Liverpool: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly – FA Cup Fifth Round & Gameweek #27
No complaints against the Saints, and the boys done good in the home of Robin Hood. The future looks sound with the new kids in town. In FPL, things just don’t gel. The Good, The Not Bad, and The Smugly at Liverpool FC for EPL and FPL Gameweek 27.
The Good
The convincing who against Southampton in the FA Cup fifth round tour at Anfield during the week. The Reds ran off comfortable winners with all three goals coming from debutants.
Lewis Koumas and a brace for Jayden Danns wrapped up a very convincing win from a Liverpool team consisting mainly of youngsters.
Liverpool had no few than EIGHT players aged 21 or younger in their match day squad for the game- with six starting. This octet included a debut for Trey Nyoni who at 16 years and 243 days old became the youngest player to feature for the Reds in an FA Cup fixture.
Nyoni is one to watch in my opinion. He has a perfect match of Patrick Viera and Glenn Hoddle (for those old enough to remember the former Spurs and England midfielder). He has an eye for a pass and is calmness on the ball for one so young is just ridiculous!
Jürgen Klopp and his heady mix of you youth, skill and mentality have drawn a quarterfinal trip to Old Trafford to face the old enemy. The games will take place on the weekend of March 16th.
The (Not) Bad
The last gasp 0-1 victory over Nottingham Forest at the City Ground. A 99th minute Darwin Núñez goal was enough to settle a hard-fought match at a ground where Liverpool haven’t won since 1984.
Both sides had chances to win this game and judging by the display by the hosts, one has to wonder how they find themselves struggling against relegation. The game was pretty even to be fair to them.
Naturally, Liverpool had the lion’s share of possession. That said, the hosts used their chances effectively. Former Reds attackers Divock Origi and Taiwo Awonyi caused the LFC defence no end of problems.
In the end, it was fan favourite Darwin Gabriel Núñez Ribeiro, who came on as a 60th minute substitute, to settle the matter. Subjected to chants of “You’re just a shit Andy Carroll” throughout his appearance, the home fans were reminded just how shit he is, when they were made to eat it with virtually the last kick of the game.
Forest fans, players and coaches alike were furious when referee Paul Tierney awarded possession to Liverpool after Ibu Konaté went down injured. Still, it’s fair to say that every Premier League club has been the victim of controversial decisions this and every season.
The shame for Forest is, that on this occasion, it just didn’t go in their favour. In my view the incident had no bearing on the goal because it was ages before Núñez scored. As incorrect as it could be we could argue an incorrect throw in or corner decision earlier in the game. It makes no sense.
The Reds march on four points ahead. Potentially only one of that money machine Manchester City win the Manchester derby today (Sunday).
The (Sm)Ugly
The current embarrassment of riches that Liverpool are bestowed with in terms of the young talent at their disposal.
This, I believe, is in an odd way, one of the (very, very) few benefits of Brexit. The Reds have had to look closer to home for talent. Leaving the EU has meant that obtaining work permits for unproven players is near on impossible, due to the resulting lack of freedom of movement between EU countries.
The result is that Liverpool have had to seek out the likes of Connor Bradley, Ben Doak, Harvey Elliott and Trey Nyoni. All of whom would have quite likely gone to other clubs. That said, they’re here now and we can only rejoice!
Young Danns has been impressive since his debut, Koumas played well against Southampton, as did Nyoni. Up until now, I haven’t even mentioned Jarrell Quansah, Kaide Gordon, James McDonnell, Bobby Clark and the seasoned Curtis Jones!
The future is very bright indeed. The club is now at a turning point in its history. It is absolutely vital that the next choice of manager is correct, in order that this trend is continued.
YNWA
