Final Score: Liverpool 1-3 Swansea
Liverpool Goal: Luis Suárez (76)
Swansea Goals: Chico (34), Nathan Dyer (72), Jonathan de Guzmán (90)
I came, I saw, they conquered. Arriving at Anfield in good spirits and a real sense of optimism, only to have it sapped in forty five minutes. The major concern for the future is that a game like this can have a lasting effect because for all the talk of how maligned the League Cup is, it still hurts. The team was as I'd been promised it would be prior to kick off, with Henderson at right back and a chance to see Samed Yesil in the flesh. I was a little surprised to see how seriously Michael Laudrup and Swansea were taking the game but that's a measure of how important coming to Anfield remains to some teams.
The first sign that things were about to go wrong was Swansea winning the toss and turning us around and forcing us to attack The Kop in the first half. In general I'm not very superstitious but when it comes to sport it's the silly little things that if not right case a great deal of alarm. Of all the games we've played this season, this was probably the slowest start to any of them with a lot of short passes being played in between red shirts in our own half of the field. Swansea watched us carefully and were quick to put a foot in any time we tried to go up a gear and so it went back we settled and started all over again. The first real incident came from the right where Henderson set Downing away down the flank. His cross went flying over everybody but Assaidi met it at the far post with no-one around him. Were his touch any better he could probably have tested the goalkeeper but as it was the ball trickled out for a goal kick.
Prior to the game it was Henderson playing at right-back that I was excited to see but also Jack Robinson - especially in the absence of Glen Johnson - is someone who also needed watching. Continuing the trend we've had for much of the season, we were a lot more fluid the times we went down the left hand side as opposed to the right. This time it was perhaps more by design with Henderson out of position and Robinson almost perfect for this role but the one thing that was a little strange was that we persisted going down the right and it stagnated our play. Using Robinson and Assaidi more often would have been the easier option and as such a large majority of our attacks came to a grinding halt whenever we'd have it on the right.
So much this season has been talked about the balance required for those that play in the midfield three and we've never gotten it more wrong than here. Joe Allen was very prevalent all throughout the game but in the early stages he looked to be the only one willing to move more than a few yards in and around the middle of the park. Jonjo Shelvey and Joe Cole meanwhile were a little more restricted with their movements and it gave Allen a lot more to do, the result of which being that Swansea were able to settle into the game very quickly. They were still under a large amount of pressure when they didn't have the ball and we did manage to force a couple of errors and keep the play firmly in their half of the pitch but without really creating a chance of any real note. An awful sloppiness spread right throughout the team as in we gave the ball away frequently in a short space of time. Cole, Downing and Yesil, all guilty of conceding possession needlessly with the most frustrating thing of all being that these weren't difficult passes being attempted.
While there was no imminent danger everything seemed fine. Swansea didn't particularly look like scoring but there were quite a few warning signs. In addition to our seemingly transparent midfield and not being able to properly service or support our young and inexperienced striker up front we continued to turn over the ball from the back at an alarming rate when there was no pressure on whatsoever. Brad Jones who up until the first Everton goal has done everything that's been asked of him seemed to have no real guidance on his distribution and it compounded the entire performance. A gap had appeared in between the midfield and Joe Cole which not only made it difficult for he and Yesil to get any support but forced Allen to work overtime in having to do Cole's work while he was absent. Whether it was by design or not it operated like a basic 4-4-2 and by this time not only had we handed the initiative to Swansea, they were growing in confidence by the minute.
The other major problem we had was that very concept I had been so bullish about before the game. In his role at right back, Henderson received a fair amount of the ball close to the attacking third of the field. At no point unless he was in acres of space did he make any attempt to get beyond the defender and toward the byline. This isn't a criticism of Henderson because going past people isn't in his game but what it did do was allow the Swansea left back Tiendalli
the freedom of knowing that he could face him up and only have two options. Either we'd play it back or he'd play in a ball into the box, which would inevitably be headed away. I'm all for trying these kind of experiments in games like this, but it became very clear that this would be the case and if we want to put defences under pressure we have to ask them as many questions as possible. To his credit Henderson did get to the byline on occasion for the duration the game so it's not to say that he didn't do it, but the idea that he couldn't create the space to do it himself was another thing that made it easier for Swansea to defend.
