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

Liverpool v Crystal Palace Match Review - A Liverpool Perspective
Image from: africayouthawards.org

Liverpool v Crystal Palace

Well that was a bit of a damp squib after the excitement and goals of the previous two games this season. Liverpool completely dominated the ball, and the game, but were struggling to get on the end of chances. A couple of defensive aberrations, to reassure you that you really were watching LFC, aside this was a good workmanlike performance of control. A 1-0 win ground out despite making five changes from midweek is a good sign, as was the impact of subs, something that was lacking in almost every game last season.

Tactically it was a surprise by Frank de Boer, with the team playing more of a Sam Allardyce style than the Ajax style he was meant to be introducing, while Liverpool just slightly tweaked things. De Boer went with a back 5, and I do mean 5, with 4 sat in front and just Benteke up on his own looking for scraps. It left little in the way of gaps to exploit and little creativity in the midfield area to change things. However, the extra balance of having a left footer at left back, who looks to hit crosses in on that left foot when the opportunity presents itself did help to create some chances.

 

As well as that, there were some lovely quick, one and two touch moves, that could have led to more. Mostly though there was a huge lack of fluency, in the second half, when Mane was moved onto the left, there was another problem with Robertson often running into the space he wanted to attack with the ball. With Milner dropping in to cover Robertson, there was a lot of freedom for the left back to get forward, but he needs to pick and choose his runs more carefully to avoid clogging up the flank. On bigger pitches, that will not be such a problem.

De Boer acted more and more like Allardyce as the match went on, pushing Scott Dann up front to give an extra target to hoof the ball towards. Despite that, or maybe because of that, they created very little other than one excellent chance Benteke skied over the bar. The centre backs marshalled Benteke very well for the rest of the match, though it was made easier by the big Belgium doing his best impression of a lamppost for most of the game.

 

Klopp - Made a lot of changes, with the Champions League game in mind, but it paid off as the team he picked did enough to dominate the game, keep a clean sheet and win. It was not a great performance of flowing, attacking football, but the team did completely stifle Palace for almost the entire game.

 

There are still issues with the press, the team need to learn that not every press requires a full press, it is ok sometimes for just one man to put pressure on the ball while the rest get themselves into position. The press does not always require a pack hunting the ball, they can look to cut off passing lanes and back off when the fullbacks are pushed on and the midfield have run on. It does feel like the team relies on the forwards to chase back when the midfield get caught out like that and that is not a reliable plan for defending.

The big thing today was that Klopp made game changing subs, bringing on Salah and Solanke, who both contributed greatly to the win, though neither scored the goal. More of that kind of decision making will help through a long, hard season.

 

Mignolet - had nothing to do really.

 

Gomez - played well, some good runs but did give the ball away a few times needlessly. Showed good pace when needed.

 

Matip - marked Benteke out of the game and was able to play the way he likes to play, on the front foot and on the ball. Matip had a good game.

 

Klavan - was very solid and kept Benteke quiet.

 

Robertson - was able to get forward at will and put the ball into the box on the run with his left foot as often as he could. A good debut, though he was never tested defensively by a Palace side that showed little inclination to use the flanks to attack.

 

Henderson - not his best game but he is beginning to look more like himself and move more freely.

 

Wijnaldum - ineffective today, struggled to really get involved.

 

Milner - runs around a lot, tries to link up play, but offers little and really needs to leave the set pieces for someone else. He needs more specific instructions to get the best out of him in the centre, otherwise he just ends up being a headless chicken. When he was dropping in to cover the gap left by Robertson's forward runs, the team looked much better as a whole.

 

Mane - always a threat and scored the winner. His pace and movement are an absolute nightmare for defences.

 

Sturridge - a long way off his best, though he still has that ability to show some dazzling skills and lightning quick feet to create some space for himself. However, it is clear that he has not got his pace back.

 

Firmino - was not at his best on the left, it really does not suit him, he struggles to link up as well. Odd because when he is starting central he moves all over the pitch and spends a large proportion of the game out on the wings! It just seems that he struggles to read his teammates runs from the wide position.

 

Subs:

Salah - replacing the lacklustre Sturridge in the 61st minute he allowed Firmino to go back to the centre. His pace forced Palace even deeper but he still caused them real problems and should have scored.

Solanke - Wijnaldum was taken off and Solanke came on in his place as Klopp looked to really turn the screw on Palace. It was him that forced the mistake and his ball that was deflected to Mane for the goal. Never really able to get properly involved though other than that.

Lovren - brought on in the 90th minute to help deal with the expected aerial bombardment and replaced Firmino. The bombardment never materialised though.

Written by Tris Burke August 19 2017 20:34:53