Eyes on new-look Liverpool as Sunderland spoil the party
by Nate Williams
Sebastian Larsson made a superb start for Sunderland to score on his debut and earn them a point at Liverpool.
It took only five minutes for the first penalty of the premiership season to be awarded after Kieran Richardson tripped Luis Suarez. But to the dismay of the Kop end, Suarez blazed his spot kick over the bar.
However, the South American striker made amends minutes later as he guided in Charlie Adam’s free kick in the 12th minute.
Sunderland rarely tested keeper Pepe Reina in the first half with only one low drive from Stephane Sessegnon comfortably collected.
But Sunderland picked up the pace in the second half and caught Liverpool off guard on a set piece that found Larsson unmarked and in plenty of space. The Swede then managed to smash a volley into the top right hand corner to equalize for the Black Cats.
King Kenny’s new Liverpool regime introduced many debutants in the side including Jose Enrique at the back who signed on Thursday. Three of his four midfield players were all making a great start at Anfield with Charlie Adam replacing the injured Steven Gerrard, Jordan Henderson playing against his old team and Stewart Downing on the left wing.
There were also questions raised about the inclusion of Suarez up front, having only just returned from winning the Copa America with Uruguay and resuming training this week. So tiredness may have been a factor in his penalty miss on six minutes.
Suarez did well to chase down and force Richardson into giving up the ball and to run the length of the field. Richardson was lucky to avoid a red card from referee Phil Dowd, as he was the last man when he fouled the Uruguayan.
But the upset roars from the Kop turned into cheers when Suarez nodded in the first goal of the Premier League campaign. Liverpool thought they had extended their lead when Andy Carroll used his power to shrug off Wes Brown and blasted a low shot into the net. But Carroll was adjudged to have fouled Brown by the referee and the goal was disallowed.
Adam had an impressive game with his array of precision passing, which is what they are missing in the loss of Gerrard. He certainly looked like the suitable replacement. Even though Downing started on the left, he almost got his debut goal with a great run down the right, weaving through two Sunderland defenders and then lashing a shot against the crossbar ten minutes before the break.
Steve Bruce’s men grew in confidence as the second half started and began to unsettle the Reds defence as early as the 53rd minute. John Flanagan lost the ball on the left and Sessegnon managed to send an in swinging ball to Asamoah Gyan who could only direct the ball into the hands of Reina. That would be the last contribution from Gyan as he limped off in the 66th minute after a collision with Jamie Carragher. A worrying sight for all Sunderland fans.
The Black Cats kept pushing for an equalizer and they finally got it through Larsson. Liverpool’s defence fell to pieces as Ahmed Elmohamady’s right-wing cross found Larsson in plenty of space giving him time to catch the ball sweetly on his right and hammer it home.
From that point onwards, there were many rash challenges from both sides battling their way to try and get in front and find a winner. Andy Carroll came the closest to finding a winner when he used his height to get on the end of Downing’s highball in but was unable to direct his header on target in the 83rd minute.
Steve Bruce’s side will be content with that result, as they are not known for their strong starts. Last season, the Reds didn’t get off to a great start but finished scoring 35 goals in 18 league games with Dalglish at the helm. With Europe in their sights will the new-look Liverpool achieve that cherished top four position?
Nate Williams is a new contributor to Just Football.
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Great article, can see Liverpool challenging for the top 4 again this season, especially if Arsenal don’t get some new signings. I think Chelsea and the two Manchester teams are a bit out of reach at the moment though
thanks for the comment i appreciate it. i agree man u to win followed by chelsea and man city. arsenal will finish 6th in my prediction spurs just edging them. apologies to any liverpool fans reading this. as a liverpool follower myself im disappointed in the typo i didnt manage to spot on John Flanagan’s name. it was a genuine error.
Nice article Nate and welcome to the team!
So what formation did Liverpool line up in? 4-4-2 with Carroll and Suarez up top or something different?
yes jonathan. it was a classic dalglish. he rarely switched from 4-4-2 when he was in charge back in the 90s. you had carra and agger at the back with enrique and flanagan at the sides, lucas and adam in the middle with suarez and carroll up the top. it will be like that until gerrards back in a few weeks where he will just sit behind the two strikers.
Hi Nate good first article! Not sure I agree with your assessment of Charlie Adam. I’m a Liverpool man myself as well but I thought the formation choosen by Kenny exploited Adam’s weeknesses on pace and requring too much time to make a decision.
I thought Henderson was woful. I live in Sunderland and have seen a lot of him over the years to know mor eis to come but I htought it was a strange choice playing him ahead of Flanagan ahead of the Kelly Kuyt? Would appreciate your thoughts.
hi paul
thanks for your comments and opinions. yes it is odd not seeing Kuyt in the team and i feel dalglish is still experimenting as he is doing what liverpool need building for the future. there wasn’t much to say on henderson because he is still an evolving player and needs time to adjust so i thought it was unfair to criticise his lack of involvement in his first premier league game.
the thing with Martin Kelly, rumour has it, he is still trying to recover from the end of last season and finding his fitness levels even though he was on the bench. but dont take my word for that. i agree with you, kelly is one of my stand out performers for liverpool last season and would love to see him back in the right back position ahead of Johnson and flanagan.
as for charlie adam, he was doing his job in my opinion supplying high balls into carroll in the last 15 minutes to try and get a winner. this is what gerrard would be doing. that is why he has been signed. i was really happy with his performance in my view, but if you say different thats ok. this is what blogs are about everyones entitled to their opinions.
with all this being said about team selection, formation etc. i feel we will see a different team this weekend against arsenal with Kuyt starting ahead of Henderson.
thanks again for commenting mate i appreciate it.
Kelly ahead of Johnson! That’s a bold statement! Not sure I agree! England’s first-choice right back! Johnson is a class act going forward, got more pace and control than Kelly, especially at home Johnson is a big threat!
Enrique is a great signing, one of best left backs in the division! Downing will be an excellent signing and so will Charlie Adam, in my opinion! Kenny has bought well and if rumours are to be believed he will bring in another CB and a replacement for N’gog if he goes to Bolton!
We’re on a march with Kenny’s army!