Lask 1-3 Liverpool, post match thread.

Article by Romper.

 It may not be the European football we were all wanting, but none the less it’s what we deserved after last seasons performance.  When the team sheet was released there was one players name that caught most of us by surprise, not because we didn’t want to see him play but because of the position Klopp was playing and in hindsight it’s easy to say the experiment of Baj at right back didn’t really work (please hurry back TAA and Bradly).  Alas it didn’t matter in the end as we come away with 3 points and Klopps 50^th European win, highest number of wins in Europe by any Liverpool manager.

Tonight’s game had plenty of positives though, when Doak getting a start and once again demonstrating his ability to drop the shoulder and take on the defender and follow it up with some wonderful crosses into the box.  Nunez got himself on to the score with a precise and powerful penalty (even if it was from one of the softest penalties given), not only that Nunez was a nightmare for the Lask defenders throughout the entire match. As did Diaz, his pressing and goal awareness is next level and he got exactly what he deserved with his name on the score sheet as well.  If that wasn’t bad enough for the Lask backline Klopp was forced into bringing Salah on when Gravy went down in the second half, the poor buggers didn’t stand a chance.  Although it has to be said the goal of the game has to go to the Lask player Flecker who scored and absolute world class goal followed up with some swanky celebrations.

Although already stated that Baj as RB was somewhat a flop, his energy and commitment can’t be denied, unlike his replacement Joe Gomez who was found wanting several times by the Lask wingers so the sooner we get our proper RB’s on the pitch the better.  It was nice to have big Virgil back out there although there wasn’t much for him and Ibu to do and when there was they seemed to complete their tasks with great ease.  Kosta at left back had a game he would probably want to forget, it was mentioned on the game thread that his performance levels have taken a nose dive in the last few months (towards the end of last season and the beginning of this) with no real reason except for lack of minutes.  Kosta will need to lift his game if he wants to keep the #2 LB position his with a few good youngsters coming through the academy.

Let’s move on to the midfield, in the 1^st half they seemed very sloppy and indecisive and in all honestly that should have been expected with Endo, Gravy and Elliott never playing with each other before.  They would play some classy football but then would follow it up with some stupid football that had you scratching your head.  Gravy really stepped up in the 2^nd half when he played a more attacking role behind the front 3 but then in the 74^th minute the Liverpool curse struck and he went to the ground calling for a trainer, Klopp stating in his post-match interview it was just cramp, but Klopp is known to stretch the truth when it comes to injuries so we will wait and see.  Now the young Mr Elliott was everywhere especially in that 2^nd half, pressing their players to cause easy turn overs and passing the ball around as if it was on a piece of string for him.  Elliott is definitely a talented footballer and will only continue to improve and, in all honesty, if he was at any other EPL team (with the exception of M City) he would be a starter.

Well, that’s about it for the post-match article, it was a great way to get our European campaign under way and hopefully a step closer to winning the only trophy Klopp hasn’t won for us yet.

YNWA.