Hoppin’
[Brentford 1 – 4 Liverpool].
Before we get to the bottom line, a huge thank you to Diogo Jota. I suppose there’s a chance his injury isn’t quite as bad as it looked, but it seems likely that he won’t be back this season. That’s heartbreaking, seeing as he was until that unfortunate moment in the form of his career. It was encapsulated in two remarkable moments. One was a run that started in midfield, and didn’t end until he got to the box, regardless of how many players and body checks the Bees threw his way. The second was the remarkable positioning and awareness to win a difficult aerial contest and provide an insane assist to Darwin Nunez. The latter then finished it so calmly that I had to rub my eyes to make sure it was the very same player we know for destroying goal frames.
SUBSCRIBE & FOLLOW: YouTube / X (Formerly Twitter) / Instagram / TikTok
It was a great way to open the scoring, and the Reds just sailed on from there.
An impressive aspect of today’s performance was that Flekken had an excellent game between the sticks for Brentford. Every single one of Liverpool’s goals was a beauty. Nunez’s lobbed opener was world class. The midfield transition through Endo and Gravenberch, leading to a worldie of an assist from Mo to Macca was brilliant, and the finish was masterful. What Mo did to get on the score sheet involved a teleportation spell; he caught everyone by surprise. It was a tribute to his astonishing awareness above all. Gakpo’s finish for the fourth after a comedy of errors in the exhausted, frustrated Bees’ defense was as slick as they come. In fact, if it wasn’t for Flekken, this could have ended much worse for the hosts, and yet they didn’t play particularly badly.
Kelleher was fantastic between the posts and made a couple of highlight-reel-worthy saves. He was also cucumber cool throughout, in that confidence-inspiring way that makes defenses look calm and collected. Van Dijk was mostly excellent except for one moment. Robbo didn’t even have that one bad moment. Bradley is so good he just makes me grin silly. Endo was a consummate pro, constantly doing all the dirty work in the area that used to be called Hendersville; I think we may consider renaming it Endosville. Jones was fantastic until he left as what appeared to be a precaution, but Gravenberch came on and played a very positive game, a refreshing change for him. Macca was very good, especially when he remembered that he’s allowed to attack, too. And I’m in the camp that thinks Nunez is a gem that’s just getting polished; a bit of that polish shined through today.
SHOP THE AMERICAN SCOUSER COLLECTION TODAY
Then there’s Mo Salah. The man is a joke. His range of tricks, especially in passing, has taken a noticeable leap forward this season. His holding play is better than ever. I didn’t know that players at this age can suddenly show such an improvement, but there you have it. Even so, my man-of-the-match goes to Luis Diaz, who was the chief tormentor of the Brentford backline, and pretty much exhausted them with his energetic, happy feet, migraine inducing lonesome. This is Lucho at his best, and he isn’t selfish, either, always looking for his teammates if they are in a better position. He didn’t score his best opportunity today because, like everyone else on the pitch, he was taken by complete surprise when Mo found him with an incredibly tricky pass in the box, and he just couldn’t react quickly enough.
Can’t really blame him for that.
Let’s be clear. Brentford under Frank are a good team. They can cause serious headaches to any opposition. This game may look like it was easy, but only because the Reds made it so. Today allows us to keep the hope aflame. We will drop points before the end of the season, as will City and the Gunners, and it will likely be decided on the last match day.
For now, we can keep on hoping. And hopefully hoppin’; barring the injuries, that was a fun one to watch.
