Liverpool FC 1-1 Southampton FC – Post-match reaction
Liverpool were held to a 1-1 draw at Anfield yesterday to make a third straight draw for Jürgen Klopp’s side. Sadio Mané’s late equalizer was enough to cancel out Christian Benteke’s opener on 77 minutes after coming on as a substitute at the start of the second period.
The line up was as expected, with Thursday’s team all keeping their places. The only surprise was that Benteke didn’t get the nod over Divock Origi who continues to frustrate when leading the Liverpool attack in the first half.
Liverpool had the lion share of possession again but were unable to break down a resolute Southampton outfit. Plenty of endeavour but no end product. The pressing was there in abundance but there just wasn’t enough in terms of a “killer” pass or cross. Philippe Coutinho was again largely below par but as I’ve said numerous times, opposition defenders know his game well enough by now and afford him very little if any space to cut inside onto his favorited right foot and shoot from the edge of the box… Yawn!
Emre Can was very impressive and direct as we’ve come to expect under Klopp and barring injury he’ll be a huge influence for Liverpool this season. Same goes for Mamadou Sakho who was immense at centre back. Martin Skrtel was better but still, for me the only consistent thing with the Slovakian is his waning performance levels.
Due to the ineffectiveness of Origi, Benteke came on at half time. It’s fair to say that Benteke will likely start against Chelsea and going forward if he doesn’t do so in the midweek cup game against Bournemouth. The manager is clearly bringing him back gradually from injury and this is surely the correct approach. One thing I would argue is that Klopp probably should have started with him and took him off in the second period. Perhaps the game could have been wrapped up by then. Perhaps, as they say, hindsight always has 20/20 vision.
With Roberto Firmino coming on after 65 minutes Liverpool looked a different side to the one that started. And the Brazillian added some more guile to the team’s play, although still a tad lightweight, and indeed a breakthrough looked more likely. In the 77th minute it came.
A deep early cross from James Milner on the Liverpool right was met with the deftest of headers by Benteke to direct it between the despairing Maarten Stekelenburg and his left post. 1-0 and the home side in raptures. Klopp punching the air in a way that would have made Mohammed Ali proud! A real centre forwards strike that’s been sorely missed in recent times. However from that moment on, one felt it would only be a matter of time until they conceded. It was as if they’d given so much energy into getting the goal they were now totally spent.
One a positive note, the interaction within the team and their general play has improved under Klopp and his all action approach is paying off. BUT, the downside is that it takes a hell of a lot of stamina to execute. By 85 minutes there was more holes in the Liverpool team than a Tetley tea bag and added to that, one or two more clumsy fouls conceded as a result. Step forward Milner.
An absolutely needlessly, bonkersly, stupid foul was conceded by the England international who upended Ryan Bertrand in absolutely needlessly, bonkersly, stupid fashion. The resulting free kick unceremoniously bundled into the net by Mané to equalize. The Kopp silenced. The Klopp smiling wryly through gritted teeth, in absolute contrast to his exultation at Liverpool’s goal.
Despite the usual late flurry, the required result wasn’t to be. 1-1 will show in the record books inspite of the fact that Liverpool will felt they deserved all there points. The reality though is that a draw was probably fair for a Southampton side unbeaten in their travels and a Liverpool team trying to adapt to a new way of working under a new boss and ever-expectant fans.
After the game Klopp said the players need to be more “cool” which I take to mean composed. Too often their final passes and play around the oposing penalty area are rushed and Ill-thought-out. Granted there are signs of improvement and it’s going to take time and practice for said improvement to transition into game play, but for now, the supporters have to be patient. And the players too for that matter.
Next up the team travels down to the smoke to take on a bewilderingly bad Chelsea side who are equally devoid of confidence. I don’t hold out much hope for Liverpool if I’m honest. I believe the Sod’s law will prevail in that LFC loses, Chelsea then goes on to lose their following two games and finally, Jose Mourinho will get the sack. Typical stuff served up from this team and life. Life as a supporter of the Reds in modern times.
As always, I’m more than happy to be proven wrong. I almost say this as not to get my hopes up. Conversely, I hope Klopp can get the team’s confidence up. Roll on Wednesday night against Bournemouth in the welcome diversion that is the League Cup where hopefully (hope: the place I reside in these days) we can have better news to write about. In any case, it can’t be another draw this is for sure!
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