Last night was one of those games where the stats make it look like we were better than we were. Plenty of the ball, plenty of attempts and most of the game was played in Palace's half despite us being down a man. The problem was we didn't really lay a glove on the Palace goal despite all the possession.
Plenty of nice passing but nothing to hurt the opposition. And when we did get a half sniff, we tended to fluff our lines anyway. The red card didn't change much for me either because we played the same way before and after the dismissal. It was just another toothless display in my opinion lacking anybody wanting to take over the game. Everybody was just happy to keep the ball moving and pass the responsibility onto to another.
We looked shot of belief going forward.
Alisson - had very little to do expect picking the ball out the back of his net once again. And I know nobody on here is gonna criticise Ali but it's been mentioned on here a lot recently how often we're going behind in games for the last few months of last season and the start of this. Also we've conceded 3 this season in just 6 shots on target, which is not a great record. Not that I think he was at fault for the Zaha goal though.
Alexander-Arnold - another disappointing performance from Trent. Don't think he found a red shirt with any of his crosses yesterday and was always throwing it into the box too quickly with no real vision as to what was in there. The one time he did create a good chance was his little clip from the middle of the park over the defence onto Salah's head, who didn't do enough with it. Maybe a bit harsh because of the standards he's previously set but for me it was a below average performance from Trent.
Phillips - showed why he's a good centre half but also why he's not a good enough centre half for this Liverpool side. When it came to defending he showed his qualities, he was good in the air, made a few good tackles and was aggressive. But when it came to pushing up, playing out from the back and making the right decisions he was left wanting. Was he at fault for the goal? Not for me, or certainly not as accountable as others. I think his natural feeling would of been to keep going back but the tactic is to hold your nerve and the line. I still think Big Nat would be a good defender at any level for a team who want their defenders to be out and out old school defenders but for us, he's just out of his depth unfortunately.
Van Dijk - as I said about the Mitrovic penalty, his decision making not to go and just deal with the ball cost us. And it did again last night. Rather than going right to Zaha, he bottled out and instead just stood on the edge of the box while allowing Zaha to get his shot away. The rest of the performance didn't have much to do because Palace didn't entertain the notion of trying to attack. Two very similar mistakes in consecutive games.
Robertson - a near invisible performance from the Jock. I think he had a chance early on to get a ball across and just blew the opportunity like he did countless times against Fulham. I think it was right to get him off, unfortunately his replacement put in just as many bad balls as anyone else did during his time on the pitch.
Elliott - was probably the best performer on the night, looked busy and was involved in a lot of the game. If his shot had gone in rather than hitting the last defender near the line then he'd be getting raved about for a coming of age performance. Sort of fizzled out as the game went on but still the best in a Red shirt last night.
Fabinho - from best to worst. Fabinho was F***ing sh*te last night. I don't know if played a forward pass all game. He was just the epitome of being shot of confidence. And like would always say about his Brazilian compatriot, Lucas, no doubt people will say it's not Fabinho's job to do anything in an attacking sense. Well even if that is the case (it isn't but let's pretend it is) then his job is to make sure teams don't counter on us and he completely fu**ed up in stopping the counter that led to the Palace goal. Eze just darted between Fabinho and Alexander-Arnold far too easily. Was just a sh*t showing from him.
Milner - shone when he came on at Craven Cottage, was his usual self last night. Huff and puff with no end result. The chance early on where he got in front of the Palace player then ballooned his shot with his left foot over was just typical of Jimmy Milner. Hard work part was fantastic but when you just need that bit of quality and composure, he's left wanting. Take that chance in the first five to ten minutes and it's a different game but we didn't and it wasn't.
Salah - didn't hurt Palace in the slightest last night, Mitchell played him well. The link up play with Trent wasn't as good as we've come to expect. Always seemed on the peripheral of the game, which isn't really good enough for our best player. But it's United next and he's scored more against them than any other opponent (level with West Ham and Watford) so hopefully he'll be back to his best next Monday.
Nunez - the red card was stupidity but he's not the first to lash out and he won't be the last. But it's safe to say that this lad is a F***ing handful for the opposition. Doesn't seem a natural finisher in the Fowler or Rush mould but neither did Suarez when he first arrived. Whether he is just too hot headed to finish chances where he needs "ice in his veins" remains to be seen but I'm sure JĆ¼rgen and the coaching staff will do their best to get him at the level they want.
Diaz - looks a shell of the player that he was last season. Whether it's a tactical thing from JĆ¼rgen I don't know but last season he'd get it into feet and be direct. Running at the defenders and committing them. This year he seems to be offloading it a lot quicker and a lot more backwards passing. The tactical thing I mention is whether Klopp has told him to let the ball do the running because of how long the season is and how much the Boss talks about fitness and tiredness. When he did finally turn and run at the Palace back line, he scored a stunning goal and then looked a different beast for the rest of the game.
Gomez - didn't have much to do because as I've said, Palace didn't want to attack so our defenders had a reasonably easy night.
Tsimikas - wasteful is the best way to describe his performance. Constantly in a decent position to put a ball in and just overhit everything.
Henderson - added a bit of calmness to our play but didn't actually do anything with the ball.
Carvalho - tried to make things happen but didn't come off for the young lad.
Overall - we just weren't good enough going forward, which is our main strength. Looked like we were missing a cutting edge. But also credit to Palace for setting up to stifle our attacks. We know we've struggled to break teams down in the past so it's nothing new really. It's just a ballache that it's come on the back of the Fulham result. But it's still only two games into a 36 game season. And if we win every game from now until the end, we win the League so it's nowhere near over. tw*t United and get the season up and running.
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