{"id":1157,"date":"2018-01-22T22:20:01","date_gmt":"2018-01-22T22:20:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/?p=1157"},"modified":"2018-01-22T22:20:01","modified_gmt":"2018-01-22T22:20:01","slug":"swansea-city-1-liverpool-0-match-review-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/swansea-city-1-liverpool-0-match-review-analysis\/","title":{"rendered":"Swansea City 1 &#8211; Liverpool 0: Match Review &#038; Analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Is it just me or does it feel like ages since we\u2019ve watched the Red play? The win over City was glorious, so in many ways it\u2019s right that we\u2019ve been allowed to bask in that for that the last week or so. Yet it was also such a joyous occasion that I wanted to watch us again straight away. Like when you go to a theme park and enjoy a ride so much that you want to get straight back on it, the thrills and spills of our match against the league leaders were so enjoyable that I was ready to repeat it as soon as possible. I\u2019m not one of the players, of course, who have probably been quite grateful for a week off in order to rest their weary bones. The big question for J\u00fcrgen Klopp and his backroom staff is whether or not the players will still be on such a high from beating Pep Guardiola\u2019s men that they struggle to focus against Swansea City.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-partner=\"tweetdeck\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Roberto Firmino could set a new goalscoring landmark when <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/LFC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#LFC<\/a> take on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SwansOfficial?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@SwansOfficial<\/a> tonight &#x1f534;&#x1f4ab;<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/21f8gq8mg5\">https:\/\/t.co\/21f8gq8mg5<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/rroN7JyRcL\">pic.twitter.com\/rroN7JyRcL<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Liverpool FC (@LFC) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LFC\/status\/955379923304280064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 22, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The Reds smashed five past the Swans at Anfield on Boxing Day, with even Trent Alexander-Arnold getting on the scoresheet. The manager will have been thinking hard about how to avoid complacency, however, with now being a perfect opportunity to put some breathing room between us and both Arsenal and Tottenham. The Gunners looked impressive without the departing Alexis Sanchez when they beat a woeful Crystal Palace team 4-1 at the weekend, whilst Spurs haven\u2019t looked al that impressive all season. A 1-1 draw away at Southampton meant that a win for us at The Liberty Stadium would put us five points clear of the North Londoners and eight away from the Gunners. That isn\u2019t insurmountable, but it would certainly be a comfortable position to be in heading towards the second-half of the campaign. Would this be a repeat of the Anfield walkover, then, or would Carlos Carvalhal\u2019s men be able to do what only Man City and Spurs have done so far this season and take three points off us?<\/p>\n<h2>The Bench Looks Weak<\/h2>\n<p>I\u2019m not necessarily one of those people that thinks we desperately need to go out and spend money willy nilly now we\u2019ve lost Philippe Coutinho. I also think that the argument that the club \u2018should have had a plan\u2019 doesn\u2019t hold much water, given that J\u00fcrgen Klopp isn\u2019t the sort of manager to not have thought ahead. He didn\u2019t want the Brazilian at the club any more and felt that keeping him would be detrimental to the side. Yet there\u2019s no argument that the Liverpool substitute\u2019s bench looked decidedly weak heading into this game.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-partner=\"tweetdeck\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Tonight&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/LFC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#LFC<\/a> team to face <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SwansOfficial?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@SwansOfficial<\/a>&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>Emre Can wears the captain&#8217;s armband. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/TWEHH7BY0I\">pic.twitter.com\/TWEHH7BY0I<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Liverpool FC (@LFC) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LFC\/status\/955515294138675204?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 22, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Danny Ings hasn\u2019t played ninety minutes in a meaningful game of football for the best part of two years, whilst James Milner just looks like he hasn\u2019t. I\u2019m still confident that Dominic Solanke will turn into a decent option in the future, but the youngster hasn\u2019t scored a senior goal yet. Trent Alexander-Arnold is an exceptional talent, yet he\u2019s hardly the sort of player you\u2019re going to turn to to get you a goal from the bench. Likewise Ragnar Klavan is hardly a game-changer, which leaves just Adam Lallana who could genuinely turn the game if he was at full fitness. Sadly he isn\u2019t, which is why he was on the bench in the first place.