{"id":900,"date":"2017-05-02T13:49:18","date_gmt":"2017-05-02T13:49:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/?p=900"},"modified":"2017-05-02T13:49:18","modified_gmt":"2017-05-02T13:49:18","slug":"watford-0-liverpool-1-match-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/watford-0-liverpool-1-match-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Watford 0 &#8211; Liverpool 1: Match Review"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s easy to get frustrated by results like last week\u2019s 2-1 home loss to Crystal Palace. Like Swansea and Bournemouth before them, Palace aren\u2019t a team that should be leaving Anfield with any points, let alone all three. Yet if we weren\u2019t as inconsistent as we have been this season then we\u2019d likely be winning our first title of the Premier League era. Instead all the talk has been about whether or not we\u2019ll be able to claim a top four place, with plenty of Liverpool supporters ignoring the fact that Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal have been just as inconsistent as us. Whichever way you look at it, though, this was a massive game that we needed to win.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">How Watford-Liverpool will affect <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FiveThirtyEight\">@FiveThirtyEight<\/a>&#8216;s SPI projections for the top four. Big game! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/4nPVceqtxP\">pic.twitter.com\/4nPVceqtxP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Paul Carr (@PCarrESPN) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PCarrESPN\/status\/859115454412931072\">May 1, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Prior to a ball being kicked we had an 80% chance of finishing in the top four. Had we lost then that would have dropped to 58%, whilst a draw would have put it on 72%. A win, on the other hand, has moved us to having a 90% chance of watching Champions League football next season. You have to feel at this point, sitting nine points behind us, that Arsenal will struggle to overtake us from here even if they have got two games in hand. Manchester United, meanwhile, have one game in hand but are four points away from us. Given that the two teams play each other this weekend and United also have to head to White Hart Lane, it will take something impressive for them to catch us, too. With all that in mind, then, what are the major talking points from our win over Watford?<\/p>\n<h2>Henderson\u2019s Absence Has Seen Can Grow<\/h2>\n<p>Earlier in the season Emre Can couldn\u2019t get a look in. Jordan Henderson was not only the club captain but also in the sort of form that meant he deserved his place in the side. Having been reinvented as a deep-lying playmaker by J\u00fcrgen Klopp. the former Sunderland man was a crucial part of how we played our football. He set the tempo in a way that Emre Can struggles to, driving us forward when he needed to and helping players like Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino to unlock the parked buses. Can wasn\u2019t helped by the fact that he was nursing an injury, so any time he did get a chance he looked woefully off the pace.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Will be absolutely dreadful if that piece of sublime skill isn&#8217;t part of winning the game. Come on Reds. Do it for Emre! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Qsug7hFHcN\">pic.twitter.com\/Qsug7hFHcN<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Andy Kelly (@AndyK_LivNews) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AndyK_LivNews\/status\/859136231497715717\">May 1, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Though Liverpool have obviously suffered because of Henderson\u2019s subsequent absence through injury, Can has definitely benefitted. A run in the team for the German has seem him develop into one of our most important players, with his play aided by the fact that he\u2019s also managed to shake off the injury he was suffering with. That Can is now playing so well doesn\u2019t mean that supporters were wrong to be critical of him early on, of course. The reality is that he was poor at the start of the season, even if there were mitigating factors that contributed to that.<\/p>\n<p>But right now it\u2019s all about looking at the positives. Can may still struggle to set the tempo against teams that are determined to defend deep, yet when there\u2019s a battle on our hands there\u2019s no one better to have in our midfield. He plays the deep-lying midfield role in an entirely different way to Henderson when he\u2019s put in there and he also seems to enjoy the fight in the middle of the park more than other players. One thing he\u2019s needed to add to his game has been goals. He\u2019s scored a few before last night, yet too often he hasn\u2019t added enough when we\u2019ve needed someone in the middle to help out the more attacking players.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Some brilliant faces in the Watford end after the Emre Can goal <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WATLIV?src=hash\">#WATLIV<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/8CedVZcowl\">pic.twitter.com\/8CedVZcowl<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 liamwhitey (@liamwhitey) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/liamwhitey\/status\/859132778914435072\">May 1, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Sufficed to say he changed that last night. His goal was truly sensational; the sort of goal that deserves to win any match. That\u2019s not always the case, though &#8211; just ask Daniel Sturridge after the Europa League final, Philippe Coutinho against Palace last week and even Sebastian Coates against QPR back in 2012. Having scored such a wonderful goal against a team that hadn\u2019t conceded at home in more than five hours, it was vital that we benefit from it for once rather than let it be a footnote in your history. We did just that, so now it\u2019s over to Liverpool to get Emre Can\u2019s contract sorted this summer.<\/p>\n<h2>Several Players Underperformed<\/h2>\n<p>We won 1-0 and it could have been more, yet I can\u2019t escape the feeling that too many players are having a bad patch of form at exactly the wrong time. I\u2019ve been a massive fan of Gini Wijnaldum this season, but I thought he was very poor last night. He was slow in possession and his passing was all over the show. More than once he gave the ball away really sloppily and put us under pressure. I\u2019m ok with players taking risks if it will open up the play if it comes off, yet Wijnaldum was failing at basic passes. He\u2019s one of the lads who has been a revelation since arriving from Newcastle, but just at the moment he\u2019s struggling.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Wijnaldum and Firmino are 2 of my favourite players, but both well short of their best last night. Need to offer more.