1 year ago
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Richarlison of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates after scoring the team’s third goal during the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield on April 30, 2023 in Liverpool, England. This goal did not bring Tottenham any points. | Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
Well, that was certainly a win.
Well that was sure a game of football. I’m not a massive fan of the “play really well for 15-30 minutes and then just desperately hold on” — it certainly didn’t work against Real Madrid, if you recall — but I suppose it’s good for your cardio workout goals.
A lot of Liverpool’s issues were the result of individual errors (aided, of course, by issues in the shape in transition), but there were a lot of positives, too.
Curtis Jones, who scored before some of us had settled in, certainly reminded us why he’s found a solid run in Liverpool’s starting line-ups, and this is not the first time in recent weeks he’s found himself in MOTM conversations. He at times made mistakes in his positioning, but always — notably on 70’ — worked hard to win the ball back so the team didn’t get caught out.
In attack, all of Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo, and Trent Alexander-Arnold (whose assist for Jones made it all look very easy) deserve to be discussed. Salah was wonderful on the ball, and it was good to see him back scoring penalties. For his part, Gakpo looks more than a nuisance: he looks to be terrifying to play against. You don’t often see players of his size with his level of quality on the ball; he must terrify defenses, and did well to win the penalty today.
Above all that, though, is how grand it is to see Luis Díaz back playing at his best. His goal was taken confidently, but his work off the ball and his use of space give the Liverpool attack a different dimension.
On the other side of things, Virgil Van Dijk didn’t have his best day, even if he did also make some crucial saves. While his decision-making was in question on a couple of occasions, it seemed mainly that his body let him down at times (like the slip), which could happen to anyone; sometimes you just have one of those days. When Van Dijk is a bit off, though, it undercuts your ability to cheat in your defensive shape against a counter-attacking team, and Liverpool put themselves in peril through their shape more than once.
Andy Robertson, too, didn’t cover himself in glory. The left back could have been at fault for two goals, getting caught on the ball once and then playing Son Heung-min onside for Spurs’ second.
One thing is for sure, however: Liverpool’s MOTM will not have been playing defense.
That said, there’s a strong argument that it’s Richarlison’s “give it the big ‘un” celebration that was the real MOTM.
Now let us know how you saw it. We’ve narrowed down the options to a few of the players we thought had the best performances for the Reds, now make your choice and vote for who you think should be the Man of the Match—or take to the comments to let us know that we got it wrong by not even including the real man of the match in the options.
And as always, a reminder that for anyone visiting on Apple News or Google AMP and looking to cast a vote who can’t see the poll, you can make it visible by navigating to the front page of The Liverpool Offside and loading the full version of the story from there.
