Tap For Menu  
Single word yields best result

Football News: West Bromwich Albion v Liverpool - A Liverpool Perspective

West Bromwich Albion v Liverpool - A Liverpool Perspective
Image from: pando.com

West Bromwich Albion v Liverpool

 


That was a game no one at Liverpool wanted, with eyes firmly on Tuesday's game, and it showed. What was odd is that, even at half pace, West Brom offered nothing to threaten a very understrength side for most of the game. With relegation worries I would have thought they would have been at it from the start, but they were as half-arsed as Liverpool for most of the game. No wonder they are where they are, those players are not putting it in and should be ashamed of themselves. The only thing they offered was an attempt to foul their way to the points.

To be honest it was a bit of a non-entity of a game, or rather would have been if the ref had not been quite so abysmal. I could sum up the game he had in 3 incidents involving Danny Ings in the second half. Firstly when he was blatantly taken out and should have had a penalty but the referee decided that deliberately moving across an opponent to stop their run is not a foul, for some reason.

Then there was the moment when Ings was thrown to the floor and punched in the stomach, in full, uninterrupted view of the 4th official, and yet WBA were given a free kick. A few minutes later Ings slides in and cleanly tackles the ball and again the Baggies were given a free kick. I am not suggesting he was biased, just truly awful, but when you hear of Graham Poll coming out with downright lies about the rules on TV, you realise that these problems are going to keep on happening and officials will continue to be protected from any consequences for their own ineptitude.

At least it happened in a game that was an irrelevance, as LFC just wanted to avoid injuries and the Baggies just played like they were sulking, apart from Rondon, who did put in a shift for them. In fact he was the best player on the pitch, purely by dint of being the only one giving 100%. Just a pointless match with an irelevant result only of interest because of refereeing ineptitude. Ineptitude that will continue to happen because they will cover each other's backs, rather than attempting to learn from their many mistakes.

 

Klopp - overall he did what he could to rotate and rest while still putting out a team capable of getting the 3 points at a canter. However, I do have to question his decision to bring on Lovren and go to a back 3. While I understand the thinking, a back three in a game like that was just inviting pressure. Secondly, I really wish he had not used the word useless. I am sure it was a consequence of English being his second language and that he would have used a different word if he been a native speaker, but it was still said. True as it is, he could have been more diplomatic with his choice of words.

 

Karius - did ok, but could have done better with the goals.

 

Gomez - looked rustier than an Austin Maestro left to rot in a scrap yard. That rustiness I can let him off with and understand, however his lackidaisical flicks and passes into danger are a different matter. That is simply not good enough. I do not mind a mistake when it is just a genuine mistake, but a mistake caused by laziness is another matter. He should have been busting a gut to try and give Klopp a decision to make on Tuesday, instead he made sure he has no chance of a game.

 

Klavan - struggled, but he was trying to play while carrying a Spanish left back around for 90 minutes, so it was little wonder he was not having the best of games.

 

van Dijk - he really does not look comfortable on the right side. Not too bad a performance though, despite that, except for one sloppy error where he did his usual in pointing to someone else to deal with a ball that was his. Instead of expecting someone else to get it, act like they are not going to initially to give yourself a bit of space to look around. It is basics and he constantly fails to do this. He will get caught out if he continues to do this. Less strolling more effort please.

 

Moreno - I would like to think he was also rusty, but the things he did were ones that occur repeatedly throughout his career. His challenges are either stupidly rash or so weak he ends up flying up in the air from a brush like he is Zaha in the penalty box. It was not like he offered anything at all offensively to make up for his abysmal defensive performance either.

 

Milner - started well but faded badly in the second half.

 

Henderson - not one of his better days, pretty much anonymous really, though he was, like the rest hoping to play on Tuesday, was playing well within himself.

 

Wijnaldum - apart from the assist he was his usual ghostlike figure. He plays within himself on a regular basis, this game was no different.

 

Salah - tormented them all day, to the point where they took to smacking him in the face to try and stop him. Another goal and a good performance, though he was never allowed the freedom to really take the game to them.

 

Mane - definitely getting back to his best, taking on his man regularly.

 

Ings - got his goal but little else, in large part thanks to the referee's missing glasses. Every single decision went against him, I was beginning to wonder if he had been having an affair with the ref's wife or something, because he was making decisions that were simply bizarre against Ings. It did begin to feel like there was a personal issue there due to the amount of ludicrous decisions against Ings. I am sure that it is simply down to the referee being utterly incapable of doing his job or some new interpretation of the laws that the PGMOL will make up to explain how being punched in the stomach could have broken Hegazy's wrist or something.

 

Subs:

Firmino - replaced Ings in the 66th minute but never really put his usual effort in. Was clearly holding back for Tuesday.

Oxlade-Chamberlain - also came on in the 66th minute replacing Sadio Mane and did well, getting the assist for Salah's goal. He did put in some effort.

Lovren - was brought on to take the place of Salah in the 84th minute as Klopp looked to shut up shop. It did not work and just created uncertainty at the back as the players were unsure of their positioning and who they should be picking up. It did not help that Lovren struggled to get up to speed and made a mistake or two.

Written by Tris Burke April 22 2018 18:16:57