Digging Deeper Into Liverpool’s 1-1 Draw with Brighton

We dare dig into the controversy surrounding the Reds’
VAR-assisted draw at the AmEx.

In what was mostly a messy and bad 90 minutes from both sides,
we still got the maximum possible amount of drama, as VAR took
center stage in deciding the outcome of the match. Below, we take a
closer look at how messy and bad it was, how messy and bad it will
continue to be, and whether or not the replay dramatics are worth
the column inches they will receive.

Winners

Andy Robbo: We’ll get to his injury time
involvement in a second, but this was a captain’s performance from
the Scot. As the only remaining member of the first choice back
line, Robertson looked the part, bossing his comrades around, and
getting up and down the pitch like he hadn’t played more minutes
than any other player this season, in the most physically demanding
position in the system. He would’ve had an assist too, were it not
for the devilish video assistant.

While he can occasionally be a bit of a liability for the
offside line and has never been a spectacular man defender, Robbo
has stepped up huge when needed in recent weeks, and all we can do
is cover him entirely in bubble wrap and hope and pray he can stay
healthy.

Losers

Neco Williams: It can’t be easy. Coming up as a
young right-back at one of the biggest clubs in the world is a
massive challenge in and of itself, but doing it as an academy
graduate, in the immediate footsteps of what looks set to be the
greatest talent that academy has produced in two decades, seems
nearly impossible.

Neco Williams is 19. Nobody knows how good he might turn out to
be, but he probably isn’t ready to be second choice at a club of
this stature, and he definitely shouldn’t be starting for them
every week. That will nonetheless probably continue to be the case,
however, as Trent Alexander-Arnold remains unavailable, and guess
what, so does every other option at the right-back position,
because…

That Squad Depth: It’s taking a real beating
right now. After Neco was hauled off at half-time, James Milner, an
18-year pro turning 35 in a month and a half, and coming off 180
minutes in the preceding five days, was moved to right-back. That
lasted for about half an hour, before he had to be replaced by
another midfielder in Curtis Jones after apparently feeling a
hamstring issue.

Hamstring trouble also saw Naby Keïta subbed off last weekend,
and Liverpool are already missing Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk
and Joe Gomez in the backline, while Thiago, Jordan Henderson,
Xherdan Shaqiri, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are all various levels
of unavailable, even though the captain did feature for a half
today.

This is the deepest squad Jürgen Klopp has had in his Liverpool
tenure and a quarter of the way through the season, we are seeing
fourth and sixth choice centre-backs pairing up, while the lone
healthy midfielder, Georginio Wijnaldum, continues to look more and
more ragged each passing game. It’s real bad, and in a campaign
that will be filled with firsts and unknowns, it is literally
impossible to guess how the starting XI will look a month from
now.

ControVARsy

We’re gonna have to talk about it so we might as well give it a
whole segment.

VAR intervened thrice today, and on all three occasions ruled
against Liverpool in score-deciding situations, taking the Reds’
VAR tally on the season to negative eight in only ten matches. It’s
a staggering handicap on paper, but not one that should necessarily
feed fans’ persecution complex.

Mohamed Salah is offside for the first goal. In the end, it was
closer than it looked initially — two or three inches, maybe — but
there was no confusing sleeves or armpits, just a toe — similar to
João Moutinho’s toe at Anfield last season — planted slightly in
front of the last defender as Salah was slow to walk back from
behind the line. It stings, because it takes away a spectacular
assist from Roberto Firmino and a slick into-the-ground-and-over
finish from Mo, but, by a frustrating but genuine margin, it was
the correct decision.

Sadio Mané is offside for the second goal. This one was pretty
clear — by a foot or so — even though, unlike the previous call, it
never occurred to this writer that he was off when watching it
live. Camera movement and the cluster of bodies made it hard to
tell, but the replay made it undeniable. It was a tremendous header
too, with what would have been Mané’s sixth touch of the match, but
again, quite correctly called back.

Andrew Robertson kicked that man. He didn’t get much of him, but
with a wild swing of his boot in his own area, Robbo missed the
ball and caught Danny Welbeck’s foot, as the Englishman’s dangling
ankle can attest to. It’s an aggravating one, because it happens so
late, and it’s the third call that goes against them, and they’d
already given up one penalty, and Robbo had been really
good all game, and even Welbeck thought it was soft, but if we’re
going to defend a penalty for, say, the contact Mohamed Salah
received in that one-goal win at West Ham, it is difficult to deny
Brighton this one.

(Yes, Jordan Pickford should have been sent off and banned in
the derby.)

What Happens Next

The mess continues, as the Reds host Ajax on Tuesday, knowing
that a draw will be enough to ensure qualification from Group D on
tiebreakers, before facing off with Wolves at Anfield the following
Sunday, after a majestic five day rest.