Such a shame not to win that game, and the manner in which we gave away the two goals. Huge possession superiority and nobody can say we didn't create clear chances. Couts missing from 6 yards out, Lallana failing to put away a one-on-one, 28 shots on goal, 8 on target, 70% possession. It's unbelievably frustrating to have Sturridge injured in this kind of game. As soon as Origi and Ibe came on to run at their defense, provide some movement, they looked vulnerable. It was Danny's type of game to convert some of those chances. We gave away two cheap goals from set piece, one silly blunder by Migs, again. But we would have lost that game last year I reckon. This time, the lads were relentlessly having a go right until the last minute, so looks like nothing wrong with the desire to win.
Having said that, we were poor in some key areas. Defending set pieces desperately need to be looked at (can't believe it's same year in year out), and our wide play was very disappointing. Until Origi and Ibe came on, there was hardly any width to our shape. That made it easier from West B to pack the defense tightly and defend easily. When we did get the opportunities to get wide and get crosses in, I was really disappointed with the quality. Henderson and Milner both put in some very poor crosses from good positions.
This should not have been a game not to win, but I was pleased with a lot of what I saw given the circumstances. Onwards and upwards.
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