it rather than solely picking and choosing on the basis of the fixture list,which gives you a better chance of avoiding injuries.Where the bravery comes in is the manager has to be willing to take the flack when you don’t win without all of your “big players” on the pitch but Klopp has the balls to always look at the bigger picture.Its hard to imagine he could have handled this situation any better,we’re 6 points better off than we were with the corresponding fixtures last season and in very good shape to take on the rest of the season.
Sorry gents but until someone can actually show me the benefits of rotation it’s not for me. I just see it as a convenient excuse to warehouse talent and provide everyone with enough game time to keep them happy. It’s just my view.
There is a sports science behind rotation and science applies to everyone not just the chosen few. For Man City this season – Jesus 32 games, De Bruyne 32 games, Sterling 30 games, Sane 30 games. They’ve dropped how many points this season? For Man Utd – Lukaku 33 games, Matic 32 games. For Spurs – Erikson 30 games, Dier 32 games, Kane 29 games, Ali 28 games. I could go on. If players look jaded in training rest them. No issue. If they’re tired in a game, bring them off. No problem. But mass rotation to prevent something that may never happen. Nah, not for me. It just removes cohesion and can at times make the team very unbalanced and disjointed. First rule of football is you pick your best (fit) 11 for the big games. I don’t think that is even a matter for debate. We didn’t against Chelsea and Everton and dropped 4 points at home in games we were more than capable of winning. . I’d argue with anyone that you have more chance of performing with your best players on the pitch. We even rotated the goalkeepers at the weekend. What’s that about? Players have the best facilities, the best medical team, the best nutritionists and they’re looked after better than any other generation of players before them. They play 90 mins football and statistics show they don’t run any further in games now than in years gone by. They’re fitter, faster and stronger than ever before and that ensures they are capable of coping with a game that has got quicker but that’s down to the evolution of the players. Football is subjective. Team selection is subjective. Rotation is subjective. It’s just not for me. Klopp, barring the odd wobble, is doing really well right right now. Rotation is working for him. Maybe that’s because we’ve got decent players. Maybe we got lucky for once. Maybe it’s rotation? Who knows, but I just can’t buy into this mass rotation. Let’s revisit this subject in May. Up the rotational reds!