Conclusion
The spectacle has concluded. The 38 game Premier League season has come to an end; the story ends in a both positive and bleak fashion. On one hand, Liverpool failed to see off their legends in Mohammed Salah and Andrew Robertson with a win. But all in all, Champions League qualification was achieved with the 1–1 draw. How the story panned out was frustrating from a Liverpool perspective. They dominated the game, created more chances and conceded a minimal number of chances. To reference this reality, we only need to look at the stats from the first half: Enjoying 62% of ball possession, Liverpool had 13 shots, whilst Brentford only had 2. The match was almost exclusively played in the Brentford half.
Firstly, the occasion was special for many reasons. Most of all, as mentioned above it was the last game for the two man-legends. Drawing their nine-year tenure to an end, life is proved to be fleeting when we look back on all the memories we have shared with them. Mohammed Salah, with his relentless pursuit of greatness and Andrew Robertson’s undying passion for the Geist. It has truly been a privilege and honour to have witnessed these two players in my teenage years; they’ve done enough to spark a new era of success.
Onto the game, Brentford started the game as expected for those who have paid close attention to them to this season. From goal-kicks, they positioned their players against the players in Liverpool’s build-up unit. From the moment the ball was played short from Allisson’s feet, they pressed. For this reason, Liverpool were forced into playing long balls early. This eventuality was beneficial because Mohammed Salah and Cody Gakpo were consistent in their ball-handling technique to help the reds consolidate possession after having to kick it long. Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai were also especially important in this aspect, both winning most of their duels in this phase of play.
Considering the momentum of the match, Liverpool had it firmly in their grasp, even in the event Brentford could force them into playing long balls, they still controlled possession by winning the crucial first, second or third ball. In some cases, Brentford would simply give the ball away, so as a result the Brentford defensive block sunk lower, giving Liverpool territory and time to fully control the happenings of the game. The Liverpool chances that arose from this were many; a free kick from Mo Salah that hit the upright, two shots from Szoboszlai and Rio Ngumoha that narrowly missed the goal after they both managed to fashion that extra time:space to get away from their markers.
From a defensive perspective, Liverpool’s ball-possession was crude in the way it stopped Brentford from getting any foothold on the game. Set pieces, a well-known strength of the Brentford faithful was limited, accumulating 14 corners, whilst only conceding two is impressive feat. Especially if we consider that the last time the two teams faced each other, Brentford accrued 18 corners.
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Liverpool’s superiority whilst in-possession could be found in the wide areas, Salah on the right side would constantly look to stand up to his defender and find his teammates on the diagonal axis, through trivela’s and instep passes. Targeting anyone who was willing to offer himself on the overlap and underlap axes. On the other side, Rio Ngumoha looked to face his marker and beat him through his dribbling virtues. Mixing deception, speed and agility to force his way to goal. Generally, the youngster looked to get himself as close to goal as possible before crossing or shooting. In any case, Michael Kayode was a worthy opponent and limited a lot of the incursions Liverpool tried to initiate on the left side.
The second half panned out no differently to the first. Maintaining a level of superiority over their opponents, Liverpool once again sat themselves in the Brentford half and tried to work themselves a goal, doing so in the 58th minute, delivered by yours truly, Mohammed Salah and scored by Curtis Jones. Brentford scored six minutes later with a goal from Kevin Schade. Created from a cross, this fact will be alarming as crosses into the box has been a sure way for opponents to break into the Liverpool box and score, something to keep an eye on next season.
After watching Mohammed Salah with a keen eye for all his Liverpool career, I think he’ll be defined by his ability to translate many box situations as possible into shots on goal. More than anything else, he was multi-directional, shooting of either foot even at close quarters to his marker. Looking at his running in-behind ability, it was not a surprise that he was never ‘found out’ as in conjunction with Jurgen and Arne’s style football, there was always space to found if one looked behind. Salah was always looking.
Andrew Robertson arguably characterises the spirit of the Klopp era more than any other player. Taking a staunch look at his playing style, he was most defined by his ability to the game at a high tempo, for prolonged periods within matches, whether it was about facing up to his attacker with recovery runs or running in the other direction to make the crucial overlap. Andrew Robertson dominated his flank. All things considered, he fulfilled the duty of a right-back, get past them (attack) but also, don’t let them get past you (defend). It’s also not a coincidence that he is leaving as the defender with the most assists, the precision and speed of his crosses and passes were of the highest order.
A conclusion has been reached. Liverpool fifth place. 60 points. 63 goals scored, conceding 53. 17 wins, 9 draws and 12 losses is what brought Liverpool to this conclusion. In response to what has been the reason for this eventuality, a plethora of positions could be taken up. The death of Diogo Jota is starting places for all fans as the psychological impact it will have had on the players, manager and staff will be much deeper than we would like to admit. Pre-season preparations could not have possibly absorbed the shock of the tragic event.
Anyways, a conclusion has been reached. Let’s see what the next one brings.
