Post-Match Thoughts: Liverpool 6-1 Brighton and Hove Albion

Posted on 19. Feb, 2012 by Tom Cullimore in Blog

So, Liverpool are into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and will play Stoke after overcoming a Brighton side unfortunate enough to concede three own goals. That doesn’t tell the whole story, though. Below are my top-5 talking points from this evening’s game:

1. Stewart Downing is far from a lost cause

The sometime England winger has come in for his fair share of criticism since his July transfer from Aston Villa. The vicious cycle of plummeting confidence and inadequate performances has claimed the scalps of countless players; Downing appeared, inescapably, to be next in line.

And yet, with long-established sceptical eyes fixed upon him, the ex-Middlesbrough man made what could well be the first steps to break the habit. His first half crosses were, if imperfect, representative of foundations being laid. Building still, Downing ventured a shot or two, then came to Jose Enrique’s rescue in defence, before providing the low cross for Andy Carroll to slot home Liverpool’s third.

It would be overly-generous to suggest this performance balances out the months of frustration that preceded it, but equally, for those quick to write him off, Stewart Downing remains willing to fight for his place in this Liverpool side.

2. Dalglish is right: you make your own luck

Ask any fan and they are likely to tell you the same thing: the good fortune of three own goals to the home club’s advantage have an element of the bittersweet; as useful as they were, how have Liverpool been deprived of that luck in any of their 8 home draws in the league?

Vindicated, at last, we return to the words of Kenny Dalglish. Time and time again he has repeated the mantra: you make your own luck. It takes Steven Gerrard chasing down a lost cause for Liam Bridcutt to miscontrol the ball into his own net. No team should expect their opponents to be intimidated automatically – it requires hard work to pressurise others into making mistakes. An own goal, ideal as it might be, is rarely necessary; any efficient football team is well trained on capitalising on errors from the opposition.

This result represents a lesson learned. Should such intelligence be displayed in the league, this side will find Champions League qualification far less elusive than the past months have suggested it might be.

3. Jordan Henderson will have better days in a Liverpool jersey

Compared to his fellow summer signings, Jordan Henderson has enjoyed a marginally easier ride from the press since his Sunderland switch, largely owing to often committed, if somewhat frustrating, displays. Today was an overwhelming case of the latter.

Hooked after 76 minutes for Dirk Kuyt, Henderson’s facial expression reflected what must be a deep personal disappointment following an almost entirely ineffective shift. Try as he might, his crosses were wayward, his shots weak and positional play virtually non-existent. Leaving the defensively..er, challenged, Johnson exposed to LuaLua’s explosive wing play was, at best, naive. At worst, it could have cost Liverpool further goals. On the one occasion he did manage to cover the Brighton midfielder, the Under-21 captain conceded a free kick that was dispatched by the away side to level the tie on 17 minutes.

I have defended Jordan Henderson many, many times since the beginning of the Premier League season in August. Regrettably, today, I cannot.

4. The Carroll-Suarez axis is key to Liverpool’s prospects this season

Given questions over the longevitiy of Luis Suarez’s stay on Merseyside, the combination of the club’s January signings post-May is another issue entirely, but that speculation seems to have done the Uruguayan no harm at all. A little sluggish in the opening hour or so, the forward began to come into his own as Brighton’s defence over-exerted themselves in an effort to reduce the deficit.

Drifting from deep or out wide to up front, Suarez’s movement effectively complimented Andy Carroll’s continual physical presence, whilst his darting runs seem ideally suited to Carroll’s knock-downs – a feature of his play that deserves particular credit for its increasing value to the team. It was only a matter of time, it seemed, before one of them set the other up to kill Brighton off.

Perhaps more than anything, Liverpool should take encouragement from the simplicity of the goal they engineered; if Carroll can assist Suarez, or vice versa, on a regular basis, draws will become narrow wins, narrow wins will become comfortable ones, and 7^th will become 4^th.

5. The Premier League could do an awful lot worse than Brighton and Hove Albion

No, wait, come back! Seriously, they could. For an hour or so, this was a well fought contest, aided by an away team willing to play attractive football and attack with purpose. There are plenty of Premier League sides who travel to Anfield without either of those intentions, and without wishing to sound condescending, the Championship outfit deserve great credit for the way they went about the game.

