Liverpool 4 – 1 Barnsley – Match Analysis

The Super Reds suffered a 4 – 1 defeat to Premier League Champions Liverpool in an FA Cup third round tie at Anfield on Monday night.  

The scoreline certainly was unjust on Barnsley who put on a battling and organised display as well as creating numerous chances. The Reds were truly still in the game until the dying minutes when Liverpool scored two late goals and had to resort to bringing their big guns on for fear of Barnsley snatching something.

Keillor-Dun hit the post for the Reds in the opening minute; Cleary had a good penalty shout go in favour of the Premier League team and the Reds were undone by in truth some spectacular goals.

Phillips scored a gift of a goal against his boyhood club which must have been a dream come true for him and kept Barnsley in the game for a long period of time at only 2 – 1 down.

Despite the scoreline, I was very impressed with the way Barnsley played and applied themselves and the way Hourihane adapted the team.

It was the most resolute and organised display that I have witnessed all season. And despite conceding four goals, probably the best we have been defensively. We were certainly difficult to break down which was why Liverpool were reliant on absolute screamers.

Hourihane went against his preferred four at the back and played 5-4-1, we sat deep and kept our shape and looked a lot more solid. Liverpool had the vast majority of the ball as you would expect but we made life difficult for them and still managed to be a threat going forward, so much so that Cleary was named man of the match.

The most important aspect of this game was that we could be proud of the way the boys played but also what we can learn to take into the next game and how it can be effective in the league.

When Hourihane moved to a back four at the beginning of the season I was all for it. But despite some terrific performances in terms of going forward we have certainly suffered defensively.

The defensive players we have seem more suited to back five and the performance on Monday certainly showed that. I thought Shepherd possibly had his best game of the season. De Gevigney can only play in a back three. Watson has been steady as right back but not good enough going forward so right sided centre back suits him and O’Keefe was brilliant at right wing back. Ogbeta, you can apportion blame to him for their second goal, but we looked a lot more balanced with him in the team and playing as wing back against League One opposition would reduce his defensive duties. I am however hopeful that Gent is the long-term solution at left back or left wing back.

For me, he must stick with this formation for the next league game. We will see a lot more of the ball which may count against playing this way, but we just need wing backs pushing on and even centre backs stepping into midfield if we control the ball. Off the ball I really do believe we need a back five.

A main reason for reverting to back four was because he liked to play wingers, but he has shown with this formation that he can still play Cleary as a winger and having O’Keefe as a wingback is much better than having an out and out right winger anyway.

So, for me it has to be the same team on Saturday barring the addition of new goalkeeper hopefully now that Cooper has gone back.

COYR