It was not a good day for Liverpool. Before going further, let me tell you that we are talking about the latest league match of Liverpool F.C. played against Crystal Palace on April 23, 2017. Liverpool lost the match with a score of 1 to 2.
Although, at first the three home wins seemed like Liverpool can achieve the cherished slot of the Champions League, but soon things took a sharp turn. However, with six points that the team achieved at West Brom and Stoke, it appeared like Liverpool can use their home advantage against the resurgent Crystal Palace football team.
Crystal Palace is the football team with the 12th rank that has won three consecutive football games at Anfield. The defensive players Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren had a tough time against the Croatian player of Crystal Palace, namely Christian Benteke. On the other hand, Liverpool only had one shot on the goal. It is mainly because Liverpool repeats the same mistakes again and again.
Christian Benteke scored the second goal for his team, Crystal Palace. In this season, it was the seventh one from Liverpool’s side that came from a corner. Moreover, nearly half of the goals scored at Anfield were a result of dead-ball situations.
When talked about it, Sam Allardyce said that he already told his team players about the weaknesses of Liverpool in that area, which was actually true. Crystal Palace inflicted the first defeat to Jurgen Klopp as the boss of Liverpool in November 2015. With this, Klopp should now hope that this should not be the most noteworthy time of his reign. However, with Manchester United winning the games, there seems a possibility that it can still come true.
Klopp’s team delivers a clear message
Liverpool has got a lot of talent, particularly in its young and unknown players. They have none of the baggage including the failures, disappointments, and misses carried by the team’s elder players. The bench of Liverpool has shown a lot of ability from the side of its youth players, amongst which two are just 17 year old, one player is 18 year old, and one player is 19 year old.
Marko Grujic who is 21 years old, Loris Karius who is 23 years old, and Alberto Moreno who is 24 years old are comparatively elder players in the team. All these players combine 73 starts in the English Premier League, among which Moreno is accounted for 56 of them.
On the other hand, Crystal Palace had a bench of 611 starts in the Premier League. Yet all of this means nothing in results. However, it shows the vast resources of Liverpool, which are exhausted once again before Daniel Sturridge’s grumble kick-off.
This was when Klopp turned to the bench in order to get some options, so that he can turn the game to his advantage. It was Trent Alexander-Arnold, who got the very first call. This 18-year-old midfielder has a lot of ability to score goals. However, he was not in the list of options for a team who wants to win the Champions league with only five football games remaining in the season.
The next player was Moreno, whose latest popular act was related to the missing open goal at West Brom. Then, there was the young midfielder, Grujic, who is full of promise but he has only played in the U23s in the recent months. But, you would be surprised to know that the manager of Liverpool already knows about all this and hopes that the message becomes clear in the summer.
Klopp is positive on transfers this summer
Jurgen Klopp says that his team is really happy and powerful this year, as he gears up to spend big this summer. And, this spending spree would be nothing similar to anything in the history of the club. The German coach said that the Reds are very positive that they will get the top targets this season with a heavy transfer fund from owners of the Fenway Sports Group.
According to the ECHO, some of the names that are on the wish list of the manager include Virgil van Dijk of Southampton, Naby Deco Keita of Red Bull Leipzig, and Julian Brandt of Bayer Leverkusen. Furthermore, Klopp says that Liverpool has made a lot of progress in this season, which makes Anfield a more striking offer for future signings as compared to one year ago.
When asked whether it is easy to sell the football club this time, Klopp answered that yes it is. He added that at this moment Liverpool is a really interesting venture for football players, so this is why it is kind of easy this time.
Additionally, Klopp says that although he cannot be 100 per cent sure that the team will play the Champions League football in the following year, still the club is really fantastic this time with a lot of young players and since the situation is good right now, they can seriously see the growth of the club.
The age of Liverpool players on an average, in common with Tottenham, is such that a lot can be expected from the club. Although, Tottenham is still somewhat ahead of Liverpool, the latter might have played longer collectively.
Klopp also said that he has had really positive talks with the players this year, unlike last year. However, he points out that this does not mean everything will work out, yet he says that the players are very optimistic and they are seeing the progress that Liverpool has made in the course of this season. And, this is a really good sign for the club.
