Sunday's thrilling 4-3 win over Swansea City at Anfield conjured up
memories of those classic victories over Newcastle United by the same
scoreline back in the 1990's. Just as in those epic encounters with the
Geordies back in the day, Liverpool were breathtaking going forward,
slapstick at the back; there were twists and turns aplenty but
thankfully it all turned out nicely in the end. Liverpool's last two
Premier League games have been incredibly stressful to watch from a
fans' point of view, but the neutrals must love tuning into Liverpool
matches as you know you're guaranteed goals (at both ends) and you're
certainly going to be entertained.
Brendan Rodgers' men are the top scorers in the Premier League now having overhauled Manchester City with this latest four goal salvo, and even with star man Luis Suarez in something of a barren spell (one goal in his last seven now) the goals have continued to flow.
Most of Liverpool's wins this season have been comfortable -- many games have been won by halftime -- and this one was shaping up to go the same way as the Reds raced into a 2-0 lead inside the opening 20 minutes. Great goals they were too: the first came just three minutes in when Raheem Sterling won possession in his own half and delivered a Philippe Coutinho-esque pass with the outside of his foot to allow Daniel Sturridge to run clear and find the net for the eighth Premier League game in a row.
The second was a lovely strike by Jordan Henderson after great work by Sturridge on the right. It hadn't been the kind of blistering start that had blown away Everton and Arsenal in recent home games, but the writing did appear to be on the wall for a Swansea side that have been struggling in recent months. Had Liverpool added a third, then perhaps another rout was on the cards, but former Red Jonjo Shelvey's brilliant curling effort brought Swansea back into the game and earned warm applause from all four corners of the ground. Poor old Shelvey seemed almost apologetic about scoring, but such was the quality of that goal few inside Anfield would have thought less of him if he'd celebrated it.
Shelvey was arguably the most influential player on the park in the opening 45 minutes and he was also involved in Swansea's equaliser, winning the free-kick from which Wilfried Bony found the net via a big deflection off Martin Skrtel. Game on now.
Sturridge restored Liverpool's lead after heading in an inch perfect cross from Suarez, but the tension around Anfield was palpable throughout the afternoon as the Reds never really managed to gain full control of the game and Swansea performed with a real purpose and swagger on the ball. They drew level again just after the restart when Skrtel -- who endured a torrid afternoon -- was adjudged to have manhandled Bony, and the burly frontman picked himself up to stroke in the penalty.
It was the kind of decision that you feel somewhat aggrieved about when it goes against you, but Skrtel has had so much publicity in recent months about his style of defending that it was inevitable he was going to be penalised at some point. If he's going to grab opponents, perhaps he should stick to doing it at set-pieces where officials seem completely unwilling to do anything about it?
For a spell after it went to 3-3 Liverpool were really on the ropes. They still carried an attacking threat and had opportunities to score, but the lack of control was there for all to see and there was a genuine danger that points were going to be dropped until Henderson saved the day with a lung-busting run into the box to fire in at the second attempt after a Suarez shot had come back off Ashley Williams.
Swansea had a lot of the ball as they looked to peg Liverpool back yet again, but in general the home side defended much better after that and there were not too many scares for Simon Mignolet. The introduction of Joe Allen to bolster the midfield made a big difference and the Reds looked much more secure with the Welshman in there. Allen may have played his way into a starting berth for next weekend with this cameo.
It's easy to focus on Liverpool's performance and say they were below par, but credit has to be given to the opposition too and Swansea performed about as well as any side has at Anfield this season. Bony was a real handful, Wayne Routledge caused problems, Shelvey was excellent until he was forced off at halftime and this looked much more like the Swansea that Rodgers left behind than the one which has flattered to deceive for much of this season. If they continue to perform like this, they'll have no problems ensuring Premier League survival and might just shock Napoli in the Europa League too.
I know it's a cliche but this really was a game the Reds probably would not have won last season. The same could also be said of the victory at Fulham, too, but Liverpool are now showing signs that they have picked up the habit that all successful sides need; that of being able to win on the days when things aren't going according to plan. They may have some obvious flaws, but at least they are showing character to go with their undoubted attacking quality.
At this stage of the season it's not how you win that's important, just that you do win, and with both Everton and Tottenham losing, a top four finish seems a little more secure now. In fact, in terms of points, Liverpool are now closer to the top than they are to fifth place, and that is the direction they should be looking.
Of the top four only Arsenal had a comfortable win this weekend. Chelsea didn't impress against Everton and needed a somewhat fortunate stoppage time winner to avoid dropping two crucial points, while Manchester City made surprisingly hard work of seeing off Stoke City at home. It's easy to point to Liverpool's defensive fragility and declare "they can't win the league playing like that", but others have their weak points too and no other side can match Liverpool's firepower, at least until City can welcome back Sergio Aguero anyway.
