Football News: Liverpool v Crystal Palace Match Review - A Liverpool Perspective

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Liverpool v Crystal Palace A Liverpool Perspective

One of those games that, on the face of it, looks like it should be an easy win, rather than a worryingly difficult 4-3 victory, with almost all the stats screaming out Liverpool domination. It almost beggars belief that Palace made a game of it considering the domination of the game LFC had. A lot of that was down to the makeshift defence, with Milner filling in at right back struggling badly and getting himself sent off. In large part though it was down to the team taking their foot off the accelerator once in the lead.

The first goal was a bad error on behalf of the team, allowing themselves to get sucked into a press in far too many numbers, opening up a huge space behind. They completely forgot the training, which should have told them to drop once the initial press was broken, instead more players tried to put McArthur under pressure, instead of leaving it. It was very poor play by the team as a group.

This is a period of injuries that has caused performances to be a little disjointed and the rock solid defence is looking a bit messy with all the changes forced on it. Results are all that matter right now and Liverpool are picking them up to hold onto their lead at the top, that is all that matters.

At the end of the day, this was a team that has an excellent record at Anfield and usually finds a way to get a result against the odds, but this time Liverpool got the win and that is what matters most of all.

Hodgson - came with a game plan and it nearly succeeded, against all the odds. Though it is difficult for him to claim any of the credit as it was not through anything his team did well. Rating: 5.

Speroni - it is a shame for him that he will be remembered for his dreadful error to create a goal as he had a very good game considering he has not played first team football in quite a while. His performance is only going to be remembered for that one mistake when he deserves better. Rating: 4.

Wan-Bissaka - the lad is at his best when given freedom to get forward and when defending one-v-one against a winger. Unfortunately the system did not play to his strengths and he struggled because of that. A quality player stifled by a tactical system that did not use him correctly and so made him look average. Rating: 5.5.

Tomkins - had a good game, throwing his body in the way and making interceptions. The deep defensive line and body on the line system suits him and his good positional sense. His weakness is facing brute strength and lightning pace. Strength is lacking up front for Liverpool and the line was too deep for pace to trouble him, so he was able to play well. And, of course, he contributed a goal. Rating: 6.5.

Sakho - far too casual on the ball. As always he does some good defensive work then undoes his good work with a loose pass or by taking too many touches. Rating: 3.5.

van Aanholt - his defending leaves a lot to be desired and he was bypassed repeatedly by attacks. He does get forward well and has good quality on the ball, but he was not given enough chances to do that in this game. Rating: 4.

Townsend - he must be a horribly frustrating player to have in your team. A nice touch and capable of whacking one in from 35 yards but spends most of the game fumbling and bumbling around the pitch giving the ball away needlessly and being in the wrong place. He has the intelligence of a moth banging away at a light bulb until it fries him. And that nice touch only seems to manifest for one moment a game before vanishing for the rest of it. He scored but the rest of his game was horrible. Rating: 4.5.

McArthur - the kind of game that is made for him, as his weakness is in getting on the ball and using it. Usually at least. He did well to break the press for Palace's first goal, but the rest of his game was not so influential. Worked hard, broke up attacks but could do little but give the ball back to Liverpool due to a lack of options. Rating: 6.

Milivojevic - was a little overrun in this game as his lack of pace meant he struggled to keep up with the play. When Liverpool picked up the pace of ball movement across the pitch, his normally excellent positional sense was unable to help him because he did not have the pace to get into position, so he was left to staying very central. Still managed to break up play with reasonable success, but was just not as effective as he can be. Rating: 6.

Kouyate - used his long legs and pace a few times to break up play but struggled to keep p with the movement. Rating: 4.5.

Zaha - gave Milner a torrid time, which exposed the veteran's weaknesses as a full back. However, he should have done so much more when up against a makeshift full back. He has so much ability but it is being underutilised so badly. Rating: 7.

Ayew - awful performance other than to use his bulk to block off Liverpool defenders on the corner. It is difficult to figure out just what he offers in games like this. Rating: 2.

Subs:

Schlupp - replaced injured Kouyate in the 75th minute. It is really difficult to see what he offered other mishit shots and passes. Rating: 2.

Meyer - took the place of McArthur in the 81st minute. Well he scored but never really had time to do much else. Rating: 5.5.

