Digging Deeper Into Liverpool’s 0-2 Victory Over Ipswich Town
With a victory over Ipswich Town in the books, we take a closer look at what it all means for the Reds.
The Arne Slot Era at Liverpool begins, and the Dutchman is the first manager to win his first league match since Souness in 1991. Of course, that record does not mean so much, as we’ve seen the likes of Rafa Benitez and Jurgen Klopp win European Cups after slow starts. And well, it’s not like Souness covered himself in glory managing with his managerial career.
But hey, let’s think positive, happy thoughts, because that’s the joy of the beginning of the season, before City have worn us all down with 15 wins on the trot and 115 charges of financial doping thrown out on a technicality and/or bribery, and before Arsenal Twitter do all our heads in, claiming that playing basketball is in fact allowed in football, and with conspiracy theories focused on sprinklers at Anfield. The Truth is Out There, Gunners.
Anyway, it took some convincing at halftime, but the Reds ended up rather comfortable 2-0 winners on the opening weekend.
Dissecting the Narrative
In recent years, a frustrating hallmark of Jurgen Klopp’s Reds were:
a) conceding first, and
b) allowing teams to hang around if and when Liverpool got in front.
While it took a frustrating 60 minutes for the Reds to find an opener (including a dreadful first half, with just 3 shots and a cumulative 0.05 expected goals), the Reds:
a) did not concede first, and
b) doubled their lead within five minutes of the breakthrough.
This allowed for a much more comfortable half an hour of football than we have often been afforded in recent years. More of that, please and thank you.
How The Manager Reacted
It’ll be hard not to compare Slot with Klopp, and that will probably continue for a long time.
But one thing is clear from the first match: Klopp hugs are out, and Slot’s brutal fucking honest is in. The Dutch manager hooked Quansah at halftime, and then said exactly why in a post match interview.
“The first thing I said was we don’t have to speak about tactics if you lose so many duels, and that’s what we did,” Slot explained.
“It’s not that Jarell lost every duel, many of us lost too many duels, so we needed Konate to win these long balls in the air towards their No.9 (Delap), so that helped and gave us control.”
Given the renewed attacking vigor after the half, and the final result, it’s hard to argue with the manager.
Giving Credit to the Opponent
It will likely be a difficult go for Ipswich Town this campaign, but they sure gave Liverpool a game for 45 minutes. And even when Liverpool had made it 2-0, they still had a couple of chances to make a game of it. The home side was up for the clash, and if they are able to bring this energy and threat throughout the season, they might just find a way to keep their heads above water (though probably not).
Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com
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