Liverpool v Everton A Liverpool Perspective
I will get the officiating out of the way first, as usual it was horrendously bad, with Tierney on VAR being a multiple repeat offender and should not be near a Premier League match. The decision not to send off Tarkowski was idiotic, at best, but it was one of a string of poor decisions. For Moyes to defend it by saying that Tarkowski got the ball and it was a great derby tackle, just shows how out of touch with the modern game he is. Yes he got the ball cleanly, he then had plenty of time to avoid smashing Mac Allister high up the leg with a leg breaker, but intentionally followed through to ‘leave something on him’ in the way that used to be normal. It was not even an actual tackle, it was a clearance that he followed through afterwards. Mac Allister was not near enough to actually tackle, which meant he had no need for that follow through at all. That is not allowable in the modern game, because those kind of things cause serious injuries.
Then there was the incident which led to Jota’s booking, when he was clearly fouled repeatedly and then an Everton player kicked the ball out, which the referee Sam Barrott saw as an Everton throw. Then there was the bizarre decision, twice, to pull back Liverpool on a break for a foul, rather than play the advantage, which was a clear advantage both times. Particularly the second, which led to Pickford once again throwing himself into a ridiculous and reckless high challenge in an attempt to injure the opponent, this time Nunez, who then was booked. I still do not understand why. There was seemingly a belief that it was for rolling back onto the pitch and attempting to time waste, but the game was already stopped for an injury, so how could it have wasted time? It was simply poor refereeing by yet another set of PGMOL officials who are failing the game.
The game itself was a battle of two distinct styles, Slot trying to dominate possession, control the game and create chances through slick passing and quick movement of the ball or dribbles in and around the box. Moyes had set out his stall to drop off, sit deep and look to hit on the counter, while sending out his players to be physical and bully Liverpool’s more technically adept players, something which worked well for Nottingham Forest earlier this season.
The first half was worrying as Liverpool sat off too much in midfield and were not right on top of the Everton midfield, harrying and pressing them. It did not help that the mid and long range passes were mostly going astray. No one was dropping in to help out the defence when a centre-back brought the ball out, something which continued in the second half as well, though Gravenberch did drop in to the right-back position when Jones got forward. That often left the centre-backs one-on-one at the back against Beto. Not normally a problem for Konate and van Dijk, and for the first 20 minutes it was fine last night as Konate got the better of the Everton forward. After that, Beto had the best of the battle, helped in large part by van Dijk having his worst game in a Liverpool shirt.
I have never seen him quite so poor, at times he was so busy pointing and shouting he was not noticing the play and being caught a few yards up field. Even when he was back, he was so weak and his attempts to win the ball were almost comically bad at times. It was like Ozan Kabak had returned on loan again. It is worrying that two centre-backs were given so much trouble by just one centre-forward and I think Liverpool fans should be thankful that Moyes was too negative to spot the opportunity and take advantage of it.
Due to poor defending and laxity in midfield, Liverpool were unable to control the possession the way Slot likes and failed to create the chances they should have done. Without the passing quality of Alexander-Arnold, and missing Elliott to provide creativity instead, it would often end with a hopeful cross into the box, where Everton’s big defenders lapped it up, as you would expect. That is a decent tactic if you have drawn defenders out of position to give players space to run into, but that was rarely happening.
The second half saw the intensity level raised and the midfield got on top of Everton, who looked to slow markedly as the second half wore on. The pressure was cranked up, at long last, as Liverpool’s midfield finally started to win second balls and hold onto possession for long periods, penning Everton back into their own box. Once that happened, it was almost inevitable a goal was going to come, with Everton having resorted to just clearing their lines, rather than playing a ball to anyone.
What is annoying is to see how, straight after taking the lead, Liverpool immediately lowered their intensity again and allowed Everton to come back into the game. It is something that has been happening since the Klopp days, which makes me think it is not a part of Slot’s tactical plan. So far it has not come back to bite the team in the Premier League, but that does not mean they should rest on their laurels and just accept it. It needs to be looked at for the long term.
Everton
Everton suffered yesterday due to Moyes. This is now 20 matches he has managed at Anfield and he has 0 (zero/nil/none) wins to show for it, despite often coming up against some very poor Liverpool teams, pre-Klopp. His negative attitude once again destroyed any real hope for them. Going into the game, I can understand his caution, though I would have expected some kind of plan to test out Jones at right-back at least. There was absolutely nothing at the start, other than hope Beto could conjure up something. Even when it was clear the Liverpool centre-backs were having a day to forget, Moyes did nothing to put more pressure on the defence.
