Jürgen’s threadbare Reds unpick the Hatters
Liverpool 4 Luton Town 1, 21st February 2024.
LIVERPOOL 4 (van Dijk 56, Gakpo 58, Díaz 71, Elliott 90)
LUTON TOWN 1 (Ogbene 12)
I’m an emotional old soul at the best of times but this was some performance from those Mighty Reds of Liverpool. Shorn of backbone starting XI regulars such as Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ibrahima Konaté in defence, Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones in midfield and the entire attacking front 3 of Mo Salah, Diogo Jota and Darwin Núñez, this was quite some performance from a depleted team trailing at half-time (though deserving of much better) before proving my doom laden worries at half-time of struggling to see where this team, albeit playing very well, would score, by scoring 4 in 34 minutes and it could so easily have been 6 or 7. Then the Boss fist-pumps all 4 corners of this storied football ground with unbridled delight and one presumes a strong sense of pride etched all over his face, and an emotional old soul had been reduced to tears by a 4–1 home victory over relegation threatened Luton Town!
No slight on the “Hatters” of Luton. They deserved their goal and were far quicker and smarter in a tight portion of the field from a throw-in (set-pieces were a regular source of goals this evening) and were purposeful and threatening on the counter-attack. The threat faded somewhat after the Reds 2 goal salvo in as many minutes after the break but I’ve cheered for them from afar all season long and I still maintain they are more than good enough to steer clear of the trapdoor back into The Championship. They have 13 league games to go and they need to double their wins tally for the season of 5 with a draw thrown-in for good measure here and there to survive. I sincerely hope they do.
"Chasing the Impossible and a Sword of Damocles" - Available via Amazon
I’m an emotional soul but this truly was some performance from the brilliantly self-deprecatingly and acidly tongued titled “Unbearables” of Liverpool. 4 goals in 34 minutes. 4 different goal scorers. A captain’s goal from Virgil van Dijk. 2 assists from a magnificent Alexis Mac Allister. The never say die spirit and will to win from the Colombian wizard Luis Díaz. That tackle from Andy Robertson that set up the incisive pass forward from Jayden Danns in the lead up to the fourth and final goal. The quick thinking of Conor Bradley for the Reds second goal. A deserved goal for the industry and invention of Harvey Elliott. Wataru Endō playing with the assurance that he’s earned his place in the starting XI injuries be damned.
I have no idea how he does it but Jürgen Klopp has just overseen yet another extraordinary performance from his “boys” before, in his immediate after match TV interview, beamed with pride for his “kids” and the performances of Conor Bradley and substitutes Bobby Clark, James McConnell and Jayden Danns. The Reds ended the game with an 18 year old, two 19 year old’s, a 20 year old and two old stagers at the ripe old age of 21. Throw in the substitution of 20 year old Conor Bradley after yet another scintillating performance from the Irishman and Jürgen’s “boys” had done it again and all without seasoned winners Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konaté, Dominik Szoboszlai, Curtis Jones, Diogo Jota, Mo Salah and Darwin Núñez.
Chelsea at Wembley on Sunday will be an altogether different challenge but my goodness I’m an emotional old soul. Tonight will be savoured in the enormous smiles of the Boss post-match and *those* fist-pumps to all four corners of Liverpool’s very own Coliseum.
He bloody loved the way his “boys” played tonight, and so did this overly emotional Liverpool fan.
A final word from The Boss
“Tonight is one of these nights where it is difficult to stop talking about it, to be honest. It just wants to come out of me… I am so happy with the performance, I am so happy with so many things we saw tonight. Before the game, nobody knew how the boys will take on this challenge — because it is a challenge”.
“For that we had to ignore the fact that we were 1–0 down, to ignore the fact we missed chances and to use the things which were good in the first half already — and improve the counter-press. For that we had to play in the right spaces, because counter-press only makes sense if you win the balls back in good areas. That’s what the boys did and the second half was a thunderstorm. Wow. Wow”.
“So we had to make sure that we all start new — and second half, and not that I needed proof, but what this place together with a bunch of fantastic footballers is able to create is so special. Oh my God. This second half for us, we were undeniable”.
“I don’t even know if these boys can play again, to be honest. The situation is not great, absolutely not, we don’t have to make that now nicer than it is. I’m so happy that all the kids came on and played, Dannsy (Jayden Danns) said 50 times, ‘Thank you, boss!’ I’m so happy that I could give him that opportunity, the boys deserve it. But obviously for us there are now a lot of super-important games coming up, and we don’t know, we go day by day. I cannot say anything about it and I don’t know. But after Brentford I had no clue the situation would be like it was now. So, let’s see. There’s one phrase that stands: as long as we have 11, we will go for it. That’s all I can promise”.
Thanks for reading. My three most recently published match reports from this season:
"Reds 5 points clear after stroll in West London"
"Scrappy win takes Liverpool back to the top of the Premier League"
"Keystone Kops at The Emirates"