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_232\" style=\"width: 576px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-232\" class=\"size-large wp-image-232\" src=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Adam-Lallana-player-of-Liverpool_EUO_almonfoto-shutterstock-566x400.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"566\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Adam-Lallana-player-of-Liverpool_EUO_almonfoto-shutterstock-566x400.jpg 566w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Adam-Lallana-player-of-Liverpool_EUO_almonfoto-shutterstock-283x200.jpg 283w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Adam-Lallana-player-of-Liverpool_EUO_almonfoto-shutterstock-140x100.jpg 140w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Adam-Lallana-player-of-Liverpool_EUO_almonfoto-shutterstock.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 566px) 100vw, 566px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-232\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">almonfoto \/ shutterstock.com<\/p><\/div>\n<p>If the manager is adamant that he\u2019s not going to turn to the transfer market to brighten up his team then I\u2019m fine with that, believe it or not. I think a manager should, above all else, be true to themselves. The problem is that it\u2019s not as if we\u2019ve got loads of players on the physio\u2019s bench that will make us look really strong when they come back into the fray. I\u2019m as massive Jordan Henderson fan, but he\u2019s not a player I would look to to turn things in our favour as a sub. Likewise if the club captain was on the pitch then it would be one of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Gini Wijnaldum or Emre Can on the bench instead. None of them match winners.<\/p>\n<p>All of which begs the question, what\u2019s Klopp\u2019s plan if we pick up an injury to one of our key players? Should Sadio Man\u00e9, Mohamed Salah or Roberto Firmino pick up an injury, who comes in to replace them? I\u2019m reasonably convinced that the entire stance of the club regarding acquisitions is little more than a negotiating tactic. We can all see the weakness, so the manager must be able to too. With Champions League, FA Cup and, of course, plenty of Premier League games still to play, why on earth would a manager with Klopp\u2019s experience willingly leave us so short? He\u2019s either seeing something from the likes of Ings and Solanke in training that\u2019s convinced him we\u2019ll be ok, or else there\u2019s something in the pipeline that will sort us out nicely.<\/p>\n<h2>When Playing A Low Block, Everyone Must Be On Their Game<\/h2>\n<p>When you\u2019re playing a team like Swansea, in their home ground, you know that you\u2019ll be up against a low block. They had no desire to come out and attack us before they got their goal, so once they went one up it was even more clear what their tactic would be. That\u2019s fine, it\u2019s an entirely legitimate way to play football. Liverpool\u2019s job, as it has been all season, is to figure out how to find a way through. One of the ways, that they adopted tonight, was to play \u2018eye of the needle football\u2019. The issue, as we discovered to our detriment over the first hour, is that everyone needs to be on their game if you\u2019re going to pull that off.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-partner=\"tweetdeck\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Passing has not been good so far.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Chris Hewitt (@ChrisHewittLFC) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChrisHewittLFC\/status\/955534880003313664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 22, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Passing needs to be sharp, control needs to be tight and when you get the chances you need to take them. Both Salah and Man\u00e9 were guilty of missing good chances in the first-half, when really they should have done better. You wouldn\u2019t call either chance guilt-edged, but they were the sort of opportunities that you absolutely have to take when playing a club that aren\u2019t going to give you very many. Speaking in his press conference on Friday, J\u00fcrgen Klopp suggested that he wouldn\u2019t need to do anything to guard against complacency. Yet the first-half stank of eleven players in Red who seemed to think that they only needed to turn up at the team sitting bottom of the table to earn all three points. Nobody was in form.<\/p>\n<h2>Not Even van Dijk Can Solve All Defensive Problems<\/h2>\n<p>Liverpool spent all of the summer chasing Virgil van Dijk. It was obvious what he\u2019d be able to bring to the team, yet anyone who knows anything about football continuously said that he alone wouldn\u2019t be able to fix our problems at the back. The reality is that we don\u2019t actually concede that many chances as a club, but the ones that we do concede tend to end up as goals. The Swansea opened showed exactly why that\u2019s the case, with Alfie Mawson reacting quicker than any of our players to the loose ball in the area. That matter wasn\u2019t helped by van Dijk feeling as though he needed to take matters into his own hands and taking out two of our defensive players at the same time.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-partner=\"tweetdeck\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Seeing fans piling the blame on Karius. The entire team is to blame for that defending. Van Dijk has been excellent but once he&#8217;s cleared the first ball someone has to be there and clear the second. As good as he is he can&#8217;t do all the work. