It was another league game without a goal or three points for Liverpool against Man United, a “disappointing” result and one the Reds want to move on swiftly from.
The visit of Man United was one which provided the ideal opportunity to get the wheels back in motion and place Liverpool back on the right path, but, in the end, they had to settle for another point.
The 0-0 draw on Sunday means Jurgen Klopp‘s side have not won in their last four Premier League games nor have they scored in the last three – allowing others to capitalise and move ahead in the table.
With the season yet to reach its halfway point, there is no need for an overreaction especially in what is a strange campaign – but a spark of creativity and route to goal needs to be carved out.
The Reds showed flashes of igniting the attack but it was United who forced Alisson into game-changing saves late in the piece and Thiago touched on the effects of not scoring the longer a game goes on.
The Spaniard was a bright note on the night on what was his Anfield debut and, when speaking to LFCTV after the game, he insisted the team’s focus is always to fight for the fans who currently cannot be in attendance:
“We were intense, we were creating the chances that made us closer to winning. When we didn’t realise and didn’t make the goals, we’re just getting our self-confidence a bit down and that’s why the game changed a bit.
“At the end, it’s football and in some minutes of the game you are in high emotions and sometimes you are low – it’s part of the game.
“At the end, we have the privilege to play football, to keep having our work, our love: that is playing football here. And we have to defend the desire of the people to be here.
“We have to play for them because it’s a hard moment for all of us. For sure, with fans everything is different.”
The goal-scoring sentiment was echoed by his captain, with Jordan Henderson adamant that it does not fall at the feet of just the front three but the entire team to rectify it.
And with the focus was mainly on the drought up top, the No. 14 was also quick to laud the influence of Alisson who made sure of a clean sheet and helped preserve the unbeaten Anfield record, which now stands at 68 games:
“Well, we need to score goals to win games. And I’m not talking just about the front three, by the way.
“I’m talking about everyone: midfielders, full-backs getting into the box, set-pieces. Everybody can chip in. We need to start doing that quickly.
“But, the performance level I think we can be pleased with. I think we gave everything to try to win the game but, unfortunately, just couldn’t find that goal. Which we find ourselves keeping saying that over the last few weeks. That needs to change quickly.
“He makes big saves, he has done for a long time. That’s what we need him for and he stepped up to the plate again and kept us that clean sheet.”
And after the game, there was a wide scope of perspectives from the Reds as they balanced the disappointment of the result with the need to improve and moving swiftly on to the next test.
For Andy Robertson and Fabinho, the stalemate was “not what we wanted” but another clean sheet in the bank provides a “performance to build on” for Klopp’s men:
There was no hiding Trent’s disappointment over the result with a point doing little to edge Liverpool ahead of their rivals at this juncture:
And it was a similar tone from Thiago who insisted the Reds are “never satisfied” with anything but a win, while Gini Wijnaldum was the next in line to praise Alisson‘s heroic efforts.
And, finally, the captain and vice-captain were looking to what is next on the agenda as they take the “positives” and their fighting spirit from the latest game:
With a league victory having yet to be notched since before Christmas, there is an obvious frustration lingering in the air for players and fans alike.
But there is plenty of football left to play in what is an unpredictable season and one win could trigger a bright patch and the hope will be that kicks off against Burnley on Thursday evening.
Fan Comments