A Premier League with Brighton and Hove Albion in it would be more competitive, more entertaining, more fun. Teams who choose to play attacking football (take note, Villa, Stoke, Bolton) and manage to execute it effectively (ahem, Wigan..) deserve to play at the highest level. Who cares if they capitulate with 30 minutes to go? This season has seen some of the biggest winning margins against the top sides in the Premier League’s history. Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, Newcastle, Tottenham and Arsenal have all fallen to scorelines similar to today’s – who’s to say Brighton would do any worse?

And, who knows – Liam Bridcutt might even win the Golden Boot.

Let me know what you think of my 5 below, or on Twitter @tom_cullimore

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30 Responses to “Post-Match Thoughts: Liverpool 6-1 Brighton and Hove Albion”

Stevo

20. Feb, 2012

Cmon you reds! FA Cup, Carling Cup, and 4th PLACE!!! Please God!
- morbid8
  
  20. Feb, 2012
  
  if we win the Carling Cup… then the FA Cup & a top-four is defo possible !
Anonymous

20. Feb, 2012

I think we’ve seen the first baby steps of a steady formation and lineup from Liverpool. Suarez playing behind rather along side Carroll makes them so much more dangerous. Downing has to keep up that form and this may mean Bellers gets a crack on the right side if KD thinks Hendo and Kuyt were below par.
Unlike the set up at Old Toilet, the ball this time moved forward very quickly and I think LFC fans around the world love that brand of footy. I am quite aware that the opposition was a championship side but they were competent and play with the ball on the ground.
If KD doesn’t tinker with the formation too much for the rest of the season, I honestly think that fourth place will not seem so unreasonable.
And to any of the fans who were in the stadium last night, thanks so much! You were magnificent and please keep urging the team to attack. They need to get used to putting the ball in the back of the net, especially at Anfield.
- MerckZ
  
  20. Feb, 2012
  
  Do you think that was our “First XI”? Aside from Agger for Carragher…
  
  Correct me if I’m wrong, but were we playing a 4-2-2-2? Who makes way for Lucas? Do we try a 4-2-3-1 of:
  
  Reina
  Johnson—Skrtel—Agger—Enrique
  
  Lucas———Adam
  
  Suarez———Gerrard———Downing/Bellamy
  
  Carroll
  - morbid8
    
    20. Feb, 2012
    
    Reina
    
    Johnson/Kelly Skrtel Agger Enrique
    
    Bellamy Gerrard Lucas Downing
    
    Carroll Suarez
    
    That’s our best formation, i.e, a 4-4-2 formation.
    
    I put Kelly in the frame because he’s a much better defender than Johnson and does contribute to attacks. Johnson is inconsistent – he lacks concentration at times & his defending is poor IMO. Kelly is my first-choice.
    
    I prefer Downing on the left because he links-up well with Enrique & can benefit Carroll’s heading game with his excellent crossing.
- Anonymous
  
  20. Feb, 2012
  
  That’s a bit too much Championship Manager for me. What I am getting at is that whoever plays in whatever position, we seem to be settling into a rhythm of how to pass out of defence into midfield and quickly into attack. KD has played around with the tactics and formations to fit opponents this season and last but I’m starting to see a pattern similar to the old 1980s Big Red Machine.
  Suarez playing behind Carroll simply draws a back-four very narrow and higher up the pitch to cut them off. This is why Downing found himself with room to overlap El Pistolero and then Enrique doing likewise. My only disappointment was that this did not happen on the right with Hendo. Perhaps LuaLua was too quick or KD had given him instructions to be more defensive? But he was poor in every way.
  But eventually, I do see the Carroll-Suarez partnership becoming particularly potent. It is so hard to defend against them. Defend them high and expose your flanks, defend them deep and you play Russian roulette. We may lack pace for the rest of the season but if play with this much energy, we can make it to fourth place. Let’s hope Redknapp’s England gig destabilises Spurs and makes it a 3rd and 4th race rather than just 4th.
live4liverpool

20. Feb, 2012

Henderson was poor although his ball got luckily to Gerrard
redsting9

20. Feb, 2012

I think the result last night really needs to be tempered a bit. Of course Downing looked better…he looked against Oldham as well. Carroll looked slightly better as well, but again…we were playing a Championship side. We should win 6-1 more often than not.
redsting9

20. Feb, 2012

Henderson is a weird one. He literally disappears for extremely long portions of the match. I feel like all of our midfielders (Gerrard excluded) have massive holes in their game. Adam has very little athleticism, Henderson disappears and can’t break down a defense in the final third, Downing entire game is “Cross, cross, cross”.

