Liverpool v Fulham A Liverpool Perspective
Wow, yet again another fantastic match! To think there were people complaining on our Liverpool site recently about the lack of entertainment watching them play. Since then, it has been just incredible to watch the games. They have all been exciting, for different reasons. Manchester City and Real Madrid were just blown away, while the others have just been rollercoaster rides. Well, I accept that the Girona match was not exciting, nestled in the middle of it all, but it was a game with little riding on it, as Liverpool had already qualified for the next stage. There was very little chance of that being anything other than a bit of a grind.
Firstly though, sadly I once again have to complain about the officiating, which was abysmal. Tony Harrington was all over the place and had a mare and was so inconsistent, he was almost consistent in his inconsistency. How on earth Diaz ended up being booked was beyond me. It was clear he was the one actually being fouled. The Perreira booking was extremely questionable and really looked a red card, or should have been. There was no attempt to play the ball, it was just studs on the back of the calf in an attempt to put Gravenberch out of the game. It was everything we are told they want to stamp out of the game.
Then there was the sending off of Robertson. I have to admit I thought initially it was a good decision, but on seeing it back, I can understand why it is controversial, especially as they did have their goalscoring chance. I am now unsure what the decision should have been. The one I am not unsure about is the penalty claim for Liverpool, which was a clear penalty in my opinion. A foul does not have to be deliberate to be a foul, so I have no idea how the referee and VAR came to the conclusion that Gomez being wiped out by accident was not a foul.
The game itself was, well I think I can call it a tactical masterclass by Arne Slot. The way he jiggled the team about, over and over again until it worked to put pressure on Fulham and really take the game to them. It meant taking big risks, but the potential rewards were well worth the risk. For most of the game, despite being down to ten, Liverpool were the better side, though the spaces left by being a man short did mean there was always the potential there for the Londoners to break. If it had been up to me, I would probably have put Endo on to give a bit more solidity, but what Slot did instead worked probably a lot better than what I had in mind. It worked so well that it felt almost disappointing to only get a draw with ten men. My only worry about it is how much it would have taken out of the legs of those players who played the full 90 minutes.
Fulham
It must be said, Marco Silva has improved massively as a head coach over the years. In the past, his teams were disorganised defensively and easy to break down. This Fulham team is much better organised and defensively much more solid, while still retaining the ability to score goals that his teams have always had. I like that he rarely thinks about settling for a point and almost always sends his team out to take the game to the opposition and attempt to win. Silva has Fulham at the point that they can give any team a game and you can never rule them out from getting a result, no matter who they are playing.
Having said that, the big issue he does seem to have is motivation. They do seem to sit back far too easily as soon as they have a lead. They did it twice against Liverpool and let them back in both times. As soon as they have a lead, they want to drop deep and look to hit on the counter. They do have pace in wide areas, so it is understandable, but it does often cost them. They may be more organised than Silva’s previous sides, but they are still not solid enough to sit in and hold out. That makes them very reliant on their forwards to keep opponents pushed back.
They do have a lot of pace up top, which helps, but they are so good and comfortable on the ball that it feels like they would pick up much more points by holding slightly higher up and getting on the ball more. They can play keep ball to draw opponents out, then use the pace on the counter, without ending up sat inside their own penalty area when they get the ball and in danger of one sloppy pass throwing away their lead.
Liverpool
Alisson – he was unlucky with both goals, they were both deflected past him or neither is likely to have ended up in the back of the net. He also came up with a save to keep the score equal when needed.
Alexander-Arnold – it is hard to judge him defensively in this game, due to the way Liverpool played with ten men. Slot was brave and went aggressive, pushing him onto Robinson to stop the Fulham full-back getting forward. That did leave a lot of space behind him, but it was a risk that was worth taking. His flexibility was used, as he was inverted and then pushed out wide and then inverted once more, as Slot looked to figure out how to get at Fulham with just ten men. Some of his passing was brilliant, some of it loose, pretty much as normal.
Gomez – had a really good game, though he was constantly moved about from right-sided centre-back in a back four to left-back, then right-sided centre-back in a back three. Then back to left-back and then left-sided centre-back in a back three. Through it all, Gomez had a good game, though he was very unlucky with the deflection, at least he was there to attempt to block.
van Dijk – in the early parts of the game, he was caught up field, then got caught by a simple ball over the top. But, as the game went on, he grew into it and led the team well. Slot had to take chances and go man-for-man at the back, which meant there were lots of spaces to be covered, but van Dijk did what he could to organise the defensive set up.
