Eagles peck a huge hole in the Reds Title challenge
Liverpool 0 Crystal Palace 1, 14th April 2024
LIVERPOOL 0
CRYSTAL PALACE 1 (Eze 14)
One hopes, with all the sincerity one can muster, that the following words come back to bite me squarely upon my oft complimented bum (in your younger days! Current Affairs Editor) but this Liverpool team look cooked and this result or indeed performance wasn’t in the “Jürgen Klopp leaving season” script. Neither was the energy sapping and demoralising 3–4 reverse at Old Trafford in the FA Cup since when the Reds, an over-performing yet patched up team full of returnees from injury and kids from the Academy who bagged a spectacular Wembley win in the Carabao League Cup Final and ahead of schedule in a season of evolution that has quickly become a final sprint for honours in the manager’s final season, have hit the footballing “wall” a handful of games too early. No criticism whatsoever. Just plain ugly truths. The FA Cup defeat was painful but the 2–2 draw at Old Trafford last week commenced a week of back-to-back Anfield defeats without scoring with both defeats more accurately described as deserved victories for their cosmopolitan visitors from Italy and England’s capital city and make no mistake, Crystal Palace deserved their win today.
Wataru Endō did indeed hit the crossbar on 26 minutes and “Eagles” goalkeeper Dean Henderson brilliantly denied Luis Díaz at his far post on 28 minutes, Darwin Núñez from point blank range on 55 minutes and substitute Harvey Elliott with 4 minutes to go and when beaten, depended on last ditch goal line defensive blocks from Tyrick Mitchell and returning ex Red Nathaniel Clyne to deny Diogo Jota and Mo Salah, but the England goalkeeper deserved the clean sheet that ensured the brilliant team in front of him travel away from Anfield this evening with a season defining win that should ensure their safety from relegation whilst almost certainly capping a season ending game for the Mighty Reds of Liverpool.
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Again, very, very far from criticism of the Reds of my footballing heart.
They’ve overachieved in a surreal season that started as an evolutionary expedition ahead of an assault on the game’s top honours in the seasons to come, a season of evolution which quickly became another of chasing the impossible and winning a quadruple to a substitutes bench full to the brim with teenage Academy talent to Klopp’s shocking announcement of his imminent departure, and they’ve seemingly run out of the same energy that has seen their manager call time on his otherworldly turn in the hot seat of the good ship Liverpool.
Atalanta was a portent to today’s performance and where a fast start was needed, the Reds took 25 minutes to start a game they were already trailing in (to a BEAUTIFUL goal that never left the lush green turf of Anfield) to bossing the game for 10 minutes in the middle of a first half that ended with Palace again by far the more threatening team to score. Chances came and went in a second half that saw Liverpool become rather a desperate mess, perfectly summarised by 30 seconds of football that should have seen them deservedly trail 0–2 but which equally could and should have seen them level with a quarter of an hour left to find a title chasing winning goal. Mere seconds passed from Alisson Becker’s unreal one armed save at point blank range that denied Jean-Philippe Mateta a game sealing 2–0 lead to Curtis Jones sprinting free of the Palace defence from a brilliant through ball from Cody Gakpo and with only Dean Henderson to beat, the young Liverpudlian screwed his chance inches wide.
Writing this in real time with Arsenal level at half-time with Aston Villa in the day’s late and final game of yet another controversy and goals filled Premier League weekend, Manchester City hold a one point lead at the top of the table and two clear of the Reds of Liverpool. 6 games remain, but I fear this team have run their course after over-performing for over 50 games, and they look a defeated, ragged and cooked mess.
No criticism.
Just ugly truths, and truths that I hope come back to bite me squarely on the bum!
Alas.
Far more important than kicking around a bag of wind was the pre-game Kop mosaic and minute’s silence for the 97 human beings unlawfully killed at Hillsborough 35 years ago. Today’s observance was magnificent.
We must NEVER forget what the “Establishment” did.
A final word from The Boss
“I think the problem is a little bit that I am not 100 per cent sure that in general how we dealt with United games particularly helped. I mean, we lost the game in the cup and it was like a catastrophe because we were that good and lost it anyway. Then we draw there, were really good for a long spell and just drew it — that’s now not the reason for today, it’s a few weeks back anyway, but you asked about the last few weeks”.
“Yes, the goals we conceded are too easy, that’s probably a general thing that is true. We just were always too wide and the goal we conceded, Eze ends up completely free in the box — that cannot happen. But we had other moments when they didn’t end up in front of our goal where we were just not together. So, let me say it like this: if you press with 80 per cent you better don’t [do it at all], because that makes no sense then because we had ‘here and there’. I think Curtis was really going for it, following through, stuff like that, besides that the first line were a bit too far away from each other, no real impulse. Macca and Wataru, maybe normal, didn’t really follow in as well and the last line was too deep as well”.
“So, that’s where Crystal Palace had too much possession. In these moments we had to run in the wrong direction, we were 1–0 down and obviously it doesn’t feel great. You cannot gain momentum in these moments. So, half-time, 1–0 down — fine, that’s how it is. Then obviously the second half is a really good home game, it’s a really good game. I’m not sure they had chances really but we had a lot, the big ones, the four where everybody would think, ‘That should be a goal,’ and others where we were nearly there. So, we had momentum, we were in the game and we could put them under pressure. And that’s now how it is, we showed the right reaction in the game, we didn’t give in or whatever, or think, ‘That’s another day off.’ Not at all, the boys really tried hard but in the end it was not enough, we have to admit that as well”.
“The answer is pretty easy: if we play like we did in the first half, why should we win the league? If you play like in the second half, we can win football games. So if we can win football games then we will see how many we can win. We have to be around when the other guys now struggle, if they struggle, so that’s how it is. For us, obviously we have to win football games anyway”.