Liverpool Won Ugly, Wirtz Was Brilliant, And I’m Not Apologising For Enjoying It

I’ve seen plenty of people picking holes in Liverpool’s performance against Brentford, and believe me, there are things we need to improve.

But can we please enjoy winning a football match?

We went to a difficult ground, fell behind, came back and won 2-1. After everything we’ve been through recently, I’ll take those three points all day long.

Was it vintage Liverpool? Absolutely not.

Should we have made easier work of beating a team reduced to nine men? Of course.

But I’ve watched enough football to know that winning away from home in the Premier League is never something you should take for granted.

I said at half-time that football lasts 90 minutes. Some people had already written us off. Well, Liverpool responded, and I couldn’t be happier.

Liverpool Deserve Credit For Finding A Way To Win

Let’s remember the circumstances.

Liverpool had travelled to Austria for a Champions League match on Wednesday, scored six against LASK and then faced another away fixture just three days later.

Brentford had considerably more time to prepare.

We were playing a team in excellent form, sitting above us in the Premier League, and we found ourselves a goal down.

Yes, Brentford’s indiscipline changed the match. They had two players sent off, and Liverpool had to make that numerical advantage count.

We did.

I’m hearing people ask whether we’d have won without the red cards. How could anybody possibly know?

We can spend all weekend arguing about imaginary versions of the match, or we can acknowledge what actually happened.

Liverpool came from behind and collected three points.

That’s two away victories in four days, eight goals scored and some much-needed momentum after that horrible afternoon against Manchester City.

There’s plenty of work ahead, but winning while you’re improving is exactly what we need.

Florian Wirtz Deserves Far More Credit

I want to talk about Florian Wirtz because some of the criticism he’s receiving has become ridiculous.

I’ve criticised him myself. When he hasn’t performed, I’ve said so. I’ve even suggested taking him out of the starting eleven.

But I’m equally happy to praise him when he deserves it.

Against Brentford, Wirtz created nine chances. Nine!

He assisted Victor Muñoz’s equaliser, found space intelligently, carried the ball forward and contributed with his counter-pressing.

For me, he was Liverpool’s man of the match.

That’s now two encouraging performances following his improvement against LASK, and I can see his confidence growing.

What frustrates me is that some supporters seem determined to ignore anything positive he does.

If he doesn’t score a hat-trick every weekend, apparently he’s rubbish.

Come on.

We spent a lot of money on Wirtz, and expectations should be high. But he’s adapting to a new club, a new league and a team still learning how to function under Iraola.

I’m seeing progress, and that’s what matters.

I want Wirtz starting again next weekend. He’s earned that opportunity.

Muñoz And Isak Delivered, But Liverpool Must Be More Clinical

Victor Muñoz was absolutely magnificent.

His equaliser was a beautiful piece of football. Wirtz picked him out, Victor showed wonderful composure with that drag-back and then drilled the ball home with his left foot.

What a finish.

He’s becoming such an easy player to love because of his determination, his attitude and his willingness to keep going.

Alexander Isak deserves credit too.

He wasn’t involved as much as we’d have liked, but when his opportunity arrived, he took it.

That’s what great centre-forwards do.

Bradley Barcola, meanwhile, had one of those afternoons that perfectly illustrates how frustrating and exciting he can be.

He contributed an assist, hit the crossbar and repeatedly got himself into dangerous positions.

But he should have scored in the first half, and that late counterattack where he couldn’t get a shot away was incredibly frustrating.

We had 21 shots and only five on target.

That’s nowhere near clinical enough.

I’m not writing Barcola off. He scored a Champions League hat-trick three days earlier, for goodness’ sake.

He’s talented, he’s finding his feet and his movement is creating opportunities.

But I want him making better decisions because against stronger opposition, those missed chances could cost us.

Injuries Are Worrying, But Iraola Is Making Progress

My biggest concern coming away from Brentford is the injury situation.

Dominik Szoboszlai went off in the first half, and Jeremy Frimpong lasted only a few minutes after coming on at half-time.

We don’t yet know the full extent of either problem, but it’s incredibly frustrating.

I’ve already questioned whether Frimpong is the right fit for Liverpool, and I still believe we need to address that position.

We also desperately need another midfielder.

Anyone suggesting Liverpool can afford a quiet January should look at how quickly our options are disappearing.

Iraola needs help from the recruitment team.

I also agreed with the manager’s criticism of how we handled the closing stages. Once we went 2-1 ahead, we became too protective of the result.

I’d have preferred us to stay on the front foot and finish Brentford off.

But Iraola is learning about this squad, the players are learning his methods, and we’re beginning to see improvements.

Now we need to take that confidence back to Anfield and finally get our first home Premier League victory of the season.

I won’t pretend everything is perfect.

But I’d much rather discuss Liverpool’s problems after a victory than another defeat.

We’ve won two difficult away games, Wirtz is improving, Muñoz is flourishing and Isak is scoring important goals.

I’m going to enjoy that.

And I think Liverpool supporters should too.

Much Love.