Liverpool vs. Wolves: Post-Match Analysis

Paul Tomkins, Andrew Beasley, Daniel Rhodes and other TTT regulars will give their thoughts on the match for 24 hours after the game, so the article received via email is unlikely to be the final version. There's statistics from the match and videos too.

Post-Match Thoughts

Paul Tomkins

That was a weird game of football, in which Liverpool tried to play fast with a slow midfield, and countless mistakes at the back undermined the efforts.

The match had an odd pattern, perhaps because Wolves seemed to press really well, and the Reds had to keep checking back, or trying ambitious passes, or giving the ball away. There seemed little controlled possession from either side, and none of Liverpool's midfield could catch any of the Wolves runners.

New signing Cody Gakpo did well in the first half, and showed three of four moments of quality, albeit the game often seemed too frantic for everyone, let alone a newcomer.

It was one of those games where Thiago and Joël Matip had each other's boots on, and such fine technical players were getting so much wrong.

That said, for a "shit Andy Carroll", Darwin Núñez is doing a funny job of being a failure, with 10 goals in half a season, when Carroll scored just 11 for the club in 58 games.

I said earlier today that I felt the addition of Gakpo would help Trent Alexander-Arnold by having another target for crosses, and that Gakpo's presence could free up space for Núñez. It was a brilliant move to make it 1-1: a lovely ball in and a great first-time finish to equalise. Yet overall, the Reds were all at sea at the back, and could easily have lost 3-2.

Mo Salah took his goal brilliantly but then ignored not one, not two, but three penetrating runs ahead of him to dally on the ball, as if he didn't want to give a chance to a teammate. Playing in the sprinter-strikers is what Salah has to start doing, now that he's no longer that man. Ben Doak was very lively as his replacement, and he's super-quick, too. A lack of pace in other areas of the team is now the issue.

The second half of my comments and those of the others follow for subscribers only.