Liverpool 3-1 Bournemouth: Awful start, scandalous decision, great result

Many talking points from what on paper looks like a routine victory at Anfield, but the reality is this was far from comfortable

First of all, because it’s probably the main reason you’re reading this: that was the worst decision to give a red card that I have ever seen, matched by Van Persie’s sending off in the Champions League for Arsenal against Barcelona. But in terms of watching a game live, this has to be the worst.  

There was no force, the foot was not high (it was foot on foot contact), he had every right to go for the ball, no danger, no players even asked for a red, no one expected to see a red, you see this kind of challenge in every single game of football at every level… I could go on. Scandalous, inconsistent, and in need of investigation- especially Paul Tierney.

Anyway, the football.

Liverpool were excellent in their response to going down to ten. They kept pushing, they worked even harder, and scored shortly after, to deservedly go into a 3-1 lead. And the main man responsible for the reaction, and the goal itself, was the same man who was clearly the best player on the pitch: Dominik Szoboszlai.

The Hungarian ran the show, driving past players, sharp in the press, precise passing, a great strike forcing the rebound for the third goal, and winning a penalty for the crucial second. Indeed, if there as ever an individual performance to exemplify what Liverpool were missing last season, that was it.

And it was a penalty. Great feet from Szoboszlai forced the Cherrie’s defender into dangling out a lazy leg, and he booted the number 8 on the shin, giving a penalty away so blatant that even Rothwell didn’t complain, nor did any of the players, and even Paul Tierney, who instead of watching movies with his family, I imagine sits there on his own with a huge grin on his face and bowl of popcorn, rewatching Klopp’s worst career defeats on repeat, even he couldn’t deny it was a penalty when he had the power to do so.  

As for the penalty, it’s time to take Salah off them. That’s three out of the last five missed. And unfortunately, he has missed important ones. Had he missed the rebound (or not got the chance to finish off the rebound), the outcome of the game could have been completely different.

It’s too harsh to blame a player and his penalty miss for failure to secure season targets, as so many things are at play, but I’ve honestly never felt confident in his technique, and his misses against Leicester in 2021 and Bournemouth back in March both proved costly not only in the games, but potentially in the wider spectrum of the season as well.

If Liverpool hadn’t been so clinical with their penalties in the 13/14 season, they wouldn’t have been able to challenge for the title (albeit they were helped by the fact they won a ridiculous number of penalties that season, which will never happen under Klopp). Look at how Enzo Fernandez’s miss for Chelsea on Sunday completely altered the course of the match. Converting penalties is very important.

This isn’t me blaming Salah for Liverpool not winning the league or not getting top four, it’s me saying we need to look at changing the taker, and I don’t care how much of a hit it is to Salah’s ego. Also, he recently admitted he changed his mind as he ran up for his penalty in the Champions League final, which yes, went in, but it does make me further doubt his technique. You should never change your mind (as someone who has a good, powerful shot, but is also absolutely useless at penalties, I know that much).

We have very good penalty takers who would love to take the responsibility on as well, assuming we are actually going to get penalties between now and May, which we didn’t last season.

Back on the game in general, it was a shocking start from The Reds, straight out the 2022/23 handbook. Lethargic, vulnerable, and sloppy. Two poor mistakes from Trent, both resulting in goals, only fortunately one of them was offside, and the other was a bit of a lucky finish with the ricochet and it going through Van Dijk’s legs, but Liverpool absolutely deserved it to be 1-0 down and only had themselves to blame.

The difference this time, was the response.

Trent got off to an awful start but then typically played a crucial role in the equaliser, with a superb ball through to Jota. He basically creates at least one big chance for Liverpool in every single game he plays in; but he needs to improve his concentration, not just defensively, but as seen against Bournemouth, when receiving the ball in dangerous areas. Newcastle will also be on the front foot and pressing with intensity on Sunday.

It's not just Trent though. In general, the backline look too jittery on the ball. I got particularly frustrated with Alisson in the first half, of all people. He seemed insistent on, as said in Greek, doing pellares (silly things) with the ball at his feet.

The best part of the leveller however was of course the finish; to be honest, I thought the chance had gone when I saw the ball was behind Diaz. But to my amazement, he found a way to guide it in. He is one-of-a-kind type of player, possibly the most similar I have seen to Luis Suarez. Especially in the sense that he scores goals I’ve never seen scored before, and this was another example.

To me, his goal against Palace was our best goal of last season, and this will take some beating, or at least I doubt we will see a better finish for some time. As Klopp said, he is in a really good ‘moment’. And that’s cool. For sure.

Cody Gakpo on the other hand is not in his best moment, and still not involved enough in the attacks for my liking, although he did look a lot brighter, as did Jota, who of course scored with a classic poacher’s finish.

I thought Endo did very well, especially given the circumstances. Not exactly an ideal situation in which to be making your debut! But he didn’t really put a foot wrong. I am excited to see him once he’s had a chance to settle in and learn more about what’s expected of him. Since the start of the summer, I’ve been a proponent of the idea that we should have an older, readymade, experienced defensive midfielder, and have Stefan Bajcetic as the understudy- and ultimately, that’s what we’ve ended up with, and it looks like that’s what we will be sticking with.

If Endo is as good as I think he could be, I don’t see any reason why the Reds shouldn’t be at least in the mix for the title race, or comfortably in the top four, provided they sign another defender, because it’s looking shaky with the first choice backline; imagine how it will look after the significant drop off to those behind in the pecking order. Alisson is still being relied on too much, and as well as Liverpool did with ten men, they still rode their luck too much for my liking.

I want the side to start with the same intensity we saw after they went down to ten men, against Newcastle on Sunday, from the offset. I’ve got a bad feeling about the game, but hopefully I’m proved wrong. As always, there will be a writeup on the match within a few days. Thankfully, though, last night, it was confirmed that Mac Allister’s suspension has been overturned. Have that Tierney, you utter knobhead.