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Henry Jackson (@HenryJackson87) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HenryJackson87\/status\/859138971342966784\">May 1, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>I also thought Divock Origi was well off the pace last night. It\u2019s tricky, of course, because you don\u2019t know what job the manager has asked him to do. Yet he failed to hold the ball up as well as you\u2019d want him to and on numerous occasions he attempted to take on a man but didn&#8217;t pull it off. The frustration with the Belgian comes about because of the sort of player he could be if he applied himself. Imagine a footballer with his strength and finishing and the drive to succeed of the likes of Luis Suarez? He\u2019d be unstoppable. Instead he seems to be far more similar to Andy Carroll; willing to turn it on every now and then but generally found wanting.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_431\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-431\" class=\"size-large wp-image-431\" src=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Divock-Origi-of-Liverpool_EUO_mooinblack-shutterstock-600x400.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Divock-Origi-of-Liverpool_EUO_mooinblack-shutterstock-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Divock-Origi-of-Liverpool_EUO_mooinblack-shutterstock-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Divock-Origi-of-Liverpool_EUO_mooinblack-shutterstock-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Divock-Origi-of-Liverpool_EUO_mooinblack-shutterstock.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-431\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">mooinblack \/ shutterstock.com<\/p><\/div>\n<p>the good thing for Origi, as I\u2019ve mentioned time and again in pieces I\u2019ve written, is that he\u2019s still young. Should he develop his game a bit more over the coming year or so you\u2019d fancy him to become world-class. It\u2019s far from guaranteed, however, and at times last night I found myself wondering whether he really wants it all that much. The 22-year-old comes across really well in interviews and on social media and I can\u2019t help thinking that he takes that &#8216;nice guy&#8217; persona onto the pitch with him. Does he want to do whatever it takes to win? Recovering from an injury or not, Daniel Sturridge must have been watching Origi\u2019s performance and wondering why he didn\u2019t get on for him for at least the last half-an-hour.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-conversation=\"none\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Origi just doesn&#8217;t do enough for me at times. Needs to use his brain a bit more. Very wasteful with the ball.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Stephen Evans (@StephenEvans75) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/StephenEvans75\/status\/859152687815946241\">May 1, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>I will be amazed if Daniel Sturridge is still a Liverpool player next year. Even when he hasn\u2019t been frustratingly absent through injury, J\u00fcrgen Klopp just doesn\u2019t seem to trust him. He was unlucky not to score, producing a decent save from Gomes having done little wrong with his approach play or his shot. Yet I don\u2019t expect to see him start against Southampton next weekend. I think Origi will still be on our books next time out and I\u2019ve got no real problem with that &#8211; as long as he\u2019s our third-choice striker. Of the two players he\u2019s the one I think we can rely on to, at the very least, get on the pitch. The important thing is that he rediscovers the form that made him such a dangerous weapon against the likes of Borussia Dortmund last season.<\/p>\n<h2>We\u2019ve Really Missed Adam Lallana<\/h2>\n<p>Virtually every team except Chelsea has suffered injury to key players this season, but the extent to which it seems to have happened to us at the worst possible times has been ridiculous. Yes, Sadio Man\u00e9\u2019s absence to the African Cup of Nations should have been predicted and there\u2019s an extent to which you have to allow for a certain amount of injuries, but no one could have foreseen that Jordan Henderson would miss the best part of the season, or that Coutinho would be taken out for so long. Equally, Adam Lallana\u2019s recent issue has left us short of creativity in the middle of the park.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">A major sub-plot of <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/LFC?src=hash\">#LFC<\/a>&#8216;s season: key players return from injury, only for others to suffer a setback.<\/p>\n<p>Adam Lallana on for Phil Coutinho. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/lV1Nniacn0\">pic.twitter.com\/lV1Nniacn0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Melissa Reddy (@MelissaReddy_) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MelissaReddy_\/status\/859123706936819713\">May 1, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Coutinho suffering a dead-leg last night is a good example of the sort of bad fortune we\u2019ve had in this campaign. For the first time in what feels like ages we had a decent looking bench, only to have to turn to it within the first ten minutes of the game. Even ignoring Man\u00e9, we haven\u2019t seen the trio of Coutinho, Firmino and Lallana on the pitch anywhere near as much as we would have liked. I thought we might get 45 minutes or so from the former Southampton man alongside the two Brazilians, but it wasn\u2019t to be. Rather than a cameo he ended up playing a much more significant role and it served as a reminder of just how good he actually is.<\/p>\n<p>It took Lallana some time to settle into life at Liverpool, as it has for many players before him. In fact, he deserves credit in settling at all when you consider how many players struggle to do even that. It is a bigger step up than many realise and the England midfielder probably benefitted more immediately than most with the arrival of Klopp in the manager\u2019s position. The type of game that the German likes to play suits Lallana perfectly, with his pressing game one of the highlights of his style under Klopp. Last night he didn\u2019t have the legs to press much, but he brought added calm and composure to our attacking moves. He is a skilful, intelligent player and it\u2019s great to see him back in the fold.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s easy to get frustrated by results like last week\u2019s 2-1 home loss to Crystal Palace. Like Swansea and Bournemouth before them, Palace aren\u2019t a team that should be leaving Anfield with any points, let alone all three. Yet if we weren\u2019t as inconsistent as we have been this season then we\u2019d likely be winning our first title of the Premier League era. Instead all the talk has been about whether or not we\u2019ll be able to claim a top four place, with plenty of Liverpool supporters ignoring the fact that Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal have been just [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":232,"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\/900"}],"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=900"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/900\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":901,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/900\/revisions\/901"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}