Daniel’s Debrief: Fulham 1-3 Liverpool

Small building blocks.

Coming into today, the idea of winning six games in a row seemed so unlikely, arguably even impossible.

But the fact is that winning one game was always possible and as long as that one game was the next game, you can build from there.

I remember Jurgen Klopp talking about how we turned around the dreadful 2020/21 season to finish third - winning eight and drawing two of the last ten games.

He said that the chances of us getting ten good results were minuscule. So he told the players to forget everything that follows and focus solely on Wolves. Then Arsenal. Then Villa. Then Leeds. Then Newcastle. Then Southampton. Then United. Then West Brom. Then Burnley. Then Palace.

It worked.

Never think any further than the next game ahead. You might think that one later down the line is more important but the reality is that today’s game is always the biggest game of your life because it’s the only only one you play today.

And so, Liverpool start what could be a run to the finish with a result today. It also might not be, but they do what they need to do today.

Was today perfect? No. We still concede a sloppy goal, still look like a team low on familiarity and connectivity and still struggle to make the right decision in the opposition half.

But, it was much, much better. There’s only really a ten-minute spell before half-time where we particularly struggle and it feels like the break comes at a good time for us.

It’s important to note that for the second game running, we start well. Maybe Palace was the straw that broke the camel’s back for Klopp and he’s not having any more of these shite starts.

Win your battles first five minutes. Don’t worry about the rest of the game. Building blocks.

Trent Alexander-Arnold is so key to this. I’ve been vocal about my issues with the inverted full-back system but it does have its benefits too and a player of his quality is always a benefit.

There was some conversation around whether he would come back into the team, given how well Conor Bradley and Joe Gomez had done in his absence.

Alexander-Arnold may not be the perfect right-back but he’s a freakishly talented footballer and when fit, is always in Liverpool’s strongest team.

He offers such a different string to your bow in possession. We’ve not had anyone with his quality at spreading the play or controlling the tempo in the last few weeks. His ability should not be underestimated.

In possession, he’s absolutely brilliant. The variety of passes he offers is such a big part of why we control the game for large parts today. 

The free-kick is as beautiful as it is mechanic. It’s the second free-kick he’s scored against Fulham this season and they’ve been almost identical in terms of the technique and placement.

What a footballer.

The first priority of Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes is to get his contract signed. His age profile and uniqueness make him our prized asset.

If Ruben Amorim is the manager, I’d like to see Alexander-Arnold in the right wing-back role. He’s almost certainly play a back three and I think you manage to minimise any of the defensive concerns around Alexander-Arnold there.

What we do well from 1 to 40 is exert control over the game. That’s not the same as saying we dominated, but the game is played on our terms and at our pace.

So it’s infuriating to concede a goal then, through lack of control. It’s once again a defensive breach where so many players could do better that you have to look systematically rather than at individuals.

I hope to God that Amorim’s defensive philosophy is more thorough than ‘rely upon individual quality’. Time and time again, we are conceding poor goals.

It’s avoidable at a few stages but Wataru Endo actually does well to somehow get out of the way of this shot, because all he’s got to do is maintain a consistent body shape and he’s cleared it off the line.

Decent strike from Timothy Castagne, but dogwater defending again. 

Endo, Virgil Van Dijk and Jarell Quansah seem to take that goal personally because all three are tremendous in the second half.

Endo is first to every ball second half. Recoveries and duels galore. His best performance in a month.

Quansah is really, really strong and produces a better performance than anything we’ve seen from Ibrahima Konate recently.

Van Dijk is absolutely unbelievable today. He’s bounced back from his Atalanta nightmare. Rodrigo Muniz won Premier League player of the month for March but you’d have barely known he was on the pitch today.

He’s colossal. 

And he is a fabulous leader in terms of being instructive. There’s a moment in the first half where he urges for calm, and late in the second half at 3-1 he rockets the ball into the River Thames to kill time and remove pressure.

His two compatriots have good days, as well.

I thought Cody Gakpo was really good. He won more duels than any player, created more chances than any other player and made the most recoveries of any player.

Left wing is his best position. He has a great game there at Burnley in December and remember, he predominantly played for Netherlands off the left in the Qatar World Cup, just before we signed him.

He doesn’t have a great amount of pace for that wing slot but he is far more present there than at false nine.

Ryan Gravenberch has come in for plenty of stick this season and almost all of it has been justified, but in the main, this is a good performance from him today.

He takes the ball on the half-turn really nicely on a couple of occasions and plays the Curtis Jones role pretty well.

It’s a lovely, lovely goal and it comes from a bit of vertical passing from Harvey Elliott. Nice finish. I’ve been saying for ages that it’s not a lack of talent holding Gravenberch back, it’s been work ethic.

But he gives us plenty today. I do think that he and Gakpo work well together down the left, as they do at Burnley a few months ago.

Luis Diaz lights up January from the right wing and gets another go there today, with Mohamed Salah moved to the bench. He gives Antonee Robinson - one of the league’s best left-backs - a tough day.

And then there’s Diogo Jota. A pretty quiet day for most of it but his ability to play off-the-shoulder is part of what makes him so clinical, he’s always receptive to a good through ball. 

Bernd Leno gets a fingertip to it but, once again, the power of Jota’s strike is enough. I talk about this a lot. His shot power is remarkable. Arsenal away in 21/22. Forest at home last season. Wolves away in 20/21. 

He reminds me so much of Ruud Van Nistelrooy.

I wish he’d come back a week or two earlier. The likes of Endo, Conor Bradley, Darwin Nunez and Caoimhin Kelleher hit the brick wall in the first leg of Atalanta but Jota, Jones and Alexander-Arnold weren’t fit enough to make a significant difference.

With a fit, rather than recovering, Jota, we’d have beaten Palace.

And for all the furore about the last few weeks, if we’d turned some some of the 3.4xG against Palace, we’re top of the league with five to go here.

But, as it is, we’ve just got to deal with the next one. The main aims for today would’ve been a win but also some rest into players ahead of two more away games this week - Salah, Nunez, Konate, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Jones and Gomez all on the bench. 

We get the rest into those guys and get some confidence into the likes of Gakpo, Gravenberch, Quansah and Endo. It’s a case of job done.

The target now isn’t to win the five remaining games, it’s to win at Everton. Nothing else. Then, the target is to win at West Ham. Then Tottenham. Then Villa. Then Wolves.

And if we do all of that and some other things go our way then it’s possible that the last of those five games could be a special day.

But none of that matters right now. Break it down. Chew your food. Don’t swallow all at once. It’s Everton. Nothing else matters right now.

Daniel