Daniel’s Debrief: Bournemouth 0-4 Liverpool

They’re a special group, this lot.

A special group of footballers and a group of special footballers.

And it’s about time Ibrahima Konate was seen for what he is - the second best centre-back in the league.

And he’s playing next to the best in Virgil Van Dijk. Liverpool have got the two best you could hope for and I’d take Konate over any of William Saliba, Ruben Dias, Raphael Varane, Thiago Silva or Mickey Van De Ven.

He is immense.

And he’s not the only one. There’s six or seven genuinely brilliant performances from players today which see Liverpool to a huge win.

Bournemouth are a very good outfit. They’re competitive, they’re skilful and playing with confidence right now.

Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool historically look out-of-sorts when returning from a break, they’re faced with a whole load of weather and their unavailable list boasts the likes of Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Thiago, Dominik Szoboszlai and Andy Robertson - all of whom are in the strongest lineup when fit.

It’s got all the elements of a banana skin and when Bournemouth start brightly, you’re worried. But the Reds end up showing so much quality and swatting aside this decent Bournemouth team.

They’re properly starting to hit their stride now and finally people are taking Liverpool seriously because they’re the best team in England at the minute.

It’s been eleven days since Fulham and despite not playing, there’s been no shortage of Liverpool-related news.

Manchester City’s comeback at Newcastle, as well as the return of Kevin De Bruyne, the second best player in the league, felt like a big moment.

Then, Mohamed Salah, the best player in the league, picks up an injury playing for Egypt against Ghana at AFCON.

And without doing anything wrong on the pitch, it felt like somehow momentum had been wrestled back into City’s favour.

But if it had, then Liverpool regain it here with a second half for the ages.

Very little actually happens in the first half. Konate is one of Liverpool’s most progressive players and uses the ball exceptionally well.

His ball-playing is very underrated and feels like something that has been particularly improved this season.

He switches the ball superbly and this is showcased a few times in the first half. He’s comfortable with the ball at his feet and is starting to carry it well too.

Defensively, he is monstrous. There’s one tackle in the second-half on Dominic Solanke which is world-class - so well timed and executed.

Some of his blocks are key to repelling Bournemouth’s good spells that bookend the first half and he marries his physicality with a remarkable technical performance.

The last month has been phenomenal from Konate and it does feel like he’s taken his game up a level since Joel Matip’s season-ending injury.

Van Dijk is once again marvellous too. His reading of the game is tremendous here and his positioning is so intelligent and aware.

There’s no arrogance or complacency in his game like there was last season. He and Konate are ludicrously good today.

Konate, Van Dijk and Alisson Becker offer such security. Alisson has conceded four goals in his last seven games - just one from open play.

Part of why we are so potent and threatening in attack in the second half is Klopp pushing the two full-backs forward. It’s his confidence in leaving essentially a back two of Konate and Van Dijk to deal with any Bournemouth counters that allows him to do this with Conor Bradley and Joe Gomez.

Gomez is so good again and finds himself inverting a fair amount too. He too is brilliant with the ball and is so consummate at left-back once more.

Alexis Mac Allister is majestic throughout the game, especially in the first half. His vertical passing is to die for, the way he playmakes from deep is one of the big advantages of having him in the six position.

He has everything in this game. Passing, both short and long, interceptions, tackling, and most of all, nous.

He is so smart in this match and runs it from the base of midfield. This is a Bournemouth side under Andoni Iraola that like to dominate, that like to use the ball - look what they did at Old Trafford - but Mac Allister time and time again starves them of possession.

This is one of his best Liverpool performances so far. Five accurate long passes. 92 touches. Fourteen recoveries. Ten ground duels won, three tackles and three interceptions.

A maestro and a dog all rolled into one.

Xabi Alonso or Javier Mascherano? Santi Cazorla or Patrick Vieira? Toni Kroos or Sami Khedira? Or a beautiful mixture of all?

Mac Allister and Curtis Jones help Liverpool exert control in the game. It’s possession and game management and they both do such a good job of being effective, efficient and intelligent with the ball.

Jones is a pivotal player to this Liverpool team right now. He offers such a degree of composure in the middle of the park and what’s impressive today is how many times he frees players while he himself is stuck in tight spaces.

My mind drifted to Jones during the first half when referee Andrew Madley and friend-of-the-blog Paul Tierney on VAR failed to send off Justin Kluivert for a foul on Luis Diaz that was considerably worse in force, but similar in style to Jones’ that saw him get sent off at Tottenham in September.

By the way, that’s still Liverpool’s last loss in the league, and their only one this season. In fact, it’s the Reds only league defeat since Man City away on April 1st last season.

One loss in 32 games.

We’ve won twice at Bournemouth this season, as well as at Anfield in the league, and it got me thinking about Bournemouth away in March last season where we dominate possession but lose 1-0 and miss a penalty in the process, a week after beating Manchester United 7-0.

A year ago today we draw 0-0 with Chelsea in the most Baltic conditions ever seen and one of the most dull, drab and low-quality games to grace Anfield.

What a difference.

And in that period, Klopp has gone from looking all out of ideas to being reborn and producing a season for the ages.

It’s his changes that make such a difference in the second half. Luis Diaz wasn’t testing young James Hill enough on the right side and switching him to the left and Diogo Jota to the right worked well.

Part of why it worked well was using Darwin Nunez as an effective focal point in the middle, as well as Bradley and Gomez getting much higher and wider in the second half.

Liverpool get better and they get smarter. Their game management in the second half is elite. In the key moments, they play faster and it’s ultimately the one-touch football that undoes Bournemouth.

And once they have the lead and a commanding position, they slow it right down and exert a vice-like grip on the game.

They get the lead with a beautiful move. Konate launches a clearance forward and Jones controls it majestically. He feeds Jota with a diagonal pass and Jota opens up his left foot to find Nunez in the box.

The finish from Nunez is glorious. It is calm, it is composed. He passes it into the corner of the net. It a befitting finish to a great team goal.

The lead is soon doubled and it’s Nunez and Jota again having telling impacts. Nunez’s hold-up play here is magnificent and reminds me of what he does on Craig Dawson at Wolves in September for Harvey Elliott’s goal.

He just doesn’t allow Illia Zabarnyi, a good centre-back, by the way, to win a physical battle, and the ball runs for substitute Cody Gakpo. He plays in Jota, whose finish is a banger.

He is deadly from those angles, Jota. Both on his left and right foot.

It’s a very similar finish to his one at Arsenal in March of 2022, only on the opposite foot and the the opposite side of the box.

His second is struck with just the same conviction and purchase. Nunez sends in a cross that Bradley recycles and Jota initially miscues, but reacts quicker than anyone else and absolutely buries the ball past Neto and ends the game at 0-3.

Jota is an elite finisher. I’m convinced that he’s one of the most underrated players in the Premier League because for me, he’d get into any team in the league.

His link-up play has developed so much this season but his devastating finishing ability has always been there.

He scores goals that other players wouldn’t score and his placement and power is quite remarkable. I’ve compared him before to a Premier League great in Ruud Van Nistelrooy in that regard - so often his connection isn’t particularly true but can beat a goalkeeper with pure power and purchase, and his first is yet another example of that.

But if we’re looking at Liverpool greats in terms of finishing, you’d compare him to Robbie Fowler - a fabulously reliable finisher.

Fowler, Fernando Torres and Jota are the three best finishers I’ve seen at Liverpool.

And the final goal, it’s a great cross from Gomez, now positioned at right-back, and Nunez gets in between Zabarnyi and Chris Mepham to finish outrageously well with the outside of his boot.

This is such a clever, instinctive finish.

He gives himself the best chance of scoring with how he approaches it and that’s not the player that we’ve seen panic so many times in these situations.

Nunez makes things happen and it’s ten goals and ten assists for him this season. The narratives around him need to change because whilst he isn’t perfect, Liverpool have a weapon that is always present.

Four great goals, four team goals, four top finishes, four typical forwards’ goals.

Exactly what you would’ve wanted.

Liverpool get through this tricky test with Klopp’s squad management and he ends the game by bringing on Owen Beck, Bobby Clark and Kaide Gordon. Minutes in the legs of these youngsters, all of whom acquit themselves well to a stern Premier League challenge.

Bradley at right-back is one of the best performers in the team. He gets up and down the flank, supports the attack and is perfectly competent at the back. 

Elliott does a great job of supporting Bradley to double up on Luis Sinisterra, who starts the game well. There’s so much coverage and protection going on in this Liverpool team and Elliott, while only 20, is closing in on 100 appearances for the club and is demonstrating more and more responsibility in his displays.

With Elliott, Jones, Bradley, Beck, Gordon, Clark and Jarell Quansah all playing their part, Klopp is showing so much faith and confidence in his younger players.

This was another statement performance. It wasn’t the record-breaking xG of Newcastle but it was a systematic dismantling of a decent side away from home, whilst looking largely untroubled at the back.

It’s a real team performance - any of Konate, Mac Allister, Nunez or Jota could’ve been man of the match and there’s Van Dijk, Jones, Bradley and Gomez, all of whom would be rating at 8/10s there. The best away performance of the season.

It’s Hull 1-3 Liverpool in 2008/09. 

It’s Southampton 0-3 Liverpool in 2013/14.

It’s Watford 0-3 Liverpool in 2018/19.

It’s Leicester 0-4 Liverpool in 2019/20.

It’s Leeds 0-3 Liverpool in 2021/22.

It’s a big away win. 

Like all of those, they turn up at a tricky place to go, but Liverpool show their class and display the difference between a good team and a great one.

And show why they’re title contenders.

Daniel