As time went on, from being comfortable with things they began to look a threat. Ashley Williams had already chipped one over Carragher's head and very nearly played in Nathan Dyer before Michu managed to get it down in and around a few red shirts and lay it off to Ki Sung-Yeung who fired wide. By the twenty minute mark we were still comfortable enough to knock it around between defence and the wide areas but the passing and movement was so predictable (the same pass between Robinson and Carragher was played four times) that high pressure timed at the right moment from Swansea was able to relieve us of the ball and subsequently forced us to give away a free kick. Now the midfield around Joe Allen had disintegrated and they were bypassing it completely and though he was gallantly trying to do the job of three men, it was infective. Laudrup's men were now in complete control and able to boss the possession in the same way we'd want to, only ever giving the ball away when something overly extravagant wouldn't quite come off.
Of all those who at the time I thought came out of the game with any credit, Sebastian Coates seemed to shine like a light in the darkness. Certainly of those performers in the first half, although he did only really grow in to the game more as it wore on much like the rest of the team did. It was his driving run into the Swansea half that was the first real sign of intent we'd made for some time. Running with purpose and eventually heading down the right hand side to put a cross in, which unfortunately did not match up with his other good work. Though the ball was recovered well, Assaidi and Robinson were unable to force an opening as they had numbers back. Then came the passing move of the game so far and once again it was our opponents who were looking good in full flow. Building up in the middle of the park on our left hand side, they sucked us in and then released Hernandez down their left where there was now a lot of space. Henderson fronted him up initially but then completely missed his run in behind and the one-two that was played took out five Liverpool players but fortunately Jamie Carragher was alert enough to get a challenge in. The away fans roared. They could sense just how well their team were beginning to play.
It was at this point we lost all our composure and Swansea swarmed us like a rash. Constantly giving the ball away now, Michu had a good shot blocked again before we nearly gifted them an opening as Henderson's ball back to Jones looked agonisingly short only for the goalie to recover it well with quick feet. Even directly after that we gave it away twice in quick succession with Jones' aimless clearance and Joe Allen holding onto it for too long when we eventually recovered it. Though his kicking wasn't up to much, at the very least his punching was a lot better than on Sunday. Swansea swung in a dangerous ball and he came to meet it firmly, getting it away this time instead of back into the danger area. From here we actually managed a chance, although to say it was created would be a little bit of a stretch. Downing - who had quietly been having a decent first half - took it upon himself to fire a shot in at the as yet untested Tremmel in goal and the ball squirmed away from a corner.
What we saw next was a glimpse of what was to be the entire second half. Shelvey couldn't find a way through and Joe Allen then had it taken from him by Michu. The break was on for Swansea and when Nathan Dyer laid it across to De Guzman it looked certain that this would be the opening goal. His first touch let him down however and allowed Coates to make a challenge that forced his shot. Instead of being able to place it, he now tried to chip it over Jones and it floated harmlessly over. The game was now a little more end to end but only one team looked like they had any real bite about them. Samed Yesil can be many things at this age I'm just not sure if he's what you would call a target man. We kept playing these hopeful balls into him and while I think he should have the quality to make them stick a little more than he did, I'd be very keen to see what he could actually do with decent service. He'll probably get a lot of the stick for this game - especially this wretched first half performance - but I think it would be unfair given what was going on around him.
