A day of farewells

In the final home game of the season where we bid farewell to a couple of legends (and a couple of sicknotes), we also bid farewell to our lingering hopes of securing Champions league football next season, playing out a hard fought 1-1 draw with Villa.

It was a strange game, which ebbed and flowed and in truth, Villa could have been out of sight by halftime, after missing a penalty and forcing Alisson into a top save. Their goal unfortunately was all too familiar. Trent with no idea there’s a runner arriving at the back post behind him to finish from the cross. We’ve seen this so many times and he never seems to learn from it. I think we just need to accept that he’s never going to have natural defensive instincts and the longer this season goes on, the more I think he should be moved into midfield permanently.

The other big talking point of the first half was Mings foul on Gakpo. How on earth is that not a red card? High foot, studs up, scrape down the chest AND he was last man, how many reasons do you need? Gakpo was left in a crumpled heap and when he took his shirt off, he looked like he’d had a run in with Freddie Kruger. Shocking decision compounded by the fact Mings went on to produce a man of the match display in the heart of Villa’s defence.

We got nothing from the officials yesterday and can anyone tell me why Gakpo’s goal was ruled out? I get that Virgil was in an offside position but the Villa defender deliberately played the ball, which in my understanding of the rules, should have negated the offside.

In truth though, we struggled to create chances of note until deep into the second half, failing to record a single shot on target first half. I mentioned last week that Emery is generally tactically astute and he’s the first manager that has been able to effectively nullify Trent in midfield. I expected Watkins to start on the left to try and exploit the spaces left by Trent drifting into midfield but instead, Emery packed the centre of the pitch, it was a back six at times and there was just no space at all. The space was on the flanks but with Trent in midfield, we had no width whatsoever on our right side and it was invariably Hendo who found himself in the wide position and his crossing was extremely poor. As I’ve said before, we either seem to have someone who can cross, or someone who can defend on our right side, never both.

Klopp rang the changes and it was written in the stars that our equaliser would come from departing legend Bobby Firmino. He’s been a wonderful player for us, Klopp’s first great Liverpool side was built on the back of Bobby’s pressing and selfless style that allowed Salah and Mane to flourish. He’ll be sorely missed but having slipped down the pecking order, it’s probably the right time for him to be moving on.

Milner also ran out on the Anfield turf for the last time and is another who will be a big miss at the club, both on and off the pitch. Easily one of the best free transfers ever, Mr Reliable and a great example for the young players both on and off the pitch.

If we’re being honest, we probably haven’t done enough to deserve a top four spot this season. From our disastrous start to the season, to the injuries, to the catastrophic loss of form of some of our big hitters, the fact we haven’t been in the top four once all season, tells its own story and we’ve actually done remarkably well to have still been in with a shout of top four, going into the last few games of the season.

A summer of change beckons then. With Bobby, Milner, Ox and Keita confirmed departures, they will likely be joined by the likes of Phillips, potentially Kelleher and perhaps a few more fringe players. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the likes of Carvalho and Ramsay loaned out to get some more minutes under their belt as well.

The incomings will be all important as we face up to our most important transfer window in recent years and one we have to get right. The incoming players will give us a better idea of the plan moving forward, in terms of style – we’ve been caught between styles in recent years, we’ve attempted to move toward a more technical midfield but we never fully committed to it and it cost is in terms of our intensity, which has always been our calling card under Klopp so it will be interesting to see if we favour technique or energy with the players we target. It may also give us an indication of what the long term plan for Darwin is, as at the moment he seems like a total misfit in this team.

Anyway, as a disappointing season draws to a close and some bona fide legends move on, we can reflect on the joy this team has brought us in recent years and forgive them this off season. The rebuild starts now. Will we come again? Si senor. Walk on!