In the long term this "if you score three we'll score four" approach it's not sustainable of course, and while they continue to be so porous at the back then many of Liverpool's games will be on a knife edge like this one -- and not all will have such a favourable outcome -- but the Reds have to be the most watchable team in the land right now as there's simply never a dull moment.
Who knows where Liverpool will finish this season, but it continues to be fun finding out. Roll on Southampton next week.
Brendan Rodgers' men are the top scorers in the Premier League now having overhauled Manchester City with this latest four goal salvo, and even with star man Luis Suarez in something of a barren spell (one goal in his last seven now) the goals have continued to flow.
Most of Liverpool's wins this season have been comfortable -- many games have been won by halftime -- and this one was shaping up to go the same way as the Reds raced into a 2-0 lead inside the opening 20 minutes. Great goals they were too: the first came just three minutes in when Raheem Sterling won possession in his own half and delivered a Philippe Coutinho-esque pass with the outside of his foot to allow Daniel Sturridge to run clear and find the net for the eighth Premier League game in a row.
The second was a lovely strike by Jordan Henderson after great work by Sturridge on the right. It hadn't been the kind of blistering start that had blown away Everton and Arsenal in recent home games, but the writing did appear to be on the wall for a Swansea side that have been struggling in recent months. Had Liverpool added a third, then perhaps another rout was on the cards, but former Red Jonjo Shelvey's brilliant curling effort brought Swansea back into the game and earned warm applause from all four corners of the ground. Poor old Shelvey seemed almost apologetic about scoring, but such was the quality of that goal few inside Anfield would have thought less of him if he'd celebrated it.
Shelvey was arguably the most influential player on the park in the opening 45 minutes and he was also involved in Swansea's equaliser, winning the free-kick from which Wilfried Bony found the net via a big deflection off Martin Skrtel. Game on now.
Sturridge restored Liverpool's lead after heading in an inch perfect cross from Suarez, but the tension around Anfield was palpable throughout the afternoon as the Reds never really managed to gain full control of the game and Swansea performed with a real purpose and swagger on the ball. They drew level again just after the restart when Skrtel -- who endured a torrid afternoon -- was adjudged to have manhandled Bony, and the burly frontman picked himself up to stroke in the penalty.
It was the kind of decision that you feel somewhat aggrieved about when it goes against you, but Skrtel has had so much publicity in recent months about his style of defending that it was inevitable he was going to be penalised at some point. If he's going to grab opponents, perhaps he should stick to doing it at set-pieces where officials seem completely unwilling to do anything about it?
For a spell after it went to 3-3 Liverpool were really on the ropes. They still carried an attacking threat and had opportunities to score, but the lack of control was there for all to see and there was a genuine danger that points were going to be dropped until Henderson saved the day with a lung-busting run into the box to fire in at the second attempt after a Suarez shot had come back off Ashley Williams.
Swansea had a lot of the ball as they looked to peg Liverpool back yet again, but in general the home side defended much better after that and there were not too many scares for Simon Mignolet. The introduction of Joe Allen to bolster the midfield made a big difference and the Reds looked much more secure with the Welshman in there. Allen may have played his way into a starting berth for next weekend with this cameo.
It's easy to focus on Liverpool's performance and say they were below par, but credit has to be given to the opposition too and Swansea performed about as well as any side has at Anfield this season. Bony was a real handful, Wayne Routledge caused problems, Shelvey was excellent until he was forced off at halftime and this looked much more like the Swansea that Rodgers left behind than the one which has flattered to deceive for much of this season. If they continue to perform like this, they'll have no problems ensuring Premier League survival and might just shock Napoli in the Europa League too.
I know it's a cliche but this really was a game the Reds probably would not have won last season. The same could also be said of the victory at Fulham, too, but Liverpool are now showing signs that they have picked up the habit that all successful sides need; that of being able to win on the days when things aren't going according to plan. They may have some obvious flaws, but at least they are showing character to go with their undoubted attacking quality.
At this stage of the season it's not how you win that's important, just that you do win, and with both Everton and Tottenham losing, a top four finish seems a little more secure now. In fact, in terms of points, Liverpool are now closer to the top than they are to fifth place, and that is the direction they should be looking.
Of the top four only Arsenal had a comfortable win this weekend. Chelsea didn't impress against Everton and needed a somewhat fortunate stoppage time winner to avoid dropping two crucial points, while Manchester City made surprisingly hard work of seeing off Stoke City at home. It's easy to point to Liverpool's defensive fragility and declare "they can't win the league playing like that", but others have their weak points too and no other side can match Liverpool's firepower, at least until City can welcome back Sergio Aguero anyway.
In the long term this "if you score three we'll score four" approach it's not sustainable of course, and while they continue to be so porous at the back then many of Liverpool's games will be on a knife edge like this one -- and not all will have such a favourable outcome -- but the Reds have to be the most watchable team in the land right now as there's simply never a dull moment.
Who knows where Liverpool will finish this season, but it continues to be fun finding out. Roll on Southampton next week.
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