The goal - when it came - wasn't all that much of a surprise, sadly. There's this rather depressing inevitability that when we're on top of a team, we won't be able to score but when they're all over us it's only a matter of time. This one was fairly straightforward and came from one of the areas I thought we looked most secure in all night. Swansea aren't a team that are particularly noted for their set pieces but they have players with good technique and all it takes is one lapse in concentration. That role was filled by Coates, who let his man get in front of him and Jones in goal could do nothing at all about Chico's header which sent the away fans behind the goal delirious. Almost immediately we could easily have been level. Assaidi did some good work on the left hand side - having previously had an unusually quiet half - and Joe Cole with a free header could only give it back to the goalkeeper. Another one of our players who was having an equally miserable evening was Jonjo Shelvey. There appeared to be a switch flicked in his head as soon as we went behind and he was visibly desperate to be involved whereas previously he'd let the game drift a little. Admirable intent, but all he actually did was play an overhit cross from deep and foul one of their defenders while trying to hard to rescue the ball. Things were not looking good.
Despite his obvious problems with the way in which we played around him up front, Yesil did manage to show one glimpse of what he's capable of. It also came from the one time we played the ball into him with any real care rather than just firing it in at him. Joe Allen caressed the ball through from the edge of the penalty area and with his back to goal Yesil turned his man brilliantly and forced him into diving in to block the shot that followed, saving what would have been a likely equalizer. Despite this and the slight upping of the urgency in the time that remained between the half time break, it was more or less the only chance we had. There was enough pressure there to earn a mistake from Swansea but they were always first to the second ball. They were happy to knock it around and more than comfortable when we were trying to do the same. Halloween night was a fitting occasion for that first half performance, for it was something of a horror show.
Just like in the Merseyside derby at the weekend, there were changes being made by Brendan Rodgers at half time. Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez came on for Samed Yesil and Joe Cole; the men most capable of adding a real cutting edge to the team. From the restart there was a lot more of an energy about the team too, far more than had been evident in the first half. A lot more aggressive pressure too, epitomised by Joe Allen having played a terrible pass in midfield only to win it back and set Shelvey away who fired over moments later. Having been on just a matter of moments, Suarez already was causing more problems for the Swansea defence than we'd managed in the first half, forcing Ashley Williams into a really good challenge inside the box after Robinson played him through down the left hand side. Another chance fell to Suarez a few moments later, Jonjo Shelvey cutting his foot across the ball and curling it in beyond the defenders. It was a difficult header for the ball was hit high and hard but still a chance that a striker would loved. From having had no real grip on the game, suddenly at least we had a hand in it.
The difference between the two sides in the first half was a combination of intelligent movement and good passing in and around midfield. Even though we'd upped our game, Swansea were still playing some very nice stuff and finding gaps almost as soon as they appeared. Defensively they backed off a little more than they had in the first half, although this was partly because we had become more direct instead of waiting for a gap to open Shelvey, Gerrard and Allen were eager to drive at them far more often. What that did was set up the theme of the second half, with Swansea congesting the middle and not allowing us the chance to get in behind them, as they'd double up on any of our wide players save for Henderson whom they'd sit in front of. From here they were happy to play on the break safe in the knowledge that they had the pace and technique to pull it off. So we camped ourselves in their half and waited for an opportunity. When one didn't arrive we tried to force it.
All three midfielders were guilty of playing balls into forward areas that had little end product, although Allen's fired ball into the centre was half cut out fell to Downing. The lay off to Suarez then saw him shoot wide. Steven Gerrard has the confidence of believing he can do anything on a football pitch - mostly because he has - and that has on occasion this season led to him doing things that you wouldn't normally condone. With Jordan Henderson in acres of space outside him, instead of laying it off to him Gerrard decided to shoot. It was an absolute thunderbolt of an effort that hit the far post and came back out, straight to Stewart Downing on his wrong foot who missed an open goal. With half an hour to go, Brendan Rodgers made another bold decision. Raheem Sterling came on for Ousamma Assaidi which was not only our last substitution but also a clear statement of trying to win the game rather playing for extra time. The validity of having to "rely" on a seventeen year old at a time like that is a little questionable, but still the intent was there from the manager.
