Villa 1-4 Liverpool | Mundane to magic | FA Cup 4th round here we come!
Mundane beginnings
Against opposition largely comprising of teenagers we started slowly and it's a concern that we seemed unable to take hold of the game and put it to bed. Salah, Mane, Minamino is an attack which should have scored freely and Jones, Henderson, Wijnaldum is a midfield which should have helped.
Klopp may well have learned what some of our posters have said for a while, this midfield is often uninspiring and bereft of creative ideas. Thankfully we now have other options like Thiago to include and it's clear they're needed.
In attack we're not blessed with many alternative options. Jota's injury means Minamino is pretty much it and he may have been the most disappointing player last night. Not because he was terrible but because he wasn't brilliant as we had hoped and kind of expected.
We can cut him some slack because after hitting a purple patch Klopp promptly stopped playing him. It is a shame however that Minamino didn't do more to state his case for regular inclusion. Another mitigating factor was us focusing most of our attack down the right flank meaning Taki saw little of the ball. Nevertheless his performance wasn't stellar.
As I mention our right flank attacking attempts it brings me to two other players who disappointed in the first half. Salah and Neco Williams. Salah looked lively but lively doesn't win matches, scoring goals does and against such youthful opponents he should have had a hat full.
Neco to my mind looked lacking in pace and although he got down the wing a fair bit he was soundly bested by Villa's left-back Calum Rowe who stopped most of Neco's crossing attempts.
Elsewhere in defence Rhys Williams wasn't impressive in the first forty five, being at fault for Villa's goal. The overall conclusion for me was that neither he or Neco are yet at the level we need for regular first team action. All in all a first half to forget but which left lingering worries.
Moving to magic
At the start of the second half Klopp subbed Thiago on and we were treated to a master class. Thiago really does look magic and if he stays fit he could make a huge difference to the rest of our season.
Post a Comment