Instead, he did what he does, send out his team to sit deep, kick and spoil and hope for a break to get them in on the counter. Surely this was the game to push someone up on the Everton left, give the defence an extra body to deal with and test out Jones’ defending? Especially after watching van Dijk have a horror show, you would have expected him to take a chance and put someone up in support of Beto. The only real time there seemed to be any plan to put bodies forward and take a chance where from long throws into the box.
That was the big difference with Forest, they had a plan to attack later in the game, while Moyes just carried on regardless. Forest brought on wingers who stayed high up, putting pressure on Liverpool in wide areas and it worked. Instead of using the lack of a genuine full-back as a way of trying to win, Moyes used it as an opportunity to double and triple mark Salah as a way of trying not to lose. You would not think that Everton were safe in the league, you would think they were still right in a relegation battle. Moyes had nothing to lose, but once again all he thought about was not losing.
Liverpool
Kelleher – he was lucky Beto was offside and hit the post, as he did not cover himself in glory in either instance. Worse was his flap at a cross he could have easily caught under no pressure. On the ball, he was decent enough, but he needs to be more commanding as a keeper.
Jones – hard to judge him as a right-back as he was under no defensive pressure at all. He did not offer as much of an attacking outlet as Bradley, nor offer the quality of pass that Alexander-Arnold does to force the opposition back. That just allowed Everton to surround Salah with extra bodies, knowing there was no other real threat on that flank. He needed to impose himself on the game more. As it was, he was just there as an extra body in midfield.
Konate – for the first 18-20 minutes, he was dominant, winning every ball played towards Beto, then he was shambolic for the rest of the first half. The second half was a bit of a stroll, as Liverpool dominated possession so heavily and he was not put under pressure.
van Dijk – an abysmal display from the Liverpool captain. I have never seen anything quite so bad from him before. He was bullied by Beto badly in the first half. Like Konate, he had it easy in the second half, never being put under the one on one pressure he had faced, and floundered under, in the first half.
Robertson – had a poor game. Defensively he was sometimes part of the shambles at the back, but he was also poor going forward, other than making some good runs. The problem was that, after making a good run, he would receive the ball and make a mess of delivering something or shoot wildly.
Gravenberch – showed some good movement, getting forward and combining well with others, but the final ball let him down every time. Added to that, he was not providing any cover for the defence. Konate and van Dijk both like to edge forward when Liverpool are in possession and sometimes will bring the ball out, when that happens Gravenberch or Mac Allister should be dropping back in to cover. That never happened. He did cover at right-back at times when Jones got forward, but it seemed needless as Everton had no attacking threat on the flank.
Szoboszlai – he did so much good work, but again he passed up opportunities to shoot that I believe he should have taken. Keeping the ball is great, but sometimes you need to hit it from outside the area to draw defenders out when you have the ball in that position. That then creates space in the box.
Mac Allister – he was lucky not to be seriously hurt by Tarkowski as his foot was planted. I would like to see him threading some balls into the box, but there was a lack of space and movement in there. Defensively he was, as usual, caught wanting, not being aware of the way Konate and van Dijk were edging forward and drifting wide. I would have liked to see him drop into the centre between the two of them to offer an option for a pass and provide defensive cover in the case of a loose pass.
Salah – was well marshalled by Everton, who double- and triple-teamed him throughout the game. That did mean there was space elsewhere, particularly for Diaz. Still had a couple of moments, but just ended up crowded out.
Jota – if you took the goal out of his performance, he was utterly abysmal, battling with van Dijk for the worst player on the pitch. He was running round like a headless chicken, constantly giving the ball away. But that one moment changed it all, when he did his usual stumbling run to beat a couple of players and slot him. You do have to question what Branthwaite was doing though, as he just ran away from him and the goal to open up the space. The key is that, when that chance came, he took it.
Diaz – caused havoc and was brilliant right up until the moment it came to release the ball. His ball every time was poor, except the little flick for the goal. I know Everton are complaining he was offside on the goal, and I agree the rules are nonsensical as any player on the pitch is interfering with play, but under the laws of the game he was not offside and did really well to stop and wait.
Nunez – replaced Jota in the 75th minute. Needs to do more, to have more of an impact on the game than simply causing havoc and producing one lay off. Jota was overall dreadful, but he did the most important thing, which is score. Nunez needs to just concentrate on netting a few between now and the end of the season.
b>Gakpo – was brought on in the stead of Diaz in the 85th minute. Never really got much chance to impose himself.
Endo – replaced Salah in the 92nd minute. I think he should have come on much sooner to see the game out.
Written by Tris Burke April 04 2025 22:42:50
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