Careless in Attack
Five minutes before Forest scored, I made the mundane observation in our internal American Scouser group chat that “this is the kind of game you lose because you’re careless in attack.” It happens in sports, in football perhaps more so than any other because it’s such a low scoring sport to begin with. Football Manager, if you’re a fan of the game, simulates this perfectly. Then came that Forest goal – following a total owning of Bradely, a brilliant strike from outside the box by Hudson-Odoi that even the magnificent (and otherwise bored) Alisson couldn’t paw away – and you could tell that even given another hour, the Reds weren’t going to get anywhere near the goal.
And sure as can be, Liverpool didn’t.
It’s very frustrating to watch, as a fan of the team who suffers from this particular malaise. You know you should be winning, by a lot even, but every time something fun develops, there is a bit of misunderstanding or a slightly loose final touch or a last pass gets overhit just a little bit, and you don’t even get a shot on goal (let alone on target). I don’t know if there’s a last pass stat, but if there is, I imagine Liverpool today would place on it deep in the relegation zone. The only player who seemed almost, just almost, able to break the funk was Luis Diaz, whose tenacious nature almost led to the opening goal early in the game (and subsequently, I bet, an entirely different outcome), but then Slot took him out and even that slim chance evaporated.
Chief opportunity waster today was, unfortunately, Mo Salah, whose passes were atrocious. Then again, Szoboslai wasn’t much better, and Jota’s presence was barely noted. Trent couldn’t find his magical ability to place balls on a particular square inch from 50 yards away. There is a case to be made to start with fresher players eager to prove themselves in this kind of game, but Slot is new to English football, and Forest did exactly they needed to do to give him the kind of welcome he might have expected in August. To be fair, at least from the sounds coming through the TV, the Anfield crowd didn’t help, either, which is a shame, because Anfield can usually squeeze that bit of magic from the players when their performance is otherwise lackluster.
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Gravenberch was a singular beacon of hope (again), but it’s not like the rest of the team were horrible. The buildups were fine, even bright at times. The compact nature of Slot’s setup worked in defense and pretty much neutralized Forest. But it all repeatedly fizzled where it mattered. On a mere average day in terms of that last pass or play, Liverpool would have scored a couple. On a good day, it could have been a blowout. But today was a mediocre one, and Forest get to walk away with a delightful (for them) and surely unexpected outcome, and a very precious three points.
This season, with its extended stretch of two games a week due to the new Champions’ League format, will require a lot of squad rotation. To me, it should have started today. Now starts Arne Slot’s real test.
Good luck, Mr. Slot.
