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LFC 20/21 – The Good, The Bad The Ugly – Gameweek 15 & 16

Ben Green

Despite a points drop, Liverpool remain top. Are the Reds naive and flattering to deceive? In a year of titles and events a plenty, we’ll all be glad to see the back of 2020. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Another week and another year reviewed at the world’s favourite football club Liverpool F.C.

The Good

Managing to remain top as the year turns, despite dropping four points over the festive period. The Reds were held to draws by relegation contenders West Bromwich Albion 1-1 and a plucky Newcastle United 0-0 in differing albeit same outcomes.

The results kind of summed up the year in my opinion. A bit of a non-starter. Including of course, the humbling from Jürgen Klopp’s Kryptonite in the form of big Sam Allardyce.

The West Brom game was about as exiting as watching paint dry. Liverpool took the lead, only to throw it away after 85 minutes. A typical performance against a team that has a new manager as I pointed out last week, and goes on to get stuffed in their next fixture – which they did… 5-0.

Against Newcastle it was, to be fair, much better. Mo Salah, Sadio Mané and Roberto Firmino all had clear chances to score. To use a cliche: on another day it could have been four or five… Alisson made a great save late on to spare the teams blushes.

“It was really good, can we play better football? Yes, but in this game we did more than enough to win it”

To be fair it was a decent performance from Liverpool and Klopp lamented the teams chances post match.

“The boys are frustrated and rightly so but not about the performance. You have to respect the result. It won’t stay like this forever and I know the boys will finish these situations.” Said the manager. Frustrated the players should be. Winning games like this are the ones that got the team the title last season.

The Bad

Regardless of the performances, Liverpool have to start picking up those lost points. Draws are simply not good enough. There’s a reason why Manchester United are enjoying their revival under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. They’re either winning or losing.

We can say what we like about Manyoo. The point is, they’re three points behind us and have a game in hand. They have beaten both of the teams Liverpool struggled against over the last week and this can’t be ignored.

The current team are hampered by injuries and hence the results. That said, it’s just a reason and not an excuse. The record books won’t say “Liverpool runners up – because key players were injured…”

The January window will open soon and it’s clear Liverpool need to do something. It is a difficult window as the so-called experts always say. But hold on… when did Virgil van Dijk arrive?

I have faith in the clubs ability to find and secure players. Hopefully they’ll be able to do that this year and not rely on van Dijk and Joe Gomez in the last few games of the season. Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams are not quite at the level required.

Of the two, I’d say Williams hold the most promise but he’s still not ready. Perhaps an experienced stop-gap would be on the cards? Let’s see what Michael Edward’s and team have up their sleeves. To choose the “do nothing scenario” may well hand the title to our closest rival. There is talk of a young recruit, but I think the current two youngsters just need time.

The Ugly

2021. Need I say more? What a God-awful year this has been. I don’t think anyone could have imagined how things have unfolded. There was a point where I (and many fans, I’m sure) thought the season was going to be abandoned when the first lockdown was announced.

Typical! Liverpool on the verge of winning their first title in a zillion years and… sorry, cancelled. That would have been a very bitter pill to swallow.

Yet here we are at the end of the year and the Corona story is far from over. A word that was once only associated with getting bladdered on cheap Spanish beer is now the bane of our existence. Despite the vaccine, the virus has thrown us a curveball with a new variant.

The increase in cases has led to calls for a two-week break in the Premiership in order for the amount of cases, currently 18, to pass. The so-called “Circuit break”. Could this work? Maybe. One would guess the discussion would be how long the season will have to be extended to play abandoned games, against how successful a shut down would or could actually be.

Personally, I don’t see what harm it would do to give it a try. The clubs are already having a congested season and simply tacking fixtures on at the end may turn out to be counterproductive and frankly unfair for some. Who knows how this will all pan out. One thing is for sure, we can expect the unexpected.

As it’s the last post before 2021, I’d like to wish you all a safe, happy and healthy New Year. Hopefully 2021 will be a better one for us all.

Up Next

A trip to the south coast for the first game of the new year against Southampton. Then a stop in the Midlands on the way home to play Aston Villa in the FA Cup third round.

While you’re here…

The latest book from the The Good, The Bad and The Ugly weekly is out now. Relive this historic season. Available for purchase on Amazon, or directly from The LFC File. Click here to secure your copy. Either as an eBook (€5) or as a physical paperback (€8).

Ben Green

Avid LFC supporter for 50 of his 53 years. Seen it all, ups and the downs. Now praying for a return to winning ways. Whichever way it comes!

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