The Big Takes by Jith Sreenivasan
A game which had a confident build up in the midst of joyous Old Trafford nostalgia, ended in the underwhelming reality of 2-2 draw where we were 2-0 up after 20 minutes in very similar fashion to that game a week prior.
The team news comes out and as expected, we see Keita and Mane back in and see Konate back again after suplexing Fred without even breaking a sweat.
Anfield was ready for a comfortable afternoon to indulge in the history makers of today doing what they do best in routine fashion. And it starts so well! Alisson (the best GK in the world) making a gorgeous save, Van Dijk (the best CB back in the world) spraying a ball of perfect precision to Mo Salah (the best player in the world) laying the ball off to our captain to score. And that was all within 240 seconds of the game starting.
The enigma of Naby Keita continued within 20 minutes as we saw the lingering after effects of the Pogba tackle from Old Trafford. The pros of the substitution was found almost instantaneously as we saw Oxlade Chamberlain find his inner Trent to deliver an inch perfect cross directly onto Mane’s head six yards out.
So there we go, Liverpool are 2-0 up inside 25 minutes just as they have been against Man United (reminder that we did beat them 5-0 at Old Trafford).
Mo Salah was yet to score his customary goal and with the show he put on thus far in the match, it seemed to be inevitable. We then see Brighton’s goalkeeper not deal with our two world class wingers pressing him in his 6 yard box particularly well by kicking it directly into the one who already scored a goal past him….and then we remember that VAR is still a part of top flight football and the brief moments of joy fade.
In all fairness, if a goal is scored directly from somebody’s hand then it probably shouldn’t be classed as a goal. Still, Brighton played with no fear and were never truly out of the game and with 5 mins to go until the interval, Mwepu gets his moment to remember with a cross/shot that fools Alisson.
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As we entered the second half, Brighton attacked The Kop like they were the home team and The Kop was on their side. They flooded forward on every attack, they left their attackers in dangerous counter attacking positions and most importantly, played with the quality that’s required to rattle this Liverpool side.
The Redmen were unable to cope with Brighton’s movement in midfield and attack and were unable to react on the numerous occasions that our in-cohesive press was bypassed.
Curtis Jones’ flaws were revealed in that midfield where he looked slow on and off the ball, positionally overwhelmed and indecisive. The negatives of the Oxlade-Chamberlain substitution was clear with him looking lost and not offering the required support from both an offensive and negative standpoint. All that was left was Henderson surrounded by a flock of well organised seagulls who only a lighthouse (Fabinho in case you missed the metaphor) would be able to control. No wonder the equaliser occured considering the challenges that the midfield faced.
So after a non-event of the last 15 minutes, where it felt like Brighton held on and created more openings to potentially win the game, including a disallowed winner from the team in blue and white.
So 2-2 at home to Brighton and Hove Albion, where does that leave us? It leaves me annoyed and concerned considering that this isn’t the first time that this has happened this year. But what about in context with the season? Well, Man City lost in pleasant fashion at home to Crystal Palace which should be leaving us in an ecstatic mood as we enjoy the disappointment in our rivals misfortune and Chelsea won at St James’ Park to extend their lead to 3 points.
Ultimately, does this decide the title? Of course not, we’re still only 10 games and are now in the midst of the second quarter of this season. But do the players need to improve and do we need to tweak our gung ho, attacking tactics to compensate for our defensive deficiencies? Absolutely. Otherwise this league title will not be coming to Merseyside in May 2022.
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