Robertson – that was a disastrous game for Robertson. Even when he got wiped out by Diop, there was an offside so the team were unable to gain any real advantage from it. But then he followed that up by giving the ball away, leading to a passage of play where he was caught out ball-watching and not noticing Perreira behind him on the first Fulham goal. Worse, the ball deflected off him, otherwise it would have almost certainly been a simple save for Alisson. Not satisfied with that, he then failed to control a simple ball, letting it bounce off him to Wilson, who he then wiped out and got himself sent off. I know people are making excuses for the loose touch, due to him possibly carrying a knock, but that is no excuse for ball watching.
Gravenberch – was immense, whether playing in midfield or defence. And that even despite Perreira’s attempt to put him out of the game with a stud rake down the back of his ankle. What a player he is growing into. Man of the match for me.
Szoboszlai – was the one who pushed Gravenberch closest for man of the match. In fact, he has a very good case to be the one who should get it. His graft and intelligent work for the team made a huge difference. His mobility and some very nice play, allied to a prodigious workrate, were like an extra man. He allowed Slot to play an aggressive game, going for the win, even though they were missing a man for most of the game.
Jones – played a higher role initially, though he had to play all over the pitch after the sending off. Before the sending off, he had not done well, he should have done better early on and then was weak just before the sending off. But after the sending off, he picked up his game and the only blot on his copybook after it was the silly booking he picked up. It was a consequence of him trying so hard and the way the team was sent out to be aggressive and on the front foot, but it was a moment that you could see coming as he chased the ball. He did play a big role in enabling Liverpool to wrestle the game back, after Fulham took complete control following the sending off.
Diaz – he should never have been booked but he never let that mistake by the referee stop him. He was here, there and everywhere helping to fill in gaps. He was also a threat when Liverpool got the ball, interchanging well with Gakpo while he was on the pitch, and generally causing havoc. A very good performance from the Colombian.
Salah – I know Robinson had been booked for a cynical foul on Diaz, and so had to be careful, but it was still impressive how Salah just ripped him apart so easily, even though Fulham constantly doubled up on him with Cuenca constantly coming over on the cover. He also got his 100th assist with a lovely ball for Gakpo to put in the net. By forcing them to double mark him the way he did, it opened up spaces that would not otherwise have been there. And he was still managing to cause them problems, even with two men on him.
Gakpo – apart from his short spell at left wing-back, as Slot tried to find a solution with the ten men on the pitch, Gakpo was excellent. He scored, showed skill on a nice run, worked very hard and caused them real problems with his movement.
Nunez – replaced Gakpo in the 70th minute. Set up Jota’s goal, but he looks short on confidence still in front of goal. His energy and enthusiasm came in at just the right moment, I felt, as it brought fresh impetus to the performance.
Quansah – came on for Jones in 70th minute. Unfortunately Quansah once again had a terrible game, vying with Robertson as the worst player in the match. He was negative on the ball, mostly turning back and playing sideways, ruining the momentum that was building. His touch was poor. But the worst thing was his defending for the second goal. He had fresh legs, but he was weak and allowed Muniz to just muscle him out and score, when he should have seen out the danger. He is far too lackadaisical and needs to wake up before he misses the chance to make it at Liverpool. He has not learnt anything from all his errors, which is worrying. He plays like he is a reincarnation of van Dijk, but lacks the Dutchman’s quality and physicality, so just ends up costing goals.
Elliott – took Szoboszlai’s place in the 79th minute. Nearly scored but, other than that he struggled to make his mark on the game. His energy and willingness were much needed though, as there were clearly some tired legs on that pitch by the time he came on.
Jota – was brought on in place of Alexander-Arnold in the 79th minute. He may not be the best at link up play, to put it nicely, he may spend far too much time injured, but when you need a man to come off the bench and rescue a goal for your team, there are few, if any, better players around. At times like that, he turns into something special, able to shimmy and send players so far out of the way they need to get a ticket to get back into the stadium. And he is clinical as a substitute as well, with no need to get a feel for the ball or get up to speed, he is just on it. It was an excellent goal as well.
Written by Tris Burke December 17 2024 00:03:37
