by If the pressure is off in the final few weeks of Jurgen Klopp’s time at Liverpool, it looks like the handbrake will be as well.
And if that allows the Reds to play with the kind of swagger that saw them go 4-0 against Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield on Sunday afternoon, then maybe that’s why 20 minutes or so final chaotic threatening to see their visitors spectacularly. with something out of the game too.
As it turned out, the hosts were able to take maximum points that were well deserved for their efforts in the first 70 minutes or so to get back to winning ways.
For a team almost certain to finish third and already have Champions League football back on the agenda for next season, the final days of Klopp’s time on Merseyside are sure to be an experience. shamelessly fun.
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Fans may have been used to dreaming of end-of-season highlights under their manager but if there isn’t much left to chase now at least it can be an enjoyable ride to the finish line.
Klopp touted the sixth-year-old’s enthusiasm on the final day of the term in a rambunctious press conference on Friday and it was expected that such wild abandon would transfer to the pitch as the team sought an April app that ended decisively to correct. dream three times.
If that is his aim, he will consider it a mission accomplished as his side put visiting Tottenham Hotspur ahead with the kind of ruthlessness rarely seen this season. It was sensational at times. At least it was until a very specific point, that is when substitute Richarlison, already the pantomime villain of his Everton exploits, made it 4-1 with 72 minutes on the clock.
And if Mohamed Salah had any worries when he returned to Anfield after last week’s much-publicised touchline tete-a-tete with Klopp, the flag in his honor on the Kop will ease those worries.
And the Liverpool superstar spent the next 90 minutes of this 4-2 victory repaying their support with a brilliant performance that belied claims that his best days are behind him. Rumors of Salah’s demise appear to have been greatly exaggerated. Even if he feels he might have a hat trick on the day.
Klopp may be leaving with a heavy heart and the tears will probably be hard to hold back for many when they meet again here in a fortnight against Wolves but Salah will surely have to stay in situ.
With a year left on his contract this summer, Liverpool’s new regime is in high demand one way or the other but remains the best source of goals and that will be vital for Arne Slot.
The past few weeks have seen a player who was still struggling to shake off the ongoing troubles of January and February but it is still a class act. Salah was once again Spurs’ scourge as he bagged the opener before playing a varied role in Liverpool’s second, third and fourth.
After missing most of last week’s 2-2 draw with West Ham before that public falling out with his manager, Salah looked like a player determined to score a point against Ange Postecgolu’s men. But, crucially, he also looked like someone who had seen a huge benefit from not having a game for eight days. He was not alone in that sense.
In a break from tradition, Liverpool started the better of the two sides and put pressure on an overworked Guglielmo Vicario in the Tottenham goal. It was Salah’s 25th of the campaign when he curled Cody Gakpo’s superb ball at the back post to give his side a deserved lead after 16 minutes.
There was an intensity and freshness to the proceedings that had both been absent for the past month or so and the Kop celebrated one very real piece of big pressure for a goal before Gakpo, who were again on the offensive, rose to challenge. from Micky van de Ven.
Shots continued to pile up at the Spurs goal before Andy Robertson tapped in from close range after Vicario had denied Salah a second towards the end of the half. The sight of an increasingly bewildered Emerson Royal and Cristian Romero at each other’s throats as they left the pitch at half-time was a good indicator of how much Spurs were being run by their resurgent hosts. The scoreline flattered them in truth.
And after trying to inject some life into his players’ performances so often at the half-time interval this term, Klopp could be forgiven for not knowing what to do. told his players at the break, they were more dominant. The same again please, perhaps?
If Harvey Elliott will be delighted with how he was able to chase down Royal before going home with Gakpo 3-0, it was his wonder strike that caught the eye the most as he gave challenged by Rodrigo Bentancur from. Salah’s free before finishing a beautiful strike past Vicario.
Richarlison, whose introduction sparked the change in the flow of the game, was a threat throughout his cameo and after reducing the deficit, it was his layup that allowed Heung-min Son to achieve 4-2 and establish a finish nervier than it was frankly no right to be.
The pitch may have finally been accepted in the heat of stoppage time, however, the visiting Arsenal fans had little left but to try to claim that “the league had been lost at Liverpool at Goodison Park”. It was a jibe that quickly met Anfield’s moment of appreciation for Divock Origi, who of course scored the winning goal in the 2019 Champions League final between the two. Point made. Three of them were taken.
