With a win over Sheffield United in the books, we dig a little
deeper into what it means for Liverpool.

Liverpool beat Sheffield United 2-1. It’s a very routine scoreline
for a match that was anything but. Could it be 4-0 to Liverpool?
Yes. Could’ve Sheffield United taken a point, or more? Absolutely.
But they didn’t and the Champions won.

In order to talk about this match I think it’s important to talk
about what happened the days and hours leading up to it. I mean
this in two different ways. We have to talk about the moments
following the final whistle in Amsterdam on Wednesday night.
Liverpool had just won a game in which they did not score — the
only goal in the game was an own goal — but they kept the opponent
at zero. Immensely important given the task at hand. The best
defender in the world is out for some time and the backup
goalkeeper is still in the net. The whistle goes and the manager is
immediately on the pitch giving his players hugs like they just won
another trophy. The message couldn’t be clearer from Jurgen Klopp,
it’s us versus the world. It’s him, and his players, and this club,
up against everyone else this season. Oh, and by the way, that
“everyone” sometimes means the referees.

Now to talk about the few hours before the match. First it
starts as a rumor online, and you protect yourself because rumors
happen all the time and they’re not true more often than not.
Alisson Becker nearly had his arm broken off or something. He
absolutely can’t be fit yet. Then, around about the time the team
buses are showing up to the stadium, the man himself posts a
graphic of himself on Instagram with the phrase, “God is good,” on
it. There’s just no way, right? He’s just messing with us. And
finally, the confirmation. 90 minutes before kickoff the team’s
official channels tell us he’s in the matchday squad. A miracle of
modern medicine.

I bring up these two things before I talk about what happened on
the pitch because I think it’s the two things that inform what’s
going to happen in the game. Liverpool against the world is true
when that penalty is given, it’s true when George Baldock
takes a cheapshot on Gini Wijnaldum near the technical area and the
manager needs to physically hold the Dutchman back from doing
something that might’ve been frowned upon. It’s true when Diogo
Jota makes it 2-1 after just making his second 80 yard run in two
minutes on dead legs.

I bring up Alisson because he keeps it 2-1 three times before
the final whistle. Maybe we forget about this result when we’re on
the march in April. We might look back and just remember the three
points, but I guarantee the manager and his team know what this win
means for them. It reminds them they’re champions.

Now, let’s dig deeper on Liverpool’s 2-1 victory over Sheffield
United.

Winners and Losers

Winners

Bobby Firmino

There’s not a person in the world that needed to do something
more than Roberto Firmino needed to put a ball into the
net. I do not care to rehash the countless arguments about his
form, but all I want to say is that you could certainly tell that
this patch of form was weighing on him. I think the switch in
formation tonight was more about getting him a kickstart than
anything else. And it worked! He got his goal, of course, but he
was actively involved in the build up. His touch looked good and
his passing was crisp.

Bobby’s back.

Joe Gomez

The clean sheet on Wednesday night was so, so important for
Gomez. First game without Virgil van Dijk. The backup goalkeeper is
still in. Pressure abounds on his shoulders.

This match was even more important for him. Sheffield United are
a really difficult team to play. As Audun pointed out on Twitter, Oliver McBurnie won 13
aerial duels tonight. He’s a huge forward. Those are the type of
forwards Gomez really struggles against, but he won his battles
tonight. Sure, the scoreline shows that the opponent scored one
goal, but it was from a penalty that shouldn’t be a penalty. I
think Gomez will go to bed happy with his performance tonight.

Diogo Jota

How do you find an adequate backup for the best attacking front
three in the world? That’s a question Liverpool’s decision makers
and fans have been asking for two years. Well, I think we finally
have our answer in a small Portuguese man with a beautiful smile.
Jota gets the winner and of course that’s important, but I was so
impressed with what he offered in terms of options all night. Being
the 4th attacker allowed him to find interesting spots on the pitch
all night and let Mo Salah get into dangerous areas. What a signing
he has been. Timo Werner who?

Losers

Talking about referees

Maybe you’re reading this site for the first time tonight. Maybe
you’ve known me for a long time. One thing I hate doing is talking
about referees. I think they’re nerds and they ruin football and
I’m pretty sure all the calls even out over the course of a season.
But for the love of the Christ have the calls been atrocious
lately. There’s everything that happens in the Derby last week and
then tonight Fabinho comes sweeping in like Inspector Gadget to win
a beautiful tac—wait, it’s been given as a foul. Hang on, it’s
going to VAR? For what? Oh they’ve given a penalty.

I’ll say this one thing. VAR is only as good as the human
looking at the screen. What’s happening with the technology and the
referees who use it in England is downright scandalous at the
moment. Every other league on the planet has figured out how to use
this technology correctly. Sort it out.

The shape

I have mixed feelings about how the formation worked tonight.
From the first twelve minutes of the game, it looked like Liverpool
were going to score five goals and coast to victory. Then Sheffield
is 1-0 up and the Reds spend the next 35 minutes trying to figure
out how to walk like they’re a new born baby giraffe. I liked what
the 4-2-3-1 gave to the attack in terms of options, but I also
think it took away from the midfield. Maybe that’s different when
Thiago is fit. I don’t know. Jury is still out on this.

Not being able to celebrate beautiful Salah
goals

So, this goal didn’t count because Salah was marginally offside.
There’s certainly things in this world that are more pressing in
terms of issues that need to be solved, but I’d like to suggest
that when we get around to finally fixing the rules of football we
do something about goals like this. Sure, he’s marginally offside
but what happens after that should probably mean the goal gets to
count. I want to celebrate this goal and remember it forever. But
instead there’s some lines drawn on my TV screen and I’m just
annoyed. Oh well.

What Happens Next?

If you thought you could take a few breaths you thought wrong.
Liverpool return to European action on Tuesday night to take on
something called FC Midtjylland. People tell me they’re the Danish
champions. I think they’re good at breakfast pastries or something.
I’m really not sure so I’ll leave the serious analysis to the
people who actually know about football.

The march is on. Up the Us Against The World Reds.