From having had very little to do in the first half, at the very least Luis Suarez was keeping the Swansea back four busy with his constant harassment. Every it looked like they'd dealt with a threat he'd pop up again and win the ball back, desperate to affect the game but drowned out in the sheer number of people around him when he did. On the break Swansea were sharpening their teeth once more. Joe Allen was caught in possession looking physically drained - and possibly even mentally tired after that first half - and what followed was mayhem in the penalty area. Pablo Hernandez forced a double save from Jones before he was called into action again by Michu. The subsequent rebound went from Michu to Ashley Williams back to Nathan Dyer, whose goal-bound effort was blocked by a sliding Jamie Carragher. The corner that followed Swansea even managed to create an opening which forced Jones into another save. Swansea had found that extra gear once again.
Those moments where you think you're safe, they're the ones when you're most vulnerable. It appeared as though we'd just about rode out the storm. Michu and Hernandez combined once more to force Jones into another save and Ashley Williams probably should have done better with his header from the following corner. After that we were finally able to get our foot on the ball once more. When Suarez was fouled on the edge of the box, it looked as though we had a real chance to exert some pressure of our own. How we ended up conceding is both quite mind boggling and also a testament to how good Swansea were on the break. Gerrard's cross was good and Shelvey put it back across goal where a toe would have been enough for an leveller. The exact same kind of foot Michu managed to get in and set away Hernandez after a serious game of head tennis and a lumped up ball in the air caught us cold on the half way line. Three Swansea players were clear ahead of the covering defenders; Michu, Hernandez with the ball and Dyer on the far side. There was very little that could be done at this point and the ball was played across for Dyer to slot home and double the lead for Swansea.
For as long as I can remember, we don't lay down easily; even in the worst of circumstances. We've recovered instantly on a couple of occasions this season already when giving away a goal and so it proved to be the case here. There was a moment when Jonjo Shelvey played a cross field ball to Jordan Henderson only to have it go out for a throw where heads could have dropped. The very next chance we got however, the game turned on it's head. Sterling was pushed over by Ashley Williams and Steven Gerrard stepped up to take control of it. I've been critical of his corners and free kicks in the past but so far this season they've been absolutely top notch and so it proved again with a great ball in to find Luis Suarez who headed home and with fifteen minutes or so to go, put some doubt in the minds of the Swansea faithful and lift everybody else inside Anfield that we could be in for a blockbuster finish.
If you're trying to direct a comeback, Steven Gerrard would be your first choice for a protagonist. He was at the heart of absolutely everything here, a real driving force. There were times as the clock ticked down that he became a little too extravagant but circumstances dictate and in that situation I'd rather let a footballer of his talents decide what the right course of action is. Nothing had changed in the minds of our opponents either, for they continued to counter attack with real menace and Michu forced Brad Jones into another wonderful save to keep the tie alive as we went into the final stages. At the other end Stewart Downing was trying to make himself a hero, his powerful shot so very nearly being spilled enough by the goalkeeper that it trickled behind him. For the first real time in the match Swansea were looking a little rattled in defence and not quite as composed as they had been previously. They were however always able to have a man in the right place to put a foot in, and when Suarez went dancing down the left hand touchline Tremmel was there to make the save.
A frantic few minutes unfolded. As we grew more desperate, Swansea kept the ball under some serious pressure. Even Seb Coates was bombing forward again, after which Jonjo Shelvey was quick to react and to cover when they tried to break. The final real opportunity to force extra time fell to the feet of the man you'd expect it to, as Jonjo Shelvey held it up and rolled it back for Luis Suarez to fire wide. There was still time for another goal however, as Swansea capped the night off perfectly. Michu again held the ball up brilliantly after being played in down the left hand side. He found De Guzman running in for a tap in to underline their success and compound our misery. The final whistle was blown shortly after and with it our reign as League Cup holders comes to an end. Forget what anybody says about priorities, we really felt that one. Now we have to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and get on with the task of getting back up the league table. Maybe then we'll be able to smile again.
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