Daniel’s Debrief: Liverpool 2-1 Brighton

You don’t want them to be like that but they have to be like that.

The reason that the last 20 minutes feels so horrible there is because every minute, every second from now until the end is going to matter.

Every second matters, every pass, tackle, block, shot, move and save will contribute one way or another to whatever is to come.

Liverpool are scrappy and sloppy in parts today but still have moments where they look like a top-class team.

There weren’t many stunning footballing performances in the title-winning season of 19/20.

Bournemouth, Brighton, West Ham, Leicester, Tottenham. All of those are hard grafts at Anfield that season.

At this stage, my heart-rate might care about how well we play, but my head is only interested in results.

I’ve talked a lot about how Liverpool have responded to adversity superbly throughout the season and they do so today as well, although today’s adversity is self-inflicted.

Danny Welbeck is a good footballer. Going to Brighton has given his career a second wind and I always thought he was a little underrated at Man United and Arsenal, and Roberto De Zerbi has unlocked a real football IQ in him.

So, it’s a good strike from him. But it’s leggy from Jarell Quansah, Dominik Szoboszlai and Virgil Van Dijk and it’s this sloppiness and lack of precision that defines the first half an hour.

De Zerbi’s Brighton team play Guardiola-style football and it’s something we always struggle with, coming up against teams that are so good in possession.

Brighton’s movement and speed of passing and change of passing lanes means that there’s hardly a chance for Liverpool to get their own game going early on.

Pascal Gross is such a clever footballer and always chooses the right option in possession. He’s a manager’s dream and 219 Premier League appearances later, I’m still not sure what his best position is, because he’s so good in so many different ones.

Carlos Baleba starts well and initially has the run of Wataru Endo and Dominik Szoboszlai. Simon Adingra was the best player in the away fixture in October and links well with Welbeck to give Quansah and Conor Bradley a torrid time early on.

They both improve as the game goes on, but it’s a struggle down the right flank and Jurgen Klopp’s decision not to risk Ibrahima Konate looks a tough one to defend.

However, to simply talk about Liverpool being poor in the first third is highly reductive and fails to acknowledge the splendid tactical work done by Brighton and De Zerbi to prevent what Liverpool can do in build-up and with the ball.

Quansah sees an extraordinary amount of possession in that period and this is by design from Brighton. They make sure that Virgil Van Dijk cannot spray diagonal balls out to Mohamed Salah by having Jakub Moder follow him and cut off the supply to him.

Joe Gomez inverts from left-back but his impact is neutralised by Brighton’s own full-back - Tariq Lamptey - coming inside from the right to stick to Gomez when he’s on the ball. 

It’s innovative and the granular level of work that goes into De Zerbi’s gameplan for this one must be commended because they do what so many have not been able to - keep Liverpool quiet.

And so, the way back into the game for Liverpool was always likely to be a moment of individual quality, or a messy goal.

It’s the latter.

Alexis Mac Allister and Luis Diaz are the only two who look to be capable of producing the aforementioned individual class and it’s Diaz who provides some to turn home a scrappy goal to equalise.

There’s plenty you can criticise Diaz for, but his performance today is once again instructive of how much he wants this league title.

His goal is symbolic of that - at full stretch to equalise.

His work-rate is phenomenal and is arguably the most consistent of the attackers right now in terms of his influence on games.

It’s a frustrating day for Salah, who spurns a number of first-half chances, but none of which he gets particularly close with.

His best effort is the one that sees him bend it just over the far post with his left foot, in a similar fashion to his goal against Roma in 2018. 

But for the others, a combination of decisions and technique let him down slightly. He has one that he toe-pokes into Bart Verbruggen’s path when he could’ve taken a touch to set himself, and then there’s two chances where his right foot would be preferable, but his long-standing lack of trust in it means he goes with his left.

It’s a measure of Salah’s mental strength that with each passing chance, he maintains his confidence and belief in front of goal.

And when it happens, it happens.

Brilliant play from Bradley, Szoboszlai and Mac Allister - Szoboszlai punches the ball into Mac Allister and it’s an exquisite pass into Salah’s feet.

One thing that remains of the highest calibre all day is his movement.

And then, the finish. Sidefooted into the corner. 2-1. 

It’s the first time all day that there’s any pace to the play from Liverpool and it unlocks Brighton. Szoboszlai has a pretty torrid first half but plays like a man possessed in the second. 

Mac Allister is glorious all day. 

Everything good that Liverpool do goes through him today and he is the reliable source time and time again.

It’s a delightful midfield performance. He does everything you want him to and anything you need him to.

When we’re under the cosh, he can keep position. When we’re facing a spell of pressure, he can make the valuable interception. When there’s a 50/50 battle to win, he wins it.

When you need a killer pass to be played, he’ll play it.

It’s one of the best midfield performances we’ve seen at Anfield in recent times; Thiago against United in 2022 also springs to mind.

Mac Allister reminds me so much of Toni Kroos in his majesty and his dictation of games.

A metronome.

It’s another good showing from Endo, who, like Mac Allister, has proven to be a bargain. His game IQ is high and takes a smart yellow card when Brighton begin a counter late on.

If we win this league title, Mac Allister will have been at the heart of it, and Endo the lungs.

It all gets a bit uneasy towards the end as Liverpool make hard work of seeing out their 2-1 advantage and the collective brain-power of the team seems to disappear a little. 

Brighton see plenty of the ball late on through Liverpool’s inability to wind the clock down and the smartest player on the pitch in this period is Harvey Elliott, who comes on from the bench and puts a great shift in.

A lot of traffic is sent the way of Bradley and Quansah but they are both terrific in the second half when others’ legs - Gomez and Darwin Nunez start to fall away.

Bradley’s engine is marvellous again and Jamie Carragher is right to comment upon his energy levels in commentary.

It wouldn’t be one of my debriefs without some referee chat, and David Coote might have just dropped one of the most infuriating refereeing displays of the season.

It wasn’t all about being unfair to Liverpool, by the way. Ryan Gravenberch somehow gets away with arriving a week to a tackle in added time, and the corner that we score from is pure guesswork from Coote.

In fact, most of Coote’s work today was based upon estimation and guessing. He judged everything based on the protestations from players or the crowd - Moder gets a corner when the ball doesn’t go near Van Dijk.

It makes for an unsettled game - Mac Allister is booked for something that shouldn’t have even been a foul, and Baleba receives a yellow for a 50/50 collision.

The standard of refereeing is egregious.

If this was an audition for the top job from De Zerbi, then it was a good one. His team play some high-risk football that is so easy on the eye - the likes of Lewis Dunk, Joel Veltman and Baleba play through the press with such ease at times.

Brighton’s results haven’t been great this season but they’ve not been awful either and the underlying numbers show that they still create a monumental volume of chances and shots.

I look at what he’s done with players like Welbeck and Dunk and wonder if his coaching could add ball-playing abilities onto some of our players.

I’ve talked about how it’s Guardiola-style football and our kryptonite is teams playing through the press - the first half an hour of City a few weeks ago and the Nou Camp in 2019 are great examples of this - and I remain with the conclusion that Ruben Amorim or Simone Inzaghi suit the current squad the best.

But, before then, there’s business to attend to with the current manager.

Daniel