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And: breathe again. We really need to do a bit more of these migraine football nightmares devastated by injuries, muscle fatigue and muscles. On a wild night, Liverpool and Tottenham produced an incredibly tense, tight and violent game of soccer.
In some quarters there has been a rather moderate dislike for the level of high quality being offered lately in the Premier League. Could it have sunk a bit? (Probably not.) Is there a feeling that some of these games could have been more feverish in front of a full house? In fact, there has been a surprising intensity in much of the football played. But nothing like this.
There was not just a contrast of styles. Sometimes it felt like a struggle for control of how, where and in what way this game should be played. The Spurs sat deep and broke through with brutal clarity. Liverpool went all-in, fearless in their team attack and was rewarded at the end with a brilliant winning goal.
These have been sterile times for Roberto Firmino, who has defined, like no one else, the style of this team. The game had already entered injury time with the score 1‑1 when Andy Robertson took a corner from Tottenham’s right. Eric Dier was blocked. Firmino jumped up, hung up, and butted his head from the sweet spot of his forehead into the upper right corner.
Liverpool deserved it. They could also have lost it and they could just as well have won it earlier and for a few more. It was that kind of game, when both teams executed their game plan and found great reserves of energy and execution.
It’s always silly to make big predictions based on a tight result and so much more at the moment. But there was a clear feeling that this could become a starting point for Liverpool’s title defense.
Mainly, there was the thrilling spectacle of two Liverpool teenagers playing 90 minutes while Jürgen Klopp took deep advantage of their playing resources. Rhys Williams, a Premier League rookie against the Premier League leaders, was playing for Kidderminster in the National League North this time last year. He was mobile, smart, and calm against a complete Harry Kane.
Best of all was Curtis Jones, who has played well at times in his increasingly regular starts, yet to show the full and sustained extent of his talent.
The Spurs had their own moments in the middle, most notably their goal in the first half. For 20 minutes they had sat deeply, increasingly wearing the sleepy, trapped expression of a night drinker hit by too many refills, their heads spinning, now resigned to the inevitable.
For a while it seemed like the Spurs were caught in a nightmare cycle, trapped of their own free will, but subjected to a constant hit of changing angles, long and short passes, opponents who just won’t stop.
Everything is part of the plan. Out of nowhere they stretched out, smacked themselves around the chops, ran to the other end and scored. The goal was made by a dream pass from Giovani Lo Celso, brilliantly conceived and perfectly executed with an elbow from the outside of one foot.
The ball curved through a gap on the red line and into the open green space behind Trent Alexander-Arnold. Son Heung-min was already running towards the ball line. Is there a more lethal footballer on that left channel right now? He backed away from the cover, looked up, steadied himself, feinted to his favorite corner, the one in a picture book, and then slammed the ball into the nearest one with cruel precision.
Liverpool had gone ahead seven minutes earlier, and Mohamed Salah’s shot went wildly wide. After which the game morphed into an almost cartoonish contrast of styles. This was the most extreme example of José Mourinho’s style. Not just sit deep and counter. Sit incredibly deep, dig holes in the grass and hide, pull the roof of the Anderson shelter; then attack with unearthly precision.
In the midst of which there was a wonderful battle between two style-defining central midfielders: Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Jones, the latter playing the most intense game of his career, against a team of gray-haired old men and producing a wonderfully measured performance.
There was a moment to sum up the intensity of this duel with 75 minutes elapsed when Sadio Mané took the ball and pushed it in towards Jones. In an instant, Højbjerg was there, on his back, falling, stretching his neck and finally pushing the ball with his forehead off Jones’ feet.
It was easy to imagine the confusion in the statisticians’ seats. Does that count as a ticket or a header? Højbjerg was huge throughout. He is a warrior in this team, a player of great defensive intelligence who has found in Mourinho his animal spirit, his sponsor, his Gandalf.
But in front of him, Jones came of age, playing with wonderful control, quick feet and also calm. Jones had hit 129 touches, completed 94% of his passes, threw three shots on goal, won four headers, made four interceptions, and glided with a rare sense of grace. It’s been tempting to wonder exactly what kind of midfielder-in-training he is. Here was the answer: a complete one.
Klopp will get a lot out of this game and not just a return to the top of the table. The vision of Liverpool’s young players playing at this level in such an exciting and tight victory will refresh the options within your squad. For Jones, in particular, this felt like a moment of ignition.
