Well…that was disappointing.
I do not believe in ‘bogey’ teams. There is no written rule that says Team A must always beat Team B. The team that will win, will always be the team that works harder and plays better. I believe that hard work and better skill will also give you that little bit of luck that is also needed. However, in our match against Villa, we certainly did not work hard enough. The goal we conceded was embarrassingly poor. For the ball to drop in the box like it did was completely unacceptable. I did not expect us to concede in this match, but if we did, I would have thought it would have come from a break away with the Villa frontline using their pace.
And attacking wise, we were horrible. I think Coutinho showed a mass improvement from the previous two league games, but he was the only shining light. All nine other outfield players appeared to be slow of thought and slow of action. We did not move that ball around fast enough, and therefore, did not create enough chances. We had 75% of the possession and 18 shots at goal, with only 1 being on target. That is just not good enough. But…
We go again.
“Liverpool without European football is like a banquet without wine.” – Roy Evans
Champions League Football has returned to its proper home this evening. The Reds take on debutants Ludogorets Razgrad, a Bulgarian side that I have not heard of before. But we should dismiss any notion of this match being a ‘gimme’. Any team that can qualify for the Champions League will not be a walk over and can go on to produce an upset. Remember, this unknown team beat PSV (home and away), beat Lazio and managed to get to the last 16 of last years’ Europa League. And even then, Valencia only managed a 1-0 win at home. The club was founded in 2001 and has made great strides forward in just over a decade. Based on the information I found, they tend to play a 4-2-3-1 formation with defender Cosmin Moti and Captain Svetoslav Dyakov posing their biggest threats. I think they will enter this match looking to get a draw. They will play defensively and try to catch us on the counter attack, and we will need to move the ball around a lot faster than we did against Villa if we want the win.
And our competitors…
Real Madrid host FC Basel in the other match of the group. The Swiss team can expect a backlash from Real’s loss in the Madrid derby, and I think a comfortable win for Los Blancos will be the result
Follow Kurt on Twitter @kurtellis2
Kurt Ellis is a lifelong Liverpool fan living in South Africa. His first novel, By Any Means, was published by Human & Rousseau Publishers in May 2014. It is a gritty, coming of age crime thriller featuring a young Liverpool FC fan. The novel is available in Kindle form, worldwide. Follow the link below: