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I consider myself very fortunate to the job I do, a job which enables me to be at places like Anfield on days like Sunday. Liverpool’s propensity to get themselves involved in wild games and crazy comebacks is well-known, but I don’t think anyone expected to see them put their fans through the ringer as they did against Fulham at the weekend.
The finale was incredible, and the quality of Liverpool’s goals beyond belief. To see one strike of such brilliance is rare, but four in the same game? Remarkable.
To me, the game provided a perfect snapshot of the Reds’ growth this season. They’re the best team in the league at coming from behind – 15 points from losing positions already – and they have so many players capable of producing a moment of magic when required. On this occasion, their forwards failed but others stepped up.
There’s a steel and a determination about this team, an ability to absorb setbacks and maintain its belief, that simply wasn’t there last season, and that’s credit to both Jurgen Klopp and his players, that they’ve been able to put right so much of what went wrong over the previous 12 months.
They certainly won’t want many more games like Sunday’s, from a defensive point of view, but in fairness this was a bit of an outlier. Liverpool have the joint second-best defensive record in the league, and no side had scored twice at Anfield all season prior to Fulham’s visit.
The concern I would have is regarding injuries. Joel Matip is the latest player to suffer a setback, joining Alisson Becker, Andy Robertson, Diogo Jota, Thiago Alcantara and Stefan Bajcetic in the treatment room. Liverpool can ill-afford to lose too many more, and they have a lot of games coming up in the next few weeks. If anything is going to derail them this season, it might be fitness issues.
There is no doubt that Trent Alexander-Arnold took last season’s disappointment harder than most, and I think that has shown in his performances so far this term, as he’s taken his game to another level – no mean feat considering the level he was at already.
It may sound insignificant, but think back to the first day of pre-season, when he arrived at the AXA Training Centre with a new, shorter haircut….
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