We desperately need at least one mature, all-around midfielder in the summer. Not a “wait and see” like a Henderson. Someone who is a Top Four level midfielder.
redsting9

20. Feb, 2012

One more. I badly want Carroll to come good, but his sheer lack of movement (not his game) still doesn’t mesh quite right with Suarez. I think Suarez would be far more deadly with a striker who has pace and can be clever. Suarez and a Cavani *could* be like Gerrard and Torres in my opinion.

Right now when Carroll is playing they 100% know what we are going to try and do. Cross it to him. With Torres defenses never knew. We could cross or we could play his feet. We kept them off guard. With Suarez you never know what he’s going to do, but playing to Carroll’s feet is never an option because most moves die when that happens.
MerckZ

20. Feb, 2012

I hazard to say, I thought Carroll was the Man of the Match. He chased down players, showed speed and purpose, his finish for his goal was sublime, he had an assist and put in a great cross.

I think with more performances like that, against better opposition, will hopefully make commentators stop mentioning his price tag before, during and after EVERY match. He’s already been considerably more of a success for us than Torres has been for Chelsea.
Neil

20. Feb, 2012

I thought Henderson was shocking giving ball away and when it did find a man it was luckily that the brighton players touch was as bad as his
JODY

20. Feb, 2012

The CRACKS were just covered once again, wait untill we play Arsenal and Sunderland next month by the end of those two matches we should be somewhere around 8th or 9th on the Prem table.

Carling Cup, FA Cup or 4th you chose….. I know which I prefer.
truered

20. Feb, 2012

great game…all players did their part, hendo didnt do as bad as some people are suggesting, but i agree wasnt his best game, great vision to try pick out gerrard and lucky the brighton player missed the ball to let gerrard in.
loving the carrol pro of late he is proving the haters wrong!! gerrard is coming in to form and suarez what can you say about this guy gives every game. all round thanks guys got my moneys worth at anfield!
Sam

20. Feb, 2012

One thing I was asking myself after the game is why Adam is not taking penalties when Gerrard is not on the pitch. Yesterday was the second Suarez missed penalty I’ve seen, and I know Carroll missed his one a month or so ago.

Adam was the designated penalty take for Blackpool last season and scored a large portion of his goals that way. Behind Gerrard he’s the best set piece man on the team….so why is he not taking penalties when the skipper is off?
Anonymous

20. Feb, 2012

Because KD overruled his players from the dugout. He signalled for Suarez. You know what happened next.
Hubfan

20. Feb, 2012

Tom-agree with your points for the match. The OG’s result from us putting pressure on the other side, simple. When you do that they make mistakes. That’s how you make your own luck. Thought Andy played very well, nicely taken goal from a very good cross from Downing, and an unselfish play to allow Luis to score. With Gus Poyet’s support fro Luis I wish them every success in the rest of their season and hope we do see them in the PL next year. Lualua has a helluva leg on him to go with his pace.
Zach

20. Feb, 2012

Henderson always plays like that on the right. I think he should be preferred over Adam in the center of the pitch. Against a weaker side, a Gerrard and Henderson midfield duo would work nicely.
sam

20. Feb, 2012

Agreed about Henderson. He’s not a wingers. KK is putting a square peg in a round hole
live4liverpool

21. Feb, 2012

Henderson is poor in all positions if he would be next to gerrard we would consed so many goals .he cant tackle his poor at diffending his Useless
- Zach
  
  21. Feb, 2012
  
  That is why I said we could use them against weaker teams, like how we used Gerrard and Adam in the center just this last game. Both Gerrard and Adam are poor defensive midfielders, and besides that Henderson is a lot more defensively responsible than either of those. Also, Henderson has shown some really great signs when he plays in the center of the pitch. I think he will become a really good player, if not great.
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