A win is a win, but Liverpool FC were lucky against Spurs.
We are often told that playing poorly and winning is the sign of a good team; it’s certainly a habit we haven’t had over the last few seasons, so when we do exactly that against a very good team in Spurs then it is to be commended and not excessively criticised.
However that doesn’t mean it should be ignored.
We played well in parts, particularly in the first-half, but Spurs for me were the better team. It was the first time we have beaten a well regarded opponent all season, but yet again the tactics that Brendan Rodgers began the game with didn’t help.
Having seen Sturridge and Suarez combine so well in recent games, and the good form of new signing Coutinho and rejuvenated Downing, Rodgers went for a bold attacking line-up.
However Lucas and Gerrard were too often overrun and on the backfoot in midfield, and with an out of sorts Sturridge flitting in and out of the game, by the second-half Tottenham were deservedly 2-1 up and in complete control. It didn’t look like we would get back into it.
Rodgers, to his credit, did eventually notice this imbalance and changed the formation, bringing on an additional midfielder for Coutinho and moving Suarez to the left. He has been lauded for this in the press, but for me, why is it that so often he gets the starting selection wrong?
Allen did okay, but it was the change in formation, rather than the player, that helped the team. I feel somewhat sorry for Henderson, who having played very well in his recent performances, including some stunning goals, is still overlooked in favour of Allen who isn’t justifying his place.
We won the Spurs game primarily due to two very rare Spurs errors that we capitalised upon, and due to the brilliance of Luis Suarez. As AVB rightly pointed out, if Sigurdsson’s ricocheted shot hadn’t hit the post we’d have been dead and buried at 3-1.
Downing played well yet again, showing excellent anticipation for the interception, but even here his finish owed a lot to fortune. Rather than adding a touch of height to the shot and placing, or even blasting it, into space, he hit a daisy cutter straight at Vertonghen – the easiest type of shot to block! Lucky for us it went straight through the despairing defenders legs. We had 4 shots on target and scored 3 goals. For those who feel possession statistics should be paramount when analysing a game, we had just 46.5% possession.
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I say all this not because I want to criticise the team after an important win, but because it’s important to have a sense of objective reality when we hastily begin to dream again of Champions League qualification. Our run in is clearly easier than our competitors’, but it’s still a huge gap to reclaim – Chelsea are 7 points ahead with a game in hand and we have 9 games left. We’ll have to win all 9 and even then we may not get fourth. Fingers crossed though.
On a connected issue, something that has concerned me this season, and on which I’ve written about before, has been our defensive frailties.
For me this has been the biggest theme running throughout this campaign and it continues to haunt us. Gareth Bale certainly put in two excellent deliveries for both goals, but defending such deliveries should not cause the frantic panic that it so often causes in our defence. Spurs fortunately did not target this weakness as much as they could have, and perhaps if Lennon had been fit we’d have had to have dealt with a lot more crosses.
This weakness is why we’re often biting our nails against Stoke, or indeed in the West Ham away game where I’m still not sure how we won (a rare Joe Cole goal and Jonjo Shelvey’s ghost-goal completing a fortuitous comeback).
Watching the recent U21 game against West Ham last Monday, where Sterling, Suso, Shelvey and Wisdom are now playing again, it was disappointing that this weakness seems to be prevalent even at lower age groups. We dominated this game, with the young foursome showing that they are clearly above this level. Suso in particular was outstanding scoring an excellent brace, working hard and passing with the type of incisiveness I rarely see in Joe Allen, but we conceded 3 goals all from corners and the game ended 3-3.
No doubt with Carra’s retirement we will be in the market for a new centre-back. At Liverpool we like our centre-backs to be able to pass the ball, but my hope is we sign a centre-back who can actually win physical and aerial battles against the likes of Grant Holt or Kenwyne Jones. It’ll be tough replacing Carra, especially as we still haven’t been able to replace Sami Hyypia.