Wickham - brought on in the 81st minute to replace Ayew. Threw his weight around and caused a bit of trouble leading to their 3rd goal. Does look to be carrying a lot of excess timber though. Rating: 5.5.

Klopp - gave Keita another chance to establish himself and his team dominated the ball and the game for pretty much the entire game apart from their 3 goals. The only possible criticism is that he could have started with Shaqiri for his creativity, but he would then have had Milner more exposed without Mane to protect him. In my opinion that is why he chose the team he did and it worked to give total domination. Rating: 7.5.

Alisson - I have read a lot of criticism of him for letting in the 3 goals, but I am not convinced that he deserves any criticism for them. Other than the 3 goals, he barely saw the ball at all, so he had very little influence on the game at all, other than his presence allowing the defenders to push right up and play as midfielders at times. Rating: 6.

Milner - the injury has really disrupted his season. Before it he was absolutely brilliant, the best I have ever seen him play, since it he has looked off the pace and has not been near his best. It is difficult to be too harsh on him as he was playing out of position at right back and facing pace and trickery in Zaha. However there was no excuse for the bookings as neither were necessary and he did struggle badly when Palace got any of the ball. Rating: 4.

Matip - not one of his better games when forced to defend. He did look a bit rusty and was loose with the ball, plus missed a good chance to score. Overall though, as he had so little defending to do, he was good at helping the team keep Palace penned in by picking up clearances before a Palace player could break. Rating: 6.

van Dijk - allowed himself to be held back from the ball when Tomkins scored a header, which was surprisingly weak play and I would expect better from him. The rest of the game was his usual level, with his distribution from the back being especially useful. Rating: 7.

Robertson - was badly at fault on the first goal, allowed himself to be drawn forward as he was busy ballwatching and that allowed his man, Townsend, in to open the scoring. The rest of his game was good but he needs to learn to be more aware of what is around and behind him, before drifting forward when the opposition is on the ball. Rating: 7.5.

Henderson - played some nice passes and linked the play well. Did his job very well, though he will no doubt still get criticised for not doing Salah's for him as well. Rating: 7.

Fabinho - not one of his better games but he was not under the kind of pressure defensively that brings out the best in him. There was little avenue for him to play the passes he likes to play. There was also no space for him to run with ball in the way he likes to do in midfield to break the lines (as they say). Rating: 6.5.

Keita - he is getting a lot of criticism for being ineffective, but his role was to ensure he protected Robertson, as well as attacking down the left side, and he did that well. Almost all the Palace play was down the left and centre as he and Robertson closed out most of the attacks on that side quickly. Keita also picked up an assist. So, while he may not have looked like he played particularly well, it was just because his role was not so much about the flashy stuff he is known for. Rating: 7.

Mane - started back on the right so that he could provide some defensive cover to Milner, which he did well. The issue was that the attacks they did succeed in making were the result of quick breaks, where Mane was not able to get into position in time to see them out. He did miss a few chances but scored the goal that pretty much ended the game as a contest after Milner got sent off. Rating: 7.5.

Salah - two goals and showed some fantastic movement in the second half in particular. Worked hard and kept Palace pegged back. Was a bit lacklustre in the first half though. When he starts dropping off the play and picking up the ball deep to run at defences is when he causes the most problems and he did that in the second half. Rating: 8.

Firmino - scored a goal, linked up play well. Never able to really create to his usual level but he was very influential to the team's play as usual. Rating: 7.5.

Subs:

Shaqiri - replaced Keita in the 71st minute. Tried too hard to make an impression but not hard enough on the tracking back side of things. Rating: 5.

Lallana - came on in place of the injured Fabinho in the 87th minute. His hard work filled in gaps and helped the team hold out with 10 men. Rating: 6.

Camacho - brought on in the 90+4th minute to replace Salah. Brought in to fill the hole at right back and almost immediately made an excellent tackle to dispossess Zaha in the box. Rating: 6.5.

Just to explain my ratings. I have gone for what I believe is more simple than the usual of totting up points. I have decided to go with 5 as having no effect on the game other than being a body on the pitch. Anything below 5 is a player who had a negative effect on his team and anything above 5 as a positive effect. So a goal scored would be a positive effect and add to the rating, whereas giving away a penalty with a needless challenge would take away from it.

Written by Tris Burke January 21 2019 07:51:59