The Week That Is – Liverpool’s Violets Need to Fire Against the Weak

Article by e-Liverpool Correspondent Tony Thorne

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In the aftermath of the draw against West Brom last week, it was suggested that the performance against Everton, when a hugely impressive attacking display destroyed a competent team inside half an hour, was the exception not the rule when it came to Liverpool after signing nobody in the transfer window. The phrase “shrinking violets” came to mind and everyone wondered how these meek little things would perform against the “Big Guns” of Arsenal.

How wrong they were. An immense pressing and attacking display put Arsenal to the sword within 20 unprecedented minutes, with man of the match performances from Sterling, Suarez, Sturridge and the ever-effervescent Philippe Coutinho. The young Brazilian should surely be on a home flight for the World Cup and he was excellent again for Liverpool here where he owned Jack Wilshere, England’s great young hope, in every department throughout the afternoon.

But for every positive play Liverpool offered, Arsenal provided inept moments of losing the ability to pass the ball at all. Mesut Ozil, the £42million signing from Real Madrid was made to look ordinary by the hard work of Steven Gerrard and Jordan Henderson, the latter of which robbed the ball from Ozil to set up the move for the third goal. Ozil has come in for a lot of criticism, likely linked to his price tag, but the anonymous Arteta and Cazorla must be made to shoulder the blame for this performance.

For Liverpool however, level heads must prevail. For the fantastic results against top opposition in the last couple of months (prior to beating Arsenal 5-1, the Reds were also victorious 4-0 against derby rivals Everton and 5-0 winners at White Hart Lane against Tottenham), they have shown a Benitez-esque tendency to drop points to those lower placed Premier League clubs who in theory they should be beating by similar scorelines. But four dropped points against Aston Villa and West Brom should now give Liverpool impetus to perform in the midweek game against Fulham.

True, Fulham defended admirably for 80 minutes against a Manchester United side who passed and crossed their way into a stupor, before 80 seconds loss of concentration saw Van Persie and Carrick take Manchester United into the lead. However, Fulham showed that they should not be underestimated, despite being bottom of the league, by grabbing a last minute equaliser through Darren Bent.

Given the current form of the four clubs, the Wednesday night fixtures for Liverpool and Arsenal should see comfortable wins for both. But as Liverpool fans can attest to this season, it seems that when the pressure is off, the team stalls and lacks the incisive pace and movement that has characterised big wins against the big clubs. Wednesday night needs to see the pendulum swing, and Liverpool to prove they can cement a top four place. Let’s see if the violets can fire a cannonball.

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