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In December 2017, Sam Allardyce took his team from Everton to Anfield and put all 10 outfield players behind the ball for about the full 90 minutes, camped on the edge of their own box in a 6-4 formation. -0.
They had 21% possession that day, hardly ever venturing across the midfield line, but they came away with a point after Dominic Calvert-Lewin earned a very dubious late penalty after colliding with Dejan Lovren, thus canceling the game. magnificent first half of Mohamed Salah. Strike.
Liverpool were in full control for the vast majority of the competition, but allowed the game to drift too long at 1-0 without turning their dominance into a more dominant advantage, ultimately paying the price with two incredibly soft dropped points, which It allowed Allardyce to feel like his game plan had worked out to absolute perfection.
Fast forward three years with Big Sam returning to Anfield, being the last opposition coach to oversee a Premier League win there (with Crystal Palace in April 2017), and pretty much the same script, incredibly frustrating but painfully predictable. again.
Liverpool are, of course, a radically transformed team from what it was in 2017/18, when it was still a work in progress with Jürgen Klopp, and qualification for the Champions League was the main goal rather than being considered true challengers. for the most prestigious cutlery. But for all their brilliance and all the extraordinary feats they have accomplished in recent years, this Liverpool team still has a really bad habit that has already proven costly multiple times this season, and it rears its head here again.
Liverpool are one of the most formidable teams out there when the score is 0-0, and overall they are excellent at keeping their nerves and also working to get back 1-0. When they are up 2-0 or more, their game management is another of their strongest assets that allows them to advance to the goal line, keeping the ball and keeping opponents at a distance while running time down and spending relatively little bit. Energy.
However … with 1-0 up, they can be too lenient and lack ruthlessness. When Sadio Mané made the breakthrough in the 12th minute, terribly cushioning Joel Matip’s incisive pass to his chest before clinically delivering the shot, Liverpool were on West Brom. They continued to work on the angles and create excellent opportunities for Andy Robertson to throw wicked balls across the area, keeping visitors continually cornered and suffocated in their own final third.
On the rare occasions that West Brom escaped, they were almost immediately invaded by a rash of red jerseys and forced to concede possession before Liverpool invaded them again and increased the pressure.
And yet, at no point in the first half did Sam Johnstone have to make a single save. In fact, despite Liverpool’s ridiculous 81% possession, they were only able to get a single shot on goal, the one scored by Mané. Other than that, they only got half the chances, or were about to create premium opportunities only to have the final ball slightly outbid, under or misplaced.
Robertson was the most influential figure in the game in the first 45 minutes with Liverpool channeling much of their attacks through their loitering careers, but on the numerous occasions where he provided quality delivery in the box, the bodies were missing. there to face it.
Nothing about Allardyce’s strategy should have come as a surprise, but at no point other than the goal were Liverpool able to pick up the pace and play with the precision needed in the final third to cause them. real danger. There were plenty of skillful passing combinations 30-40 yards from goal, but as soon as Liverpool ventured into the area, it all fell apart, time after time.
They played as if everything was too easy, as if the scoring opportunities were finally coming and thus failed to demonstrate their superiority when West Brom held on. By letting the game go on such a narrow margin and not finding that crucial second goal that would have instantly engulfed all three points, they gave West Brom hope, something to hold on to.
They gave them hope when a simple upward punt resulted in Karlan Grant running one-on-one, only to be rejected by Alisson Becker. They gave them hope when Robertson unnecessarily dragged a space behind for an unnecessary corner. They gave them hope when Curtis Jones casually gave the ball 25 yards from goal, resulting in another unnecessary corner awarded.
And the problem is, at this level, regardless of where West Brom is on the chart and how dire his underlying numbers are, he can always be punished if he leaves the door ajar. Unfortunately, Semi Ajayi gratefully cut through and snatched a point from his team that, in the overall context of the game, wasn’t exactly lucky or undeserved.
Liverpool were only to blame for their own lack of urgency in turning the 1-0 into 2-0, and the fact that they ended the game with just two shots on target in 17 attempts (versus West Brom’s three on target). in five attempts) was an adequate summary of what went wrong. It was a sterile domination characterized by persistently poor decision making and execution at key moments, repeatedly tossing aimless crosses for his central defenders to comfortably walk away or run straight and be easily tackled.
It’s especially frustrating given the stark contrast to Crystal Palace’s emphatic demolition last week and the excellence of their overall display against Tottenham Hotspur before that. With a full week to rest and prepare for it, the level of performance and the gradual dissipation of intensity over the 90 minutes was hugely disappointing.
That’s now six points for teams currently ranked 16th, 18th and 19th in just under a month, all through 1-1 draws. The bigger picture in terms of the title race remains far from disastrous, with a three-point lead barely the end of the world at this stage, but it’s hard to escape the lingering reality that it could and should be. significantly more than that.
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