Football News: Crystal Palace v Liverpool - A Quick Liverpool Perspective

Crystal Palace v Liverpool

Another poor performance. Another match with Liverpool starting off with an inverted full-back set-up, going behind and then changing the system and getting the win. It does make you wonder how long before Klopp sees sense and starts with a flat back four and changes to an inverted full-back system as the game goes on, if it is a workable tactic. The lack of width is killing the attack and allowing opponents to defend compactly and not get dragged out of position. If the width is used early, it pulls the opposition around and tires them out, making it easier to make chances late in games. It is particularly sensible against a team like Palace, who like to defend compactly and are quite happy to give up possession, plus Palace like to attack down the flank, so it also cuts off their out ball by playing conventional full-backs. It is not rocket science, there is no need to overcomplicate things all the time.

There were positives from the game though, the heart and desire that the players showed to keep going right until the end, as always, which is something Klopp has developed in his time in charge. It has kept Liverpool up there challenging for trophies season after season. It is too early to tell whether it will do so once again this season, but the early signs are promising. This is going to be a long, hard season, and a lot will depend on keeping players fit as the season goes on. The AFCON will throw a few spanners in the works soon as well.

Palace were their usual Hodgson style, defensively solid, hard working but bland. To be fair to Hodgson though, at the moment they are struggling to keep players fit, which really can affect a side like Palace with their lack of strength in depth. When a team starts with Clyne at left-back and Ward is their captain at right-back, then you know they are in trouble. To be fair to Ward, unlike Clyne, he has improved massively since arriving in the Premier League as a player utterly out of his depth and looking like a National League player at best. Now he has reached Championship level, but it is lucky Palace do not look to keep possession, as he has a tendency to lose it regularly. They are happy to give up the ball and sit in deep, keeping within the width of the penalty box and just hope to deal with any crosses put in, while all the while hoping to hit on the counter.

I know Hodgson is upset about the second yellow for Ayew, but they were deliberately pushing things, it could have been any one of about 8 players of theirs that ended up getting sent off the way they play. What is more astonishing to me is how few yellows they actually got, when they are constantly doing all the things that referees are instructed to dish out yellows for - the deliberate take down to stop breaks, the stopping of quick free kick, time wasting and so on. Instead of his moaning, Hodgson really should try teaching his team how to actually play some football and attack, rather than just look to spoil all the time.

I have to mention VAR. Not so much the decisions themselves, but the absolutely interminable amount of time it took to reach each decision. Compounded by the referee, when asked to go to the monitor, needing a ridiculous amount of time and replays to see a blatant foul for himself. I have absolutely no idea why he needed a lengthy discussion to understand what was clear on first viewing, especially as he is supposedly trained how to spot these things. It is not exactly exciting though, having these long stoppages constantly and there is always the possibility that players are getting too cooled down standing around waiting for these decisions and that could be contributing to the spate of hamstring injuries that are going around. While there is no proven link, it is certainly not healthy for it to be so stop start in a sport known for its long, flowing passages of play. If you want something stop start, there are always American borefests like baseball and American football to follow. Football is not meant to stop unless absolutely necessary.

Quick notes on the players:

Alisson - once more he comes up with a crucial save, one that very few goalkeepers could have made. He is just so good he makes the difficult look easy and the impossible possible.

Alexander-Arnold - his performances are so good these days that even his doubters are having to accept he is a top class player. He has already produced more assists in his career than Paul Scholes and is just two away from setting a Premier League record for the most ever by a defender - and he is just 25 years old! He does look good at the base of midfield as well, though it will be interesting to see how he gets on when put under real pressure.

Quansah - struggled a little, especially with his passing. Endo got blamed for losing the ball at one point when it was simply a bad pass from Quansah that put the Japanese in trouble. He does have everything required to become a top class defender and this match will have hopefully taught him a lot. One thing he still really needs to work on is positioning. He is far too keen to look to edge in front of a forward to intercept a ball, leaving the way open to goal if the right ball is played. Quansah needs to remember that the most important thing is to stop the opponent getting a run at goal.

van Dijk - once again played well. This season has been a return to the van Dijk before the injury. Forwards are already trying to avoid him when possible, which did not help Quansah to be fair to the youngster. It is not an easy role to partner him, as almost every attacker will look to work off the partner and avoid having to battle van Dijk when they can.

Tsimikas - he is settling back into the team nicely now, offering good width going forward and defending well. He dealt with Palace's physicality very well. The more he plays, the better he is getting.

Gravenberch - had a stinker. He lacks effort defensively and his passing is poor so is not much help offensively either. There is a lot he needs to learn, not least to get stuck in when the team loses the ball, rather than float around. Definitely offers more as a substitute at the moment.

Szoboszlai - he is always everywhere, breaking up play, getting on the ball and attempting to make things happen, but it was not really working for him against Palace. I am not sure I would blame him for that, it seemed more that the front three offered little in terms of movement for most of the game.

Endo - had a poor game, Palace targeted him, getting right on him and usually fouling him when he had the ball. While he has a right to be annoyed that the referee missed a number of fouls on him which caused him to lose possession, and it took him a ridiculous amount of time to see one of them on replays, Endo has to deal with the pressure better. As the half went on he did improve, but he has to learn to release the ball quickly early on in the Premier League. You can start to take an extra touch or so once the opposition has begun to tire and the press is not so intense.

Salah - other than his goal he had an average game, but the goal made up for it. Hopefully he will relax a bit more and stop trying too hard now he has goal number 200 (and 150 in the Prem).

Nunez - had a very poor game. He does still play an important role, like Salah, in just simply occupying defenders and keeping them focused on them, but he needs to do better in front of goal. It is not like he is incapable of scoring, it was not that long ago that he was scoring regularly for club and country.

Diaz - an improved performance over the last few games, but he is still not at his best. There were signs of him edging towards better form though.

Gomez - on for Endo at half-time. Came on at right-back and provided drive and attacking thrust down the flank, particularly in the latter stages. Had a really good half of football, even his delivery was good.

Gakpo - replaced Gravenberch on 57 minutes. Once more deployed in midfield and he did decent, certainly an improvement on his fellow Dutchman's performance. However, he still looks a little laboured in there, it is clear it is not a natural position for him and he needs to think about what he is doing, rather than just doing it instinctively.

Konate - came on as part of a double substitution with Gakpo in the 57th minute, replacing Quansah. Mostly solidified the defence but there are always those rash moments that create huge risk for the team. He needs to calm down a bit. And wear mittens so that he cannot grab anyone.

Jones - took the place of Nunez in the 74th minute. Along with Elliott, his arrival really changed the game, even though he was not as visibly effective as his teammate. He brings better control of the ball when playing well, and he also has desire and work ethic along with it these days. If only he could just stay fit!

Elliott - swapped in for Szoboszlai, also in the 74th minute. As is rapidly becoming normal now, Elliott comes off the bench and has a major positive effect on the game. Even if he had not scored such a nice goal, he would have been able to be pleased with his performance after coming on. His comments about feeling like a kid at Christmas every time he pulls on the Liverpool shirt show in his play. He really plays like it means everything to him. What a goal as well.

Written by Tris Burke December 11 2023 10:32:05