Everton vs Liverpool: The aftermath
I began to write a ratings thread but it just kept descending into a rant, so I thought I’d just sack it and have a rant instead. As we anxiously await the news on the injuries to Van Dijk and Thiago, here’s what Robbo had to say…
“But it doesn’t look good for Virg and I hope he comes back as quickly as he can, and hopefully the scan maybe doesn’t show what the lads think.”
What the lads think, is a ruptured ACL. So many times during the transfer window I argued with people that if something happened to Virgil, we’re way light at CB. ‘Virgil never gets injured’ was the argument for not signing a fourth CB but as we saw yesterday, one bad tackle is all it takes. I fully expect it to be announced later that we won’t see Virgil again until at least March/April time and perhaps the rest of the season.
The sheer number of games is a big ask for the injury prone Gomez and Matip, with little to no rotation, so we’ll probably basically have to sacrifice the domestic cups again by playing the kids at CB.
The goals we conceded yesterday are probably a glimpse into our future as well. Soft headed goals have been something of an anomaly since Virgil arrived but I suspect we’ll see increasingly more of them in the coming weeks.
I thought Matip played well yesterday, he has the same ability Sturridge had of not needing time to be match fit and we all know Gomez is a good CB but in those two, we have two of our most shy, quiet players and they won’t even have Alisson behind them for the foreseeable. Neither are a defensive leader and if Matip does his usual of playing 3-5 games before being out for three months then we’re in big trouble and the season has barely started.
The early news coming out about Thiago is more positive as his injury is thought not to be serious. We still don’t know what that means however, two weeks? A month?
What a class act Thiago is. His first start with the team and he was flawless. His vision and passing range is truly world class. He’s one of those players who seems to have held on to it for too long but always seems to have that extra second. A joy to watch right up until Richarlison went right through him, made even more needless by the fact the whistle had already gone. He even had the audacity to protest his sending off. I’ll refrain from saying what I really think about him in an article, however insert your own expletive here _ _ _ _
Hendo’s role in this team has never been so vital. Our players will be rattled with the loss of not only Alisson but Virgil too. Adrian was a bag of nerves yesterday and I expect Gomez and Matip to be the same for the first couple of games so Hendo’s organisational skills and leadership will be needed like never before. I think it could be a good idea to bring Milner back into the midfield three as well, at least for the next couple of games, as cool and experienced heads will be vital. We will need our midfield to be defensively as tight as possible as well.
As for the game itself, Everton should be wearing masks after a mugging like that. The club have contacted the Premier League for an explanation of why Pickford wasn’t sent off and exactly what part of Mane’s body was deemed to be offside. It will be interesting to hear their response.
I can’t remember the last time a game left me feeling so deflated. All we can do now is wait on the news with baited breath. Our season in serious jeopardy of being derailed by injuries. The torture of being a football fan. Walk on.
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