Daniel’s Debrief: Liverpool 2-0 Everton

Needed to win. Did win.

I don’t care how we win the derbies. I’d love us to play them all like we did in 15/16 and 13/14 and blow them away but it’s simply not going to happen every single time.

A nasty, gritty victory may not be as pleasing but it’s equally as valuable - you don’t get any extra points for style.

This run of four league games is all about picking up maximum points and to put it as politely as I can, I do not give a fuck how that is achieved.

There’s all kinds of narratives around the 12.30 kick-offs, in particular those which follow the international breaks. Alexis Mac Allister was all over the show at Wolves in September and got hooked at half-time, and I did wonder whether Jurgen Klopp would use Wataru Endo from the start here but he sticks with the Argentinian, alongside Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch.

I’m sure he wouldn’t have started Mac Allister today, particularly in the six, if he’d had the options of Curtis Jones or Thiago available to him. With Stefan Bajcetic out as well, it’s Mac Allister or Endo, and he seems to have little faith in Endo.

I’m fascinated to see if Liverpool do anything about this in January. Will they go in the market? Is the plan to get through until January or is there more reliance on Thiago and Bajcetic? Or is there hope that Mac Allister can grow into the role?

Despite being less suited to it, he’s a much more talented player than Endo and despite the difficulties he faces in this role, he contributes a lot to the team still.

I actually think Everton’s six, Amadou Onana, is a good player and is one of their better ones today, if Klopp was looking for that profile of player.

The left-back situation is an interesting one. Kostas Tsimikas starts the game full of intent and energy today but always feels like a fringe player rather than one that’s in tune and connection with the rest of his teammates. I’d like to see some of Joe Gomez at left-back, which is where he played his first few Liverpool matches, back in 2015.

Liverpool in general start well today, apart from the first 30 seconds where a sloppy loss from Mac Allister ends up with Dominic Calvert-Lewin heading straight at Alisson Becker.

That’s Everton’s only chance of a first half, though, that sees Liverpool cause problems for the Blues in transition and on the counter remarkably well. 

Frustratingly though, it’s a story of what might have been in that first half, with the Reds messing up the final pass so many times and as a result not actually having many shots at goal, despite so many promising situations.

I think the red card doesn’t really help us. At 11 v 11 we were playing through the thirds with ease and countering Everton to death, but at 11 v 10, Sean Dyche’s intentions change and they fully commit to a low-block system.

On the red card, I think both are probably yellows, and I don’t think he can have too many complaints, particularly given that he kicks the ball away from a set-piece while on a yellow and it goes unnoticed.

And there we are - Ashley Young becomes the first player to be sent off for two yellows against Liverpool since Sadio Mane for Southampton in 2015.

It’s worth saying - and Klopp has said this himself - that Ibrahima Konate is so lucky not to be shown a red card in the second half after stopping a counter-attack while on a yellow, and Klopp couldn’t have wheeled out Joel Matip quicker if he tried.

What frustrates me after the Young sending off is how Liverpool spend the remainder of the first-half just shooting from distance. What is the point? It screams desperation and a lack of ideas at a time when there was no need to be desperate.

We needed to calm down and be patient, and there’s not much sign of that in the second half until the introductions of Harvey Elliott and Darwin Nunez.

Elliott, in particular, is superb and looks more likely to play a killer pass to break Everton’s resistance than any of his team-mates.

At a time when Luis Diaz was trying to do too much, Mohamed Salah was providing nothing and the midfield was running out of ideas, Elliott provided both the energy and the spark, while Nunez provided the threat and the quality that had been so absent until this point.

That being said, I do think Gravenberch is a bit unlucky to be brought off after a good performance, in my book. His combination play was quick and decisive in the first half and while Mac Allister produced some great moments on the ball, he did struggle off it.

Finally there is life when Diaz’s cross is met by Michael Keane’s outstretched arm. Craig Pawson didn’t have too bad a game, and it’s very arguable that Liverpool get the rub of his decision for much of it, but quite how he didn’t give this as a penalty is a mystery for the ages.

We talk about natural and unnatural positions, well here Keane wouldn’t look out of place flagging for a bus to stop.

VAR takes its time and even then doesn’t actually give it, but refers Pawson to the screen. Mercifully, the correct verdict is reached.

Salah, who has a pretty tough day overall, strokes home the penalty with conviction and finesse and finally the breakthrough is reached.

From here on in, it never feels like anything other than a Liverpool win is coming. But the job still has to be done.

And it is, with relative comfort.

Gomez helps see the job out at left-back after we switch back to a more regular system following a bit of three-at-the-back time.

Szoboszlai produces some beautiful footwork and nearly scores one of the most aesthetically pleasing goals of all time, before the game is finally wrapped up.

I mentioned Mac Allister’s quality on the ball and it’s this that sets Nunez away for the killer counter attack. Nunez is so smart here. He holds and he holds before delivering the perfectly timed and weighted pass for Salah to finish calmly.

Klopp mentions after the game how unhappy he was with the quality of the final ball in counter attacks early on and Nunez plays his exactly as you’d hope for.

Salah and Nunez’s connection is well-known but it’s interesting that he’s now assisted Salah more times than Sadio Mane did. I think they love playing with each other.

Salah’s two goals earn him TNT Sport’s man of the match despite - for me - a relatively poor outing for him. I think the best player on the pitch is Virgil Van Dijk.

So dominant in the air and on the floor, particularly in the first half, and gets Konate out of jail after a careless moment from the Frenchman early on.

I think Trent Alexander-Arnold has an interesting game and it feels like he’s spending much more time at right-back than in midfield at the minute - it certainly gives us greater threat out wide.

A word for Diogo Jota today, too, who I think does a pretty admirable job. His link-up play and all-round contribution is miles better through the middle than it ever is on the flanks.

The flanks are dominated by the work of Diaz today, who tries too hard at times but is also the game’s electrifying presence for much of it. It’s his cross that wins the penalty and it’s his tricky footwork that Young couldn’t handle. 

The out-ball kept being that left flank and we kept looking for it, Alexander-Arnold switching on multiple times to Diaz or Tsimikas, while Gravenberch operates in the halfspace there at times too, and finds himself unmarked on a few occasions.

We perhaps get a little lucky today, truthfully, with the Young red card and Konate staying on. I assume that the Everton fans won’t complain though, and just move on from it, like they told us we should after Tottenham?

The bigger picture is it’s 20 points from 27 available, which is good in any circumstances but with the fixtures and the adversity we’ve faced, it’s very good. 

These are the bread and butter games you’ve got to win. Everton, Forest, Luton, Brentford. The last of those four are probably the best but you’d be looking for an absolute minimum of ten points from those four games, ideally twelve.

That’s what this block is about. Points, rather than performances. And with Andy Robertson, Thiago, Cody Gakpo and Jones all unavailable, we can’t be demanding all-action performances.

We know Liverpool can play great football, we know they can be exciting and attractive - but what we’ve seen very little of this season is control and management of a fixture, and we finally see some today.

Despite’s Everton’s troubles in the bottom half, they always raise their game and motivation levels for us and that’s why it’s often much closer in these games than the league table suggests it should be.

4th at home to 16th sounds like a walkover, but the nature of this fixture means it’s not the same as playing any other bottom-half-dwelling side.

Klopp has to navigate this package of fixtures - the four league games plus a League Cup tie and two Europas - with as minimal fuss as possible.

It’s the points on the table that matter. We have a good number of them.

Well done boys, good process.

Daniel