THAT FELT LIKE A DEFEAT
Klopp mystified by poor display as Liverpool are lucky to leave with a point against fired-up hosts
‘WE’RE BACK!’ read the scarves handed out by Fulham and proudly held aloft as they emerged to take on Liverpool in the glorious west London sunshine. Optimism abounds on days like these, not least at Craven Cottage, set alongside a shimmering River Thames. A Saturday morning stroll through Bishop’s Park lifts the soul. At least it does until winter closes in and the Premier League juggernaut crushes it in its path.
Fulham’s best player in their promotion season, Fabio Carvalho, had been signed by their opponents and Jurgen Klopp, in the midst of an injury crisis, could still afford to leave him on the bench. This is what competitive balance looks like in this league. As such, you were tempted to suggest that Fulham keep those scarves in storage for use in two years’ time, such is the yo-yo nature of club like theirs.
Yet in a wonderful, wholly unexpected plot twist, the preordained storyline disappeared and a dramatically different narrative emerged. And a splendid game. Fulham were magnificent, right from the off. Liverpool struggled to get out of their half for 10 minutes and were second best in the first half. Where Virgil van Dijk struggled and Trent Alexander-Arnold erred, Andreas Pereira and Aleksandar Mitrovic were immense. In midfield, Harrison Reed and Joao Palhinha weren’t allowing Thiago or Jordan Henderson time to settle. When Liverpool did stir, Tosin Adarabioyo and Antonee Robinson stood tall.
Two years ago on a similar summer’s day, Fulham were back in the Premier League for the 2020-21 season but were swept aside by Arsenal in an abysmal performance. Relegation seemed pretty much assured from that day and so it proved to be. Yet this was as different as can be.
The Champions League finalists, who looked up for the season when they took on Manchester City last week, were almost overwhelmed. Liverpool were left grateful they had at least earned a point. And were perhaps heartened by the prospect of Darwin Nunez for the rest of the season. The Uruguayan looks a superb presence in front of goal and turned the game their way when he came on.
‘The performance was a defeat,’ said Klopp. ‘The result wasn’t a defeat but the performance was. That’s why we have to figure out what happened. But this can happen and if we had won today and not learned anything, it’s much worse than a draw and we learn the right things and find a way. But that’s not us. It was not us.
‘Don’t take anything from Fulham, they did really well. But to be 100 per cent honest, in moments we were not close to what we should have been. We played a really bad game and got a draw. The way we played is not the way we should play and that’s why my frustration is pretty high.’
Marco Silva, by contrast, had executed their game-plan almost to perfection, the sole error being Tim Ream’s misplaced header at the end. The season is long and hard but first days can set the tone, as he knows. ‘It’s important as we came from a great season and you can feel it in our stadium, from our fans,’ he said. ‘I asked the fans to be the 12th man on the pitch and they were fantastic. And the team pushed them as well to be always behind us. Three points would be much better but it was a good result, a good performance with the right attitude, commitment and desire. We showed all these three things from the first to the last minute.’
He was right and Craven Cottage fairly shook to its foundations in that exhilarating first half. Much of the attention afterwards was on Mitrovic, the yo-yo striker, too good for the Championship, never quite good enough for the Premier League. And yet Van Dijk had rarely been as bullied.
It wasn’t a surprise when Fulham took the lead on 33 minutes. They were impressively physical too. Liverpool complained that Henderson had been pushed over and fouled as Fulham transitioned from defence to attack. Pereira, dropping into space, instigated the move, feeding Reed, who dashed up the pitch before transferring responsibility to Neeskens Kebano. He in turn moved the ball on to the swiftly-arriving Kenny Tete, all in a second or two. Tete lifted a perfectly-weighted deep cross to the back post. It hung for what seemed like an age as Mitrovic loomed menacingly behind AlexanderArnold. The Liverpool right-back was no match for Mitrovic’s leap and power, crushed by the Serb’s utter determination to meet the ball with his head.
Liverpool would respond. Alexander-Arnold demonstrated the part of the game at which he excels by delivering a stunning cross-field pass for Andy Robertson, whose cross was a millimetre away from being turned in by Luis Diaz. The Colombian then conjured his own chance on 39 minutes with a superb curling shot that bounced off the
post. Still, Fulham held out until half-time and came out with fresh fight. When Mitrovic schooled Van Dijk on 55 minutes with a neat back-heeled turn, you suspected it might be Fulham’s day. When, seconds later, Kebano struck a glorious shot and, with Alisson beaten, it struck the inside of the post and spun away, you feared it may not. On came Harvey Elliott, Nunez and James Milner and they delivered. On 64 minutes Milner played in Elliott, who found Mo Salah. He rolled the ball across for Nunez, who has a formidable presence, dominating defenders and finishing from close range.
Now came the charge as Ream cleared off the line after Nunez bullied his way to another shot. And yet Fulham weren’t done. Another counter saw Mitrovic advancing on goal. Van Dijk offered a halfhearted, mistimed tackle which Mitrovic embraced, stumbling to the ground for the penalty. Mitrovic doesn’t miss those.
It should have been the last word, except that Fulham, playing to their maximum, were always on the edge of a mistake. It came on 82 minutes, Alexander-Arnold with a sumptuous cross which confused Tosin and Ream, whose back header was neither decisive nor effective. It fell for Darwin, who, with superb speed of thought and unselfishness, touched it to Salah, who rolled it in for 2-2. Still, Fulham would survive a last-minute scare when Henderson rattled the bar in injury time. They deserved as much.