Skipper’s Comeback
[Liverpool 4 – 3 Fulham].
This column is posted later than usual because I had to leave at the 80th minute to take my daughter to the airport. That minute was when Fulham went 3-2 up, against the run of the game, and so I served as a somewhat grumpy driver to said offspring. Imagine my delight after I dropped her off when I opened my phone and so the final result.
I suppose it’s a bit like what players feel when an offside goal is awarded after a VAR check.
Having now watched those last 15 minutes, it’s pretty clear that the Scouser in our team is seasoning further, getting even special-er. He’s man-of-the-match, obviously, but beyond that, the kind of performance he gave today when it was needed, is one worthy of… indeed, a captain. Even if VVD had the armband, Trent is vice-captain, and his is what a skipper does, takes a game by the scruff of the neck and wrestles it to the ground when it seems like all is lost. His first goal celebration, mimicking the one against City, is emblematic of this attitude, because it’s not just about shushing the opposing fans.
Calm down, lads, he appears to say.
It will be OK.
Liverpool’s squad is happily full of players like this, and in my uneducated opinion, it is why this team comes back the way they do. It is an integral part of the Klopp system, not one talked about much if at all, but just as crucial as the Gegenpress. Mo Salah, who was good throughout, somehow got that little bit sharper after Fulham’s third, and his assist to Endo was a peach of a setup. Endo himself still had a lot to do, but the way he placed it in Leno’s top corner was ice cold. The last two, incidentally, are captains of their national teams.
It was a skipper’s comeback.
Liverpool had to win this game, and they did it in the most Liverpudlian way possible. Poor Bernd Leno not only had to have his head wrapped tightly after an unfortunate incident early on then had to watch the Reds put four absolute worldies past him – with the indignity of one of them being subsequently given as his own goal, a precision Trent missile, excuse me, free kick. Leno was not at fault for any of them. No keeper could have kept them out. Mac Allister’s hit from 30 yards was downright ridiculous, and an instant candidate for goal of the season. Endo’s finish off Mo’s assist – the latter maintaining what is turning out to be a pretty crazy streak of goal involvements – was sublime. And then came that half-volley on Route 66.
Unfortunately, things didn’t look so good on the defensive end, as Liverpool leaked three. I hate to say this, but it felt like Alisson would have kept one or two of those out. Caoimhin – aka Kevin – Kelleher is extremely talented, and I’m happy to have him in the squad, but he looked shaky today. It pointed out something that often goes missing in conversation, which is that Alisson is so good, our backline sometimes gets a bit lazy or overly risky around him.
In that sense, Ali is just as essential to Liverpool’s go-forward mentality as anyone else in the team.
Three more points in the bag, in a difficult outing, and every goal a peach.
I just wish I got to see that ending live.
