That was too close for comfort. What should have been a banker three points at home, Liverpool dug out a result when it looked for large periods of the game that the points would be shared. Swansea played well; in particular Jonjo Shelvey especially in the first half where he found space behind the Liverpool midfield, topping it off with a superb strike. I was impressed with their movement and at times the way they kept possession with frustrated Liverpool. However this was a game where in previous seasons Liverpool would have failed to win, which shows the Progression under Brendan Rodgers. Again, the firepower that Liverpool possess was on show last weekend, with Daniel Sturridge bagging a brace to show his credentials as one of the top strikers in Europe. A stat from last week’s game that the Englishman has scored more goals per minute this year than Messi and Ronaldo, which shows the potential of the player.
We can talk about poor defending that happened on Sunday and the attacking prowess that eventually won the game, however in my opinion the main factor in Liverpool’s victory was the introduction of Joe Allen with a half an hour to go. He hasn’t set the world alight since his 15 million pound switch in 2012, however I feel he is growing into the Liverpool shirt. Liverpool were getting over run in midfield and struggled to go through phases of the game. When Allen came on he bought a calmness but also an energy to regain possession and do the right thing with it. There is no doubt he is an intelligent player and won a few vital free kicks for his side. He allowed Jordan Henderson to move further forward and arrive into to box and subsequently scored the winning goal. I was impressed with his display and was in my opinion his best performance in the red shirt. Attention now turns to Southampton, which will be a difficult game away from home. I would play Allen from the start and sacrifice one of the attacking players to counteract Southampton’s midfield. There’s no question this will be a tough game and Liverpool will have to be at their best to get a crucial three points.
Joe Allen had a super game on Sunday
Liverpool FC 2013/2014 