Sloppy Reds pop their own Premier League bubble
West Ham 2 Liverpool 2, 27th April 2024
WEST HAM 2 (Bowen 43, Antonio 77)
LIVERPOOL 2 (Robertson 48, Areola (own goal) 65)
On Wednesday evening Mo Salah recklessly give away a cheap ball on the halfway line and from nowhere, Dwight McNeil fizzed a great long range shot that needed a world class save from Alisson Becker to deny him. From the resultant corner, Everton scored a second and game winning goal. This afternoon, Trent Alexander-Arnold gave away a loose ball that resulted in a corner and from the resultant dead ball the Reds switched off and the smallest player in West Ham’s team Jarrod Bowen scored a simple header. With 13 minutes to go and leading 2–1 in a game in which Liverpool had improved immeasurably from their limp first half performance, Alisson Becker fumbled a simple catch yet almost immediately made a world class save to deny Emerson but the team in front of him still couldn’t clear the loose ball, and Jarrod Bowen’s cross was headed past the stranded Brazilian in the Reds goal.
The expression “if ifs and ands were pots and pans” springs to mind and this is in no way a direct criticism of the players named here but, and of course it’s a very big but, but if Salah hadn’t given away the ball on Wednesday evening and Trent Alexander-Arnold and Alisson Becker today, then there’s a good chance the Reds would have at least 2 more Premier League points to their name and their title dreams would not be over. But the error from the greatest goalkeeper in the world today sums up the predicament and the hole this team find themselves in. He fluffed a simple catch. The team in front of him simply didn’t clear their defensive lines or take back control of the ball. Seconds later that very same ball arrowed past him into his net. Three consecutive goals in two games have been gifted recklessly to the opposition.
This was West Ham’s only attempt on goal in the entire second half, a second 45 minutes of football entirely dominated by Liverpool, but yet another self-inflicted wound has cost them very dearly indeed.
"Chasing the Impossible and a Sword of Damocles"
Since the FA Cup defeat at Old Trafford on 17th March the Reds have won 4, drawn 2 and lost 3 but they had to come from behind once again at home to Brighton, struggled for 70 minutes against soon to be relegated Sheffield United, were limp and thoroughly outclassed by Atalanta in the Europa League and lost to Crystal Palace and Everton in 10 horrible April days. In this same period they’ve scored and conceded a perfectly symmetrical as well as numerically unlucky 13 goals and whilst much will be made today of Luis Díaz unluckily hitting the post on 40 minutes and the gargantuan amount of chances created and missed in the second half that would be both missing the point as well as the footballing target. Yes they are creating and missing goal scoring chances but this incredible team, this Premier League title chasing team, conceded 4 goals at Old Trafford in the FA Cup, 2 more in their league encounter, 3 goals at home to Atalanta without the faintest hint of a goal scoring reply and whilst scoring and conceding 13 goals they failed to score at home to Atalanta and Crystal Palace, away at Everton on Wednesday, and haven’t kept a clean sheet in the Premier League for 9 games and nearly 2 months.
In a word, this team are “cooked” and Jürgen Klopp deserves a better swan song than this and he certainly doesn’t deserve the disrespect shown to him by Mo Salah on the touchline today prior to his introduction as a substitute. Writing this two hours after the game I can only take at face value the early rumblings and recriminations as posted within The Matrix. Klopp is reported as saying there’s “no problem” with Salah saying “there’s going to be fire today if I speak”. All rather shabby and very unlike the team and club I adore. As has been the incessant talk of a new manager and terms being agreed with his current club, all whilst Klopp is still manager. All rather tawdry and all so 21st century in this upside down world of ours. The current manager is smiling through questions on his successor and whilst I find this more than a little absurd and bizarre the great man with the greatest and grandest of beards has been stoic, approachable, warm and everything we as Liverpool fans have been accustomed to appreciating as the manager of the club we adore.
From “evolution” to a cruelly depleted squad through both European Champions leaving for pastures anew and an unjury list longer than an elephant’s trunk. To the shock of his announcement to now leave at the end of the season to winning the League Cup with his “kids” and “boys” the fairy tale ending cannot now be written. But Klopp’s patchwork team have over-achieved and, as a personally loved Kop banner of yesteryear doth exclaimed, the big hearted German made us “dream” again, and so many of those dreams came true, too.
A final word from The Boss
“Intense for the boys — 10 days, 4 games, last one today. First half, dominating, good game. Not the highest intensity, happens quite frequently when you have these intense periods, you need to get the legs going. We created, were super-dominant but concede anyway, first goal from a corner. Not great. Speak about it at half-time, that the one thing I didn’t like is how we dealt with the chances we missed, a bit throwing arms and stuff like this”.
“Coming out and scoring early helped, obviously. Still, really good game, super-controlled, more intense now, caused massive problems and if there would have been a deserved winner today it would have been only Liverpool, but football is not like that, not always at least. So, we scored for 2–1 and conceded the equaliser and here we are with one point. That’s obviously not enough for us but not to change anymore”.
Honestly it’s mind-blowing! This is not how I expected Liverpool to end their season. Do they still have a chance for the title?
"If wishes were horses, beggars would ride."