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/SWALIV?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#SWALIV<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/LFC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#LFC<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 \u2089 (@FirminoPrime) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FirminoPrime\/status\/955543327063052288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 22, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Despite the desperate desire of some to blame him just to make it fit their narrative, there was nothing that Loris Karius could have done about the goal. Even so, we really need a goalkeeper that can help van Dijk lead the defence. One who is vocal and can keep on top of his defensive team, making sure that they\u2019re alive to those sorts of situations and dealing with them before they develop into a goal. In terms of both ability and leadership, the former Celtic and Southampton defender is an excellent player. He can\u2019t do it all on his own, though, and for a defender who\u2019s about six foot three, Joel Matip is dreadful in the air. We\u2019re heading in the right direction, but the defence still needs work.<\/p>\n<h2>The Stupidity Hasn\u2019t Been Eradicated<\/h2>\n<p>For the vast majority of this season, Liverpool have been sensational. Even when we were dropping sloppy points at the start of the season, we were still playing very good football. The result against Manchester City was the culmination of all of the side\u2019s hard work over the last five and a half months. It seemed as if the side\u2019s idiotic decision making had been wiped out and that J\u00fcrgen Klopp had instilled them with some nouse and intelligence that they\u2019d been lacking before his arrival. Tonight was proof that they may have made big strides, but this Liverpool team still has the ability to be immensely stupid every now and again.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-partner=\"tweetdeck\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">If ever a football result epitomized why they never reach their potential it&#8217;s.<\/p>\n<p>Swansea 1-0 Liverpool<\/p>\n<p>Every season without fail they drop stupid points.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Colin Carmichael (@ColinCarmichae2) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ColinCarmichae2\/status\/955559844131389440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 22, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>About five shots in a row came from centre-backs from around thirty-five yards. If it wasn\u2019t Joel Matip having a go from distance then it was Joe Gomez. If it wasn\u2019t Gomez then van Dijk was striking it speculatively. That is so idiotic it\u2019s painful, especially considering there are players in the squad like Man\u00e9 and Salah who actually have the ability to break down a team like this. It was a game that required patience, but instead we tried to force the issue time and again. The shout of \u2018this is when we miss Coutinho\u2019 will undoubtedly go up, given that this is our first loss since he left. Yet it\u2019s an intensely tedious shout, considering he wouldn\u2019t have been able to stop centre-backs being idiots.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_925\" style=\"width: 543px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-925\" class=\"size-large wp-image-925\" src=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/IMG_3108-533x400.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"533\" height=\"400\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-925\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Coutinho &amp; Klopp On The Side Of The Kop<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Coutinho has also been in the Liverpool team when we\u2019ve lost games very similar to this in the past. Coutinho doesn\u2019t stop Roberto Firmino from missing a header that he scored in ninety-nine out of one hundred other games in exactly the same position. He doesn\u2019t stop our defenders from parting like the Red Sea when the ball dropped in the area for Mawson. This result, combined with the weakness of the bench, should persuade the manager to go and buy another attacking player. Let\u2019s not pretend, however, that we would\u2019ve definitely won tonight if Barcelona hadn\u2019t come calling. It might fit the narrative, but it doesn\u2019t fit the truth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is it just me or does it feel like ages since we\u2019ve watched the Red play? The win over City was glorious, so in many ways it\u2019s right that we\u2019ve been allowed to bask in that for that the last week or so. Yet it was also such a joyous occasion that I wanted to watch us again straight away. Like when you go to a theme park and enjoy a ride so much that you want to get straight back on it, the thrills and spills of our match against the league leaders were so enjoyable that I was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":260,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1157"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1157"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1158,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1157\/revisions\/1158"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}