Peter talks to our regular contributor Paul Smith about all things LFC
Hello Paul, what a crazy end to the game v Spurs! Firstly, what was your take on the performance and decisions made by the officials?
It was disgusting and that is putting it lightly. How can a referee of his experience make so many mistakes, not just throughout the game, but 2 major ones, in the space of 4 minutes? It was ludicrous and needs looking into.
What did you make of the team performance?
Our performance was what we expected to get right at Spurs and not give them a minute and that’s what we got. The first half was brilliant, but all that hard work paid its toll for 25 minutes into the second half, Spurs got the upper hand and was given an extra hand to walk away with a point.
In the 2nd half we were a bit under the cosh but was that due to us sitting back or a change in tactics from Spurs?
You could see we stretched Spurs and had our full back more involved in the game with Salah and Mane dropping deep to help out. Poch changed it and played more through the middle, cutting our full backs out, and it worked. We couldn’t get a grip on the game, it was slipping away. Fresh legs were needed but it came too late.
Which players would you say stood out for you for Liverpool in this game?
In the first half you couldn’t pick one, everyone played superb. I thought Virgil was top draw, showing us why we paid a lot of money for him: he commanded the back, set us up, made the right decisions, and forced play away from goal (until the pen, which was hard done by). Hope that form continues.
What did you make of the team line-up for this game?
We knew klopp would make changes but I was expecting more of an energetic side. I thought Ox would come in for Milner because who else would want to play against Spurs more than an ex-gooner? We can’t question Klopp though, it worked up ’till the 93rd minute…
Do you see many changes for the Southampton game?
I don’t, unless any niggles have occurred through the week. With Porto on the horizon in midweek, he may well do.
What is your score prediction and why v Saints?
The last few encounters at St Mary’s have been very close but they’re on a bit of an up and down run at the minute. It will be a tight affair. We will be a wondered animal, well, definitely Klopp. 1-0 will do nicely!
Up the reds!
Big thanks to Paul Smith for the Q&A interview on FoL
