There are no excuses for Liverpool today.
After three draws in their opening four Premier League games, Andoni Iraola’s side desperately need a win — and when you look at the circumstances surrounding today’s trip to Bournemouth, Liverpool have been given every opportunity to get it.
The Reds have had two extra days to recover.
Bournemouth played on Thursday night, travelling to Spain and beating Real Sociedad 2-1 in their first ever European match. Liverpool, meanwhile, played Tottenham on Tuesday night in the Carabao Cup and won 3-1 with a heavily rotated side.
That is a significant difference.
And Liverpool need to make it count.
Liverpool should have more energy
Iraola himself admitted that Liverpool have an advantage going into this game.
The Liverpool manager pointed out that his team played two days before Bournemouth this time, after often being on the wrong side of the schedule in previous weeks.
So there should be no question about which team ought to be fresher.
Bournemouth have had to deal with the demands of European football before returning to Premier League action.
Liverpool have had more recovery time.
And, perhaps even more importantly, Iraola was able to rest almost his entire first-choice team against Tottenham.
Liverpool made 10 changes for the 3-1 Carabao Cup victory, with only Ronald Araújo retaining his place from the previous league game.
That means the players who are expected to start against Bournemouth should be considerably fresher than they might otherwise have been.
Liverpool also have the quality
This is the other reason why there really shouldn’t be any excuses.
Bournemouth are a good side.
They deserve respect.
They have already shown this season that they can cause problems, and beating Real Sociedad away from home on Thursday was an impressive result.
But Liverpool have more individual quality.
They have players capable of deciding football matches.
Alexander Isak.
Florian Wirtz.
Cody Gakpo.
Dominik Szoboszlai.
Alexis Mac Allister.
Virgil van Dijk.
And plenty more.
At some point, that quality has to translate into Premier League victories.
Six points from four isn’t good enough
Liverpool currently have six points from their opening four league matches, having won just once and drawn three times.
And that is what makes today’s game so important.
The fixture list hasn’t exactly thrown Liverpool into the deep end yet.
There have been difficult moments, particularly the 0-0 draw with Fulham, but Liverpool haven’t had to navigate a brutal run of top-level Premier League opposition.
That makes dropping more points today particularly frustrating.
This is the sort of game Liverpool need to be winning if they want to build momentum.
Not because Bournemouth are poor.
Not because Liverpool are entitled to win.
But because Liverpool have the quality, preparation time and physical advantage to put themselves in the best possible position to win.
Now they have to deliver.
The Fulham draw cannot be repeated
The biggest concern is that we’ve already seen what happens when Liverpool fail to bring enough energy.
Against Fulham, the Reds looked flat.
There was little intensity.
The passing lacked urgency.
Fulham created some of the better opportunities.
Liverpool struggled to change the game until substitutions were eventually made.
And that resulted in another two points being dropped.
Iraola has already spoken about learning which players can handle the demands of playing every three days, particularly with younger players and new arrivals.
But today is different.
Liverpool have had the rest.
The manager rotated heavily on Tuesday.
The squad has had time to recover.
So the players need to show the intensity that was missing against Fulham.
A win is becoming a necessity
It’s still incredibly early in the season.
There is absolutely no need for panic.
But there is a difference between panic and recognising a problem.
Three draws from four Premier League games means Liverpool have already dropped six points.
Another draw today would leave the Reds with just one league victory from their opening five matches.
That’s not the start Liverpool supporters were expecting.
And considering the relatively kind opening schedule, Liverpool need to start turning performances and possession into wins.
The Champions League win over Atlético Madrid was a huge positive.
The 3-1 victory over Tottenham showed the squad has depth.
Now the first-team players need to produce when it matters in the Premier League.
This is where Iraola needs his team to respond
This is another test for Iraola.
Not necessarily because losing at Bournemouth would suddenly make his position a problem — absolutely not.
He’s still learning his players and trying to establish his own style.
But managers need their teams to respond after disappointing results.
And Liverpool have the perfect opportunity to do that today.
Iraola knows Bournemouth better than almost anyone.
He knows their strengths.
He knows their weaknesses.
And he knows exactly how difficult the Vitality Stadium can be.
He has already said Liverpool need to be “as ruthless as possible.”
That’s exactly what I want to see.
More energy.
More aggression.
More quality.
More urgency.
And, ultimately, more goals.
Liverpool need to make their advantage count
There is no guarantee Liverpool will win today.
Football doesn’t work like that.
Bournemouth have already shown they can compete, and their victory in Spain will have given them plenty of confidence.
But Liverpool have been handed an advantage.
Two extra days’ rest.
A heavily rotated team in midweek.
More individual quality.
And a manager who knows the opposition extremely well.
Now Liverpool need to make those advantages count.
After three draws in four league games, another dropped two points would be hugely frustrating.
The excuses need to disappear.
The energy needs to be there from the first whistle.
And Liverpool need to show exactly why they should be expecting to win this game.
Today isn’t about perfection.
It’s about getting the job done.
Jamie (The Kopite View)
Leave a Reply