You can catch more from me on my own blog: http://taintlessred.blogspot.co.uk/
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We got lucky . Lets leave it at that
And what about our poor luck . Man city Everton .,luck plays a huge part in sport . Liverpool still dug in showed great spirit and at times showed real promise . Spurs are far more established . They were 4 th last year we finished 8 . Thought the lads were great .
Yeah? Luck wins you everything. BARCELONA are the luckiest team in the world!
Little amuses the simple
Fair assessment mate. However I think he got the starting lineup correct we dominated and scored a brilliant team goal. 2nd half was much different and I thought Hendo was unlucky not to have come on but the subs did make a difference. We were gifted 2 goals but I call that down to high pressing by Liverpool and I’m more than happy to win ugly.
You are correct with the defence, we haven’t replaced Sami and Carra will be hard as well. I think Rodgers really needs to invest in a defensive coach, what he is doing shows its not working.
Anyway good article well done.
Come on you Reds. YNWA
No . Our 2 goals were NOT down to high pressing : they were down to poor errors by spurs players
I think your misunderstanding my point Ed, yes they were poor errors by spurs but if it haven’t been for the Liverpool players putting pressure on Walker and Defoe they would’ve not made those mistakes.
Thanks Matt. I do still feel that starting with Henderson and playing Luis upfront would’ve given us better balance from the start but a wins a win and hope we build on this for remaining games.
A defensive coach is a good idea for sure. I’m not sure what Colin Pascoe’s strength is but am pretty sure Mike March’s strength has never been the defensive side. Unless Carra sticks around as a defensive coach not sure who Rodgers could bring in. Unfortunately I think Brendan’s a bit too overconfident in himself and won’t bring in another coach (just like he wouldn’t allow a director of football).
All his signings have been in midfield or attack so we’ll have to see if he has an eye for a defensive player. He’s certainly been right to drop Skrtle for Carra in my view.
Rodgers substitution last week was ridiculous , it showed how unimaginative and unadventourous the man is .
i mean ,come on , we are a goal down , and Rodgers puts on a backwards safe passing weasel who doesnt score or create . and puts him in an attacking position ? WTF ?
… but we got lucky because Spurs comedy of errors
To fans who thinks Allen was excellent when he came on and credit due to BR for making the change,.did not analyse Allen’s game thoroughly..Hendo will do a better job. BR needs to be careful w Hendo, he might want to leave during summer knowing he constantly lost his place to a backpass supremo softie in JA.
Correct
My view as well. Allen did okay, but no more. Henderson has been in much better form and has been unlucky not to play more.
why is everyone always questioning BR ?
liv vs spurs ,
if you look at it team wise, there is no secret that bale,dembele,sig n parker were a better match for our midfield. that’s y BR went for the direct approach. hence we saw some long balls n direct play, not like stoke but more like everton.(guess what everton also did manage to beat spuds.)
just last week arsenal tried to match spurs pass for pass , had plenty of possession, but when spuds managed to get behind the arsenal defense , it was game over.
BR changed our tactics that is y spuds had more possession, and yes have to admit that they did looked dangerous but other than the possession loss, we did well to contain bale n dembele. their open play was restricted in great amount. every one is talking abt spurs dominance? what that possession yield? NO GOAL FROM OPEN PLAY. no bale magic.
and abt spurs being deservedly 2-1 up? if your going to call the two goals we scored lucky goals, what abt spurs goals from a dead ball situation.(even stoke n west ham are dangerous in that department.) 1st one in which bale was allowed to join the play in an advance position(he was off the field for treatment, and joined in thats y he was un marked) n 2nd one was not a foul at all, in both situations our defenders sply johnson n carra made critical mistakes. u can not call them deserving goals.
fact of the matter is, with some tactical play we managed to nullify the bale effect. and their open play. of course things don’t always go by plan in sports, two cheeky headers allowed spurs to lead the game, so BR again shuffled the team n tactics.
just bcoz allan was introduced, doesn’t mean the previous tactics were WRONG. dead ball goals which we conceded stupidly (as we always do)is not a dominance. barring them what had spurs to show?
That’s a biased and wrong analysis. Rodgers did NOT get it right … But spurs messed up