Very frustrating game in that we still didn't play anywhere near to our best but on the plus side we got a point which was hard earned as we had to defend very well at times.
I wasn't happy with the starting 11. I hate that midfield three of hendo, Gini and Milner but the biggest shock came at right back. I didn't understand why Jürgen had disrupted the partnership of Gomez and VVD who have been exceptional together all season. If Trent needs a rest (which I thought was obvious after the Napoli game to be honest) then why aren't we playing clyne? There was no need to alter two positions. Lovren, who is a liability at the best of times, was coming in for his first premierleague start and Gomez has also been a liability at full back too. Luckily Sane wasn't starting because I think he'd have caused all sorts of problems down that left if he had.
First 15-20 mins we came racing out the blocks but we weren't doing enough to threaten their goal. The tempo was good and the press was high but as usual we were lacking that bit of quality or creativity from the middle.
After that brief spell we kind of just fizzled out then. City saw a lot more of the ball but we kept them at bay. Even though he gave a penalty away towards the end I thought van dijk was immense and he was the clear motm for me.
It was a boring game in truth and a draw was the fair result. Neither team did enough to win the game and both sides defended very well too. There isn't really much else to say on that.
I was surprised with how well both Gomez and Lovren did today but it's one I feel we got away with. I hope klopp doesn't go with that defence again because if history repeats itself then we will get caught out sooner rather than later.
I was also surprised with Henderson's performance too. I see the usual suspects are going way, way, way over top again making out it was some sort of prime Patrick Vieira type performance, it wasn't, but he did actually play a lot better than usual. He usually goes missing in these type of games but he was our best midfielder today and made little or no mistakes. He played well.
Wijnaldum and Keita weren't great to be honest and neither were the front three. 0 goals in back to back games now and it would have been three if it wasn't for a Wonder strike from Danny Sturridge at Chelsea. There is definitely some cause for concern there now.
It's funny how we've gone from relying on our attack to keep us in games to now relying on our defence. Our attack needs to start firing soon because we're not going to get away with it for much longer. It was a good point today, and we've got ourselves in an excellent position but we've got to improve and quickly. The 7 dreadful run of games is over now though and if you offered me those results beforehand then I'd have probably taken them.
For once I think the international break is coming at a good time for us. Re charge our batteries and then we go to Huddersfield in a couple of weeks.
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